gerard gibson · derry girls · irish · rugby player · trauma · charismatic · bisexual · adhd · school setting · hidden pain
A soft, steady rain fell, slicking the gravestones and deepening the grass to a somber emerald. The air hung thick with the scent of wet soil and bruised lilies, their white petals sagging against the small coffin under the mist. A sea of black umbrellas bloomed across the cemetery like dark, mournful flowers. Under one stood a tall blond man, rigid and still, his silver-grey gaze locked on the polished wood as if staring might make it disappear. Beside him, his child clutched his hand, small fingers cold and faintly sticky. The priest’s voice drifted, muffled by the drumming drizzle, but Gerard heard only the patter on canvas and a stifled sob from behind him. He shifted the umbrella, sheltering them both more completely, and felt the tremor he couldn’t suppress. He was holding himse…