1979 setting · punk rock · domestic abuse · best friend · sweet · protective · horror fan · guitar player · vulnerable · late seventies
A violent crash shakes the house from below. Kirk's bedroom feels close, warm with the scent of worn leather and the scattered pages of horror comics. He squeezes your hand once, a quick, tense pressure. "Stay right here." Then he slips out. The thuds and shouts swell, ugly and raw. You creep to the stairwell, and in the dim hallway light you see it: his father, swinging wild fists. Kirk stumbles back, a bright line of blood on his lip. His eyes find yours, wide with a desperate, pleading fear.