In Another Life ▻ Fiona Gallagher

04. chapter four

FLASHBACK

The pair walked from the school to the transit station together, much to Fiona's surprise, but not disappointment. "Oh, come on. You don't want to show off your north side roots? Don't you guys have drivers or your own car by the time that you're thirteen on that side of the city?" she teased him.

Julian scoffed a little at her teasing, shaking his head. So, she had heard about him being from the north side and still hadn't blown him off. It was surprising to him, considering when most of the kids at their school found out they either wanted nothing to do with him, or only wanted to hang out with him because they thought that his family was wealthy. She didn't seem to fit either of those categories, and though he was happy about that, it was new to him.

"I don't have a driver or my own car. My mom's parents are north side. If anyone drives me anywhere, it's her. She never wanted me to have anything just handed to me or trust blindly. She wanted me to work for everything that I have and want," he shrugged.

"I see," Fiona nodded. It was a bit of a shock, a north side kid who had managed to slip into a south side school from day one, who saw the struggles that a lot of the south side families went through, yet still didn't want to just give over to his roots.

"Don't get me wrong, it was nice when I was a kid, to be able to ask my grandparents and get whatever I want, but my mom put a stop to that pretty early on," he spoke. "We've never had to struggle too much, but she's never liked accepting handouts from them for as long as I can remember, either."

Fiona listened intently, tilting her head, "So, basically, your mom wanted to make sure that you weren't some entitled elitist, that's a plus," she said, nudging him lightly as they made their way onto the subway car and found a place to sit.

Julian smirked at her words, but nodded, "Basically, yeah," he replied, sitting beside her as the subway car began to move, taking them toward the city. He let out a little sigh, looking over at her, "What about you?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders a little at the question, intent to avoid it a little, "Oh, my family is all from south side. I don't think that it's ever been any different," she spoke.

His brow furrowed slightly and his head tipped to the side. "Oh.. no, I meant what are your parents like?"

Fiona shifted uncomfortably in her seat, thinking about how to answer that question as vaguely as she could. She didn't want their date to end just as soon as it had started because he saw her for what the other kids at school had said about her.

"Oh. Well, they're pretty absent, honestly? But, I guess if nothing else, it's taught me some independence and responsibility? I have younger siblings, so I do what I can to help them."

There it was, out in the open. Sure, it was a pretty broad answer that could mean anything, but with the things that he'd probably heard about her, she was sure that he could fill in the blanks. The question was, would he stay after knowing all of that for sure? Or would he take off as soon as he could?

"I understand," he nodded. "I don't have any siblings, but my mom's basically all that I have. I've never met my dad," he admitted. That fact was something that he didn't normally spill to just anyone. If someone got to know him, they'd figure it out in a short amount of time, but he still didn't just go around spilling that information.

Fiona's brow arched at his admission and she nodded slowly. She was starting to think that she had read him all wrong. Maybe everyone had. He wasn't some stuck up playboy, and he didn't think that he was better than anyone. If anything, he was more similar to his classmates than they truly knew.