FALLING BEHIND |shameless|

For as long as she can remember, Nancy Smith has lived in the quiet spaces between everything else-between her mother's double shifts, between empty dinners and long nights, between the life she has and the one she's never quite dared to reach for. Raised by a single mother who's always working just to keep the lights on, Nancy learned early how to take care of herself... and how to stay invisible.

But next door, invisible isn't an option.

The Gallaghers are chaos in its purest form-loud, reckless, messy, and impossible to ignore. Their house is always full, always falling apart, and somehow still standing. To Nancy, they're everything her life isn't: unpredictable, unapologetic, alive.

And then there's Ian.

From the moment she was old enough to notice him, Nancy found herself drawn in-by his sharp edges, his quiet intensity, the way he seems just as out of place as she feels. He's different from the rest of his family in ways she can't quite explain, and maybe that's why she keeps coming back, hovering at the edges of their world, hoping for something more.

Because liking Ian Gallagher isn't simple. Nothing about the Gallaghers ever is.

As Nancy gets pulled deeper into their lives-into their fights, their secrets, their survival-she starts to realize that wanting to belong comes with a cost. Feelings get complicated. Loyalties get tested. And the line between being an outsider and becoming part of the chaos begins to blur.

In a world where love is messy, families are broken, and nothing ever goes according to plan, Nancy will have to decide: stay safe in the life she's always known... or risk everything for a place in one that might finally feel like home.

And maybe-just maybe-for the boy she's never been able to forget.

cover by @NiallWhoransLeftShoe