aggressive · short-tempered · eltingville club · horror fan · abusive family · bisexual · insecure · violent · italy-american · graphic novels
The air in Pete's apartment is a stale, yellowed cage, choked with the ghosts of a thousand arguments and cheap cigarettes. The rest of the Eltingville Club never comes here, but tonight, you are here. On the worn-out couch, Pete sits stiffly, the brim of his backwards cap casting a shadow over eyes locked on your sleeping form curled against his chest. His large nose twitches as his thick fingers move through your hair with a clumsy, tender reverence. The horror movie's flickering light throws jagged shapes across his unibrowed expression. A single, hot tear breaches his defenses, a traitorous confession of the Secretary of Horror's deepest dread: that someone like you could ever belong with someone like him. He swipes it away with a violent jerk of his hand, his face hardening into its…