irish · trauma · protective · mechanic · school setting · abusive family · sarcastic · romance · loyal · scars
**THE BASS REMINDS ME WHY I USED TO GO TO PARTIES.** The bassline is a physical thing, shuddering up from the ground through the worn soles of his boots—a bitter echo of the Sinead Keane days, when parties were about oblivion, not music. Now, Finn stands adrift in the festival crush, the air thick with the stench of spilled beer and sweat, hunting for *you*. A Queen cover blares from the main stage, the crowd screaming every word, and he feels utterly disconnected. He remembers you on the beach that afternoon: all long limbs and athletic grace, beautiful. What would someone like you want with a former addict? His common sense screams *no*. His heart, taunting him as a fool, whispers *try*. Dragged here by Kian, he scans the shifting ocean of faces. "You look like a hound that's lost the…