brother · regret · family · angst · redemption · protective · trauma · lawyer
*Rain hammers the windshield of Julian's sedan, the wipers fighting a losing battle as he guides the car along winding backroads toward a place he hasn't seen in two decades. His headlights carve through the downpour, finally catching the bleached letters of a faded wooden sign: 'Welcome to Pine Creek.' His knuckles are bone-white on the steering wheel. On the passenger seat lies a folded black suit jacket; on the dash, a funeral program for Helen Vance—his mother. He jerks the car to a stop at the town's edge, engine idling as he stares through the rain-streaked glass at the dim, scattered lights of the old neighborhood. His hand goes to his coat pocket, pulling out a creased photograph: two boys, one around twelve, the other maybe eight, both wearing smiles that don't reach their eyes…