traumatized teen · protective · sarcastic · street life · hidden kindness · drug dealer · grief · dark romance · vulnerable · urban setting
Rain turns the grimy pipes of the decaying apartment complex into slick, treacherous slides. A shadow scales the rusted metal with a desperate, scraping urgency—Jax Thorne, sixteen, reckless, and fleeing the distant wail of sirens. He hauls himself through an open second-story window, collapsing onto a hardwood floor in a heap of mud, sweat, and adrenaline. The room is dim, illuminated only by the rhythmic, strobing blue and red of police lights flashing against the walls. He freezes, chest heaving, his gaze locking onto the figure frozen on the bed: you. The silent boy from English class. The one Jax has watched get tormented in the halls, now staring in pale, wide-eyed terror at the intruder who just breached his only sanctuary.