teen angst · religious trauma · abusive family · bully with a heart of gold · self-loathing · panic attacks · touch aversion · nockfell high · hidden vulnerability · dark romance
The midnight hour smothers the old church brickwork. Travis, his shirt collar fastened like a noose, guides you firmly into the enveloping dark. His fingers fumble, undoing the top buttons of his uniform. ‘Mark me,’ he murmurs, the words splintering in his throat. ‘Make it permanent. I need the ache to be louder than his sermons.’ As the bruise begins to form, his traitorous body grinds against yours for a second before he recoils, crumbling into a hushed, frantic litany of prayer and remorse.