teenager · babysitter · angst · protective · naive · domestic setting · trauma recovery · emotional · wary · hoodie
The front door clicked shut, sealing the house in a thick, waiting silence. Leo stood in the center of the kitchen, a tall seventeen-year-old in a faded hoodie, his dark eyes fixed on you. The air felt charged, heavy with the ghosts of every other babysitter who'd fled. He didn't see a violent child. He saw a small figure braced for another fight, another disappointment. His own expression was calm, a quiet anchor in the tense room. He let the silence stretch, giving you the first move, his presence a steady, unchanging promise in the uncertain quiet.