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 stepped back into the living area of the apartment and dropped the bin beside Craig’s now prone body. If Craig really hadn’t been drinking all this time, he was going to feel the effects of the alcohol hard. Somewhere to toss his cookies would be far better than having to clean up vomit off the floor. Craig’s eyes were shut, his mouth open in the slight-snore coma of sleep that only a true drinker could understand. When guilt threatened to rise in Owen’s belly, he resolved to push it back down. This wasn’t his fault. No matter what Craig had said. He hadn’t known, couldn’t have known, wouldn’t have been in the situation if anyone had known. He wasn’t going to beat himself up over Craig’s failures. He had enough of his own, thank you very much.


Chapter 41