#Claire x Gibsie

[the-dark-artifices-trees]

Top bookish boyfriend nicknames for their girl

My love (Aaron Warner- Shatter me)

Claire-Bear (Gerard Gibson- Taming 7)

Feyre Darling (Rhysand- ACOMAF)

Wellsy (Garrett Graham- The Deal)

Allie-Cat (Dean Hayward Di Laurentis- The Score)

[lilvcalloway]

Redeeming 6 (2023)

[whousestypewriters]

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[ginbrucobooks]

Flashbacks

Maeve's Point of View

The bus was pretty empty, probably because it was Sunday morning and most people were sleeping in. Having nothing else to do, considering I didn't think to bring my earphones with me yesterday, I just stared out the window the whole ride from Aoife's house to my cousins'. Since I had nothing to distract me, my mind kept going back to my earlier argument with Aoife and Casey. They're right.

A voice in the back of my head that sounded suspiciously like my mom's said. They're not safe in that house. You are not safe in that house I brushed it off. At least if they were with me, I could protect them. Who knew what would happen to them if we called the authorities. Who knew what would happen to me.

Just like the previous moments when I had been in doubt, I clang to the last memory I had of my eldest cousin, Darren. The last request he made to me before he abandoned us and never looked back, when I was only eleven.

"Hey there, Mae-Mae." My cousin smiled at me.

"Hey Dar-Dar." I beamed back.

Today was my first day at the last year of primary school, and Joey's first day of secondary school. Lately life wasn't so bad. Uncle Teddy said he would try to get sober. Aunt Marie had bought me a brand new diary to use for school. Darren told me he was going to a college near us. Joey said that he is probably going to get the call up for hurling in the next few months. Tadhg was more upbeat than usual and Ollie looked more relaxed. I was still sad when I thought of my family, especially Clara, but Darren said that was fine, that it was okay to miss them.

"Are you going to bring me to school today?" I asked. "I thought you were going to accompany Joey and show him the ropes."

"I am, I just wanted to talk to you a second before I left." He responded.

"Are you going to show me the ropes too?" I wondered.

"No, don't worry Joey will do that for you next year." He answered.

"What do you mean, aren't you going to accompany me too next year?" I inquired. I wanted Darren to accompany me. He was my special person. Just like Shannon was Joey's and Ollie was Tadhg's.

I loved all my cousins, but I had a soft spot for Dar-Dar and I knew he had one for me. He was the only one who got to call me by a nickname. No one else got that privilege.

"Of course." Darren spoke looking nervous.

"Are you okay?" I grilled him.

"Yes. I just have something to ask you." He added.

"Okay, shoot." I grinned.

"I need you to never abandon them." He told me.

"Abandon who?" I was perplexed.

"This family. You're their protector now." He declared.

"Me? But I'm not strong like Joey or you." I pointed out. If uncle Teddy decided to be bad again and turn to the drink, there was very little I could do to defend Shannon and the boys. I wasn't brave like Joey nor resilient like Shannon.

"Not like that, you have to make sure they never get separated." He tried to make me understand.

"By who?" I looked at him weirdly.

"The Gardaí." He closed his eyes and sighed. "Promise me you'll do whatever is necessary to keep them together, so that what happened to me never happens to them."

"Alright." I said to try and calm him down. He looked agitated. "I will." No one had yet told me what had happened to him. When my cousins were little and they were taken into foster care for a while I was still living with my parents. But he looked so panicked that to calm him down I would have said anything.

"You promise?" He sounded like Shannon.

"Yes, I promise." I concluded.

I was sent back to the present when the bus got near the house, and I realised I had to get up and hop off the bus unless I wanted to get off on the wrong stop.

Since I was pretty near the house, I took out my phone and texted my Aoife that I got there.

I was about to call Joey to have him open the door – I wouldn't risk ringing the doorbell and possibly waking up Teddy – when I noticed two lads waiting on my front door.

Oh come on.

[stargirlie25]

ALL THE FRIGING BOOKS IM WAITING FOR

ACOTAR 6- Dont get me started on this. Just waiting for elucien and gwynriel.

