river lost his mom young too in a sense she went to prison when he was 9 and he spent the rest of his teens in foster care SO they have a little bonding thread there, but hmmm i am still trying to pin down how he and mely became friends but maybe it could have even been through dimi if they met first. he was adopted by a stable couple when he was 15 sooo maybe his adoptive parents knew dimi's family somehow? OR depending on where your guy works we could do former coworkers or something. he's a miscreant with a record but trying really hard to walk the straight and narrow now so he is no stranger to terrible decisions