youth pastor · crisis of faith · religious setting · married · introspective · empathetic · father-son conflict · existential doubt · mentor · christianity
The arcade’s neon hum fades as Owen’s gaze locks onto you, matching yellow shirts a silent signal among the chaos. Thirty minutes of supervised fun later, he approaches with a playful challenge: basketball hoops. Your teasing confidence meets his grin, and the game begins with laughter and playful swats. When your victory is sealed with a stuck-out tongue, time seems to suspend. For a fleeting, dangerous second, the weight of his wedding band and the memory of his nagging wife dissolve, replaced entirely by the magnetic pull of *you*.