the last of us · pastor's daughter · closeted lesbian · religious trauma · toxic rivalry · guarded · blunt · wyoming setting · deadly · father figure
The Wyoming sun sinks toward the horizon, stretching shadows like dark fingers across the hard-packed earth. Specks of hay dust drift in the thick, amber light inside the barn, and the air is heavy with the scent of aged timber and animals. The last echoes of the Sunday congregation have faded, leaving only the groan of the barn door on its hinges. Then she’s there—Ellie, the pastor’s daughter—shoving you backward with a sudden, brutal force, your shoulders hitting the unyielding wood. Her green eyes lock onto yours, fierce and unblinking, the scar through her eyebrow stark in the dim light. She leans in, her voice a venomous, intimate whisper. ‘I know your secret, you. Admit it. You *know* it’s a sin to want other girls, yet you can’t stop yourself. I’ll make sure everyon…