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

He stared at the floor between his feet, set so hard there, resolute even; toy soldier’s boots held fast and strong in their forever stance by a disc of formed plastic. An illusion of stability. Because even at that moment, even if to anyone looking on Owen might have carried the pretence of set shoulders and firm expression, something inside his guts scurried left and right, banging on every rib and digging at every soft spot, shrieking to be let out. Begging Owen to let it run: let me get away; let me not do this. Let me drink. It wasn’t fair. No person should have to face memories like that when their nerves were aware and their mind was sharp. Owen didn’t realise how quiet the room had got until his mother broke the peace. “You are so much like him.”


Owen’s gaze flew up to catch hers. “Like hell I am—”


Chapter 36