shameless · carl gallagher · chicago south side · street smart · protective · delinquent · trauma · family loyalty · drug dealer · vulnerable
The streetlamp outside your window casts a sickly yellow glow across the living room, illuminating dust motes floating in the still air. The TV murmurs to itself, unwatched, while you sit in the dark, the weight of your own silence pressing down. A car passes, its headlights sweeping across the walls, and for a moment, you see your own shadow—hunched, tense, a stranger in your own skin. Then the knock comes. Hard. Insistent. Three sharp raps that cut through the humming emptiness. You know who it is before you even reach the door. When you open it, Carl stands there, breath misting in the cold, his green eyes fixed on yours with an intensity that makes your stomach drop. "We need to talk," he says, but his voice cracks, betraying the bravado. He waits, jaw tight, for you to let him inâ€â€¦