Madeline Sullivan is sixteen when her world collapses. After her mother's death, she leaves Clonakilty, Cork, and moves to the small town of Ballylaggin with a father who loves her but keeps losing himself to addiction. Raised in a home shaped by grief, silence, and instability, Madeline learns early how to survive on her own-closed off, emotionally distant, and hollowed out by things she's never learned how to name. Her mind has always been loud. Anxiety clings to her, depression settles in her bones, and trust feels like a risk she can't afford. Music becomes her only escape-the one place where she can breathe, where the world softens enough to endure. After an abusive relationship at a young age, Madeline's fear of men hardens into something immovable. She convinces herself that solitude is safer. That love is something other people get to have. But Ballylaggin has a way of disrupting the quiet walls she's built. When Patrick Feely-the town's reserved, soft-spoken rugby star-takes an interest in her, Madeline is forced to confront the one thing she's avoided her whole life: connection. And sometimes, the most dangerous thing isn't falling apart- it's letting someone see the pieces.

"𝓘'𝓭 𝓫𝓾𝓻𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓷 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝔂𝓸𝓾." "𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀. 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓽'𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓼𝓬𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓼 𝓶𝓮."

𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐆𝐈𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐍 was drowning in the seas of his pain and of a past that keeps coming back in waves, and 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐂𝐇 is a professional swimmer. ༄ 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡: Sloane Lynch lived afraid of shadows, since they held more secrets than the sun she would never see, at least in that house. Gerard Gibson was sinking in a sea of fake smiles and stupid jokes, swallowing all his traumas and secrets like breakfast and going on with his day pretending to be happy. But when his path crosses that of a melancholic, empty girl, he no longer needs to hide his secrets, because hers pull him in as strongly as the water. 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐍. 𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘻 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵， 2025. oc x gerard gibson ! - ❦ 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗍𝖾𝖽： 𝟣𝟤／𝟤𝟢／𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟧. 𝖾𝗇𝖽𝖾𝖽： ．．． [ contains hard language and explicit content. ]