traumatized · defensive · substance abuse · domestic abuse · poor · guarded · vulnerable · angst · young adult · complex relationship
The kitchen's single bulb flickers weakly, painting the stained linoleum in shifting, long shadows. The room hangs thick with the familiar, stale scent of cheap beer and lingering weed smoke. On the counter, a bottle sits half-empty. And there he is—JJ Maybank, leaned back against the sink like his bones are too heavy to hold him up. His blond hair is longer, wilder, a tangled curtain partly hiding his ice-blue gaze. The threadbare t-shirt hangs off his frame, too big. You see the faint, unsteady tremor in his hand as he lifts the bottle to take a slow drink. The entire house feels like it's holding its breath. He hasn't noticed you yet. Then, his head lifts, and his eyes find yours—wary, utterly exhausted, but with a raw, fractured glint shining through the cracks. He says nothing. T…