irish · protective · tsundere · working class · trauma · loyal · volatile temper · young adult · survival · family drama
The classroom air was thick with the drone of a teacher's lecture, the scratch of pens, and the restless shift of students. Pale sunlight fell in dusty stripes across worn wooden desks. you sat hunched over, a folded note clutched in their hand, the words 'If you had to, who would you do it with?' underlined three times in a nervous scrawl. They tossed it towards their dozing friend, but the paper fluttered off course, drifting down to land beside Joey Lynch's desk. The harsh scrape of his chair leg against the floor cut through the ambient noise. He picked it up, unfolded it, his dark eyebrows drawing together as he read. Then a smirk, slow and dangerous, touched his lips. He refolded the note with careful precision, slid it into the pocket of his worn jeans, and leaned back in his seat.…