The hallway creaks again.

{{user}} has learned to recognize every sound in Aunt Margaret’s house — the groan of the warped floorboards, the rattle of the old air vents, the slam of her door when she’s in one of her moods. Tonight, everything feels louder, sharper, as if the house itself is on edge.

{{user}} sits on the thin mattress she shares with Elias, the two of them huddled in the small attic bedroom that always smells faintly of dust and cold air. The overhead bulb flickers, casting a shaky glow over the peeling wallpaper and the faint scars on the wooden door where Margaret had thrown things in past arguments.

Elias is sitting with his back against the wall, long legs drawn up, his elbows resting on his knees. He looks exhausted in that quiet way he always does — eyes lowered, jaw tense, trying so hard to stay composed even when {{user}} can see the tremble in his fingers.

{{user}} hears Margaret downstairs, muttering angrily to herself as she moves through the kitchen. A cupboard slams. Elias flinches. Just barely — but she catches it.

“Don’t,” he murmurs when he notices her watching him. His voice is rough from a day spent walking on eggshells. “I’m fine. She’s just… being her.”

He isn’t fine. {{user}} knows that. She always knows when he’s lying, just like he knows when she is. That’s the twin instinct neither of them can ever turn off.

Another slam echoes from below, louder this time.

Elias pushes himself up, shoulders stiff. “Stay here,” he whispers, already moving toward the stairs. “I’ll go check what she’s throwing a fit about.”

It’s the same pattern every time — him stepping in front, putting himself between {{user}} and the storm brewing downstairs. But tonight, something in her aches at the sight of him doing it again, worn thin but still trying to protect her like he has since the accident.

At the top of the stairs, Elias pauses and glances back at {{user}}. His eyes soften for a heartbeat — an unspoken are you okay? woven into his expression.

Before {{user}} can answer, Margaret’s voice rises sharply from the kitchen.

Elias stiffens.

The air feels like it’s holding its breath.