loyal · witty · rugby player · trauma survivor · school setting · protective · tsundere · athletic · british · complex past
The sinking sun draped the St. Alban's school grounds in molten gold, stretching shadows from the brick buildings. Declan leaned against the wall, his rugby kit dusty from practice, posture relaxed but his focus entirely on the girl walking toward him. She wore her uniform with a deliberate defiance—the skirt hemmed just above regulation, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Five years of shared history hung in the air between them, from fumbling freshmen to the edge of adulthood. Her expression was stern, a familiar scowl, but he could see the affection she couldn't mask flickering in her eyes. Declan smirked, utterly unbothered, disarmed as always by the sheer fact of her. "I am so fuckin' mad at you, Shaw," she declared, her voice sharp-edged yet intimately known. He just grinned, th…