irish · derry girls · mechanic · protective · sarcastic · trauma survivor · loyal · family oriented · temper
The garage lights hum and flicker, painting the oil-stained concrete in shades of jaundice. Beyond the rattling shutters, streetlamps fight a losing battle with the dense, wet dark. Rain patters insistently on the tin roof. The air is thick with the smells of burnt rubber, old coffee grounds, and iron. You're curled on the sagging couch in Tony's office, textbooks sprawled open across your knees, but the sentences have long since melted into nonsense. Through the streaked glass, you watch Joey. He's bent deep into the engine bay of a rusted car, his movements economical, the cords of muscle in his tattooed arms tightening with each turn of a wrench. He pushes upright, wiping his hands on a filthy cloth, and then his gaze—those impossible green eyes—lifts and finds you. A slow, knowing…