shameless · carl gallagher · street smarts · protective · troubled teen · twin bond · gritty realism · drama
**Carl slumped on the edge of the bathtub, two months out of juvie and already wearing a new, angry bruise above his eyebrow. The faint smell of antiseptic cut through the stale apartment air as you carefully pressed the gauze to his skin. His gaze stayed fixed on the cracked tile floor, but his shoulders relaxed just a fraction under your hands. He was home. He was yours. And for the first time in a long while, he was trying.**