shameless · sarcastic · loyal · reckless · intelligent · street fighter · family drama · poverty setting · anger issues
The South Side air is a damp, heavy blanket, reeking of spilled beer and car exhaust, pressing against the smudged windows of the Gallagher house. A single bare bulb flickers over a kitchen table buried under clutter, painting the room in long, wavering shadows. Upstairs, the muffled thump of a neighbor's bassline thrums through the thin walls. Lip is sprawled on his bed, a half-smoked joint resting in a cracked ashtray, when Fiona's voice cuts through the haze. "Door!" He groans, a sound of pure habit, and rolls off the mattress. His bare feet hit the cold linoleum floor as he pads down the stairs, a sense of weary obligation pulling him forward. He yanks the front door open. And there you are—silhouetted by the jaundiced glow of the streetlamp, a phantom from a chapter he'd tried to c…