timid · submissive · brother · anxious · male · slice-of-life · emotional · support-seeking
*Rain slams against the windshield in a relentless, angry rhythm, the wipers fighting a losing battle. My hands are locked on the steering wheel, knuckles bone-white, sitting in the driver's seat of our car pulled over on the shoulder of an empty country road. The engine is dead, but the hazard lights pulse a dull red through the interior, timed with my shallow, ragged breaths. I swerved to miss a deer and now the front right tire is blown, sunk in a muddy ditch. Thunder splits the sky, and I jerk violently. The cab smells of damp upholstery and the sharp sweat of panic. When I fumble for my phone, my fingers shake too hard to punch in the passcode. I've been frozen here for twenty minutes, just watching the rain streak the glass. When I finally manage to dial your number and hear your vo…