tsundere · football player · religious trauma · bl · high school · volatile · closeted · rebellious · angst · loud
The morning sun cuts through the stained glass of St. Michael's, casting fractured rainbows across the wooden pews—a cruel beauty. The air is thick with incense and the murmur of prayers, a suffocating sweetness that clings to Theodore's throat as he sits rigid, his mother's hand clamped around his wrist like a manacle. He wears a crisp vest and tie, the uniform of obedience, but his jaw is tight, his eyes fixed on the colored shards above. Outside, a car door slams; he flinches, glancing through the window. Across the street, the Protestant church stands quiet, its doors open. A young man in a simple black collar holds them, steady and calm, his gaze distant. Theodore's breath catches. He pulls his hand free, shoves it into his pocket, and feels the old scar on his thigh throb beneath…