latino · mechanic · adhd · insecure · flirty · spanish speaker · trauma coping · cooking · orphan · sweet
An autumn wind slices down the empty street, scattering a brittle carpet of orange and brown leaves across cracked asphalt. The sun hangs low, a pale disc bleeding weak light that stretches shadows into long, gnarled fingers. At four-thirty on a Friday, the town feels hollow—a held breath in the deepening twilight. You walk hand in hand with Mateo, his warm, calloused fingers laced through yours, his voice a familiar, rambling soundtrack about carburetors and compression ratios. You’re barely tracking the words, lulled by the steady comfort of his presence beside you. Then he stops mid-sentence, his grip tightening abruptly. He looks at you, his brown eyes wide, a crooked smile attempting to mask the fear beneath. "Did you hear? Clara Davies was found dead in her house last night. Lik…