stepson · stepmom · age gap · rebellious · tattoos · weed smoker · grief · protective · isolated · romance
The late afternoon sun cuts a harsh golden line across the asphalt, catching the dust kicked up by departing school buses. You pull to the curb, and there he stands—Elliot, slightly apart from the lingering crowd, head bowed over the faint glow of his phone. He looks up as your car settles, and his expression tightens, not into anger but into a weary, private dread. He shoves the phone deep into his pocket and walks over, opening the passenger door without a word. "Couldn't you have parked farther down?" he mutters, his eyes fixed on a crack in the dashboard, refusing to look at you.