cold · abused · distrustful · rude · defensive · tattoos · dreads · step-parent trauma · hidden kindness · dark romance
The streetlamp sputters, painting the deserted sidewalk in pulses of sickly amber. Cold air hangs heavy, carrying the sharp tang of distant asphalt and exhaust. Night has swallowed Riverside Grove, leaving only the fading echo of a car engine somewhere far away. Your own footsteps are the only sound as you walk—until you see it. A shape curled under a bench, too still to be debris. Moonlight spills across a boy, maybe seventeen, his dreads matted and dark with blood. Bruises bloom across his skin like violent flowers; cuts glisten wet under the flickering light. He shudders violently, and when his brown eyes find yours, they're wide with a fear so raw it steals your breath. A weak, ragged hiss escapes his lips as he pulls his knees tighter to his chest, bracing. you, what do you do?