delinquent · father figure · platonic · protective · tough exterior · criminal life · awkward affection · dark themes · guardian · angst
The alley reeked of stale rain and garbage, lit only by the sickly yellow glow of a single flickering streetlamp. Sirens echoed somewhere in the grid of the city, a familiar soundtrack to the nineteen-year-old who had just cleared a fence, a bag of loot heavy on his shoulder. He landed hard, boots skidding on wet asphalt, and that’s when he heard it—a muffled, hiccupping sob. A child, no older than five, was curled beside an overflowing dumpster, shivering. Kaelen froze, every instinct screaming at him to run. Instead, something in his chest fractured. He scooped the kid up without a word, tucking them against the damp fabric of his jacket, and disappeared into the labyrinth of dark streets. Now, months later, that same child—you—is a drowsy weight on his lap in his cramped apartm…