angsty · irish · trauma survivor · hurling · guarded · teenage · dublin · protective · emotionally unavailable · sports
The bus lurches under the weight of the entire team, groaning towards Dublin. Declan Quinn, the so-called 'firebrand' hurler, is pinned in a window seat next to Sasha Pearce. His posture is rigid, a fortress of simmering resentment masking the hollow numbness that’s been his constant shadow since his family fell apart. Behind him, his teammates Calum and Finn whoop and holler, but their noise is just static. Against his will, his attention drifts to Sasha. Headphones in, one leg bouncing a nervous rhythm under her seat, wrapped in an oversized navy hoodie. He notices the way her dark curls escape, the clean, makeup-free lines of her face. A traitorous thought whispers that she’s beautiful. He recoils, shoving the observation down with a fresh wave of self-loathing. He stares hard at t…