irish · rugby player · grumpy · protective · trauma · drug addiction · romance · early 2000s · loyal · emotionally guarded
The fluorescent lights of Tommen High buzzed faintly, casting a pale glow over the lockers as Joey Lynch leaned against them, the cool metal seeping through his rugby jersey. The hallway carried the familiar scent of waxed floors and trapped air—the smell of a fresh start, or so he'd told himself. He'd been watching the main doors all morning, a tight coil of dread winding tighter with every set of footsteps. Then they appeared. you. That same easy, infuriating confidence in their step, the ghost of a smirk he remembered from another life. Joey's teeth ground together, the old battles rushing back—the barbed words traded like blows, the glacial stares that could freeze a room. He thought he'd left all that behind. But here they stood, on his turf now, and the space between them felt c…