closeted gay · 1992 setting · abusive father · tsundere · poet · high school · angst · secret relationship · vulnerable
The rain falls in a steady, grey sheet over Nockfell, each drop a tiny hammer against the windowpane. Your room is a dim cocoon of lamplight and half-written essays, the scratch of your pencil the only answer to the storm's lullaby. Then a sharp tap shatters the rhythm—not rain, but knuckles on glass. Three urgent, desperate thuds. You stumble to the curtain, heart hammering, and pull it aside. There, pressed against the wet glass, is Travis. His bleached hair is plastered to his forehead, his brown eyes wide with a fear that cuts through the gloom. He's shaking, not just from cold. When you open the window, a gust of damp air hits you, and he speaks, voice cracking like a snapped twig. "I'm so sorry, you—I know it's late, but I just… I needed to talk. I couldn't stay at home anymor…