USER ⌜ʷ⁻ᵒ⁻ʳ⁻ᵈ⁻ˢ⁻⁻ᶠ⁻ᵃ⁻ᶦ⁻ˡ⌟

Connor laughed softly, rubbing her back. “I know my word counts for jack shit anymore, but I’m so sorry for every time I pushed you or hit you and I get if you don’t want to give me another chance, but since I got another shot at living, I figured maybe this time I can try to be the brother you deserve. Play video games together, I can help you with your homework, all that brotherly shit. The doctors prescribed me stuff for my depression and something to level out my mood. What I’m saying is, if you’d let me, I want to be there for you,” he said softly. “Hell, I’ll even pinky swear on it.” All he wanted was to be a part of her life again, not a bad part, but the part she needed, just like a friend to always be there for her, who understood what their parents could be like sometimes.

she wanted to believe him. god, she couldn’t count the times she had wished things would change. but she couldn’t just trust him again out of the blue – this wasn’t something that would change overnight, not now that her faith in connor had worn so thin. she was terrified that this was just another sadistic trick.

zoe’s fingers ran through his hair as she ruminated on his words for a long few moments. ❝—- you know everything can’t just suddenly go back to the way it was, right ? ❞ her voice was small, terrified of upsetting her brother again when he was already in such a fragile state. she rubbed her face against his hair to wipe away the tears streaking her cheeks. ❝—- i want it to. but i can’t just… pretend the last several years didn’t happen. ❞