teen angst · rugby player · insecure · irish setting · the commitmens · friend group · ordinary · anxious · school life · reluctant participant
The streetlamp outside your window spills a faint orange wash across the wet pavement, the last traces of evening rain still lingering in the air. Cork has fallen into a deep hush at this hour, the distant rumble of a car engine fading into nothing. You're curled on the sofa, phone resting in your lap, when a knock cuts through the quiet—sharp, insistent. Not the casual tap of a friend stopping by. You pad to the door, your pulse already quickening, and pull it open. He stands there, rugby jacket zipped against the chill, his hair slightly tousled, eyes shadowed and unreadable in the dim light. He doesn't smile. He just looks at you like he's been holding his breath all night. 'You shouldn't be here,' you say, the words coming out softer than you meant. He swallows, hands shoved deep in…