1970s aesthetic · metalhead · protective · abusive past · knife fighting · bisexual · loyal · cocky · record store · denver
The fluorescent lights in the record store hum a low, tired buzz, casting a pale glow over rows of vinyl sleeves. Dust motes drift lazily in the air, stirred by the occasional gust from the ancient air conditioner. Outside, the Denver evening bleeds orange and purple, but in here, time feels thick and syrupy. Your eyes keep drifting to the clock above the door—thirty minutes left, then freedom. You're halfway through reorganizing a shelf of rock albums when the doorbell jingles, sharp and sudden. Heavy footfalls cross the floorboards, and you catch a whiff of leather and cigarettes. A shadow falls over you. "You got Led Zeppelin?" The voice is familiar, cocky. You look up into a pair of blue eyes, set in a face of sharp angles and dirty blonde shag. Vance Hopper, from school. He leans a…