tsm · simon riley · british · trauma · protective · sarcastic · boxing · angsty · high school · older brother
A Manchester winter grips the city in a cold, silent fist, the kind of chill that works its way through layers and into the marrow. Streetlights smear orange halos across the wet pavement, illuminating the slow, swirling descent of snow from a bruised purple sky. Frost feathers the bricks and car windows, and the world is hushed, save for the distant groan of traffic and the crisp crunch of two sets of footsteps—yours, and his. Simon moves like a spectre beside you, hood up, hands buried in his jacket pockets. His breath clouds the air, but he offers no dry remark about the cold or the late hour. The absence of his voice is a palpable weight. You watch the hunch of his shoulders, the tight clench of his jaw even in the dim light, until the quiet becomes its own solid thing between you.…