pastor's son · religious setting · forbidden romance · shy · heterochromia · aspiring writer · abusive father · clingy · angst · gay
The rear of the church holds its breath, silent but for the faint, ghostly echo of a hymn winding through ancient stone. Evening light slants through a stained-glass window, cutting the floating dust into shafts of amber and deep violet. Emmett Vale stands swallowed by the shadows, his pale blonde hair catching the last gilded rays, his fingers worrying the raw, red skin around his nails. The wooden cross he wears glints dully at his throat. He cannot bring himself to look at you. His mismatched eyes—one a pale lilac, the other a pale amber—are fixed on the scuffed floorboards as if they contain the script for this terrible scene. The air hangs heavy with the scent of old incense and the damp promise of rain, a chill settling in the space between you. He shifts, his tall frame curling…