Partners in Crime (Carl Gallagher Book One of the Ride or Die Series)

Jail Cell Heart

I'll lock this secret down so you don't see it in my eyes

It's early on a Sunday morning when Hailey stumbles into the Gallagher house to avoid the ongoing baby funds fight going on at her house, only to walk into a different argument. 

"I heard you the first three hundred times" Debbie screamed as she rushed up the stairs.

"umm... hey Fiona" Hailey hesitated, she wasn't used to there being so much tension in the Gallagher house that was non-frank related.

Fiona spun around from the fridge speaking to the girl who had become part of her family "Hey Hailey, take a seat there are waffles and eggs have some."

Hailey sat next to Carl helping herself to the food on the table "Hey Carl, what's up with your sister she's kind of been a bit... crazy lately"

Carl replied with a mouth full of eggs"You think I know what goes on in my sisters head?" Carl gave Hailey a look that was surely meant to imply that she was an idiot for asking.

"So what do you wanna do today?" She asked, attempting to direct Carl's attention away from stuffing way too much food in at once and towards her. 

"I think there's a saw marathon on tv if you wanna watch it" Carl mumbled.

Hailey nodded heading into the living room after Carl and getting comfortable on the couch as Carl answered the door, barely even paying attention to the new person she flicked through the channels until she found the gory movie. She looked up briefly when Carl called for his sister but paid little mind to his yelling the Gallaghers had never done anything quietly after all.

She faintly heard Fiona reply from upstairs before Carl was yelling again "MIke".

Carl lifted up her legs before throwing himself down onto the couch with her feet settled in his lap. Mike hung awkwardly behind them in the watching the tv from behind them.

"What is this? Saw, on a Sunday morning?" Mike enquired.

"Mike your real name?" Carl spoke without even turning to look at him, still intensely watching the gore going on in the movie.

"Uh yes, well Michael but Mike is my name" Mike responded confused he was unsure of where the topic had come from.

"Ever steal a car?" she continued on from Carls question.

"Ever burn your blood-soaked clothes in the yard?" Carl followed.

"What about smuggling someone's dad across a border ever done that or flee the country?" she finished.

"Uh, what no" Mike wondered what was up with these two did they ask weird random questions of everyone Fiona dated to test them or something? or were they just weird? He stared quizzically at the two teenagers sitting on the couch noticing the way the girl had her feet in the lap of who he assumed from Fiona's stories had to be Carl. "So... are you two dating or something" 

Their reaction was immediate, Hailey and Carl both jumped away from each other and stared at each other with mirrored expressions of shock, sputtering rapidly over each other.

"He's not my-" "She isn't-" "We wouldn't-" eventually both kids quieted down and Carl spoke up "Hailey is my best friend but we are not dating" Mike just nodded in reply going back to standing awkwardly as the two teens settled back into there seats.

Hailey stared past the tv at the wall behind it ignoring the conversations continuing around her. The thought of dating Carl or anyone for that matter had never really been something she had considered. But now that it was out there in the air the thought of being with Carl in that way... well it wasn't nearly as repulsive as she thought it should be. The idea of wanting to date her best friend should surely make her want to hurl, only it didn't, or at least not in a bad way. Her stomach was twisted up in knots and she could feel huge angry butterflies bouncing around, but instead of feeling green to the gills she found herself repressing a stupid goofy smile. This wasn't good, there was no way no possible universe where she could possibly catch feelings of the non-platonic type for Carl, it was a disaster a total fucking train wreck waiting to happen. She had to keep this a secret at all costs, repress her new found crush with so much force that even she didn't know about it. She couldn't ruin her friendship with the only person who she actually liked and who wasn't completely terrified of her.