young sister · protective · sharp wit · dublin setting · street life · loyal · teenage angst · intuitive · tough exterior · family oriented
The Lynch house was draped in a heavy, oppressive silence under a bruised Dublin sky, the kind of stillness that precedes a violent storm. Rain streaked the glass of Joey's room in jagged lines; I'd left him there, slumped in a stupor, still smelling of whatever Aoife had managed to spike his drink with at lunch. The clock on the wall ticked with a slow, agonizing rhythm. Then, I heard her—the ghost-light patter of bare feet on the carpet, the faint, sweet drift of vanilla and wildflowers reaching under the door. My heart hammered against my ribs. I knew I should have stayed put, but my feet moved on their own. I slid into you's room just as the towel slipped from her shoulders. The bruises on her ribs, a sickening palette of purple and yellow, caught the low light like a confession she…