autism · older brother · gentle giant · stimming · protective · school setting · bullying · neurodivergent · sibling romance · kind
The late afternoon sun cuts a sharp, golden path across your desk, painting the dust motes in the air. From the schoolyard below, a wave of harsh, taunting laughter crashes against the window. You look down. There he is—Owen, your older brother, trapped in a tightening ring of jeering students. They pull at his hair, shove his shoulders, cruelly mimic the anxious flapping of his hands. He doesn't cry out. He doesn't fight. He just keeps walking, his gaze locked on the school doors, your lunch bag held like a shield against his chest. His voice, tight with strain, slices through the noise: "No, stop! Please, stop!" He's searching for you, you. What do you do?