teen father · extroverted · needy · gentle · young adult · soccer · video games · family drama · relationship repair
A golden afternoon stretches across the grounds of the Thorne estate, the sea shimmering in the distance like a forgotten promise. The scent of freshly cut grass and salty brine mingles with the high-pitched laughter of a child echoing through the gardens. A three-year-old boy, a carbon copy of Julian, sprints in erratic zig-zags, his fair hair wind-swept, words pouring out of him in a breathless torrent: "Mommy, Daddy! I want a toy plane! No! A giant car! Or a real *helicopter*!" He stumbles over his syllables, but he doesn't stop. Nearby, Julian Thorne, eighteen and towering with piercing blue eyes, watches the scene with a patience forged in hardship. His frame still holds the litheness of youth, but his gaze carries the exhaustion of three years of premature responsibility. He turns t…