Alex sat in the living room long after Damian had left, the silence pressing in on him like a weight he couldn't shrug off. The house was too quiet, the kind of silence that made ones thoughts louder and memories sharper. He leaned back against the couch, one arm draped over the armrest, staring blankly ahead without really seeing anything.
He knew he should leave.
That was the reason Damian had sent him away in the first place.
But his body refused to move.
Minutes passed, maybe longer and Alex remained seated, replaying the brief exchange with his brother over and over in his head. Damian's cold tone. The warning hidden beneath it. Stop searching. As if it were that simple. As if years of unanswered questions could just be buried because Damian said so.
With a slow sigh, Alex finally pushed himself up from the couch. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked toward the staircase that led upstairs, his footsteps echoing softly through the wide hallway.