I dont think this is real i just wanted to put a picture btw.

Lauren is my roman empire and i own all her books CEPT THIS ONE GURL GIVE EM TO ME

I have been waiting for Lexington's story forever and my babies are finally coming! Then i will be dying to read Sierra x xavier book

I have been waiting for Ava Nash and Eli King ever since Ruthless empire dropped. Eli is for sure going to give Jonathan king vibes and i simply can not wait for Cole to go nuts about his new son in law. ALSO I NEED REMI x ARIELA MOMENTS PLEASE! The man on the cover that is Eli better be finest out of them all.

LIZ AND WES BABIES ARE COMINGGG AND OMG THE ´´SHES NOT YOU´´ sign just kill me. ITS SECOND CHANCE AND IN COLLEGE TOOOOO

AHHAHAHAJAJHAHSH*UYEGUIWID GIBSIE AND CLAIRE FINALLY! SUNSHINE x SUNSHINE TROPE. BUT its one of those tropes where the boy hides his pain with a smile :( .

LIZZIE YOUNG MY FAV TOMMEN GIRL EVER!!!! The release date is not confirmed and i don´t think she will be selling the people covers anymore so this is not the confirmed cover. IK she ends up with hughie unless a miracle happens but i just want her to be happy+katie. Still praying every day for Lizzyfeely tho.

Sloane is probably going to be my favorite king of sin girlie because i said so. Im so excited to read about her and xaviers dynamic. I think his name is pronounced haveeair?

Im so excited for this. 1. Its about Asher who i have been waiting for since Twisted hate. 2. Its Ana huang 3. its about soccer. Soccer boys are my favorite sports boys and are the best. I feel like I've never seen soccer romance so im excited.

So i might have said i did not want to read haunting adeline no matter what but then some force on earth made me read it and i love its ok? PLEASE DONT KILL ME!!! Anyways i heard it came out yesterday but still put it here.

I'm literally so hyped for this yall dont even know. I love melanie´s writing sm. Like she just dominates me whole.

How does she release a book like this and proceeds to make us wait for the next one. LIKE MISS MAAM

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR HENRY EVER SINCE BOOK 1 AND OMG THE FOLKLORE CARDIGAN IMA CRY

If you have not everybody go read all these series right now. Except acotar series. Its better to read it after the next book is out.

[the-dark-artifices-trees]

Ok, so I like to imagine that johnny will wake up at 5am to do his morning work out

Then at 6:30 am he'll go home & wake shannon up. Like he'll brew her a perfectly made cup of tea and breakfast. Wake her up with kisses on her neck & whisper in her ear

[ginbrucobooks]

Deny, deny, deny

Maeve's Point of View

We were having breakfast in the kitchen and while I was talking to Casey, Aoife was speaking to Joey on the phone.

"You know, I should really go back home before it starts raining again." I told the two girls in front of me. It was still relatively early for a Sunday, and – if I got lucky – my uncle would still be asleep when I got home.

"Is that code for going before Teddy wakes up?" Casey interjected. They were the only two people who knew the truth about what really happened in that house and the only ones who also knew the reason why we never called the authorities.

"Exactly." I admitted. "I can hide in my room with Shannon while hopefully he has his tantrums downstairs."

"Hopefully." She underlined. "And in case he doesn't?"

"Then I guess I'm today's rag doll." I shrugged. "It's not like I can avoid the beating forever, if it's not today, it's going to be tomorrow."

"Aoif, come here." She said while gesturing for Aoife to hang up the phone. A few goodbyes and I love yous later she sat back at the table with us.

"What were you talking about with Joey?" I asked.

"He was asking how you were doing after yesterday." She spoke. "I told him you were peachy."

"In a ten-minute call, all you two talked about was me?" I grilled her. "Why do I find that a little hard to believe?"

"Just listen to what we have to say." Casey interrupted.

"Oh, is this an intervention?" I rolled my eyes. "Tell Joey it's very hypocritical of him to organise one, and also I don't have a problem."

"First of all, this is not an intervention. Second, Joey has been clean for a month now and you know that. Third, what do you mean by I don't have a problem." Aoife exclaimed. "Are you on drugs?"

