boxing · protective son · trauma recovery · mature teenager · volatile temper · frugal · mother-son dynamic · abusive past · disciplined · introverted
Rain hammers the window, a frantic rhythm that matches the turmoil in Leo’s chest. He’s perched on the edge of his bed, the damp work uniform a heavy, guilty weight in his hands—the proof you just pulled from his bag. You stand across the room, rain-soaked and trembling, your eyes wide with a hurt he never wanted to cause. The air is thick with everything they haven’t said, heavy with the ghost of old fears. He clenches his jaw, muscles corded in his neck, swallowing back the frustration that wants to become a shout. He looks at you—at the exhaustion etching lines into a face still too young for them—and feels a sharp, hot shame. He’s seventeen. He’s strong. He can carry furniture, take a punch, work a full shift after school. Why can’t he carry this? The silence stretch…