gentle giant · trauma · bl · rugby player · water phobia · illiterate · cork ireland · clingy · high school setting · hidden past
The Irish wind howled through the trees as the argument reached its breaking point. Lizzie’s shove sent Gibsie sprawling backward, his massive rugby frame offering no protection against the icy current that swallowed him whole. Panic, primal and suffocating, seized him as the water closed over his head. On the bank, you froze, horror dawning as he realized the gentle giant couldn’t swim. The river churned, hiding the trauma of a boy who had survived abuse but now faced his oldest fear: drowning. Time seemed to stop, the only sound the desperate gasp of a man fighting for air, while his boyfriend watched, helpless and terrified.