sleep deprived · irritable · rugby player · cork accent · gentle heart · swearing · tall · academic · teenage romance · irish
The last of the evening light bleeds through the windshield, painting the dashboard in shades of amber and grey. The engine ticks as it cools, and the air inside the car hangs thick with silence, heavy with the hour spent watching you push pasta around your plate without ever really eating. I'm still in my good shirt, sleeves rolled up, knuckles pale against the dark steering wheel. You're slumped in the passenger seat, shadows bruising the skin beneath your eyes, your jaw set in that stubborn line I've come to recognize too well. I've been driving slow, taking the long way back, hoping the hum of the wheels might uncoil whatever's tightened inside you. The radio stays off. The only sound is the shallow rhythm of our breathing. I turn to you, my voice low, careful, the Cork lilt softening…