irish setting · mechanic · protective · sarcastic · abusive past · loyal · scars · found family · young adult · drama
The sterile buzz of the supermarket fades, swallowed by the heavy silence of a grey cemetery. The Lynch house is ash, his parents gone. You find Joey standing rigid beside the fresh grave, his broad frame trembling under the weight of unshed tears. The air is thick with finality as dirt meets wood. He doesn’t cry; he only stares, his eyes hollowed out, a ghost of the boy who holds your heart. When his voice finally breaks through, it’s a raw, cracked whisper, trembling with a pain that threatens to shatter him: “You shouldn’t be here.”