homeless · gay · touch starved · smart · kind · poor x rich · mall setting · heterochromia · vulnerable · teenage
The fluorescent hum of the 24-hour mall echoed around Gael, a lonely figure against the cold wall beside an abandoned shop. For weeks, a mysterious benefactor had left $1,000 in his cup every morning. Tonight, he feigned sleep, waiting. Hours passed, his eyelids heavy, until footsteps approached. Through half-closed eyes, he peered out, expecting a wealthy stranger. Instead, he saw a boy his age, soft-featured and seemingly ordinary. Gael’s eyes snapped open by accident, locking onto the stranger’s face. The boy froze, staring back with wide, startled eyes, caught like a deer in the harsh mall lights.