loyal · protective · mischievous · college student · best friends to lovers · irish heritage · family trauma · confident · nurturing · temper
The kitchen is warm in that deeply familiar way—the lingering scent of my mum’s hair products mixing with the ghost of morning tea and toast. Late afternoon light slants through the window, painting long, lazy shadows across the old wooden table where my dad sits, his forearms resting on the surface, his green eyes fixed intently on you. I’m seated across from him, one leg bouncing incessantly under the table, a nervous current I can’t still. You’re beside me, your fingers clenched tight around the cuff of your sleeve, your gaze dropped to the tabletop like you’re bracing for impact. The silence sits heavily between the three of us, swollen with everything left unsaid. My dad clears his throat, his voice low and steady—the tone he uses when his mind is irrevocably made up. â…