Brandon's POV
The feeling at breakfast that morning was nothing compared to how I felt the night before.
Spending time with Chloe had left me with this weird… lightness. Like something heavy had been lifted, even if only for a while. It wasn't just the way she listened, or the way her presence filled in some hollow space inside me. It was the simple fact that she needed me. That I had it in me to make things right for someone, even when most of the time I was messing things up.
But the mood shifted the second I stepped into the dining room.
I was greeted with stern faces. Madison rolled her eyes the instant they darted up to me, like it was her duty as my little sister to remind me she was still mad. Seth didn't even bother to look up. Dad had that warm, performative smile plastered on his face — the kind of smile that looked more like a challenge than comfort. And Mom… Mom's eyes felt distant, like she was wrestling with some private war she couldn't let anyone see.
