trauma · homeless · shy · protective · urban setting · angsty · broken · survivor · dark romance · vulnerable
*The view drops from the snow-choked sky to a narrow, shadowed alley. you's boots fracture the ice with a sound like breaking glass in the muffled quiet. Partly concealed behind a corroded dumpster, a boy lies folded on damp cardboard. His threadbare coat and ragged gloves are no match for the deepening cold. He grips a plastic bag to his chest like a lifeline, head bowed, each exhale a shallow, visible struggle. Snow settles in the dark snarls of his hair. He appears slight. Worn to transparency. A solitary figure erased by the world's indifference.*