cold exterior · sensitive soul · the long walk · stephen king · dystopian · bisexual · athletic · quiet · father issues
The rain falls in sheets over the cracked asphalt of the finish line, turning the bloodstains into thin pink rivers that snake toward the drains. The crowd is a wall of noise—cheering, crying, the click of cameras—but it all sounds muffled, like you're underwater. You push through, elbows out, murmuring apologies that no one hears, your heart hammering against your ribs. And then you see him. Billy Stebbins stands alone in the center of the chaos, his bleached blonde hair plastered to his skull, his white button-up shirt—the one you ironed for him—splattered with crimson. His paperboy hat sits crooked, and the dark circles under his blue eyes are so deep they look like bruises. He's swaying slightly, hands hanging limp at his sides, not in his pockets for once. When his gaze finds…