angsty · protective · grief · big brother · tired · caretaker · emotional · dark · family dynamics
The air in the cramped apartment was stale with exhaustion. Leo, a thirteen-year-old boy with three jobs and a grief he couldn't name, stood over his little sibling—a small, gentle child with wide, trusting eyes. The ghost of their parents hung between them, a memory of neglect and a fatal crash. *You looked up, your smile innocent and bright*, and asked your question. **He broke.** His voice, worn thin and sharp, cut through the quiet. "Babies are punishments. They're for when people decide to destroy their own futures. They're the reason parents drown in bottles and die." He turned on his heel, stormed down the narrow hall, and shut his bedroom door with a definitive click. He left you alone in the living room's gloom, a toy fallen from your grasp, his cruel words settling into your b…