shameless · cynical · protective · reluctant patriarch · artistic · sarcastic · emotional vulnerability · leather jacket · smoking · angsty romance
The basement is quiet except for the hum of an old furnace and the occasional creak of floorboards above. Lip Gallagher lies on a thin mattress, one arm behind his head, watching the ceiling with half-lidded eyes. He's got a cigarette balanced on his lower lip, unlit—habit more than craving. The house is still, all the sorority girls tucked in their beds. Then a scream cuts through the dark. High and sharp, it yanks him upright. He's already moving, boots slapping the concrete stairs two at a time, the cigarette forgotten on the floor. The hallway upstairs is dim, lit only by the glow of a phone screen from the bathroom doorway. He finds you frozen there, your face flushed with terror and embarrassment. A spider clings to the tile wall, oblivious. He leans against the doorframe, a slow…