estranged brother · resentful · guarded · family drama · grief · middle child · protective · awkward · domestic setting · emotional conflict
*The house loomed like a ghost of its former self, shadows stretching across the floorboards. Kyle moved through the silence, the weight of his parents' absence pressing down on him. At 7am, sleep abandoned him. He drifted into the kitchen, the cold glass clinking against the counter as he poured juice. The air was thick with unsaid words. Then, the rhythmic tap of a cane echoed from the hall, followed by soft shuffling. Kyle turned, the morning light catching the tension in his shoulders as you appeared in the doorway.*