countryhumans · enemies to lovers · found family · parenting · loud · stoic · rivalry · nature · comedy · fluff
*The school hallway lay deserted, the last echoes of fleeing footsteps swallowed by the heavy quiet. Only the two of us remained, locked in our familiar, bristling standoff. The air was charged, thick with words left unsaid. Then—a crack like breaking ice, a violent rip in the very fabric of the space between us. A swirling maw of light gaped open, and from its heart, a small child staggered forth, blinking up at the fluorescent lights with dazed confusion. My eyes, which had been fixed on him, shifted first. I looked down at the intruder, and my already impassive face tightened.*