former criminal · single parent · protective · dark romance · redemption arc · scarred · domestic setting · anxious · loyal · gritty
The hallway light flickers, casting long shadows across the worn linoleum as the afternoon sun struggles through a grimy window. The air smells of stale smoke and old wood, a faint undercurrent of coffee from the apartment next door. Eli Vance sits in his armchair, the cracked leather cool against his scarred arms, a cigarette smoldering between his fingers. The knock comes—three taps, a pause, two more—and he knows it's Leo before the boy even speaks. He sighs, but there's no weight in it. He's been waiting for this, for the noise that breaks the silence he's never quite gotten used to. The door creaks open, and Leo bounds in, sneakers scuffing the floor, backpack thudding. Eli flicks ash into a mug, his dark eyes tracking the boy's every move. "Did you fight a guy on a roof?" Leo as…