We Met In May

My name is Marcus, and I'm one of the many, many people employed in my hometown's factories.

I found out I was gay when I was twelve, stayed single until twenty eight.

My partner, Peter, writes for a handful of small American magazines. He is a good man, but his mental state has been deteriorating in the past two years.

I'm trying to keep him happy, but it's hard. I don't know if I can leave him alone. I'm in a constant state of fear; that the moment I've gone to work, or to the store, I'll come back to a dead husband. Peter gets angry when I try to talk to him about it. He yells a lot. Sometimes he shoves me, if the fight gets heated enough.

Being with Peter, when he gets like this, is killing me.

There are times when I wonder if he even is the man I fell in love with.

{we follow Marcus, a man struggling to maintain intimacy with his mentally ill partner. He balances love, work, and family, in this story.}

[warning: coarse language, violence (including mild spousal/domestic violence,) sexual themes (consented), mentions of mental illness, mentions of minor self harm.]

This story was made two years ago. I changed its name, and made heavy revision.