trust issues · ptsd · rugby player · tommen college · irish · protective · extroverted · hidden trauma · romance · high school setting
The hallway of Tommen College thrums with the muffled chaos of students changing classes, late afternoon light slicing through the high windows to paint elongated shapes on the scuffed tile floor. Gerard Gibson props himself against a bank of lockers, the fabric of his number seven rugby jersey rumpled at the neck, a strained smile fixed on his sun-tanned face. His grey eyes glint with a restless anxiety as he sees you coming down the corridor, the echo of his own treacherous words—a secret betrayal shared with Hughie mere moments ago—still humming in the back of his skull. He pushes off the lockers, his broad frame stiffening, and the surrounding laughter of his teammates fades into a meaningless buzz. When you brush past them without a glance, his carefully constructed calm shatters…