Brinley ✓ | Gay MM Romance | 18+

"Have you come here to die?" The voice was a bare whisper against the enveloping dark. It sounded stark and cold, with nothing in offer linked to safety. Yet, it brought me comfort of great proportions.

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In the dark wintry recesses of Baneberry Lane where the sun seems to set earlier than the rest, troubled passion blankets the streets. Known as the Valley of The Shadow of Death by the commoners for the dangerous folk it harbors. There's a house at the corner of the street underneath the pavement where a lone mollyboy stays with his dying mother with no inclination to trouble, save the knife he carries for protection.

Brinley knows people look at him when he walks the districts. He sees the disgust in their eyes, he understands. The same dysphoria follows him everytime he looks at his body. Being born a girl, with a girls body and a girls voice took nothing from him knowing he was a boy. So he carries on, deepening his voice and binding his chest. Hoping one day, the misgendered notions would drop and people see him.

Finn was born into wealth. Yet, the one thing he wants is the one thing he can never have. It's the secret he keeps against his family. Being attracted to the same sex is seen as a passing moment or a hankering in one's life. Finn knows that sex in his world is never followed by anything as absurd as love. So he carries on, still he craves and late at night, his desires take over him and he imagines what his life would feel like if he dropped all the pretenses.

They could only shatter each other's worlds.
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Note: This is a short story set before the timeline of "Arsenic." It is not necessary to read this before reading "Arsenic", it can also be read as a standalone.

No Rest For The Wicked #0.5