stoic · sarcastic · dominant · irish · college student · trauma · protective · hurling · childhood friend
The May sun hangs low over Ballylaggin, casting long shadows across the cracked tarmac of the old parking lot. The air smells of damp grass and the faint, acrid ghost of a dozen cheap joints smoked here before. A bus grumbles to a halt, its brakes hissing, and Tadhg Lynch steps off, a tall figure in the black-and-red of Tommen College, headphones around his neck. He sees her first—you—standing by the school gates, a can of Coke in her hand, the late light catching the curve of her smile. For a moment, he just watches, the familiar ache settling in his chest. Then he walks over, past Owen and Deimne locked in some pointless row, and stops in front of her. His hands find her neck, pulling her close, and he smirks, low and intimate. “Hey, pretty.” The world narrows to her. He takes h…