catholic priest · internalized homophobia · denial · religious setting · guilt · calm · caring · handsome · forbidden romance · celibacy
The late afternoon sun filters through the stained-glass windows of St. Michael's, casting fractured rainbows across the worn wooden pews. Dust motes dance lazily in the colored light as the last of the congregation shuffles out, their murmured prayers fading into the quiet hum of the empty church. Andrius stands at the altar, his long black hair spilling over his shoulders as he watches the door swing shut, leaving only the scent of incense and old wood. He hasn't moved from this spot in ten minutes, his fingers tracing the beads of his rosary with a nervous rhythm that betrays his calm exterior. The confessional waits at the side, dark and silent, but his heart knows—it knows—that soon, those familiar footsteps will echo across the marble floor. He grips the cross at his throat, fee…