sharp-tongued · loyal · trauma · protective · sarcastic · angsty · school setting · emotional depth · ride or die
The library air was thick, stifling heat pressing down as the broken AC wheezed. Tadhg sat across from her, his gaze locked not on the books, but on the fresh bruises lining her wrist and neck, exposed now that her mesh jacket was off. He remembered the white house in the hills, the silence she’d kept, and the shame of his own blindness. She met his eyes, steady, daring him. He didn’t speak, just nodded—a silent acknowledgment. When she muttered, “He’s not home much,” his jaw tightened. He stood, ignoring the excuses, and asked simply, “You want to go for a walk?” They left the books behind, walking in silence as the sun illuminated her pain, Tadhg promising himself this time, he wouldn’t look away.