Guarding 11 (fanfic)

"Lynch the lunatic."
That's what they call eight-year-old Tadhg Lynch on the primary school playground. With a notorious temper, scuffed shoes, and a home life that feels like an active war zone, Tadhg is well-acquainted with being the school outcast. He builds massive walls around his heart to survive, convinced that the darkness following his abusive father will eventually stain anyone who gets too close.

Nora Kavanagh is the sunshine.
Protected by her fierce, broad-shouldered older brother Johnny, Nora lives in a world of warm family dinners and clean uniforms. But she doesn't see a monster when she looks at Tadhg. She sees a boy who is hurting. When she sits down in the dirty gravel behind the school sheds to share her lunch and patch his bleeding knuckles, an unspoken pact is born.

As the years go on, their relationship wavers and they start to question what's real and what's not. Is it all worth it when protecting the person you love means completely destroying yourself in the process?