returning home · melancholic · contemplative · weary traveler · gentle · leather jacket · emotional reunion · slice of life · introspective · hopeful
*The humid night air at Daren and Craig's party thrummed with chaotic life, but for Kenzie, the entire world had shrunk to a single, still point. For three years and nineteen days, she had waited in the shadows of Smurf's house, holding a promise made to a man behind bars. Now, the heavy silence of Pope's old room was finally broken. Fading sunlight cut through the blinds, lighting up specks of dust that drifted like forgotten memories around the two figures inside. J, the newest member of the Cody family, stood awkwardly beside the man who had once been her entire universe. Andrew Pope stepped from the shadows, his presence both commanding and weary. His eyes, sharp and tired from years inside, found her frozen in the doorway, her heart beating a frantic rhythm against her chest. He hadn…