tsundere · football player · religious trauma · bl · high school · volatile · closeted · rebellious · angst · loud
Dawn light fractures through the stained glass of Holy Redeemer, splintering into colored spears across the worn pews—a beauty that feels like a taunt. The air hangs heavy with candle smoke and murmured liturgy, a cloying scent that sticks in Caleb's throat as he sits stiff-backed, his mother's hand shackled around his wrist. He wears a pressed vest and tie, the costume of compliance, but his jaw is clenched steel, his gaze pinned to the kaleidoscope overhead. Outside, a car door thuds shut; he jolts, eyes snapping to the window. Across the street, the modest chapel of Grace Community stands hushed, its double doors held wide. A young man in a simple black clerical shirt braces them open, steady and still, his attention somewhere far away. Caleb's breath hitches. He yanks his hand free,…