"Of course not." I lied immediately, silently thanking Joey for not informing them of my activities during the last couple of months. "I was being sarcastic, I just smoke."

Aoife looked relieved while Casey looked at me in a way like she could see through all my bullshit. Whatever, there was no way I was admitting to them that I took pills regularly. I didn't want them to look at me like I was broken. Also if I told them, I would have to tell them how and when it started. No way I was telling them what I got up to lately, not yet at least, this newfound truce was too new to withstand that. Deny, deny, deny. That was my motto.

"So, we need to talk to you about something." Aoife commented.

"That Joey kind of agrees with." Casey added.

"Kind of?" I questioned.

"Yes, we're still trying to convince him, but we want to see if maybe you could be convinced too." Casey told me.

"Alright." I was sceptical. "What is it?"

"Well-." Aoife started.

"We think you should call the gardaí on your uncle." Casey interrupted.

I just stared at them. Were they crazy? They took my silence as a sign to continue.

"You can't keep living like this, Joey can't keep living like this, Shannon and the boys can't keep living like this. This situation isn't fair on anyone." Aoife stated. "You're all in danger with that man in the house, and with that woman too. She isn't fit to take care of the children, she isn't fit to take care of anyone."

"And then, what?" I exploded. "We call the cops, we get all taken away, separated, and moved to different parts of the country. If we get lucky maybe we get placed with a family that won't mind our existence too much, we'll be glorified servants. At worst we'll end up like Darren."

The mention of my eldest cousin immediately chilled the whole atmosphere. They knew what had happened to him. They knew why we couldn't call the authorities.

"So, you're going to condemn Tadhg, Ollie and little Sean to live like you and Joey have?" Casey rebuked, just as mad as me. "To exist in fear and terror that any day that man could kill you?"

"I'll be there to protect them, Joey will be there to protect them." I pointed out.

"What about your lives?" Casey screamed back at me. "You're just never going to leave home, never going to college or even on a simple vacation?"

"Yes." I spoke.

"What about Joey?" Aoife asked.

"What about him?" I replied.

"Do you think this is fair on him?" she stated. "He can't live in that house anymore, you know that."

"Then tell him he's welcome to leave, I'll protect of Shannon and the boys." I lied, if Joey decided to leave, I would have no idea of what to do. He always said that one day he would get me and Shannon out of that house, what if he ends up leaving us here?

"You can't even protect yourself." She shot back. "What are you going to do when Teddy goes on yet another drunken rampage?"

"Did you forget what happened the last time he got hold of a weapon?" Casey commented.

"How can I?" I bit back. "The scar is an everyday reminder." Last September, while Joey was at work, my uncle managed to grab a knife from the kitchen and ran after me with it. By the time Joey got home and dragged him off me he had already made a pretty deep cut on the back of my neck. That scar was only one of many caused by him, but it was the first time he left it in such a visible place, which is why I now made it a point to always wear my hair down. It wasn't by any means the most horrendous scar on my body – as both Aoife and Casey knew – since the car accident that I had with my parents and little sister caused irreparable damage to the skin on the back. I could even go as far as to say that, if you only saw my back, I looked like I was mauled.

"Then what do you think will happen the next time?" Casey added. "What if Joey doesn't get there in time?"

"Stop." I sighed. "No one is calling the authorities and that's final."

"You're being stupid." Aoife screamed at me.

"I'm being realistic." I shouted back. "What was that saying? Better the devil you know."

"So, you would rather risk your safety than calling the cops?" Casey pondered.

"I would rather risk getting murdered than have another one of my siblings get raped." I concluded. "This isn't up for discussion, we're not calling the authorities."

And just like that it's like we were back on opposite sides, it was once again those two against me. Well, that was a short-lived truce. Even if I knew they had my best interest at heart, how could they suggest something like this? They knew what Darren had gone through in foster care, and my uncle might have been many things, but he never touched us in that way.

"I'm taking the bus back home." I grabbed Johnny Kavanagh's jacket and made my way to the door.

"Maeve, wait." Aoife tried to stop me. Casey too got up from her chair to try and convince me to stay.

