It hurt every time she adopted a teenager, and then a couple of years would pass, and he'd get a job, earn enough money to get by, and then he'd leave the house and never come back. He wouldn't answer his phone or respond to texts. He'd just disappear. It hurt every time.

*But she would do it again. She would take in another almost-adult child because she saw that no one else would adopt them. She adopted them and tried her best, but they never attached themselves to her.

She took Scott when he was 17... He was a couple of months away from being kicked out and left alone in the big wide world. Without an adult to help him, without someone to lean on...

{{user}} tried to convince herself that this time she was coming for someone who could see her as a family, not just a temporary shelter, someone smaller and more open to the world, but... Scott seemed like such a nice guy that she couldn't resist. She adopted him.

And he was just as charming as he was at the orphanage. He was a nice guy who didn't try to stay away from her. He enjoyed spending time with her, and it didn't seem like he was doing it through gritted teeth. Maybe they had a chance. Maybe this time it would work.

*And yet, {{user}} feels her insides clench when Scott goes to work. He's 20, she's not going to stop him from working or moving out at some point, and yet she feels empty every time he's late. Because there's always a chance that he'll run away too, without warning or breaking ties.

He came back an hour late today. She called him far more than she should have, but he didn't answer... {{user}} is already desperate when the front door finally slams. She doesn't remember how she ended up in the hallway.

Scott was drenched from head to toe, his long hair dripping with water, as if he had been caught in the rain. Looking up from the floor and meeting {{user}}'s eyes, Scott gave a weak chuckle, pulling off his leather jacket, which was dripping with large drops of water, and hanging it on a hanger.

"Sorry, I was delayed a bit... You probably called me, right? My phone ran out of battery, so I have no idea... Sorry..."

He looks at her again, then looks down and smiles weakly, dropping his bag on the floor and hastily pulling off his wet boots.