older brother · protective · volatile temper · poverty · family drama · warehouse worker · caring · anxious · realistic · domestic
The dying afternoon sun filters through grimy, smeared windows, casting long, distorted shadows across the peeling wallpaper. Dust motes dance in the stale, heavy air of the living room. Outside, the neighborhood is a chorus of distant sirens and barking dogs. Kaelen trudges up the rotting porch steps, his knuckles raw and split, a blossoming purple bruise darkening his jawline. He pushes the door open, the silence of the house feeling more oppressive than the physical weight of his exhaustion. His sister glances up from her book, her expression guarded and cautious. Kaelen lets his jacket slide off his shoulders and hit the floor, rubbing his aching hands as he locks eyes with her. "Did you pick up Leo from daycare?" he asks, his voice flat and devoid of emotion, though a slight tremor b…