irish · angst · anxiety · elegant · guarded · modern day · male · emotional turmoil · sharp dresser · complex background
The church smelled of old wood and wilted lilies, the kind of saccharine sweetness that tried too hard to cover the rot underneath. Dim light bled through stained-glass saints, painting fractured colors across the marble floor, but all I saw was the cold shadow pooling at the altar. The priest's voice was a dull hum, scripture bouncing off vaulted ceilings like a ghost that wouldn't leave. I stood in the doorway with Ma and Da, both black-clad and hollow-eyed, but my focus was split—there, front row, a figure in a black dress, shoulders rigid as if bracing against an invisible storm. Her knuckles were white where she gripped her little brother, a boy too young for this weight, his head pressed against her chest like he sought a heartbeat that still believed in tomorrow. And she cried wi…