/ taggie my sweet sweet girl .. who fixes everything for everyone, who says what she knows others won’t say because it’s the right thing to do, who comforts herself because no one else will .. agatha o’hara you deserve the world
second, she looks like she’s about to 𝙘𝙧𝙮. she hates when they bicker, more than anything else in the world. there isn’t much that she enjoys here, in the countryside. only gertrude, and caitlin and patrick’s visits, and the silence —
to regulate her emotion. 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦, 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢. what would maud say, if she saw her like this ? “ you alwa— ” cutting herself off, chest rising and falling rapidly. still ; her tears remain unshed. “ i know what your apology means. —
you, rupert, ” starts taggie, words barely above a whisper. “ they only hate the things you do. ” gaze catching on his broad chest, the muscle-corded arms. close enough to reach, if things were different. and for an unbearably long —
𝘪’𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘦. 𝘪 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮. anger seems to ebb away then, replaced by tire, endless and all-consuming. she f͟i͟x͟e͟s͟ everything, does she not ? maude and declan’s marriage, patrick’s friendships, the leaky faucet —
she always has been far smarter than he . far more realised , capable , able to see through everything . .. how the o’haras could let her spend her days thinking otherwise , —— well , he’ll never understand .
it feels awfully like that +
in the kitchen. taggie o’hara is a fixer ; and she is utterly alone. something slips then, prompting those lovely eyes of hers to peer up, to fixate on the ceiling, to blink back the tears that leave her vision hazy. “ no one hates —
weight shifting, almost imperceptibly ; there’s a falter in her stance, and suddenly that 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚 in her chest, it’s .. too much, threatening to swallow her whole. “ rupert, ” breathes taggie, remarkable eyes lifting again, catching —
“ if it’s not enough to mean well , taggie , then what the hell is enough .ᐣ ” tired eyes flit back up to meet silver hues .
“ how does that happen .ᐣ ” a sigh , question asked it not like a challenge ; but like a man +
on the slope of his brow, the ends of his dark hair. 𝘪’𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, he’d once said. had repeated, even. “ you don’t know where you’re going wrong because you seek out the outcome and overlook the pattern. ” lips press —
the silence that follows his words is thick, heavy — stretching long and unbroken between the two. 𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵. telltale tremble to the corner of her mouth, one of her many tells ; indicative of a struggle with restraint. —
rupert huffed a sharp breath ; large palm soon coming to rake its way through ruffled black tresses like it might settle the heat rising under his collar . .. even parliament couldn’t make him feel like 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 , +
what’s truly right. ” watching with unflinching assessment, those stunning eyes of hers full of .. pain. it isn’t easy, to say things that will 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 him. “ you don’t mean to hurt people. but good intentions .. they don’t always erase —