kind of a badass//Carl Gallagher

35

I chewed at the inside of my cheek. I loved him. I really, really loved him. I don't know what was so different about him, but I know for a fact I love him. It was very unlike me. I swear if my mother were alive to see this she'd shit herself. She told me I wasn't capable of loving a man. Hell Veronica knew about every guy I've ever been with (I am very close to my aunt) and she thought I wasn't capable of love. However, this man sitting right next to me, with a remote control in his cargo shorts, changed me. Personally, I think it's for the best, even though I've been in the hospital a lot lately. Our relationship was toxic for a while but I think that part may be over. I hope anyways. Dying for even the slightest bit of time made me realize how you really have to value what you have in life because you don't have anything whatsoever in the afterlife. The afterlife that didn't exist. 

A knock came on the front door, saving me from having to answer Carl. I stood up, pulling him along because of the handcuffs. When I opened up I saw a woman I've never met before. "Can I-" Carl cut me off. It looked like he knew this woman. She had bleached blonde hair, very skinny like she hadn't been eating, and bruises on her face. "Mandy? Hi!" He smiled at her. The edge of her lips slightly raised and she waved. "Is V here? I need her to look at a cut for me," She stated in a shaky voice. Carl studied her at first before shouting for my aunt. "Come on in," I moved out of the doorway to let her in. She walked in and sat on the couch. "Harry Potter? Interesting," She stated, grabbing the remote that was now on the floor and putting it on the coffee table. 

"What brings you back? I mean I heard Lip talking about you being back but I never got why," Carl asked, walking us back to the couch. She eyed us, stopping when her gaze reached our hands. "I will explain after you explain the girl and the handcuffs," She laughed. Carl nodded and explained that I was Kev and V's niece and the handcuffs were my rehab. "Weird. Hi, I'm Mandy Milkovich," She held her hand out for me to shake, which I did. "Delilah Baker," I informed. She huffed out a sigh before explaining herself, "I stole one of my boyfriend's cars after he tried to fucking kill me. I slit his throat, stole his car, and made my way here. I think I'm going to be staying in Chicago for a while." My brows raised in shock. Definitely sounded like a south sider. She sounded so nonchalant about slicing someone's throat though. It should be normal to me by now but after my experience with death, I guess I wasn't taking it as lightly. 

"At least that son of a bitch won't ever beat on you again," I laughed nervously. She smiled nodding, "you have that right." I stood up again, obviously dragging Carl with me, and walked over to the kitchen. "Mandy would you like a hot pocket?" I asked. "Carl, she's a keeper!" I heard her shout back. I shook my head laughing while opening the freezer. I popped three hot pockets in at a time and pressed the 6 button. I felt Carl's hands grab my hips, he turned me around to look at him. "You didn't give me an answer," He stated looking deep into my eyes. I huffed out a sigh. I knew I wouldn't be able to go long without answering him. "I love you," I assured him, placing a soft kiss on his lips. He pulled away smiling. Then the microwaved beeped. I pulled the hot pockets out, placing mandy's on a separate paper plate and walked back into the living room. 

Veronica soon came down the stairs, pulling on her tank top. "Mandy?" She asked smiling the minute her feet were removed from the stairs. "The hell are you doing here?" She now looked confused. "I'm in some deep shit. I need you to stitch up a gash for me. You still can do that right?" Mandy asked, standing up and moving her hair a bit to expose dried blood and a big gash. How was that not hurting her? "Yes but you should have gone to the hospital," Veronica walked over to her little medicine cabinet, pulling out sewing needles and thread with a bottle of vodka. Southside clinic style. My phone went off at this moment. It was Nate. I answered. "hey do you want to hang out? We are partying tonight!" I rolled my eyes. I wasn't really in the mood to party chained up to my boyfriend. "Sorry can't I'm a little...tied up here at my place," I stated. I wasn't lying. I could basically hear Nates frown when he spoke, "Okay, maybe next time. Bye." I put my phone in my pocket. "You know I don't like your friends right? You would never touch a pill until you met them," Veronica shook her head, taking a rag and dumping some vodka on it. She started dabbing the rag over the gash. I rolled my eyes at her. It was my decision. They didn't force them down my throat. "It's not their fault. I chose to do so," I stated, angrily biting into the hot pocket, which was burning my mouth. I pressed play on the movie, but that didn't stop her from getting louder than the TV. "But they influenced you. I'm not saying you are dumb because we all know that is not the case, but I am saying what you did was dumb," She stated, lighting a lighter and puting it up to the needle she had in her other hand. I was always impressed with her medical skills. 

"Can I just-" I started to say, but she shook her head at me. "Watch your movie I know not to interupt your Harry Potter time," She states, threading the needle. 

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Authors note

holy smokes! 52 fucking thousand reads?! I am beyond jungshook! Also I just found out my closest friend was an extra in season 8 when she moved to Chicago for the short time and she told me Ethan is like 5'1... IM SHOOK. She isn't lying either she has pictures. 

I'm really glad I have been seeing nothing but positive feedback too! I read everything you write in the comments! I was half expecting someone to send me death threats (like I got on my instagram) about how I like Trevor and have them together in the book. Or how I was talking about how toxic Mikey was (because face it thats just pure facts). I understand everyone has an opinion but I really appreciate you all giving feedback and not sending me death threats for my opinion. I love you guys so much! 

One more thing, I was recently contacted by someone wanting to translate my book into Italian. Would that be something you'd want? For all my ESL readers? I personally can translate it into Korean (Hangul) but other languages I'd let whoever wants to translate it, send me the translations and will get full credit for it too! Message me if interested. 

~Delilah B. xx