Darling Venom

by Parker S. Huntington

“What’s selfish is to demand another to endure an intolerable existence, just to spare families, friends, and enemies a bit of soul-searching.”

we could just stay this way forever, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to breathe.

can see why he hated you so much. You’re loathsome. Doesn’t matter how many women you go to bed with every night. I hope the last thing you think about when you close your eyes is the fact that your brother hated you enough that he chose death over living under your roof. Happy Valentine’s Day, asshole.”

Charlie was the only person I’d met since Kellan died who grieved ugly. With leg ticks and a dirty conscience and sloppy meltdowns. She was real, and vulnerable, and consumed by whatever had happened to her.

Here’s a life lesson I’d never wanted to learn. Our secrets are nothing but a string of memories we wish to forget.

believed a special place existed somewhere for people who were so tortured on Earth, they felt the only way out was to end it all. A place where they got to experience everything they missed out on in this plane. Love. Happiness. Relief.

I realized, with depressing clarity, that she wasn’t the venom at all. She was the antidote. But the quantities were all off.

Once a year, for a stolen hour, I let myself be the venom. The toxin. The thing that poisoned her. But with one momentary lapse in selfishness, I pushed her away. I’ve regretted it every day since.

Without even trying, That Asshole will ruin the woman he loves.