If an epilogue of The Later Years comes out after The Raven King and Ronan Lynch is NOT the Latin teacher at Aglionby I’m going to be super disappointed. Just imagine Ronan at thirty in front of a class of posh brats. He thinks he’s this hardass jerk that all the kids are afraid of but it turns out he’s actually a really good teacher (like his dad) and, even worse, that the posh brats actually kind of adore him, and he has no idea what to do with that.
“Fuck off, they’re lame,” says Ronan, at the table in his and Adam’s dining room, aggressively writing passable at the top of his best student’s perfect quiz, and then adding a gold star.
Adam says “sure, yeah,” in that way that means he thinks Ronan is full of shit.
“I hate them,” says Ronan, filling out the form to volunteer as a chaperone on the sophomore trip to Rome.
“Right,” says Adam, patting the top of his head.
“Education is a farce,” Ronan whispers, up for four days straight writing letters of recommendation to colleges.
Adam is asleep, but his mouth breathing agrees.
“This fucking job is the fucking worst,” says Ronan, half-glum and half-proud as he watches the seniors who won’t be back next year graduate.
“Yeah,” Adam says, nudging Ronan’s shoulder with his own, unbearably fond. “The worst.”
idc what u say ronan honestly gets BUTTERFLIES IN HIS STOMACH every time adam enters the room
yes its true u heard it here folks; stubborn tough angry ronan lynch gets Butterflies from sweet charming studious adam parrish
and when adam talks to him and lets his henrietta accent slip in ????? oh shit Oh McFreakin Shit thats the end of ronan lynch rest in pieces
sometimes it’ll just be him and adam at monmouth or st. agnes when everyone else is who knows where, and it’ll be all normal and casual for adam but ronan’s heart is thumping out of his chest and his hands are shaking and oh my god what is happening to me
ronan is probably the first person to tell adam he loves him. i dont care if its before or after they get together, in a seemingly platonic way or known romantic way, but its happening
like, adam knows his friends love him, know they’d die for him, of course, but ronan is the first person to actually vocalize all these things to him. he tells him how loved and important he is and oh god, adam, please dont die, for me i wouldn’t survive without you, i’ve loved you for ages, please adam—
give me desperate and vulnerable ronan lynch who’s aching all over and pours his heart out to adam, can barely even look him in the eye because he loves him so much it Hurts
HIS HANDS !!!!!! THOSE DAMN HANDS ADAM PARRISH U MONSTER WHO ALLOWED YOUR HANDS TO BE SO BEAUTIFUL WHO ALLOWED YOUR FINGERS TO BE SO LONG AND SLENDER
u wanna know why ronan isnt doing so well in his classes ??? huh ?? u wanna Know ??? ? i’ll tell u why its because he spends every damn class period staring. at. adam’s. hands.
“ronan did u memorize the latin vocab?”
hell fuckin no he did not he memorized the shape of adam parrish’s hands thats what he did
adam writing/taking notes is its own pure form of art ok trust me on this 100% ronan lynch approved
ronan’s life motto: ‘talk shit (about adam parrish), get hit (by me)’
ok but really
ronan honestly loves adam so much adam’s like some sort of beacon to him, some sort of hope and happiness and light and everything about him makes ronan believe in religion as long as that religion includes adam parrish
ronan would follow adam into the deepest pits of hell he’d do anything for him if adam even gave the slightest notion of wanting something
he dreams him stuff he needs all the time but w/out adam knowing?? like if he notices adam broke his pencil in class by accident, guess which aglionby student with a henrietta accent has a new pack of pencils in his bag the next day
even the smallest things tho ??? like razor blades or new shoelaces. ronan is the Official™ provider of Things That Make Adam’s Life Less Difficult Than It Already is
i bet ronan lies awake in his bed at night wondering if a boy like adam parrish could ever love him back
i bet he can’t even think about adam going away for college and leaving him behind, not seeing him everyday or getting him to laugh and do stupid things with him
:( what a fuckin nerd
ronan is such a Mean Tough Guy until he’s around adam and then he turns into Soft Needy Puppy
disgusting. filth
DO YALL REMEMBER HOW RONAN WAS MEAN TO BLUE IN TRB BECAUSE HE WAS JEALOUS OF HER RELATIONSHIP WITH ADAM !!! !!!!!!!!!!! EN D ME!
