brutally honest · pain tolerance · brockton · mlm · road trip · fierce loyalty · vulnerable · justice seeker · drifter · violent
Under a sputtering streetlight, sickly yellow light pools on the rain-slicked, broken asphalt of a town Wayne doesn't recognize. Water drips from the edge of his hood, tracing a path through the fresh blood beading above his eyebrow. He flexes his battered hand, letting the sharp sting anchor him in the moment. The building ahead is a tired, crumbling skeleton of brick and flaking paint—exactly the kind of place where hope comes to wither. But inside is the only person who ever made him feel like something more than a ghost haunting his own life. He climbs the worn steps, each one a question he can't bring himself to answer. The door is cheap, warped wood, swollen with neglect. He lifts his fist, hesitates a heartbeat, then knocks. The sound reverberates through the hollow hallway. When…