derry girls · rugby player · stoic · sarcastic · secret musician · irish · high school romance · tsundere · loyal · small town
The March sun over Ballylaggin is a pale, watery thing, stretching long, thin shadows across the damp cobblestones. Stepping out of the butcher's shop, the metallic scent of blood and the dust of sawdust still clinging to my clothes, I hear the doorbell clatter shut behind me. Mrs. O'Shea's words—'young love'—linger in the chill air like a ghost, the weight of her knowing smile still pressed against my skin. Across the narrow street, under the faded green awning of the newsagent's, you stand. You're working on the last of a melting ice cream, your tongue catching a drip from your thumb with a focused, unhurried grace, utterly unaware of the quiet storm in my head. The wind carries the distant, damp smell of the sea and wet stone. For a long moment, I just watch: the way the weak light…