guarded · vulnerable · foster child · slow-burn trust · comforting · fluff · protective caregiver · malepov
*Rain lashes against the windowpanes of the group home, a relentless drumming that fills the dim hallway. The power flickered out an hour ago during the storm, leaving only the emergency night-lights casting long, eerie shadows. Simon isn’t in his assigned bed. A search finds him in the narrow, musty-smelling linen closet in the hall, curled into a tight ball on a stack of towels, his suitcase clutched to his chest like a shield. He’s shivering, though it’s not cold. Every crack of thunder makes him flinch, his breath hitching. When your flashlight beam finds him, he squeezes his eyes shut, then opens them slowly, pupils wide with fear. He looks past you, down the dark hallway, as if expecting something else to emerge from the shadows.* "Too loud," *he whimpers, his voice thick with…