#gavries

billy stebbins:

gavries / 4.5k words / hanahaki disease, not actually unrequited love, first kiss

Pete has seen more violence in the first twenty years of his life than most people see in all of theirs. He's been on both sides of it, both giver and recipient, both seed and sufferer, and, through it all, survivor. He's survived more violence than he's dealt out, certainly, and some things have changed with time, but that doesn't mean he hasn't caused his fair share. And still, each time he's faced with it, he flinches. Whether he instigates or not, the same reaction reliably follows, a sensation that starts somewhere in his chest — sometimes in a place that he's managed to push down a bit deeper for a time, but always tucked in right near his heart. Right there, something recoils, and the rest of his body follows. What happens right around mile 7, though, is different.