PRETTY LIES || Carl Gallagher

Not Us

     It had been a week since I told Carl how I really felt and he was so intent on acting like nothing happened. He tells me he loves anytime he can and of course I say it back, but I'm not sure that I mean it. Today he had a date planned for the two of us and it was nearing time for us to leave. I was rummaging through my closet at home for something acceptable to wear, but I was shit out of luck. I sat down on my bed defeated, until I spotted a white box with a pink ribbon in the corner of my room. As I untied the ribbon and opened the box there was a little note placed on top of the tissue paper it read.

Babygirl, here's a little something I picked up for you today. Put it on and I'll be at your house at 8. I hope you like it.

I love you, Carl

I placed the note on the bedside table and went back to the gift. I moved the tissue paper out of the way to see a black garment, but when I pulled it out of the box my jaw dropped. It was a black dress just above knee length and looked like it costs hundreds.

I had just put the finishing touches on my makeup when I heard my front door open and shut. I grabbed my phone and saw it was eight. I put on my heels and looked in the mirror one last time before I went into the living room. Carl was facing with his back to me, but I could tell he looked handsome. He had on a black suit to match my dress and his hair was styled and not back in the cornrows. I cleared my throat and shifted my weight onto my left leg. When Carl turned around he looked me up and down with his mouth wide open. My cheeks flushed and my arms were on fire. "Holy shit Grace, you look stunning!" He said opening his arms for me to come over to him. I walked over and let his arms embrace me. Moments like these were ones I had missed and made me realize that some of me still did love Carl. As we went outside I was stunned by a black limousine parked out front. I looked back to Carl who was absolutely beaming. "You know that I had to make my girl feel like royalty." He said, placing his hand on the small of my back. He led me towards the limo and opened the door for me like a gentlemen. I scooted in and as soon as Carl was in I grasped his hand in mine. He looked at me with a shocked smile on his face. He was probably surprised that I wanted to hold his hand, but didn't say anything. We had been driving for quite some time and I realized we had made our way into the north side. We stopped outside a restaurant that was packed, in fact the line ventured outside. I looked at Carl for reassurance, but he had already opened the door and was getting out. I followed behind and met him on the sidewalk. Our hands intertwined again and we walked toward the doors.

"Carl how are we going to get in here?" I whispered.

"Don't worry baby. I've got it covered." As we walked in a waitress apparently knew Carl.

"Mr. Gallagher, please follow me your table is right this way." She said, leading us towards a table in a secluded area towards the back. There were only a few other couples near us. We sat down and my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I looked at the prices on the menu. Carl ordered for the both of us and our menus were taken away just leaving the two of us.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Carl questioned, grabbing my hands from across the table. A smile appeared on my face.

"As a matter fact, yes, I am enjoying myself," I stated. Our food arrived shortly after and I dug in. I was halfway done with my pasta and Carl had barely made a dent in his. I gently sat down my fork and wiped my face with the cloth napkin. "Carl, what's wrong?" He sat down his fork and placed his hands in his lap. I knew his thumbs were twiddling and something was clearly bothering him. I asked him again, "Carl, what is wrong?". This time there was an answer. 

"I know I said that the whole you cheating and all that other bullcrap didn't bother me, but it really does and Grace, this is not us. This isn't how we were before and I know stuff happened, but how can we change this so it can go back to normal?" 

I was baffled. Not at the fact that the whole cheating thing bothered him, but at the fact that he wanted to fix this.  I didn't really know what to say. I knew I was still holding on to the past. The old memories, the good ones, ones that I wish were happening right now instead of what has happened recently. His staring was making me uncomfortable in my seat. I wanted this to all just be over. I wanted my bad mistake and his bad mistake to just have never happened. I got up out of my seat and made a b-line to the exit. I just wanted everything to go away. 

AN: tbh not really sure where i am going with this considering i literally haven't touched this story in like 2 years... not my best work... if anyone has any suggestions let me know because i'm like not really into this, but i know a lot of you really liked this?!