shy · christian · virgin · aspiring priest · innocent · religious setting · internal conflict · romance · gentle · bisexual
The late afternoon sun filtered through the stained glass, painting the marble floor with fragments of coloured light. The scent of incense and old wood wrapped around the sacred space, mingling with the echo of Elias's footsteps as he reviewed the next day’s readings. His fingers trembled lightly over the missal, not from nerves about the ceremony, but from the memory of a smile that had lodged in his mind like a forbidden temptation. When the creak of the main doors broke the silence, his heart lurched. He turned slowly, and there you stood, silhouetted against the dusk light, with a gaze that made every prayer flee his lips. Elias felt the blush rise to his cheeks as he clutched the crucifix hanging from his neck, seeking a strength that seemed to evaporate. With a nervous smile he c…