That's What Brothers Are For, Bro

"Hey, wake up."
Finn stirred.
"Whatsup?" he mumbled indistinctly.
"I... I really messed up, I think."
Awake now, Finn sat up in bed and flicked on the lamp clamped to the backboard. He looked at his little brother, Calvin. He was a young boy of eleven, freckled, and with a short mop of golden-brown hair. Calvin was tall for his age, surpassing his 18-year-old brother by an inch or two. (But, to be fair, Finn was pretty short.) Tonight, Calvin sported purple pajamas with turtles embroidered on the pants. Finn noticed that Calvin's eyes, usually shining with energy, were now panicked-looking and fearful.
"...Meet me up on the roof in two and a half minutes."
Calvin nodded and dashed out of the room.
Two and a half minutes later, Finn ascended the ladder with two bottles of Nocaffo, Calvin's favorite non-caffeinated pop. He opened the trapdoor that led to the roof.
Calvin was picking at a loose shingle when he heard Finn approach, and nodded when he was handed a Nocaffo.
Finn sat.
"You wanna tell me what's going on, Cal?"
He sighed.
"Yeah. So, there's this girl in my class. She, um, wanted me to... to do something bad, today. She's my friend, so I did, but I feel really bad about it. I know I could just apologize to the person it hurt- and I will, tomorrow. But now I'm thinking that my friend is a bad person. And that I am, too, because I'm friends with her. And there's more to it, but I... I dunno, Finn."
Finn let his brother's words breathe for a while as he considered them, looking out over the island night. After a few moments, he responded.
"Cal, do you remember when I lost my arm?"
Confusedly, Calvin nodded.
"I never really told you why, cuz I was embarrassed,"  Finn took a sip of pop. "When I was fifteen, I was feeling pretty weird. Just, like, in general. I also loved doing some real dangerous, self-destructive stuff. You heard that I fell of a building and busted my arm so hard that they had to get rid of it. You didn't hear that it wasn't an accident. I had swiped Mom's scrubs, and my friend John helped me stitch them together. I planned to use it as a kind of parachute, gliding gently down onto the sidewalk."
Calvin, despite himself, giggled.
"Right?! It was dumb. And I knew the plan was rickety, and so did John! So, why did I want to do it? Because... I thought it was cool. You know I love excitement, but, oh man. When I was your age, I constantly put myself in danger. I really overstepped it that time, though. And Mom!" Finn looked like it scared him just remembering her then. "Mom was ticked. I'd never seen her like that, bro. Not only had I cut up all her scrubs, I'd injured the lady I landed on top of, and gotten someone else in trouble when I stole their building pass. ( AND I got John in a lotta trouble, too.)
While I was in the hospital, I worried that I was a bad person. I felt like I didn't even deserve the sweet prothstetic that they were attaching to me," Unconsciously, Finn ran a mechanical hand through his hair. "Luckily, I had a super long time to self-reflect. At the time, I got absolutely nowhere. Fortunately for you, though, I figured out the lesson of this story about a year or two ago."
Finn stared up at the starry sky thoughtfully as he continued.
"When you're a kid, you're just trying to figure yourself out. Who you are, what your deal is. And, dude, it takes a while. And when it takes more than a hot second, you get kinda antsy. You might do some stuff that you'd not usually be doing. Like, prior to the incident, I had never done, like, anything wrong. In fact, I was obsessed with heroism and doing the right thing all the time. It was out of character to act as I did. So, Cal, tldr, growing up is tough, and you're gonna make a glob ton of mistakes trying to become... yourself."
With one last swig, Finn finished the Nocaff and chucked it towards the open recycling bin on the curb. It hit the rim, and bounced off it onto the grass.
"Oop. I'll get that later. But, dude, does that make sense?"
Calvin turned to Finn and nodded gratefully.
"Yeah. I feel a lot better now, thanks."
"Bro, that's what big brothers are for, bro."
The brothers stood as sunlight washed over Founder's Island. Day was breaking.
"Welp, I'm going back to bed. Gonna squeeze in a couple more hours of Z's, I think."
Finn opened the trapdoor and started to descend the ladder.
"Wait, Finn."
"What?"
Calvin's serious expression broke out in a huge grin.
"Dude, your story was so extreme. All I did, was, like, steal a pen from some kid."
Finn rolled his eyes.
"When I was your age, I woulda considered that highway robbery. So I'll just let that slide this time and also I'm tired."
"Okay. You go on in, I wanna stay out here a bit more."
Finn saluted and left, the trapdoor slamming shut above him.
Calvin stood for a moment in the growing light, breathing in the crisp, salty air that hinted of the nearby ocean.
Sighing with satisfaction, he hurled his finished soda bottle toward the recycling bin. It landed perfectly in its mark.