"I just need some time to cool off, I'll text you two once I'm at the house." I remarked.

I said my goodbyes to Mrs. Molloy and Kevin, and then headed out.

[ginbrucobooks]

Shits and giggles

Johnny’s Point of View

After my call my call with Maeve’s brother – or cousin, whatever – I sat back at the table with the others and ordered something to eat, which I didn’t touch until about an hour later when a message popped up on Gibsie’s phone to let us know that they had found her. Thank you Jesus.

Worry was basically consuming me from the inside out, and Gibsie – who was still scared for his life – was no better. He spent the whole lunch whispering in my ear about how that Joey lad was going to find him and cut out his balls while he slept, and it was all going to be my fault. To which I retorted that it was his bleedin’ fault for ditching Maeve in the first place.

Still my main focus at the moment was the tremendous amount of pain I was in. My groin was still aching and walking hurt like a bitch, but I was persevering. I can’t wait to go home and ice my balls.

Ever since I agreed to do that operation in December to fix my torn adductor I had been out of shape, and I knew why. I had gotten back too early from injury, but I couldn’t risk postponing it any longer. My career is at stake here Goddamnit. So I kept going, trained everyday until the pain got so bad I almost threw up and iced my balls on the regular, even though it seemed to nothing for the horrendous bruising and discoloration in the area around my balls.

“I can’t believe this.” Gibsie declared once he got in my car. Apparently, he left his car at Maeve’s place and Joey told him he couldn’t pick it up until tomorrow, so I was now stuck driving his arse around.

“You are taking me hostage, let me out of this car.” He crossed his arms.

“I’m not taking you hostage.” I rolled my eyes. “Today you’re crashing at my house because I have no intention of picking you up, taking you to Maeve’s house and going back home. This way I can directly go to Maeve’s house with you.”

“If I don’t take Brian out for a walk today, he’s going to shit all over my bed out of spite.” Gibsie sighed, defeated. Brian was his mother’s cat and had a habit of shitting in his room whenever things didn’t go his way.

“Like cat, like owner.”

“My mother never took a shit in anyone’s bed, Johnny.” Gibsie shot back.

“Not her, you.” I stated. “Remember, when you took a dump in that shower back in first year.” 14-year-old Gibs was even worse than 17-year-old Gibs, at least now he used a toilet. After that incident happened while we were away on a game for Tommen, Coach didn’t let us do another away game for six months.

“Oh yeah.” Gibsie laughed. “Still can’t believe no one ever figured out that it was me.”

“That’s because Feely and I told coach you were out with us, taking a walk.” I chuckled. “He suspected you immediately.”

“Wait, why me? Hughie could have done it. He wasn’t with you guys.” He screamed in disbelief.

“Because unlike you, Hughie is civilised.” I pointed out.

“You’re so mean, it’s not my fault the toilet was occupied.” Gibsie pouted.

“It is your fault for thinking the shower was the next best option.” I replied.

“Would you rather I had done in behind a tree? What if some animal came up and bit me in the ass?” he questioned.

“Then I wouldn’t have had to sit through half an hour’s worth of scolding about how important it is to be respectful of the places where we stay when we got back at Tommen.” I responded.

“So, you would rather I go to the hospital than the bathroom?” Gibsie asked.

“No, Gibs. I would rather you use a toilet.” I spoke.

“It was occupied.” He screamed again.

“You couldn’t have waited five minutes?” I wondered.

“Mother nature was calling, what was I supposed to do?” He bit back.

“Anything else would have been a better solution, I suspect.” I laughed once again.

“No more talking about this.” Gibsie stated. “I have nothing to be sorry about. If you had been in my situation, you would have probably done the same thing.”

“Lad, no one would have done that no matter the situation.” I was crying from laughter at this point. “It’s ok, we’ve all gotten used to you now. Nothing surprises me anymore.” Years of enduring Gibsie’s antics meant I was basically on board with the weirdest things humans could ever come up with.

Finally, after laughing my ass off to Gibsie’s pout for a good fifteen minutes, we arrived home.

