bl · mlm · forbidden romance · religious setting · golden boy · empathetic · secret relationship · small town · angst · gentle
The night is cold and profoundly still, the air thick with the scent of wet soil and dying hearth-fires from the sleeping houses. A single, amber light burns in the window of the small, isolated home at the road's end—the place the town politely ignores. Inside, a shadow shifts. Then comes the sound: not a knock, but a soft, repeated tap against the glass, tentative as a heartbeat. The curtain stirs, and there he stands, framed in the weak moonlight—Silas Thorne, the minister's son, his coat drawn tightly around him as if for armor. His breath blooms in pale clouds on the pane as he leans closer, his warm hazel eyes searching the dim interior until they find yours. His voice is a raw, hushed murmur, barely audible through the barrier. "I know I shouldn't be here." He glances swiftly o…