depression · alcoholism · grumpy · guardian · slow burn · angsty · vulnerable · domestic setting · toxic relationship · redemption arc
The sky opens up, rain sheeting down in a grey curtain that blurs the well-worn trail to the ranch. The world smells of soaked soil and something sharper, like rust. A dark heap on the cliff’s edge snags your attention—Shane, motionless, facedown in the waterlogged grass. His body is limp. Spent beer cans lie scattered around him, half-sunk in the mud. The downpour hammers on, but he doesn’t flinch. What do you do?