My brother and I didn’t speak for 3 years after a fight. I told myself I was fine without him. One winter, my car broke down right outside his building. I almost called a tow truck, but I called him. He picked up on the first ring and only said, “Give me five minutes…”

I sit in the freezing cold, my breath fogging up the windshield. The engine gave up with a horrible clunk just minutes earlier, and now the silence in the car is deafening, except for the soft whirr of the heater slowly dying. I glance at the building’s entrance, expecting—what, exactly? That he’d blow me off? That he’d come down angry? I don’t know. My hands grip the steering wheel tightly, knuckles white, heart hammering louder than I want to admit.

Then I see him. He steps out wearing his old navy peacoat, the same one he used to throw over my shoulders when we were teenagers and I’d forgotten mine. He looks older, tired maybe, but his stride is purposeful. He doesn’t hesitate as he walks up to my window.

I lower it halfway. “Hey.”

“Pop the hood,” he says, not unkindly. No questions, no small talk, just action. That’s always been his way.

I press the latch, and he lifts the hood, leaning in like nothing’s happened, like we didn’t say things that burned a hole between us.

I sit there watching him, trying not to cry.

He knocks on the window a few minutes later. “Battery’s shot. Starter too. You’re not going anywhere tonight.”

“I can call a tow truck,” I mumble, reaching for my phone.

He raises a brow. “It’s freezing and late. You’re coming upstairs.”

“I don’t want to—”

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

I shut off the phone screen. Follow him.

In the elevator, the silence between us is thick. Not angry silence anymore—just unfamiliar. Like we’re trying to figure out if we still know the rhythm of each other’s breathing.

His apartment smells like cinnamon and coffee. The heat hits me like a wall, and I realize how cold I really was. He tosses his coat over a chair and gestures to the couch. “Sit. I’ll make you some tea.”

I laugh, startled. “You still drink tea?”

He shrugs. “I started. Keeps my hands warm.”

I sit, awkward and small in a room that looks like him—neat, quiet, with little pieces of our childhood scattered around. A photo of Mom and Dad. A framed picture of us, from the year we went hiking in Colorado. It punches me in the gut.

He hands me a mug and sits across from me, elbows on knees.

“So,” he says, looking at his hands. “What happened to your car?”

“Bad maintenance. Long drive. Stupidity,” I mutter.

“You always were hard on your stuff.”

We both smirk at that. A tiny, fragile thread between us.

Then the silence stretches again. I sip the tea. It’s peppermint. My favorite.

“You remembered,” I say, voice quiet.

“Hard to forget after twenty years.”

That’s when it breaks inside me. The wall I built to protect myself, to justify the distance, crumbles in an instant. My voice cracks. “I didn’t think you’d pick up.”

He looks at me, really looks, and I see the same pain in his eyes that’s lived in mine. “I thought about you every damn day.”

“Then why didn’t you call?” It spills out, angry and vulnerable. “Why did we let it go so long?”

His jaw clenches. “Because I was stubborn. Because I thought you should be the one to call.”

“I thought the same thing,” I whisper.

He laughs, short and bitter. “So we wasted three years because we were both too proud.”

“I missed you,” I say, tears blurring my vision.

He leans forward, his voice rough. “I missed you, too.”

A long silence, not awkward this time. Heavy with years of unsaid things.

“I didn’t come to ruin your night,” I say, wiping at my eyes. “I was really going to call a tow truck.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No.”

He nods, as if that means something. Maybe it does.

“You hungry?” he asks suddenly.

I blink. “A little.”

He disappears into the kitchen. I hear the clink of plates, the hum of the microwave. He returns with two bowls of leftover stew and sets them down without a word.

We eat in silence, but it’s comfortable now. The kind of silence we used to share on long car rides. No need to fill the space. Just being there is enough.

After dinner, he sits back and rubs his chin. “You still paint?”

“Sometimes,” I say. “Not as much.”

“Why not?”

“Life,” I shrug. “Work. Stuff.”

He nods like he understands. “You were always good at it.”

“Thanks.”

A beat passes.

“I still have the one you gave me. The lake one.”

I look up, surprised. “You kept it?”

He stands and walks to his bedroom. When he returns, he’s holding the canvas. My painting, faded a bit, but still bright. The lake at sunset, orange bleeding into purple, our silhouettes fishing from the dock. I painted it the summer before the fight.

I take it in my hands, throat tight. “I thought you’d thrown it away.”

He shakes his head. “I couldn’t.”

That’s when I realize we’ve both been carrying the pieces of each other in quiet corners of our lives, even when we weren’t talking. The photos, the painting, the peppermint tea.

“I’m sorry,” I say, looking at the painting, not him.

“Me too,” he replies.

We sit for a while, the weight slowly lifting.

“I know we can’t go back,” I say finally. “But maybe we can start again.”

He smiles, slow and genuine. “We already have.”

A warmth spreads through me. Not just from the tea or the heat in the room—but from something deeper. A spark of hope.

“You remember that time we tried to build a treehouse in Dad’s backyard?” he asks suddenly, grinning.

I laugh, full and real. “And we fell out of the tree the first day.”

“Broke your arm. I thought Dad was going to kill me.”

“You cried more than I did,” I tease.

He shakes his head, chuckling. “I thought I killed you.”

The memories come flooding back, each one a thread pulling us closer. We talk for hours, until the city outside is silent and snow drifts gently against the windows.

Eventually, I stretch and yawn. “I should probably crash.”

He stands, grabs a blanket from the hall closet. “Take the couch. I’ve got early meetings anyway.”

“Thanks.”

He pauses. “Hey… Don’t wait three years next time.”

“I won’t,” I promise.

He hesitates, then walks over and pulls me into a hug. Tight, brotherly, long overdue.

“I’m glad you called,” he murmurs.

“Me too.”

When he disappears into his room, I curl up on the couch, blanket pulled to my chin, the peppermint tea still warm in my hands. My heart is full in a way it hasn’t been in years.

Outside, the snow falls quietly. Inside, something broken is beginning to heal.

And for the first time in a long time, I sleep peacefully—knowing that somehow, without even realizing it, we’ve found our way back to each other.