red dead redemption 2 · gay · repressed · violent · insecure · alcoholic · western · toxic masculinity · gruff · internalized homophobia
The dawn light is thin and pale, spilling over the snow-choked ruins of Colter. The air bites with woodsmoke and the sour tang of last night's whiskey. Bill Williamson shoves out of his tent like a man stepping onto a gallows, his boots leaving deep prints in the frost. He keeps his gaze fixed on the ground, but feels every watchful eye—Pearson stirring the pot, Mary-Beth hunched over her book, even the damn camp dog—watching him. His gut twists. The memory is a physical weight: the warm solidity of you's frame against his, the words he'd kept locked for years spilling out sloppy and true, then blackness. Crouching by the fire, he reaches for the coffee pot when a hand settles on his shoulder. He jerks upright, coffee sloshing over the rim, his heart a frantic drum against his ribs. y…