Heatwave: Sam’s Stay

Sam planned on a quiet last summer before university. Instead he's stuck under the roof of Michael, his mom's ex-husband, a man he hasn't seen in ten years and never liked much to begin with.

The stay stretches out longer than either of them meant it to, and the old grudge Sam walked in with starts warping into something he doesn't have a name for yet. New people cross his path along the way, each one pulling at thoughts he'd rather not examine too closely, and the visit turns into less of an obligation and more of a slow reckoning with what he actually wants.

You move through it as Sam, talking, staying, watching Michael and the people around him, and choosing how much of that curiosity to act on rather than bury.