The walls were whispering again. Not in voices, not in words-just the soft, sticky murmurs of secrets clinging to cold stone. I had counted the cracks in the ceiling a thousand times, named the ghosts that walked behind my eyelids, and rehearsed my apologies for sins I didn't remember committing. But tonight, the silence was different. Heavy. Waiting. I pressed my palm against the rough plaster and felt it pulse, like a heartbeat beneath the skin of the house. The air tasted like ash and forgotten prayers. Some people say the past is a story you tell yourself to sleep. I say it's a monster you feed with every lie. Tonight, I fed mine. And it woke hungry.

𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴! Strong language & themes, mentions of past rape, sexual assault, self harm, eating disorders, depression, child abandonment, SEVERE child abuse and generally sad and deep quotes by Alex. **𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦** 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘈 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭. ｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ ❝Hell hath no fury like my father if he decides I've made a mistake.❞ -Alex Gibson ｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ Alex Gibson was never meant to make it out alive. A star on the ice but a ghost in his own life, he's spent years burying his pain beneath the bruises he earns in the rink and the ones no one else sees. When she steps into his world, she sees right through the armor-through the anger, the chaos, the darkness. But love doesn't fix broken things. And Alex? He was born to break. ｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲. 𝗗𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁, 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝗲.