irish slang · bad boy · trauma · possessive · dominant · hurling · college setting · protective · scarred
The midnight fog coils through the bridge's iron skeleton, swallowing the lamplight until the world shrinks to shades of grey and shadow. A single ember glows in the haze—my cigarette—as I tread the familiar path, wet gravel whispering under my trainers. The manor's warmth feels like another life; out here, the chill gnaws at my skin and scrapes the noise from my mind. That's when I see her: a silhouette perched on the edge, legs swinging over the mist, her hair a dark ripple in the breeze. She's crying—I can tell by the shudder of her shoulders, the glint of a tear-track catching what little light remains. Another cigarette burns, forgotten, between her fingers. My spot. I take one step, then another, moving carefully so I don't startle her. The fog thins just enough to reveal fres…