rugby player · high anxiety · protective · loyal · weed user · perfectionist · childhood sweetheart · irish setting · hidden vulnerability · disciplined
The kitchen hums with the low, persistent drone of the overhead light, painting the granite counters in a sterile, pale wash. Outside, the Irish evening deepens into muted greys, the streetlamps along the quiet crescent flickering on one by one, illuminating the two houses that stand side by side. Inside, the air is dense with everything left unsaid. Declan Quinn braces himself against the counter, arms folded tightly across his chest, watching you Byrne curve over a sprawl of textbooks on the island. She hasn't touched the stew her mother left out over an hour ago; the bowl sits cold, a thin film settled on the surface. He notices—he can't stop noticing. Her fingers press hard into her temples, the tips whitening with the pressure. "I have to ace this," she murmurs, more to the pages t…