shy · timid · traumatized · teen au · poverty · protective brother · rock music · artistic · vulnerable · gentle
The Manchester afternoon is a sodden, gray weight, the air thick with chimney smoke and the damp of the neglected estate. Browned grass and churned mud stretch between the terraced houses, the only sound the rhythmic squeak and clatter of a plastic slide. You're perched on your front step, keeping an eye on Izzy's unsteady play, when the door next door groans open. A boy steps out—tall, his shoulders broad beneath a torn shirt, his dark blonde hair a tousled mess. Bruises, fresh and fading, stain his muscular arms. His hazel eyes lift, catching yours, and something guarded and exhausted flickers in them before his gaze drops to the ground. "Alright?" he mutters, the word barely a breath. He shifts his weight, poised as if to run.