“Ah, the mansion.” Gibsie sighed. He liked to refer to my house as that since the first time he ever saw it. To be honest, it kind of irked me – a fact that Gibsie definitely picked up on since he made a point to call it that every time – because it underlined the obvious privilege I had growing up.

“Who needs nine spare rooms anyway?” He wondered out loud.

“I have guests sometimes.” I defended.

“You never let anyone but me, Hughie and Feely sleep over, you liar.” Gibsie got out of the car and grabbed my keys to open the house while I parked. Once I too got inside I closed the door, grabbed an icepack and plopped down on the sofa next to Gibsie who was scrolling through the channels trying to choose what film to watch.

“Not The Notebook again.” I protested. Ever since we watched that film together in the cinema a year ago, he had been obsessed. Now every time he came over, he insisted we watch that.

“It’s a cinematic masterpiece, thank you very much.” Gibsie shot back.

“We’ve seen it nine times already.” I stretched my arms and yawned.

“And I’m about to make it ten.” Gibsie decided. “You’re already falling asleep, so just let watch me Rachel McAdams and go to bed.”

“Alright.” I said defeated. I grabbed my icepack and walked all the way to the stairs before Gibsie spoke again.

“Johnny, are you sure you’re alright?” He asked, looking worried. “Are your balls hurting again?” Gibs was the only to whom I told the truth about my injury. He could keep his mouth shut. I could trust him. If I told my parents or the coaches from the Academy – the institute where they trained professional rugby players – they would lose their bleedin’ mind and pull me from rugby until I completely recovered, and I couldn’t afford to lose my chance. Scouts were looking around to fill spots for the U20 campaign and they would drop me if they smelled any weaknesses.

“Just fine, just tired from the game.” I told him. “I’m going to sleep, are you sure you can cook dinner by yourself without burning the whole house down?”

“I’ll have you know that I’m my mother’s proud son.” He said referring to the fact that his mother was a baker. “I’ll just heat up whatever you have in your freezer.”

“Why am I not surprised.” I grinned. “Goodnight, Gibs.”

“Goodnight, Johnny.”

[ginbrucobooks]

Hug(s) and make up

Maeve’s Point of View

“I’ve been looking for you for the better part of an hour.” Said a worried looking Joey. His t-shirt, already dirty form working in the garage, was now soaking wet from being outside and he was shivering from the cold.

“How long have you been standing there?” I asked while looking behind him and seeing two – well, two and half – familiar figures. “How long have all of you been standing there?” Aoife Molloy and Casey Lordan were both standing right in front of me now, both in drenched clothing. I always thought they resembled the sun and the moon, Aoife with her blonde hair, blue eyes and warm personality and Casey with her dark hair and aloof demeanour. I was always jealous of them, of their friendship, of how close they seemed to one another. They were each other’s number one. And for a while, maybe, so was I. Maybe I could be again.

“Only a couple of minutes, just enough to hear what they needed to hear.” Joey responded while taking back little Sean from Aoife’s arms.

I wasn’t mad anymore I realised, not at them anyway. I was just disappointed in myself. I had always felt second to everyone in my life. To my parents I was second to my sister. To Joey I felt second to his siblings. To my aunt and uncle I was second to their children. And to them I thought I was second to Podge. I was wrong. “Why are you all wet?”

“Why do you think?” Joey laughed. “We searched everywhere for you.”

“How did you even know I was missing?” I wondered out loud.

“Johnny Kavanagh himself called to inform me.” He rolled his eyes. “He told me you took off alone and that you weren’t responding to their texts.”

“Should have known you’d come here.” He concluded.

I took out my phone, having completely forgot that it was there, and went to check the million of messages and missed calls all from different contacts. Gibsie, Niamh, Joey, Aoife, Casey had all tried to contact me at least ten times each in the span of that hour. I smiled. People were looking for me. People cared if I went missing. Take that, Teddy Lynch.

“I did text him when you showed up, to let him know you were here.” Tony admitted.

“So, this was all part of your plan.” I couldn’t help but laugh at Tony. “Remind to never underestimate you.”

“It was time you three all made up.” He pointed at me, Aoife and Casey. “I couldn’t stand to see those two mope around the house for one more second.”

