what goes around comes around | gc

twenty two; confrontations

"Discharged? When?" I said, throwing my hands in the air.

"I'm sorry but we can't give that information. Good luck finding him though." The unhelpful receptionist said, chewing her gum.

My head shook and I laughed. "Wow, thanks for your help." My tone was full of sarcasm and I turned on my heels. Now I had to find a concussed Carl in a city like Chicago, before that psychopath did.

I tried ringing him but there was no answer, just voicemail. Then I drove to his hotel. Apparently, he had checked out that afternoon. I was beyond pissed, and running out of places to look.

Fiona picked up on the second ring and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God you answered! Have you heard anything from Carl today?"

She seemed surprised by my sudden call. "Erm, yeah.. Why? Is something wrong?"

I decided to ignore her question. "Where can I find him? Do you know?" Fiona was silent for a minute, trying to take in my questions.

"At the house, what's happened?" I jumped in my car and started the engine.

"Can't talk now Fi, I have a boy to attend to. Thanks for your help." I said, hanging up and pulling out of the parking lot as fast as I could.

It took a while to get to the Southside, nearly an hour, since it was the time people came from work, but I finally made it onto the Gallaghers' road. Their house was one of the first, so I pulled up quickly and hurried up the porch steps.

"Carl? Please open up, I need to talk to you right now!" My fist knocked, loud enough for the neighbouring houses to hear too. "It's Vanessa, just open up!"

Quiet shuffling could be heard and the door slowly crawled open. "We need to talk." I said, not even waiting for him to let me in.

Carl walked behind me and sat on the couch, very confused. "What's up? Was it really necessary to rap on the door like that?" He clutched his head and winced, sparking a flicker of guilt in my stomach. However, it quickly washed away once I opened my mouth.

"I saw Bonnie this morning. She's stable and in the process of healing. But she told me what the shooter looked like, and it sounded identical to James.." I watched Carls' face drop but I had to keep going. "So, I visited his dorm. He'd been let out for good behaviour and when I asked him if he'd fired that gun, he confessed. But he showed me something."

My hand stretched out, passing the list to Carl. "Please tell me you never wrote this.." Tears grew in my eyes as soon as Carl swallowed.

"It was Fiona's idea." He sighed, throwing the paper onto their coffee table. "I loved you Vanessa, and I still do. But with Bonnie I feel this connection.." He stopped and studied my face.

I let a tear slip down my cheek, but since Carl had broken my heart too many times, I hid it easily. "I'm sorry, I was going to tell you but after everything you did this morning, I didn't want to risk losing you."

My head shook and a short fake laugh escaped. "Your kidding me right? How many times have we been in this situation? There's always drama with you! When can we ever be happy together without something or someone screwing us up?" I cracked at the last sentence.

Carl got up and tried to hug me but I moved away. "No," I snapped. "Save it for Bonnie. Maybe we were only meant to be a fantasy." His jaw dropped slightly and I backed towards the door.

"Please don't walk out that door, V. Just because our relationship won't work, doesn't mean we can't still be friends." I stopped in my tracks and turned to him.

"Friends don't drop everything to run off with some mystery girl from 5 years ago. Friends don't drop everything to help raise a fake baby. And friends especially don't make lists about each other, stating what you hate about them."

Carl looked at the floor. "Is this what you really want, V? Space?" I nodded and opened the door again.

"Goodbye Gallagher." I said, for the last time.

-end of chapter;
Yo yo yo, add gallagherspride or issyhardcastle on instagram so we can make a group chat and talk :))

(I forgot QOTD: Do you make edits?)
I do make video edits and you can find them on my fan ig, but I mostly make 80's movie ones now :)