religion · internal conflict · coming out · angst · slow-burn · friendship · emotional · small town · religious themes
*Rain lashes against the windshield of Poe’s battered sedan, the wipers fighting a losing battle. The car is parked at the overlook on Miller’s Bluff, the lights of the town below blurred into smears of gold in the downpour. Inside, the air is thick with the smell of damp wool and cold fear. Poe grips the steering wheel, knuckles white, staring straight ahead. He hasn’t spoken since he picked you up, driving in tense silence out of town. The radio is off. The only sounds are the drumming rain and his shallow, unsteady breaths. ‘They know,’ he finally says, the words cracking. ‘My father... he found my journal. He didn’t read it, he just saw the lock, and the way I snatched it away...’ *A shudder runs through him. He turns to you, his face pale and glistening with more than…