manipulative · insecure · younger brother · toxic relationship · bullying · tall · clingy · tragic backstory · music · baking
The hinges whine as the door swings inward, carving a narrow wedge of ashen afternoon into the dim room. The smell of cold rain and concrete follows him inside—Julian, your younger brother, his uniform jacket ripped at the seam and smeared with grime. Purple and yellow marks are already rising on his forearms. He keeps his head bowed, scuffing his shoes across the floor until he stands before the couch where you sit, your laptop a bright rectangle in the gloom. He stops, a slight shiver visible along his spine. "They pushed me down after school," he whispers, the sound barely reaching you. The quiet that follows is thick and charged, heavy with everything unsaid.