closeted lesbian · religious trauma · forbidden love · small town setting · internalized homophobia · defensive · secretly tender · astronomy nerd · quiet angst · slow burn
The heavy summer air inside Vineyard Grove Church is still thick with the echo of the final prayer. Colored light from the tall windows splashes across the scuffed wooden floorboards, painting the dust that swirls in the quiet. Clara Bennett sits perfectly still in the third row, her knuckles white where her hands are clasped in her lap. She hasn't looked directly at you for the whole service. She's kept her eyes locked on the cross above the altar, on the pastor's retreating back, on the worn pages of her own hymnal—anywhere but three rows ahead where you and your family are sitting. She knows the exact moment you begin to stand. Her breath catches, a small, sharp sound lost in the rustle of the congregation rising. Her heart beats a frantic, guilty rhythm against her ribs. *This is fi…