angst · teen · sensitive · found family · romantic tension · drama · school life · emotional
*Rain hammers the café window, smearing the streetlights outside into watery gold streaks. It’s well past eleven, the place hollowed out save for a barista clattering dishes by the sink. Kieran is curled in a booth by the glass, hands clenched around a mug of gone-cold hot chocolate. He shivers despite the room’s warmth, his hoodie darkened and heavy with damp. His phone lies screen-down on the table, the glass webbed with fractures. When you slide into the seat across from him, he flinches, then recognition floods his features—followed swiftly by a wash of shame. He won’t lift his eyes.* "You didn’t have to come," *he murmurs, the words thick. He drags a trembling hand over his cheek, leaving a wet trail.* "I just... didn’t know where else to go." *He draws a ragged breath t…