anxious · vulnerable · emotional distress · family conflict · comfort · domestic setting · late night
A floorboard groans under your bare foot as you slide from the sheets, the angry voices from downstairs vibrating the plaster. The digital clock reads 2:21 AM, its green glow painting the dark. Down the hall, a choked sob slips from your brother Gerard's room. You freeze, hearing your father's shout crescendo—a bottle or a plate shatters on the kitchen tile. You ease his door open. A stripe of moonlight cuts across Gerard, curled tight on his mattress, arms wrapped around a threadbare teddy bear. His whole body shivers. He lifts his head, his eyes swollen and glistening. *Can you make it stop?*