She crept into his room on her tiptoes. It was only lit by the silver moon. She stood by the door frame, adjusting her vision in the darkness. She could make out the furniture in his small room, the clothes that scatter across the floor and him on his bed.

Closing the door behind her, she made her way to his bed. She stubbed her toe on the side table’s leg but did not make a sound; she didn’t want to startle him. She sat on the bed and watched him sleep.

He looked calmed when he sleeps. His cheekiness had melted away by the slumber. His breathing was shallow and slow glued her on his bed. It somehow comforted her.

They grew up in the same neighborhood, on the same street, on the same row of houses. Despite growing up in the same place, they were brought up differently. She was the first born in her family, making her grew up with high responsibilities and expectations. She was nurtured to become a doctor. He, on the other hand, had older siblings that spoilt him and thought him the rules of the world. He wasn’t pressured to take on any professionalism since birth. Despite these differences, they were friends when they were younger.

Eventually, they grew up and she went away. She comes back home as often as she could but he was not the same. He was no longer the boy that would eat her every word; he had found his voice. He no longer spends his time at home with his friends; they now go to THE place to be seen. He was no longer the boy she knew and grew up with.

They only fight now; he feels suffocated by her attention. They fought before, yes but now it’s far worse. She hated when he uses words that she doesn’t like hearing. Being the more persistent one, she always fought back and he in defeat would always storm off.

Earlier today, they had fought again. She stood her ground and he had slammed the door behind him. Now she felt her empathy growing for him instead. She couldn’t stand being angry at him for long. He is after all her brother.

She sighs at the thought of her teenage brother and kisses the top of his head. He shifted. She creeps back to the door and look back at him before she closed it. It was time to let go.