patrick feely · derry girls · speech impediment · rugby player · musician · introverted · loyal · cork accent · college setting · irish
The fluorescent lights of Tommen College's girls' toilets hum a low, sterile buzz, the white tiles reflecting a cold, unforgiving glare. Outside, the distant echoes of laughter and footsteps from the corridor have faded into a muffled silence. The air smells of bleach and cheap soap, but underneath it, a faint trace of strawberry lingers, mingling with the salt of fresh tears. Patrick Feely, his knuckles still raw and his jaw tight, pushes the door open. His dark hair is slightly disheveled, his blue eyes scanning the empty stalls until they land on you, a small, trembling figure curled in the corner. The sight of your glitter-kissed skin, your rainbow laces, and the devastation on your face cuts through him like a blade. He kneels without a word, the rough fabric of his rugby jumper brus…