𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐇|𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨

If there was one thing Josephine Gallagher knew for certain, it was that sleep was a luxury in the Gallagher household. Either you drift off into a peaceful dream world filled with nothing but pure and utter bliss, or you stay awake throughout all hours of the night listening to gunshots and police sirens patrolling the dark and cold streets of the Southside. For Joey, she was both fortunate and unfortunate all at once. There were certain nights when the blondes baby blue eyes fluttered shut and she was transferred into a land where nothing else in the world mattered, just her peace and sanity. However there were other nights where Joey would lay awake in her uncomfortable bed, staring up at her ceiling as she thought about all of the stressful moments she had to endure during the day.

Joeys newest topic had been Karen's pregnancy. She could remember Karen's voice in her head, shouting at Lip to stay away from her baby. Joey didn't understand why, but she could feel immediate panic bubble up in her chest at the sudden revelation. Perhaps it was because her entire summer had been going so well, with no sort of major drama arising and flipping her plans around completely. Then Karen fucking Jackson shows up, revealing something that could and will possibly ruin everything. Joey couldn't understand why she was so stressed out about the situation. It wasn't even her business to begin with. Lip had knocked up Karen, therefore it was his responsibility to care for both her and the baby.

But Josephine Gallagher cared too much for everyone, even if they didn't deserve it. And it was that trait that was one day going to be her downfall. Joey cared about what Karen was going to do with the baby, how Lip was dealing with the entire situation. She hated to see her family struggle, and she was willing to do anything in her power to make sure that they were alright. Fiona told her that it was an amazing quality to have, and she hoped it would never disappear. Others would disagree however, which Joey really didn't bother paying any mind too.

This morning, Joey had barley gotten a wink of sleep. She had stood up all night with a crying Liam, attempting to soothe him back to sleep. When that didn't work she simply sat in the living room all night flipping through one of Fiona's magazines which were filled with nothing but images of models and random pop culture which the blonde didn't really care for that much.

In the late hours of the morning, Joey awoke to the sound of her siblings hushed voices. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to block out the noise so that she was eventually able to fall asleep once more. When that didn't work, Joey groaned before rolling off the couch and making her way upstairs to see Debbie's ear pressed against the bathroom door, most likely listening for someone on the other end.

"Look who finally decided to wake up," Fiona greeted, walking past Joey while also holding a basket full of laundry. "You gotta change your sleep schedule, Jo. It's not healthy."

"It's summer, Fiona," Joey argued. "Let a girl live a little before she ventures off into high school."

Fiona playfully rolled her eyes before averting her attention towards Debbie. "Still in there?"

"You done Carl to bring in money for the winter squirrel fund." Debbie replied. Joey tried to ignore the way her heart dropped at that sentence, the stress creeping back into her veins and forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut for a split second. Money was tight in the Gallagher household. It always has been, and always will be. That didn't mean Joeys stress faltered for a split second. If anything, it made it worse.

"I didn't tell him to rent out Franks room." Fiona argued as she continued to pick up dirty laundry sprawled across the floor.

"Dad rented it first, to that Chinese lady."

"The minute you start following Franks example, I put a gun to my mouth." Fiona snarked, Joey snickering at the comment before leaning against the wall.