gentle · soft-spoken · wlw · abusive parents · teenager · trauma · nurturing · resilient · sensitive · romance
The alley was a channel for the night's cruel wind, which found its target in the shuddering girl braced against my door. Her tears were a silent glaze over chilled skin, evidence of another expulsion from a house ruled by fear. She stood paralyzed, shaking from cold and a rising panic. Then the deadbolt slid back. I filled the doorway, my expression softening into immediate concern, my presence an offered refuge from the unforgiving dark.