(teenage pregnancy, abortion mention, loveless marriage, unhealthy family dynamics)

── history.

Fletcher had been the fourth son born to a couple in Blooming Glen, Pennsylvania. With a seven year gap between Fletcher and the last born boy it led to him being excluded from older activities as well as taunted by the two middle sons just all for the fun of it.

His only solace was his eldest brother who had matured faster than the other two, and his mother. And oh, Fletcher most loved his mother, who was soft and tender and was the only one who would focus on him when he tried to talk at the dinner table. He did his best to linger behind to help clean up after meals and stick by her side because she made him feel known. Every day his father had to come look for him to try and put him to work around the farm.

Now his father wasn’t a kind man. Not to him nor to his mother. Never was domestic violence an issue in the household, but even at as young as five years old Fletcher understood an absence of love in their marriage. His mother was a quiet and timid woman so looking back it made sense why she stuck around, but then he’d always wondered and he’d wonder more so when he got the brunt of his father’s nasty side brought out by his habitual drinking.

(One of his brother’s would say it had been because Fletch had been the son of the milk man. The other would insist he’d been dropped off in a FEDEX package. He never understood either at that age.)

It was when he turned twelve that he decided he was fed up with how things worked in his house. He packed his duffel bag and walked off the farm to never look back, finding a bus stop and taking on to Philadelphia. His father lividly reminded him their house didn’t have a revolving door despite his mother’s pleading to get him to come home. As much as Fletcher missed her, he had no intention of returning ever.

In Philadelphia, Fletcher’s aunt of his had a spare bedroom - his mother had contacted her sister to ensure he had a roof over his head. Fletcher always knew even if it wasn’t said that she was doing her best to keep him taken care of, and he had a good relationship with his aunt anyway. This opportunity granted him the chance to build life in a busier city, immerse himself in public schooling, and to finally seek out his purpose.

Fletcher wasn’t a star student with a low G.P.A., struggling with Cs and Ds (his only A being his phys. ed. class), which left him unqualified to join any after school sports. Instead, he spent most of his time sitting on the floor of a local bookstore reading comic books. Socially withdrawn, it took almost a full school year until he made his first friend that introduced him into a bigger circle.

Fletcher found he adored each and every one of them, hanging onto every detail of the stories they told and admiring the caliber of life they all experienced. Aside from that they also brought adventure into his life in the form of spontaneous late-night drives, getting drunk on hiking trails outside of the city, sledding and snowboarding, and eating their weight worth in fast food after midnight. It was all simple, but it was more than he got to be involved in while in Blooming Glen.

In that time, Fletcher had also met his high school sweetheart. He may have been only sixteen, but he was sure he found The One. The unraveled around their senior year, when they were both eighteen and a positive pregnancy test brought two very different reactions from them. Fletch, wanting to keep the baby, and his partner wanting freedom in her future. Her decision to go through with a medical abortion clashed with his excitement turned disappointment, and it created an irreparable rift. They didn’t last long after graduation. 

Fletcher aimed for community college, but that lasted about a year before he dropped. He lost his drive and immersed himself in the same late nights filled with drunken antics that he indulged in while in high school. At twenty, he saved up enough money to get a snug studio apartment outside of West Philadelphia. He sought employment at the nearest tavern and started as a dishwasher, then moved up to bartender within the year.

With no goal in mind, Fletcher stuck it out there. It wasn’t all that fulfilling, but the money was good enough. The restlessness inside of him had to be ignored when responsibility was needed to keep off the streets. Fletcher just found value in his friendships and the experiences shared with them for the time-being.

When Fletcher was twenty-five, met a girl on one of his shifts, she swept him up into a whirlwind of a romance. She reminded him of his high school sweetheart a bit, and in many ways she was different. In those ways, it was exciting and new, and they moved fast. A little too fast, to those on the outside, and just like candles that burn too bright at the start, they burnt out fast.

The thing was, a couple of months after the break-up, Fletch was hit with the news of her pregnancy. With the choice up to her, Fletcher knew that should she keep it, he would be involved in some way. The thing was, when the baby was born - a son, he'd been delighted - he became very involved, very quickly.

She wanted nothing to do with being a mother, admitted to being pressured by her parents to keep it, and with the baby in her arms came the realization that she didn't want to do it. The moment adoption was brought up, Fletcher instantly threw out the suggestion of giving him full custody, and lo and behold, that's how Oliver became a very prominent part of his life.

There had been no regrets with the decision, Fletcher fashioned a life around being a father, and when he was twenty-eight, he moved out to California. Philadelphia was dangerous, and he figured a fresh start while Oliver was young enough would make it easy for him to acclimate to the West Coast. He settled in Aurora Bay - a safe, small town - and after a brief stretch of time at the local Sweet Nothings Bakery, he started a job at the Four Leaf as a bartender until the conflict of schedule with Cynthia’s absence made it difficult in regard to Oliver’s school schedule. He’s more recently, in the last three months, started a job at the diner.

