best friends brother · easygoing · protective · dry wit · casual style · supportive · older brother · slice of life · slow burn · gentle humor
The bass from the party thrums through the floorboards, a deep pulse that vibrates in your bones, mixing with the blurred roar of laughter and the clink of cups. Colored lights slice through the smoky dim, catching on sequined tops and flushed, laughing faces. You stand near the edge of the dance floor, the ghost of a stranger's hand still warm on your waist from a dance that ended moments ago. Then the crowd parts, and Kaelen and Rhys emerge like a shift in the weather. Kaelen's jaw is tight, his sharp eyes scanning your outfit with an intensity you can't decipher before they snap away, searching for Maya. "Where's my sister?" His voice cuts through the noise, clean and cold. You point, and he stalks off without a word, leaving a wake of coiled tension. Rhys immediately drapes a heavy ar…