HES TOTALLY THE JEALOUS ONE IN THE RELATIONSHIP HE WANTS ADAM (and his hands whoops) ALL TO HIMSELF ALL THE TIME
ok listen. i dont know how when or why but sometimes ronan just gets really affectionate and lowkey clingy and will just get a sharp dose of nostalgia when he sees adam in the kitchen or something and be like ‘how did i get so lucky’
and he’ll go up to adam from the side (never behind, he doesnt want to make adam jump or flinch) and gently wind his arms around adam’s waist and bury his face in adam’s neck
and adam’s hands will come up to ronans back and they’ll just stand there holding each other like the gross ass nerds they are
before they get together ronan PINES. and i mean like, hard.
ronan will be bouncing his knee or some shit and adam will put his hand on his knee to get ronan to stop and ronan literally just freezes.
but also :(( sometimes ronan will pull back because he doesnt want to overwhelm adam
like, adam will grab his shoulder or something to get his attention and ronan will pull away as if he’s been burned and oh god he doesnt think these things through, does he, because he’d do anything not to see that look of rejection and confusion on adam’s face, and all he wants to do is jump on him and kiss him but he cant
ronan worships every little thing about adam. all of his quirks and habits, his likes and dislikes. ronan knows everything just by listening to adam and observing him
ADAM LOVES TO LIE WITH HIS HEAD IN RONAN’S LAP AS RONAN COMBS HIS FINGERS THROUGH HIS HAIR DO NOT TEST ME ON THIS
he knows adam can fend for himself and doesnt need to be protected but there will always be some small part of him that will go to any lengths to keep him from ever getting hurt and keeping him out of danger
ronan always has to make sure adam is okay. always. if they’re leaving cabeswater or something and they’re all walking back to the pig to drive home, and adam is looking particularly worn out and distressed, ronan will discreetly walk up to him and just be like ‘u ok parrish?’ and its not until adam gives him a teeny tiny smile and nods that ronan is satisfied
everything adam does is just amazing to ronan. every little thing. so precious and heartwarming and it makes him so dizzy because how can he be this in love
and how can someone so radiant love a mess like him
me:
cheekbones, his furrowed fair eyebrows, his beautiful hands, everything washed out by the furious light. ronan had memorized the shape of adam's hands in particular: the way his thumb jutted awkwardly, boyishly; the roads of the prominent veins across his slender hands; the large
ronan talkin all casual when adam accidentally brushes against him and suddenly he is a stuttering mess and stumbling all over his words
ronan feeling adam looking at him and picking at his fingernails to try to ignore his increased heart rate and warm cheeks
adam’s leg touching his when they’re the pig and he can’t move away because he’s squashed against noah on the other side. he turns his face away so adam can’t see how pink his cheeks are and his fists are clenched on his knees. noah smirks at him
adam dozes off at nino’s one night and he ends up leaning on ronan’s shoulder and ronan is Screaming internally whilst trying to keep a straight face. he is blushing profusely and staring down the wall in front of him
ronan lying on the floor at st agnes not asleep whilst adam is. adam moves in his sleep and his hand falls off the bed right in front of ronan’s face. ronan is definitely not thinking about holding it
we might have our differences but at least we can all agree that adam parrish looks like a male model and doesn't realize it and this fucks ronan up all of the time
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” -Isaiah 43:1
Update to my old post from last June: the two now three times we see Ronan call Adam by his first name (aloud, to his face). One time per book. Each in a moment fraught with emotion, each in a moment where Cabeswater’s presence is strongly felt.
I think about this Isaiah passage for Ronan often.
Another example of how I edit these books for a millionbillion years in an attempt to make myself look as cleverly as humanly possible.
