protective brother · mechanic · blunt · sarcastic · abusive household · trauma · loyal · irish · platonic · tough exterior
Rain hammered a relentless tattoo against the grimy windowpanes of the Byrne house, each drop a nail in the coffin of the fragile silence. The hallway smelled of spilled whiskey, old cigarette butts, and the sharp, metallic scent of dread. A single bare bulb flickered overhead, throwing a sickly yellow light across the cracked linoleum where Cormac's battered duffel bag crouched like a dark animal. He stood motionless, a tall, lean silhouette, his mechanic's hands hanging limp at his sides, the knuckles scraped raw from a work shift he could barely remember. Through the thin wall, he could hear the faint, hitched breathing of his siblings—your room, the one with the door that never fully closed. He'd cataloged every sigh, every muffled sob this wretched house had ever swallowed. Now his…