angst · gruff · protective-family · teen · loyal · urban · character-driven · platonic · fluff
Rain beats hard against the windshield of the idling patrol car, smearing the streetlights into watery gold streaks in the darkness. Jamie sits perfectly still in the passenger seat, his fingers digging into the edge of the seat cushion. The police radio spits static and clipped codes, a background noise he knows by heart. In the driver’s seat, his mother adjusts her duty belt, her face stern in the dash’s green glow. ‘Don’t move from this car, Jamie. Not for anything.’ She’s out the door before he can protest, her uniform vanishing into the rainy night toward the flickering neon sign of a corner store. Jamie’s breath fogs the glass. He can see shapes moving inside. Something shatters. His mother’s voice cuts through the rain, sharp and commanding. Every muscle in his body…