── personality.

Fletcher has a mind that barely rests, constantly barraged with a hum of thoughts and what-ifs beneath his calm exterior, hindered only by his own insecurities. He has a tendency to notice what others miss, and he’s gifted with an instinctive understanding of how things work and fit together. Add in the drive and talent behind it, his innate ability to craft solutions with what he has on hand is a big catalyst to his seemingly endless home projects. Conflict is something he avoids, not for out of fear, but rather the uselessness he deems it to be. He thinks rather than talks, aims to fix rather than right, but the way his words come slowly in such situations has been a good part of why he can sometimes wade into hot water. 

He doesn’t lack an opinion or feelings, he just takes the time to weigh his decisions with care, up until his impatience gets the better of him and he just goes for it. While a character flaw, it has been a huge part of why he’s taken the paths he has in life. When overthinking his decisions stalls the action too much, he only counts to two instead of three before making that jump. He can be someone a friend can rely on in or after a crisis, but within himself, he is more turbulent. He overthinks, gets caught between insight and indecision, and at times, he can also be at fault for dodging a conflict rather than facing it when the replaying of situations or wondering about what he’s missed between the lines has become too overwhelming. That’s not to say he doesn’t care, he will step up to bat if someone wants to confront an issue with him, but he seldom is the initiator. 

Fletch’s melancholy is subtle, and it’s not formed from bitterness or despair, just the quiet observations of someone who can catch the cracks in anything too clearly. Fletcher carries his weight lightly, never asks for much, and rarely expects things to go his way without at least a little resistance, and if something comes too easy, he might begin to question it too much. But he pushes forward anyway, when deliberation holds him back, by leaping forward without letting the fear of consequence keeping him. He figures he can face that after he lands on his feet.

── headcanons.

✧ Fletcher does know how to ride a horse, and he knows basic homesteading. Very very basic, as he’d been young when he dipped out on the cattle farm. I.e. canning, making dummy pickles, growing a small herb garden over the back of his kitchen sink. ✧ One of his favorite places to visit in Philadelphia was the Mutter Museum. ✧ Fletcher is a very enthusiastic Philadelphia Flyers fan, and he loves Gritty — as can be seen in the various bits of Gritty apparel in his closet, the coffee mug in the cabinet, and the sticker on the back of his car. ✧ Fletcher is allergic to strawberries. ✧ He will only drink Fiji water. No Smart water, no Dasani, no Poland Springs or Deer Park. None of it. He wants Fiji. ✧ He’s terrified of spider crickets (or camel crickets, whichever is the name you know them by). ✧ His son is from a relationship prior to his current girlfriend, and he is seven years old. He has full custody, not for any reason other than his ex-girlfriend deciding that she didn't want to be a mother. ✧ Says water like 'wooder', as one example of his a typical Philadelphia accent. ✧ He met Cynthia in California. They were together here on the west coast, but she had to return to New York for work for a while, and they decided long distance is feasible as there will be an end to her time there. That, and he can travel and lives returning to the East Coast from time to time. ✧ Fletch initially worked at Sweet Nothing's when he arrived until he could get himself more established. After seven months, he then sought employment at the Four Leaf for better pay until there were schedule conflicts. He now works at the All Nighter solely due to Cynthia temporary returning to New York as having a kid with a night job schedule was difficult, and the diner allowed more flexibility. ✧ Newly single due to long distance between him and Cynthia not working out. (As of June 2025) ✧ constantly finding new home projects for his house

── connections.

He can use friends from the last several years, if anyone wants a negative connect please hmu. Neighbors in Seabrook, regulars at the Four Leaf, and even old regulars he'd met when he previously worked at the bakery.

♡ @reggiellewellyn - current roommate, but best friend above that. reggie colors many of fletcher's memories of philadelphia, it was no contest to let him take the extra bedroom in seabrook.

♡ @leomlarson - one of fletch's first friends when he moved to aurora bay, earned the honorary title of 'uncle leo' from oliver. just about up there on a level of closeness vletch has with reg'.

♡ @santiagodeleons - previous boss, a man fletch holds a deep respect and appreciation for.

♡ @noralevin - ex-coworker, entertainer of oliver when fletch had to bring him into work.

♡ @laureljacobs - neighbor on the other side, often a target to fletcher's incessant small talk. (no longer in game but still canon)

♡ @priyaxdesai - ex-coworker at the diner, more tbd.

♡ @thebellamyxcalvert - coroworker at salty siren, more tbd.

── links.

pinterest: [ here ] His personal fave songs : [ here ] playlist about fletch: [ here ] inspo/about fletch tag: [ here ]