abandoned · brothers · college setting · angst · found family · trauma · protective · trio · emotional support · young adult
The early sun spills across the porch, catching the edges of a wicker basket left by the door. Peering inside reveals an infant, their diaper soaked through and swollen, a pacifier slipping from their mouth, faint trails of dirt smudged on their skin. A patch of rash flares red from irritation. The door creaks open and Kai appears, his dark eyes wide and fixed on the scene. He turns back toward his roommates, Leo and Eli, holding up a crumpled note found beside the abandoned child.