Middle Child Syndrome- Ian Gallagher

no cops!

I tried to reach Ian. By the third time, he still hadn't picked up.

"FUCK!" I yelled. 

"I'm calling the police!" my mom said.

"No!" I said, "No police!"

"He took my car and my grandson!" my mom yelled, trying to dial, but I grabbed her phone just in time.

"And if you call the cops, I'll tell them I said it was ok for Ian to take Ryan for a ride!" I said.

"And you think they're going to believe you over me?" she said, "The grandmother? The cops need to get involved."

"No! They'll arrest him," I said, "He doesn't need to go to jail. He needs to go to a hospital, he's fucking bipolar!"

"Oh my fucking god," my mom said angrily and in disbelief, "Son of a bitch!"

"We just need to figure this out before Troy and Sam come home," I said as the door opened.

"What's going on?" Fiona said, Lip coming in as well.

"Your brother stole my car and my grandson!" my mom said.

"We didn't call the cops," I said, "But I have no idea what the fuck I'm gonna tell Troy and Sam when they get home."

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Lip and Fiona said they'd go home and figure it out, whatever the fuck that means. When Sam and Troy came home, they flipped. Sam was pretty much screaming at me and calling me a bitch and a bad person like it was my fault. I was the one who was trying to help him, and I didn't ask for this shit. If that wasn't bad enough, Troy was also screaming at me and taking her side.

"Troy, you don't give a damn about that baby!" I said, "And you! This whole thing wouldn't have happened if you kept your legs closed!"

"Athena!" Troy said.

"Oh come on, you think mom and dad haven't wanted to say that same thing for months?!"

 "This whole thing wouldn't have happened if YOU weren't dating a fucking psycho!" Sam yelled, "Ryan could be hurt right now, and it's your fault!"

"I've been trying to fix this, ok?! I was on the way to taking him to the psych ward, and I didn't know he would freak out like that!" I said, "And if you keep finger-pointing at me, maybe I just won't help you at all!"

"ENOUGH!" my dad yelled, "You know what? We're done talking about this for the night."

"Dad, we can't-

"We're DONE!" he said, "It's late, we have no sign of them yet, and we probably won't for the rest of the night. We WILL find them, just not tonight. Everyone understand?"

We all nodded. I didn't even bother calling the Gallaghers before bed because they knew as much as I did.

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The next morning, I called Ian again like five times, and he wouldn't answer. Shocking. 

"Ian, I need you to call me back," I said, "Everyone here is worried sick, and Troy and Sam want their kid back. I'm sorry, and I didn't mean to scare you yesterday, just- please, call me back."

A couple of hours passed, and still not a word. I was cleaning the kitchen when Carl came in through the front. 

"Yo, you heard anything from Ian yet?" he said.

"No," I said flatly, "And like I said, you'll be the first people to know when I do."

"I uh- talked to Persephone last night," he said.