That moment I looked at them again. The girls who used to dance with me at parties. The girls who used to sneak alcohol into their houses so we could get wasted while gossiping together. The girls who always chose places reachable by bus to go hang out, so I could join. The girls who cried, laughed and screamed with me. The girls who used to help cover up the bruises my uncle left me.

“Hey Lordan.” I grinned. “Hey Molloy.”

“Hey Connor.” They both waved.

“Joey, you took a long enough break. Come on, let’s go work.” Tony announced while dragging Joey and Sean with him.

“Subtlety has never been his strong suit, has it?” I asked.

“No, it hasn’t.” Aoife replied.

After a few moments of tense silence, I decided to break the ice. “So, you went looking for me?”

“Duh. You went berserk and ditched your prep school friends so we had to go the rescue.” Casey exclaimed.

“Casey.” Aoife scolded.

“What? She did, we were with Joey when he got the call.” Casey shrugged.

“So, you both ruined your clothes and your make-up to look around town in the rain?” I asked.

“Like you wouldn’t have done the same for us.” Casey shot back. “You look worse than us by the way.”

“Casey.” Aoife scolded her again.

“I’m just saying. Look the mascara streaked across her cheeks, or at puffy eyes.” She defended. “Nice dress, though.”

“I know right, it’s supposed to be Shannon’s, but I think I’m going to steal it.” I laughed, my voice still rough from all the crying.

“You should have told us.” Interrupted serious Aoife. “You shouldn’t have kept that hidden.”

“Yes, you should have.” Agreed Casey. “Especially considering I had been looking for an excuse to kick Podge in the nuts for months.”

“He’s still scared of her.” Aoife recalled.

“She actually did it?” I mused.

“Of course I did.” She proclaimed. “He had it coming with all the stuff he’s been saying.”

“He’s still bitter about it?” I asked them.

“The lad took the word to a whole new meaning.” Casey replied. “Can’t seem to get over the fact that you rejected his wonderful self.”

“You should have seen him a few days ago when Joey confronted him, he looked like a deer caught in headlights. Joe did it in front of everyone during lunch.” Aoife added. “The only reason they didn’t get physical was because if either of them got into another fight they would get thrown off the team.”

“That and Joey already knew he had the upper hand, being the captain of the school’s team, he can make sure nobody ever passes him the ball during the games.” Casey commented. “No one even gives him the time of day anymore. His reputation has officially hit rock bottom.”

“You know I should not feel that much satisfaction at hearing that, but I do.” I grinned. “I feel a lot better than I did five minutes ago.”

“Well, I’m glad because you’re about to feel a whole lot worse.” Stated Casey before lunging at me.

“Jaysus.” I screamed and before I knew it Aoife had gotten on top of me too. “What on earth are you both doing?”

“You’re getting hugged, bitch.” Screamed back Casey.

“This isn’t a hug, it’s an attack.” I shot back.

“That’s what you get for lying to us for months.” Aoife held me tight.

“I technically wasn’t lying, I was omitting the truth.” I pointed out.

“Don’t think you’re getting out of this on semantics.” They both glared at me.

“Fine.” I admitted defeat. “How long do you both plan on staying like this?”

“Until Joey’s shift is over and he has to go home.” Aoife declared.

“Until me and Joey have to go home.” I corrected.

“No.” Aoife stated.

“What do you mean no?” I asked her.

“I mean that today you’re crashing at my house, like old times.” She chimed. “Unless you miraculously manage to find a bus in this weather, I’m your best option.”

“We’re your best option.” Casey added. “You better believe I’m joining in.”

“I don’t have any clothes.” I pointed out.

“I can lend you my pyjamas and my Ma can throw your dress and jacket in the washer when we arrive so that it’s ready in the morning.” Aoife continued. “By the way, whose jacket is that? It doesn’t look like any of yours.”

“It’s new, I just bought it.” I lied. If I told them that Johnny Kavanagh had given this to me, they were never going to let it go. They would probably jump out of joy thinking that I had managed to win over the town’s superstar or worse they would think that I reciprocated said (imaginary) feeling.

“With what money?” She eyed it suspiciously.

