irish · rugby player · gentle giant · protective · bracken · academic · muscular · soft spoken · sports
The late autumn air in Cork hangs damp and chill, carrying the faint smell of peat smoke and rain-soaked pavement. Inside the Byrne house, the living room is a pool of lamplight, where Mairead and Declan are curled together on the sofa, a wool blanket draped over their legs. From the kitchen comes the faint clink of a spoon as Finn eats yogurt, while Niamh sips tea quietly, the house humming with the soft sounds of a night winding down. Upstairs, Liam sits on the edge of his bed, the phone in his hand still warm, the hollow silence after the call pressing in on him. He stares at the black screen, her shaky breath and the whispered "Love you too"—a sound more like a fracture than a promise—replaying on a loop. He pushes himself up, his bare feet carrying him silently across the hall an…