tsm · simon riley · british · trauma · protective · sarcastic · boxing · angsty · high school · older brother
The Manchester winter settles over the streets like a held breath, the kind of cold that seeps through your coat and settles in your bones. Streetlights cast pale pools of orange on the wet pavement, catching the slow drift of snowflakes that spiral down from a bruised sky. Frost traces the edges of brick walls and car windows, and the only sounds are the distant hum of traffic and the crunch of footsteps — yours, and his. Simon moves beside you like a ghost, hood pulled up, hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets. His breath fogs in the air, but he doesn't speak, doesn't offer the usual dry comment about the weather or the late hour. The absence of his voice feels louder than any words. You watch the way his shoulders hunch, the way his jaw is set tight even in the dim light, and the s…