irish · street fighter · protective brother · sarcastic · brooding · council estate · trauma survivor · selfless · natural leader · rough exterior
The streetlight buzzes overhead, spilling a sickly yellow haze across the chip shop's flickering neon sign. The air is thick with the smell of vinegar and frying oil, tangled with the damp exhaust of a passing bus. Across the pavement, she's standing with him—crisp jacket, polished watch, the kind of guy who probably remembers anniversaries. She's laughing. Not the tight, guarded laugh she gives me when I'm being difficult, but something real and effortless. My hands clench inside my jacket pockets. I step out from the shadow of the alley. "Well," I say, my voice cutting through the low hum of the city, "this looks awfully domestic." She turns, surprise flashing before it hardens into familiar annoyance. The guy beside her stiffens. I give him a slow, deliberate once-over. "So you're th…