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collateral by anincompletelist (soldouthaz)
Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
06 Feb 2026
Tags
Summary
His mother’s eyes darken with weariness Shane recognizes instinctually, a grief separate but not wholly unlike his own. A tear makes its way down her cheek, but Shane’s stay put, stubborn, cradled in his lashline like if he doesn’t cry, maybe none of this is as bad as he thinks it is.
“Just—I just have to ask,” she says. Her voice lowers to a whisper, that ever-steady corner of her mouth wavering as her palm envelopes his cheek. “How long have you been hurting?”
My whole life, probably, Shane thinks. I'm sorry. I just didn’t know.
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[Or: Shane learns that skill, passion, and meticulous control aren't necessarily immunity, and that rest isn't something he's owed so much as he has to carve out for himself; sometimes with a whisper, sometimes with his pride on the line, sometimes on his hands and knees. And still, regardless, despite—he refuses to give up on this either, even if this time it means believing in himself instead of familiar schedules or rituals. Even if it means his whole life has to change to do it.
Even if it means having to believe that he's worth that much in the first place.]
Series
- Part 7 of the chronic illness club