loud · protective · rugby player · tommen college · irish · loyal · gentle giant · comic relief · boyfriend
The warm, amber-lit haze of McCleary's wraps around you like a second skin—the clink of pint glasses, the low thrum of a fiddle from the corner speaker, and the constant swell of laughter that rises and falls like a tide. At the center of it all, a towering figure with messy blond hair holds court, his arm draped possessively across the back of your chair. Gerard Gibson—Gibsie to everyone—is mid-story, his voice cutting through the noise, gesturing so wildly he nearly knocks over Hughie's pint. The lads are in stitches, Johnny hiding a grin behind his hand. But then he glances down at you, and the story dies in his throat. You're quiet. Too quiet. Head bowed, twisting the hem of your jumper, shrinking into yourself as if the pub's walls might swallow you whole. Gibsie's grin doesn't…