NAVIGATING 5 - tadgh lynch

3 - Lilibeth

18th february, 2005 - present

I lay in bloodied sheets, my Barbie bedsheets ruined. My knees to my chest, my whole body is shaking. I feel like I've been torn in half, like he took a piece of me with him when he left. I finally understood why Gibs cried every night, and why he always has sleepovers with Claire. 

But none of its real anymore. I wake up shaking and sweating, like i do most nights. My stained Barbie sheets are replaced with clean, white ones. There's a desk where my dollhouse used to be, and a mirror and a fiddle where I used to store my Lego, posters of boybands filled the empty walls, and shoes and football boots covered my floor instead of dolls. I'm not seven years old anymore, and he's not going to hurt me. I'm eleven years old, and he's halfway across the world. I'm safe. No your not. He'll come back. When you think your safe, he'll do it again. Your never safe.

***

Sunday morning, I walked onto the pitch, bouncing the ball as i approached my team, My captains armband strapped to my left arm. 

"You look rough, babe." Annalise told me as i approached her and Coach Murphy. 

"Shouldn't you be warming up, Lise?" I retorted, but didn't move. After wrangling 20 preteens into the 'Home' clubroom, we all dumped out gear bags and i changed my sliders for boots. Coach walked us through the positions, gave us our pre match talk, and thirty minutes and an unnecessarily tough warmup later I was standing in right half back with the number 5 on my back.

We won 2-7 to 1-9, but I played terribly. After the match, I stood outside waiting for Annalise. I had changed back into my slides, my club hoodie covering my muddy jersey. I felt a presence beside me, assuming it was Annalise, I looked up, just to be greeted by a different familiar face. 

"Tadgh!" I smiled, throwing my arms around him. He was hardly in school all week, and I don't think he has a phone. "What are you doing here?" I asked, taking a step back. He folded his arms. 

"I had training this morning, stayed after to watch your match. You played great, by the way." I smiled as he explained, I was about to thank him, when i noticed a bruise hiding under the hair on his forehead. I reached up and brushed the hair out of his face.

"Tadgh, what happened?" He stepped back almost instantly.

"I got it at training, Lils. Don't worry about me." He shrugs. I look over his shoulder and see what looks to be a mix of Tadgh and his older brother, Joey, in 30 years. 

"You'd tell me if something was wrong, right?" I ask, not fully believing him, but wanting to rid the conversation before what looked to be his father approached. Tadgh nodded, the man coming up to stand beside him. 

"Hi, you must be Tadgh's father?" I smile politely at the man. I felt a shiver run through my body as he looked me up and down.

"Yeah," He croaked, "Teddy Lynch. Who might you be?" I push my gear bag further up on my shoulder. 

"My names Lilibeth, Lilibeth Gibson. I'm a good friend of your sons." I told him, keeping my composure. He nodded.

"Gibson?" He asked, looking at me as if he was searching for something. "What's your fathers name? Joseph?" I shake my head carefully.

"No, he was my uncle. My father was James." I tell him. He nods, telling me he understood. 
"Figured with that Derry accent. I went to school with your father," He nods at my kit, "Camogie?"

I shake my head, "No, Gaelic. Don't get me wrong, I think hurling's a great sport, and I love watching your son play, but its not for me." He nods again. 
"Nice meeting you, Elizabeth." I was going to correct him, but he was already pulling Tadgh away, and Annalise appeared in front of me. I don't know what it is, but there's something I don't like about that man, Tadgh's father or not.

dont know if i like this part but i felt like i needed Teddy and Lilibeth to meet, so heres that.