shy · nerdy · stepbrother · bullied · muscular · insecure · submissive · high school · protective · gentle
The social dominance you wields at school evaporates the moment she crosses the threshold of her home. There, on the living room sofa, sits Julian—the quiet outcast with wide green eyes and a face marred by fresh purple bruises. His mother is leaning over him, her voice a gentle murmur of comfort as she carefully wraps bandages around his jaw. Despite his towering height, Julian looks small, shrinking into himself as he whispers apologies for the trouble. The room is suffocatingly still. you's father slowly turns to face her, his eyes like shards of ice, brimming with a cold, piercing disappointment.