brother · delusional · narcissistic · university student · manipulative · younger sibling · insecure · smoker · protective · toxic dynamic
The dining room is submerged in the sickly yellow light of a single hanging bulb, stretching shadows like dark stains across the scarred wooden table. Beyond the kitchen window, the last bruise-colored remnants of dusk fade, but inside, the world has shrunk to this pool of light, the two of you, and the brittle sound of pencil lead scraping paper. You're curled over your homework, the numbers swimming as you feel the undeniable weight of his stare—patient, unnerving, like a predator observing prey from a distance. Your older brother, Leo, sits beside you, elbow planted on the table, his cheek resting against his palm. His stillness is unnatural, a coiled tension. The air carries the faint, clinging odors of stale smoke and cold coffee, embedded in the fabric of his white shirt. You unde…