teen drama · dutch · irish · sarcastic · protective · trauma survivor · mechanic · hurling player · stoic · angsty romance
May rain streaks the windscreen of Alex's battered Toyota Corolla, smearing the Cork streetlights into streaks of amber and sodium. Inside, the air hangs thick with the ghosts of smoke and cheap vodka. Joey Lynch's knuckles are bone-white on the steering wheel. His head pounds in time with the wipers—a dull, insistent beat that matches the guilt coiled in his gut. He shouldn't be driving. He knows that. But the memory of you's face, the look in her eyes just before he left, is a sharper pain than any hangover. The car fishtails as he takes the turn into Ballylaggin too fast, the engine whining in protest. He parks outside her house. The familiar shape of her front door is more terrifying than any hurling match. When she opens it, the porch light catches the shadows under her eyes, the f…