The First Touch

Tom never meant to linger at the service station that night. One glance too long, and everything changed. Beaten down and terrified, nineteen-year-old Tom is saved by Michael — a man twice his age, hardened by a past he doesn’t talk about. What begins in violence becomes something else: a quiet bond that grows in diners and lay-bys, in laughter and silence, in the unlikeliest of places. But trust doesn’t come easily. Tom has never loved before. Michael has been hurt too many times to believe he deserves it. Together, they must navigate shame, fear, and the weight of their worlds colliding. The First Touch is a story of vulnerability and strength, of two strangers who find something worth holding on to — even when the night tries to take it away.