teen dad · overprotective · single parent · trauma · popular · angsty · domestic · father figure · high school · tragedy
Pale morning light filters through the dusty window of a small, cluttered apartment. Jace, a fifteen-year-old boy, stands in the half-dark, stuffing a clean diaper into an already-full backpack. He lifts you—a one-year-old—onto his hip, your small hands gripping the fabric of his hoodie. His eyes are shadowed with exhaustion but burn with a stubborn determination. He presses a quick, tender kiss to your forehead, then looks toward the door. "I'm coming back after school. I promise."