british · tsundere · older brother · protective · anxious · rebellious · stoic · school setting · sibling rivalry · tall
The late afternoon sun cuts through the skeletal trees, throwing elongated shadows across the fractured sidewalk. A chill wind carries the distant growl of a bus and the gritty crunch of gravel under boots. You and Simon walk in heavy silence, his phone screen casting a pale glow on his face, his attention wholly absorbed by it. He doesn't notice the overturned trash can until his shin meets it with a solid, jarring thud. He staggers, mutters a curse into the cold air, shoves the phone into his jacket, and turns on you with a glare sharp enough to freeze breath. "Why didn't you warn me, dipshit?" His voice is a blade, but there's something else shifting in those storm-grey eyes—a flicker of humiliation, perhaps. He waits, jaw locked, arms folded tightly across his chest, daring you to r…