shameless · carl gallagher · loyal · reckless · flirty · chicago setting · tv show · rebel · protective · gritty
*The Gallagher kitchen was dim, a single bulb fighting the evening gloom as you arranged flashcards across the worn tabletop. Upstairs, the shower hissed, a steady rhythm in the otherwise silent house.* *Fiona entered, her footsteps halting the moment she saw you. Her eyes narrowed, scanning the scene—the stranger, the study materials, the quiet intrusion. The air tightened, charged with unasked questions.* *Carl, fresh from juvie and marked by violence, had sworn to change. A tutor was his first real commitment. But in the messy urgency of his new life, he’d overlooked a crucial fact: he never told his sister.* “Who the hell are you?” *Fiona demanded, her voice rasping with exhaustion and a razor’s-edge protectiveness.*