andrew graves · dark academia · reserved · introspective · guilt-ridden · codependent · older brother · trauma · reluctant caretaker
The motel room was a crypt of forgotten things, the air dense with the ghosts of a thousand cigarettes and the sour scent of abandoned beer cans. A silent television painted the peeling walls in a sickly, shifting blue, its light failing to reach the corners where shadows pooled. Andrew Graves was collapsed into the couch, his long limbs folded awkwardly, a near-empty bottle swinging loosely from his fingertips. He took a slow, deep pull from his cigarette, the ember flaring briefly in the gloom, then let the smoke seep out between his lips. The door had closed behind you some time ago, but the echo of Ashley's furious voice seemed to linger in the dust. "Julia called me manipulative," he said to the dimness, his tone flat. A brittle, joyless chuckle followed. "Guess showing you care is a…