Behind the Lights (Tommen legacy 1)

Prologue

RORY- age 10
There she was, Gracie Gibson, hidden behind her mother's back, cowering into her ma's shirt. Gracie was the complete opposite of her parents, Gibsie and Claire, who brightened the room and were non-stop energy. Gracie Gibson was always shy and closed off every time we met. She rarely talked to anyone but her older brother Corey. Black was her go-to colour; today, she was dressed in a simple black romper, and pink bows wrapped the ends of her long blonde Dutch braids.
"Rory! It's so lovely to see you again," rings Aunt Claire in her buttery voice. She flashes me a big smile, and my cheeks instantly heat. Aunt Claire has always been the prettiest woman I've known besides my mother, and I have always felt butterflies when she flashes her signature smile at me.
"Gracie girl, why don't you say hi to your friend Rory?" I lean my head from where Aunt Claire covers Gracie's body so I can get a better look at her. Grace has the effect that her mom has on me, but it is amplified. Tenfold. A strange force drives me towards Grace, but despite my efforts to engage her in conversation and the kid's games, she refuses and hangs onto her mam or dad.
"Hi, Rory," she squeaks out before grabbing her mom tighter; Aunt Claire spins herself around and picks up Gracie so I can see her face. Covered in freckles with the greenest eyes I have ever seen, she is a carbon copy of her parents in her facial features.
"Hey Gracie, how've ya been," It had been over six months since I had seen the clan, but Da finally had a Bi-Weekend from his professional rugby team, Leinster, and we decided to spend it in Mam's and Da's home town of sad old Ballylaggin.
"I've been okay", she says as she makes quick eye contact with me, and I give her a lazy smile just before she hides her blushing face in Aunt Claire's shoulder.
"Ayo Kiddos!" Shouts Uncle Huggie from the kitchen of the Gibsons' large Victorian-style house, "Dinner time." A loud rush of kids runs from all sides of the house to the spare dining room, which has been turned into the kids' dining room. We all take our seats at the large table. With eleven of us at the table, my three-year-old brother Liam not included, we barely fit and are all squished into the table despite its size. Corey Gibson and I share the head of the table; our growing ten-year-old awkward bodies keep crashing into each other whenever we try to adjust our bench. On our left sits my cousin Connor Lynch and my twin sisters Eden and Caoimhe. Across from Corey and me sits Rosie Huggs and my Gracie. My chocolate brown eyes bore into hers the entire dinner as I watched her sit and slowly eat her tomato soup and cheese Toasties.
On the right side of the table, Finn Biggs, James and Killian Feely sit next to me, and My older cousin, AJ, sits next to Grace. I hear him muttering curses and giving eye rolls all night. He is the eldest and technically should be at the adult table for being seventeen, but they were out of room at the table, So he's stuck with us preteens all night. And let's just say he is less than thrilled.
"Fucking bullshit," I hear AJ mutter while rolling his eyes when Finn starts talking about his maths teacher with big breasts and curvy hips.
"I heard that AJ Lynch!" Auntie Aoife screams from the actual dining room.
"I'm seventeen, Ma! Bugger off!" He screams back, and I know he is done for. I hear Auntie Aoife's chair screech back, her heels clicking from the dining room into our room. She steps into the doorway and glares straight down at AJ's face, which stands unwavering to her gaze.
"Outside, right now, Anthony Joseph," shit. The middle name was used. All the boys at the table sink lower, trying to hold in their fit of Giggles while the girls look scared of Auntie Aoife. TJ walks to his mom, reaching the same height and looking so similar they could pass for twins. Auntie Aoife doesn't look a year over twenty-five.
"Try me, Ma. Fucking try me," Connor oohs at his brother's remarks, but Auntie just rolls her eyes, grabs AJ's forearm and drags him outside. Once they leave, the boys let out the laughs brewing, and the girls all look at each other, whispering. AJ returns a few minutes later with a smug look while Auntie stomps back inside and slams the front door. It seems like AJ won that battle.
Later, after dinner, the kids settle outside with ice cream sandwiches in hand and bellies bursting from dinner. Our smiles are lopsided as we race to the creek behind the Gibson's house. The lads and girls run down the hill, but I'm missing a familiar presence. Her presence.
"Ror's Ya coming?" Calls Corey, running a hand through his floppy blonde hair.
"Yeah, just give me a minute!" I shout back as he turns and continues to the creek.
A few seconds later, I see her blonde hair and black romper wrapped around her father's waist. I see the reminisce of tears in her green eyes as she looks from her Dad to me. I give her one of the lazy grins I save just for her, and she smiles a bit more. Gibbers, the silly nickname the boys made up for Uncle Gerard, turns Gracie's head to look at his while he wipes her tears away from her rosy cheeks before placing a loud smack on her forehead.
"Rory, would you come over here for a minute?" Gibbers shout at me. Immediately, I race to where they are standing and smile up at them. Letting Gracie hold off his body, he puts her down and holds her hand; turning to me, he looks at me sternly. Gibbers always has a sense of goofiness to him and never fails to make anyone smile, but right now, I know he means business when it comes to his daughter, "Gracie was having a little trouble with her shoe earlier, but now she is all set, right sweetie?" He looks at her and squeezes her hand lovingly.
Gracie nods, trying to pull back into her father, but he keeps her holding his hand.
"Rory, now lad, would you mind bringing her to the creek with the others,"
"Mhm, Gibbers," I say happily, thankful I finally get time with Gracie.
"Thank you, Kid," He leans forward and ruffles my hair, but I try to dodge his hand, trying to appear manly to Grace. It backfires, and his large hand ends up on my head, making my whole body bleed with embarrassment, "Be safe, sweetie," he says to Grace before handing me her hand. I instantly grabbed it. I may only be a year and a half older than her, but her hand is so tiny it fits perfectly in the palm of my hand as we walk to the creek. It's about a ten-minute walk, and I am planning on dragging everything I have ever wanted to know out of this girl.
I start with easy questions, noting how her eyes are still puffy and red from her tears; I don't want to scare her off.
"What was wrong with your shoes?"
Her big, green eyes look at me, "I-uh- I couldn't tie them," she says sheepishly, looking at the ground, heat flushing up her neck to her cheeks.
I squeeze her hand a little more, "that's alright. Sometimes it's hard. Is that why you were crying?"
Still looking at the ground, she replies, "No. I was nervous no one here would want to be my friend."
"Well, that's not a problem anymore, Gracie Biggs, because guess what? I'm your friend!"
A big smile flashes across her face, and it's beautiful. It's not her bare, slight smile she usually gives off. It is a complete, jaw-dropping grin, and suddenly, it was my mission to own these smiles.
"Really?" She questions, still smiling.
"Of course, I would gladly be your friend over any of the other eejits here."
She gasps at my crude language. "Even Corey?"
"Hell yeah, he's the biggest eejit of them all."
She giggles at this and shifts so she is tucked into my side as we walk.
We continue to walk for a few minutes in silence, the smile never leaving her face. Suddenly, she speaks again.
    "For your information, Rory Kavanagh, I'll be your friend forever and a day,"
     "That's good because Gracie," she looks at me expectantly, "I will be your friend forever and a day, too,"