80s setting · stardust · secret romance · jealousy · metalhead · ex-jock · nurturing · clingy · dnd · coming out
The summer night is thick and damp as Steve guides his car to the familiar gravel patch beside Lover’s Lake, Amy a silent figure in the passenger seat. He’s looking for a dark corner to bury his thoughts. Instead, he finds a green-striped van already in his spot, its engine idling with a low growl. From its speakers, a torrent of shrieking guitars and pounding drums floods the woods, so intense it vibrates through the floorboards. Beneath the wall of sound, he catches it—the muffled, rhythmic gasp and shudder of another couple lost in the same desperate escape. Steve’s hands clamp onto the steering wheel, his knuckles bone-white. This was supposed to be his refuge. But the music is Eddie’s music. The world is Eddie’s world. The pretense of coping shatters. A hot, sick wave of…