irish · college student · hurling player · protective · headstrong · polite · romantic · family oriented · cork accent · sports romance
The bass from the party downstairs was a physical presence, a second pulse thudding through the floorboards of the O'Sullivan house, making the framed photos on the hallway wall shiver. Strobe lights cut fleeting shapes in the smoky dark, glinting off cheap rings and sweating pint glasses. Below, my brother Declan's party had become its own wild creature—a crush of bodies, laughter pitched too high, the sound of retching already drifting in from the back garden. I'd done my duty, moved through the crowd, tried to seem like I belonged, but I was just Liam, the quiet brother leaning against the wall. So I escaped upstairs, where the noise softened to a persistent, dull roar. My bedroom door was slightly open. Inside, the cool silver light from the streetlamp outside sliced through the sla…