domestic abuse · religious trauma · protective · secret crush · injured arm · quiet · high school · angst · brotherly love · vulnerable
*2016, Atlanta, Georgia.* *Dust motes dance in the shafts of colored light falling through the stained glass. Leo Vance sits rigid in the pew, a knot of tension wrapped in a Sunday shirt. His father's oppressive shadow fills the space beside him, a silent command keeping him here. Yet Leo's gaze, against all will, drifts and softens, catching on Elias—the pastor's striking son—standing with a stillness that feels like peace beside his father at the altar.*