“A few quids Marie gave me for my birthday.” I said smoothly.

“Really because that looks quite expensive.” She noticed.

“I guess I got lucky then, I found it at a thrift shop.” I responded.

Aoife still didn’t look quite convinced but thankfully the conversation was soon redirected by Casey, who wanted to know all about the life at Tommen.

And that’s how we passed the time. I told them all about my first few days at the new school, from the new classmates to the new environment I found myself in. I wanted to omit a few things, mainly my encounters with Johnny Kavanagh, but they had managed to get most of them out of Joey when he got the call from said lad that evening.

“Is he as charming as the rumours say?” Sighed Casey and for moment I could swear her eyes had become the shape of a heart.

“Worse, I think he may be an actually decent person.” I admitted. “After I panicked in his car, he looked concerned for me.”

“Though I highly doubt the sincerity of that preoccupation, I wasn’t lucid enough to tell whether he was faking it or not.” I added.

“Who wouldn’t be worried, though?” Casey asked. “You did have a panic attack in his car.”

“Podge wasn’t.” I shrugged. “He used to try and pressure me to get in his car, claiming he was sick of always taking the bus.”

“Wow, this is a new piece of information.” Aoife blanched. “Remind me again why you decided to sleep with him?”

“I think it was the allure of him being my brother’s best friend.” I proposed. “It got to me.”

“You have read one too many romance books.” Casey said exasperated. “I think they have finally gone to your head.”

“Ouch.” I mimicked being hurt. “What time is it anyway? I’m hungry.”

“It’s almost 6 p.m.” Aoife looked at her watch. “Come on, let’s get going. The house is only a few blocks from here and if we hurry we might make it in time for dinner.”

After almost two hours Aoife and Casey finally a got off me and I was able to breathe without feeling like a tortilla. Once we got downstairs, we said our goodbyes to Tony, Joey and little Sean who assured us that they would be fine without us, and then we headed to Aoife’s house.

In the end, we did not make in time for dinner, since Aoife’s mom and her twin brother, Kevin, had eaten half an hour before we got there, so we heated up some leftovers and ate those while we watched some trash TV shows that were on in the living room.

[ginbrucobooks]

M.I.A.

Johnny’s Point of View

“Shite.” I exclaimed while I watched her sprint away in the rain. “Niamh is going to kill me.” I wanted to run after her and demand she explain what exactly was going on, but my body was on fire and even walking normally was proving to be a challenge for me. The fall I had during the game put another strain on my already damaged body, so the only way for me to find out if Maeve was alright would be through her friends, since I didn’t have her phone number.

I had an allergic reaction she said, did she think I was stupid? I knew a panic attack when I saw one. But what had triggered it? Knowing I probably wouldn’t figure it unless she told me herself, which was unlikely, I decided to head inside Biddies and find Gibsie. If Maeve was out in the rain all by herself, especially in the state she was in, she could get hurt and I didn’t want that on my conscience, even if that meant getting my eyes scratched out by Niamh. “Alright, let’s go in.” I murmured to myself, to prepare for the incoming shit show that was sure to happen once her friends found everything out.

Once I opened the doors and managed to find the table where most of my team was sitting, I was immediately cornered by Niamh, who, previously to running out of her chair, was seated next to Feely.

“Is Maeve out having a smoke? I didn’t see her come in with you.” She spoke in a low tone of voice, already suspicious. I swear to God, this girl had the ability to see inside people’s minds, she always knew if something was going on. I pity Pierce, with a sister like that there is no hiding anything.

“She smokes?” I gave her a quizzical look. She just shrugged in response.

“Is Gibsie here?” I asked taking her away from the rest of the crowd. “He’s going to want to hear what happened.”

“What do you mean by that?” she crossed her arms. “What did you do? I left her with you for barely ten minutes, all you had to do was not piss her off too badly.”

“Well, I failed spectacularly.” I stated. “Did Gibsie go home or something? I don’t see him.”

“Don’t get your panties in twist, Superman. He just went to the bathroom.” She rolled her eyes. “So is Maeve in the parking lot refusing to come in or something?”

