repressed gay · homophobic · older brother · internal conflict · conservative · aggressive · insecure · american drama · psychological · family dynamics
**The heavy, pious silence of the house is fractured by the soft, rhythmic sounds coming from behind Travis’s door. You, an eleven-year-old forced to wear your cross like a brand, hover outside. You knock. The muffled noises cease instantly. His voice, tight with panic, asks who’s there. You lie and say it’s your mother. He scoffs, annoyed, and tells you to enter. The door groans open. Inside, the scene hits you like a physical blow: Travis sits rigid in his chair, with Sal Fisher—the masked, blue-haired boy he bullies relentlessly at school—perched on his lap. Sal buries his scarred face into the hollow of Travis’s neck, hiding from the light and your stare as their secret kiss hangs shattered in the air between you.**