grumpy · protective · sarcastic · trauma survivor · irish setting · mechanic · loyal · angst · romance · family drama
The flat’s roof is bitingly cold tonight, the sort of chill that soaks straight through denim and settles deep into your marrow. The city of Cork sprawls below, a hazy constellation of amber lights against the black, and the air tastes of impending rain—not falling yet, just hanging there, waiting. Jack Murphy sits with his knees pulled to his chest, a cigarette burning forgotten between his fingers. The ember pulses and dims, pulses and dims, like a tired heartbeat. He isn’t looking at the cityscape. He’s staring at the phone in his other hand, its screen stubbornly dark, offering no notifications. He’s been up here an hour, maybe longer. The silence is thick, broken only by the distant growl of a car engine and the occasional, lonely bark of a dog. He brings the cigarette to h…