“Or something.” I deflected. Thankfully Gibsie decided to come out of the bathroom before Niamh got anymore information out of me. If I had to deal with her alone the whole ordeal would probably end with me in the hospital and my balls, which were already damaged, severed from my body.

“Now stop evading the topic.” Sighed Niamh in a no-nonsense tone. “Why is Maeve not coming in?”

“Because she’s not outside.” I responded in a guilty tone.

“Where is she then?” Niamh asked confused. She just needed to look at my expression to know the answer.

“I’m not following, what happened and where is Maeve?” Gibsie suddenly jumped in.

“He doesn’t know.” Niamh responded on my behalf.

“What do you mean he doesn’t know.” Exclaimed Gibsie, suddenly panicking. “If I don’t have her home by 5 p.m. her brother’s going to kill me.”

“You know her brother?” I asked, not even aware she had a brother.

“Not the time, Johnny.” Gibsie shot back. “I’m dying. I’m actually going to die once that fucker finds out I lost his sister.”

“I doubt she’s lost, she probably just went home?” Niamh proclaimed like the voice of reason Gibsie was clearly missing.

“Home, which is almost an hour bus ride from here, from a bus stop half a mile away?” he screamed incredulous. “Not to mention the chances of that bus passing through in this weather are slim.”

“How do you know where she lives?” I once again asked my best friend, half afraid of the answer.

“Johnny, I’m panicking here.” Gibsie said while looking like he was on the verge of passing out. “I’ll tell you later when there isn’t an imminent threat to my life.”

“You know, one of you could text her?” I proposed since neither or them seemed to be making any progress.

“Yes. Yes. Texting” Gibsie shouted, turning a few heads from our table. He immediately took out his phone and started texting frantically a number I assumed was Maeve’s.

“Nothing to see here lads, go back to your lunches.” I insisted and, unsurprisingly, my teammates did, they turned back to their own conversations like nothing had happened.

“I will never get used to seeing you do that.” Niamh commented.

“She’s not answering her phone.” Cried Gibsie.

“Will you calm down, it’s only 14:10. I’m sure that she just went somewhere to cool off.” I retorted. “Once she’s calm enough, she will text you back.”

“What did you say to her to manage to make her literally run away?” Niamh asked.

“I didn’t do anything. We got into a fight and she ran off.” Not a lie, but not the full truth either. It didn’t seem like it was my place to tell them about what happened, about Maeve’s reaction to – well something.

“Gibs, do you have her brother’s number?” I asked.

“Yes, why?” he replied.

“Why do you think?” I said sarcastically. “To call him.”

“So I can sign my own death certificate? No, thank you.” He looked at me as if I had grown three heads.

“Well, his sister is outside, alone and barely clothed with no way of getting home by herself, as you’ve stated before, so, yeah, I’m going to call him.” I bit back and took his phone from his hands.

“What’s his name?” I asked while looking through his contacts. Call if arrested, Claire-Bear, Do not call if arrested, Ginger Pubes, Main hoe, Judas Iscari-cunt, Viper… “I’m not even going to comment this.” I stated while giving him a glare.

“He’s saved as Joey the Hurler.” Gibsie told me. “Like Joseph Lynch the hurler? The guy who plays at national level?” I asked incredulous. That’s who Maeve’s brother was? “They have different surnames.” I pointed out.

“They’re technically cousins.” Niamh interjected. “He’s Shannon’s brother.”

Almost wincing at the fact that I was probably the person this man wanted to hear the from the least, considering I had caused one of his sisters to go to the hospital and the other to run away in the middle of a rainstorm, I pressed the call button and put the phone next to my ear.

“Gussie, I’m at work this better be fucking important.” Said a deep voice on the other side of the phone.

“It’s Johnny, I’m a friend of your sister’s.” I introduced myself, hoping my reputation didn’t precede me.

“No, you’re not.” And I was mistaken. “You’re the guy that knocked out Shan. What can I do for you?” he told me in a very sarcastic tone. He was Maeve’s brother alright. I excused myself from Niamh and Gibsie and went to the restroom so I could talk freel. This guy was her brother and I had no intention getting on his bad side, well not more than I already was. So I told him everything.