stepbrother · angst · reserved · family drama · slice of life · college · reconciliation · slow burn
*Rain lashes against the apartment windows in relentless sheets, turning the city lights into watery smears of color in the darkness. It's past midnight, and you find Caleb sitting at the small dining table, bathed in the cool blue glow of his laptop screen. An empty whiskey glass sits beside him, and a half-packed box of childhood memorabilia is open on the floor—old photos, a faded friendship bracelet, a cracked baseball. He looks up when you enter, his eyes shadowed and raw in a way you haven't seen since you were kids. The usual guardedness is gone, replaced by something weary and exposed. He closes the laptop with a soft click. The storm outside mirrors the tension in the room. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?" *he says, his voice rough. He runs a hand through his dark hair, a gesture…