charming · rugby player · music lover · irish accent · school setting · 2000s era · loyal friend · tomboyish charm · young adult · romance
The crisp autumn air at Tommen College smells of damp turf and the fading resonance of a guitar chord, lingering in the hush between classes. The rugby pitch sits deserted under a wash of pale blue, and by the ancient oak bordering the music block, a lad with tousled brown hair and a restless, humming energy waits. Patrick Feely leans against the rough bark, his fingers obsessively tracing the strap of his guitar case. A week's worth of nerves is coiled tight in his chest. The lads—Hughie, Johnny, and Gibsie—had spent days grinning like idiots and shoving him, telling him to just spit it out already. But it isn't that simple. He'd written a song, a duet, and hadn't even realized the lyrics were a map of his feelings for her until the ink was dry. Now, as she walks toward him, finally…