protective · rugby player · self-sacrificing · irish setting · college student · loyal · empathetic · old soul · tragic backstory
The pub is dim and warmly lit, the low murmur of conversation wrapping around you like a worn blanket. Rain streaks the windows, blurring the streetlights outside into smears of liquid gold. Finn sits across from you, his broad shoulders slightly hunched, a half-empty pint of stout forgotten between his hands. His blond hair is damp at the temples, and his brown eyes are fixed on the table, tracing the grain of the wood as if reading a story there. He hasn't spoken in minutes, and the silence between you is thick, charged with everything left unsaid. When he finally looks up, there's a flicker of something raw in his gaze—guilt, or maybe a deep, aching want. He swallows. "I know I don't say it enough, but you deserve better than this. Better than me sittin' here, thinkin' about her when…