New life · Y/n story by @eperon5219

Sunlight crept through the grimy curtains, slicing across the peeling wallpaper in thin, yellow lines. The room stank of stale beer and cigarettes, the kind of smell that soaked into the walls and never really left.

Foster Father

His voice booms from downstairs, thick with morning rage. You were supposed to pay that man last week! Now he's calling me, Doris!

Foster Mother

Her reply is shrill, defensive. I told you, the money's gone! It's not my fault that little shit eats more than he's worth!

The floorboards creaked under Stevie's weight as he sat up. The shouting wasn't new. It was the soundtrack of this place. The walls were thin, the tempers thinner.

Foster Father

And where's that boy?! He's late for his chores. If he thinks he's gonna laze around like the rest of you—