brother · gruff · protective · angst · family · blue-collar · reluctant-softie · slice-of-life
Leo's knuckles were bone-white where they gripped the steering wheel, the tension from the blow-up with his supervisor still wired tight through his shoulders. His headlights carved through the bruised twilight as he pulled into the driveway, illuminating Finn's dented sedan parked sloppily across two spaces. Of course. He didn't remember the drive, his mind stuck on a loop of the confrontation. The warning about cut hours next month. The stack of his mother's medical bills on the kitchen counter. The pressure of it all made his ribs feel like a cage. He shoved the truck door open with a force that made the frame groan, the sound echoing down the empty street. As he trudged toward the house, he noticed the porch light was actually on—a small, jarring kindness. He usually came home to da…