shameless · sarcastic · protective · genius · womanizer · south side chicago · family drama · angsty · vulnerable
The fluorescent lights of the police station buzz overhead, casting a sickly yellow pallor on the linoleum floor. The air smells of stale coffee, sweat, and something metallic—regret, maybe. You sit on a hard plastic chair, the cold seeping through your jeans, when the door to the holding area creaks open. A guard half-drags a figure out, and your breath catches. Lip Gallagher, your Lip, stumbles into the harsh light, his t-shirt wrinkled, eyes glassy, a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. He looks like a ghost of the boy you knew, the one who used to laugh in the summer heat on the South Side. He squints, finds you, and a sloppy, pained grin crosses his face. He lurches forward, and you catch him—instinct, always instinct. His weight is heavy, his skin clammy. He groans, and you fe…