southside trash [shameless]

• Chapter 27 • Charges •

Three long hours are spent at the police station, giving a detailed statement to Detective Diaz.  I called up the Gaffney Medical Centre ER and got in touch with Doctor Halstead.  He told me that he took a sample of DNA from my miscarried baby, which we can match with Raoul's DNA in a paternity test.  He's going down for this no matter what.  Even if he argues it was 'consensual', I'm a minor so it is statutory rape either way.

I gave Detective Diaz the Gallagher phone number, and he promised to call me when he had any news.

Jonas stayed with me the whole time, and I made it clear to the detective that I wouldn't do this unless Joe was given immunity.  This meant sacrificing my own immunity but the only person I wanted prosecuted was Raoul, and the only collateral sentencing I was okay with was my own.

Now, Jonas and I are stood outside of the police precinct, passing a cigarette between the two of us.  We watch as a few police cars drive away with their sirens on, most likely to respond to one of the many crimes taking place in our neighbourhood at his very second.

"How do you feel?" Jonas asks me, after a few minutes of silence.

"Relieved, nervous," I answer with a shrug.

"You did the right thing," he tells me sincerely, looking me in the eye.

I give him a small smile in response.

When we finish the cigarette, he walks me home.  I pull him into a tight hug once we reach the gate around the front yard of my house.

"Thank you," I whisper into his chest.

"Anytime, Gallagher," he whispers back, "I'm always gonna be here for you."

We eventually pull away and he presses a kiss to my forehead, before I walk through the gate and up the steps of the porch.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I call back to him and he nods, waving goodbye.

Pushing the door open, I head inside, raising my hand in a loose wave to Debbie and Carl who are sat listening to Frank read to them.  I falter slightly at the sight but brush it off once I remember he's decided to parent for a while.  I reach the kitchen and see Fiona stood by the counter facing away from me.

There are takeaway bags from Sticks and Skates in front of her and I sigh, speaking up.

"What happened to the powerpoint class?" I ask.

She turns around, and I see the tear stains on her cheeks, smudging the stripes of black paint on her cheeks.

No words are needed as I pull her into a hug.  While looking after all of us, Fiona can sometimes put her wellbeing aside to focus on the rest of us.  It's one of her best and worst traits.

She nods into my shoulder, telling me she's alright or at least will be, and I let go.  She starts to wipe away some of the tears as Lip walks down the stairs.