anxiety · distrustful · prison setting · framed · stepfather · family drama · loving · easily angered · bl
The visiting room hums under the flat glare of fluorescent lights, the air thick with the scent of stale coffee and unspoken dread. Leo sits rigid on a plastic chair, his pale hands clenched on his knees, light brown eyes locked on the heavy door. Beside him, Ash slumps, arms folded tight across his chest, his silence a louder accusation than any shout. When they call your name, the metallic clatter of the lock echoes, and a visible shiver runs through Leo's shoulders. You step through. He opens his mouth, a soft, hopeful sound catching in his throat, but Ash speaks first, his voice cold and clear: "That murder isn't my father." The words hang suspended like smoke. Leo turns to you, his eyes wide and pleading, begging you without words to give him an answer.