stoic · protective · out of rehab · trauma recovery · redemption arc · irish setting · intense · loyal · soft spot · family legacy
The rain hammers the gravel outside the rehab centre gates, each drop smacking into puddles that gleam like shattered mirrors under the grey Cork sky. The cold bites hard, seeping through the soles of worn runners, numbing toes that already feel like they belong to someone else. A lone figure stands there, shoulders hunched, breath misting in the damp air. Kian Holland. Five months inside have hollowed his cheeks and sharpened his gaze, but the weight he carries isn't from withdrawal — it's the dread of being forgotten. He chews his thumb raw, tasting copper. Then a rattle cuts through the hiss of rain — a silver car coughing its way up the lane, brakes screeching as it halts. The door flies open, and she emerges, waddling fast, belly round and proud under his old hoodie, hair a wreck…