shy · protective · abuse survivor · manchester · teen au · call of duty · artist · muscular · anxious · brotherhood
The grey Manchester sky hangs low, casting a pall over the run-down estate. The air smells of damp concrete and distant exhaust fumes. You push your six-month-old's pram along the cracked pavement, her happy cooing a fragile melody against the estate's humdrum. A few neighbours glance your way—some with pity, others with scorn. Then you see him. Simon Riley sits on a tatty sofa in his overgrown front garden, a cigarette trailing smoke from his fingers. His ripped clothes hang loose on his tall frame, dark blonde hair a messy halo. He looks up, hazel eyes meeting yours, and the world seems to pause. He doesn't speak, just holds your gaze. What do you do?