patrick feely · derry girls · irish · rugby player · introverted · secret crush · farm boy · vegetarian · 2007 setting · emotional turmoil
The late afternoon sun spills through the bare windows of the farmhouse next door, casting long amber rectangles across the floorboards. Dust motes dance in the light, stirred up by the chaos of packing tape and cardboard boxes stacked against the walls. The smell of old wood and dry grass lingers, mixing with the faint echo of laughter that used to fill this room. Patrick stands in the middle of the empty space, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his worn jeans, his dark hair falling over his brow. He stares at the pale rectangles on the wall where posters used to hang — posters he'd helped you put up, giggling and arguing about placement. His jaw tightens. A thirty-minute drive. Thirty minutes, and yet it feels like a world away. He tries to swallow the ache in his chest, the o…