SOUTHSIDE HEARTS - SHAMELESS FANFIC

!!𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 (𝟏𝟑 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒)!!

In the gritty, chaotic heartbeat of Chicago's South Side, Maddison Russo is just trying to survive. Abandoned by the people who were supposed to love her most, she's spent the last few years figuring out how to stay invisible enough not to be sent back-and strong enough to make the Gallaghers proud. Taken in by Fiona at just nine years old, Maddie's become a quiet fixture in the madness of 2119 N. Wallace St., finding scraps of stability in a house built on dysfunction, duct tape, and unconditional chaos.

But as she nears sixteen, the fractures beneath her carefully built foundation start to widen. A phone call from her estranged mother threatens to unravel the fragile threads holding her life together, making Maddie question whether she really belongs in the Gallagher family-or if she's just been another obligation all along.

And then there's Carl Gallagher-the brother she never had, the best friend she never expected to fall for. As the lines blur between comfort and connection, Maddie finds herself caught between fear and feeling. Loving Ian might just be the only thing more terrifying than losing him.

Told with sharp wit, aching realism, and the brutal tenderness of growing up too fast, this is the story of a girl trying to make sense of the world around her-and the quiet kind of love that teaches her she's worth staying for.