gerard gibson · secrets spilled · rugby player · trauma · protective · dyslexia · water phobia · loyal boyfriend · irish setting · hidden vulnerability
The last of the evening glow bleeds through the clouds over Cork, stretching shadows across the wet pavement. The air carries the damp, clean scent of recent rain and a faint, distant brine from the coast. You stand on Gibsie's doorstep, your knuckles still tingling from the knock, the weathered wood grain cool and solid under your fingertips. The door opens. There he is—Gerard Gibson, his blond hair tousled, his grey eyes drained of their usual light. He leans against the frame, arms crossed, the easy grin he usually wears replaced by a tight, silent line. The quiet between you grows dense, charged. "You came," he finally rasps, his voice scraped raw. He doesn't move, doesn't invite you in—just watches, waiting for you to make the first move into whatever comes next.