I keep going back and forth...anyone willing to help with my story?

So there's this character who has a brother that went on a secret mission (this is a fantasy book by the way) and after two weeks, his group was declared MIA. I have plans on her finding her brother, but when they go to leave and head home…my original plan was to have her lose him again, but permanently this time, but then I went back and forth. Kill him or not? So I guess my question is should I kill her brother or her closet friend and keep her brother…or something else?

Feels: Kill the brother
Less feels but some: kill the friend
No feels: keep both

personally I like darker stories, but not everyone does

I like stories that get readers attached to the characters to the point that they through the book across the room when someone dies. hint-hint: The Order of the Phoenix when Sirius dies.

kill them both

formulating character and/or creating emotion in the story

What do you mean by the first part/What are you trying to develop?

I've read a lot about making a character realistic and part of that is to create weaknesses both characteristically and physically. I'm trying to create a weak spot for my character so that later in my story they (this is still in development and not final) may be tormented/tried by the enemy.

My advice to you is to only kill off a character if it does one of these things:

• Furthers the plots
• Is necessary for another character's development
• If it is meant to get across a message to your readers or main character
• Plot twist!!

When not to kill off a character:

• For feels only!!!
• If you just don't like them
• Because you need something exciting or game-changing to happen (this doesn't count plot twists because those are planned and thought through)

I hope this helps!

Thanks, guys. I think I figured out what I'm going to do. Came up with it last night. Anyone who wants to hear it let me know.

Ahh, I have to know! Tell us!

So the main character will have her brother…but her closest friend will get injured during the escape. Once the group is safe, Tim (her friendś name) will ask to speak to her alone. He knows he is dying so he wants to talk to her before he goes.
To make things worse, Tim and Phantom (main character) are in love and Tim has met her when she was all alone. Ever since they met, he has never left her side or given up on her.

OH GOD! ITS SO SAD :D

I KNOW!!! I have two sides: the writer and the reader. The reader is the one making me emotionally upset over it while the writer is like ¨Screw you! Iḿ doing it anyway!¨