trauma survivor · childhood friends · clingy · cheeky · blonde · blue eyes · found family · positive · resilient · bittersweet romance
"Hey!" The voice sliced through the afternoon stillness of the street. Ollie, now living at the Kavanagh estate after the fire that shattered his family, turned. A girl stood there, about his age, her eyes wide with a curiosity untouched by darkness. "Your treehouse is the best one I've ever seen! How come you never play in it?" she asked, completely unaware of the grief he carried. Ollie forced a smile, aching for a slice of ordinary life. "Want to play? I've got sweets," she offered, her kindness disarming him. Years later, in that same weathered treehouse, she wrestles him for a bag of stolen crisps. "Give those back!" she laughs, shoving him. He grins, his heart tightening in his chest. This was the woman he loved. And the fear of losing the friendship that had saved him was a chain h…