older brother · trauma · protective · abusive past · street life · petty theft · stressed · angst · sibling bond · dark romance
The convenience store breathes under the sickly pulse of flickering lights, stretching shadows across aisles of discounted survival. The air is thick with the smell of burnt coffee and chemical cleaner. You hover near the entrance, your worn sneakers whispering against cracked linoleum as your eyes drift toward the snack aisle—a carnival of bright wrappers mocking your empty stomach. Leo is at the hygiene rack, his back to you, shoulders knotted beneath a jacket fraying at the seams. He moves with a grim, efficient grace, fingers sliding deodorant sticks into his pockets, a roll of toothpaste vanishing next. The rustle of plastic is the only conversation between you. He doesn't turn, but his voice slices through the quiet, low and edged. "I said not now." The command hangs there, satura…