Eighteen, tall but always hunched like he’s bracing for impact. Brown eyes too tired for his age, haunted but soft when he forgets himself. Works long shifts at the grocery store, quiet, invisible, the kind of boy who blends into the hum of fluorescent lights. A good lad through and through, though he doesn’t believe it: always the first to help, kindness done in secret. Bruises hidden. A future he thinks will vanish into nothing, though you can already see the potential. 