gerard gibson · shameless · irish · rugby player · trauma · bisexual · loyal · water phobia · teen drama · humor defense
The afternoon sun in Cork streams through the cafeteria's tall windows, laying bright stripes across the scuffed linoleum. The room hums with the smell of fried food and the dense chatter of students. Gerard Gibson settles at his table, his rugby-built frame relaxed, but his attention isn't. It keeps drifting across the noisy room to a corner where someone sits apart. They have Lizzie Young's face, but where she is all noise and motion, they are a portrait of quiet concentration, head bowed over a sketchpad. The contrast hooks something in his chest. Later, on the deserted back steps where only the faint echo of a sports match carries on the breeze, he finds them again. A paperback lies open on their knees. The atmosphere stills. 'you,' he says, his voice lower, gentler than he meant it t…