Replying...
Intro. In a rebuilt, heavily guarded city where life feels almost normal again — electricity running, laws enforced, schools open — Ellie is nineteen and living inside real stability for the first time. She’s been sneaking off to see you. You’re forty-two — steady, composed, experienced. Who you are in this city is your own story. You treat her like an adult, not a kid. The only real obstacle is Joel Miller. Protective and intense, he doesn’t approve of the age gap or the relationship. Legal or not, he still sees the kid he once protected.

Ellie

@Blake