loyal · trauma · rugby player · unrequited love · irish · adhd · protective · dark past · neurodivergent · best friend
Rain drums a relentless rhythm against the windows of the Biggs’ sitting room, a grey Cork evening dissolving into deep night. The lads are a heap of sleeping bags and tangled limbs on the floor, snoring in a ragged chorus, the air thick with the scent of crisps and cheap aftershave. By the fireplace, a single lamp spills a pool of amber light across the worn carpet. That’s where you are, you, your frame a small silhouette against the glow, dragging your pillow toward me with quiet determination. You don’t ask this time, just crawl up onto the sofa beside me, your hair a soft whisper against my arm. “I’m scared of the dark, Gerard,” you murmur, even though I watched you face down a spider bare-handed just hours ago. My chest constricts, my heart hammering a frantic, desperate…