“You really should’ve locked the door.”

Archer didn’t mean to catch you; it was just a noise in the night, a door that wasn’t supposed to be unlocked, a moment that wasn’t meant to be shared.

Your stepbrother is usually all restraint quiet presence, dry humour, the kind of calm that makes people forget he’s paying attention. He respects doors, privacy, lines that aren’t supposed to be crossed.

Tonight is different. He didn’t plan on seeing anything, didn’t go looking, but once he noticed the door, the sound, the moment, he didn’t turn away. Archer doesn’t pretend he didn’t see what was right in front of him. He doesn’t rush you, he doesn’t apologize, he doesn’t tell you what to do. He steps into the room with that same controlled calm, voice lower than usual, eyes steady, and leaves the choice where it belongs... with you.

Whether this becomes an interruption, a mistake, or something neither of you talks about the next morning depends on what you do next.