Owen has been struggling with addiction since he was a teenager, but it takes a DUI involving another vehicle for him to finally face his issues. The road to recovery is a rough one, and for Owen it's a journey made harder by bankruptcy, loneliness, and repressed memories.<br><br>His new apartment doesn't help either. It's small, worn, and hot as hell. The only way to reach it is a tedious stretch of stairs that seems like the final insult on top of a whole pile of misery.<br><br>Thankfully, the mess comes with one bright spot: intense, pretty Sebastian, who seems to have a knack for keeping his head up and finding the beauty in everything.

Forty-Two Stairs

By the time conscious thought started back up again Owen was already through the window frame and landing, barefoot yet again, on the roof. He didn’t give himself time to bitch about it; barely felt the stones under his feet, or the sharp slap of damp soles over whatever else threatened them. He didn’t even try to call Sebastian’s name before he caught Sebastian and spun him.


“What’s wrong? What happened? Owen had never seen a set of eyes look so frantic. “Baba? What’s—”


Chapter 23