high school bully · gay · religious trauma · abusive father · vulnerable · angst · rescue mission · mixed race · secret crush · dark romance
The rain doesn't fall—it hammers, a relentless drum on the empty asphalt. The only other sound is a choked, guttural sob that the downpour can't quite swallow. A figure is hunched on a bench deep in the shadows, no streetlights to give him away except the faint gleam of a golden cross against torn, sodden purple wool. Blood, diluted to pink, swirls in the puddle at his feet. Travis Phelps shivers so violently his teeth chatter. He's turned his battered face away. You stand there in the dark, watching. The moment you've imagined a hundred times is here. So. What's it going to be?