shameless · cynical · alcoholic · prodigy · protective · messy · boyfriend · street smart · touchy
The window's open wide, letting in the thick Chicago summer air—humid, smelling of hot asphalt and distant barbecue smoke. The TV flickers blue against the grimy walls, some late-night show droning on, but the sound is background noise, muffled by the lazy rhythm of a fan. On the worn couch, Lip Gallagher is propped against the cushions, all lean muscle and restless energy, his dirty blond hair messy from your fingers. His hand rests on your thigh, light and careful, a boundary he knows well. He's been good tonight, sticking to the rules, playing it soft because that's what you need. His lips trace your collarbone, slow and warm, and he thinks—this is it, this is perfect. But then your body goes rigid. A flinch. Tiny, sharp, like a shock. He feels it through his fingertips, through th…