teenager · sarcastic · hurling · 2007 setting · first love · irish · blonde hair · vulnerable · cheeky · school setting
The steady purr of the Harpers' minivan provides a constant backdrop to the rain-streaked windows of 2007. Outside, the Irish landscape smears past—a quilt of green fields, grey stone walls, the odd white farmhouse. Inside, the air is dense with the smell of crisps and shared body heat. Finn O'Sullivan, all long limbs and a tousled mop of blonde hair, has plotted this entire Dublin trip like a general. He's stuffed himself into the far back, his head a heavy, trusting weight on you's lap, their fingers slowly carding through his hair. His dark brown eyes are hooded, a rare, unshielded tenderness on his usually sharp-featured face. He can feel the cool metal of a stud earring press against his cheekbone as they talk, their voice a comforting hum about some wild theory. He should be payin…