⋆¸*ೃ☼ COMPLICATED | CARL GALLAGHER
❛ FIONA, WHEN YOU KICK DEBBIE OUT CAN I HAVE HER ROOM? ❜
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LIZZIE WOKE UP TO ONE of fiona's tinder dates leaving.
the girl got up and stretched out her arms. she cracked her knuckles, her back, and then her neck before she got up off the couch.
'fiona, when you kick debbie out can i have her room?'
'gonna have to up you and jazzy's rent.' she frowned, watching as jasmine, who was already in the kitchen, walked over to give me a hug. 'i mean, if you stop spending all your money on clothes, sure.'
lizzie shook her head, hugging her little sister tightly. 'put some pants on before the boy's come down.' fiona commanded.
'no,' the younger girl told her, swiping her bright blonde hair over her shoulder and grabbing cereal off the fridge.
fiona rolled her eyes, throwing her clothes in the washer and starting it, before it started to make weird noises and stopped.
the woman walked back over and pressed the button again. same thing happened.
'shit.'
'uh-oh.' liam said.
'monster noises!' jasmine exclaimed, forming her hands into claws. 'grr!'
fiona kicked the washer, it made a final sound before stopping. ian peaked his head out from the stairwell visibly confused, 'what was that noise?'
'i think it was the sound of the washer dying.' fiona sighed.
'fiona broke it.' liam informed ian, walking to the table with his juice
elizabeth grabbed a bowl and poured cereal for jazzy. 'you want milk in your cereal, monkey?'
'yes, grr!'
man, kids are weird as fuck. the teen girl said to herself, shaking her head distastefully and opening the fridge to grab the milk.
'i got to get some loads in before i have to go to work.' fiona said frustratedly.
ian passed by me, suggesting to fi, 'just call v, you can use her washer.'
fiona shook her head, 'no v.'
'what's wrong with v?' ian asked, furrowing his brows in confusion. what's not wrong with v?
'bubba, c'mere. get your cereal' lizzie said, holding out the food for her. she went and got it and carefully sat down with it.
'i guess we're on the outs.' fiona explained, grabbing a little bowl of change. 'we got into it pretty bad about me not being there for her and her not givin' a shit about me, and we haven't spoken since.'
'don't start the wash.' carl said, coming downstairs. 'i need to throw in one of my shirts.'
'can't.'
'washer's broken.'
carl stopped once he heard that and frowned. 'what am i supposed to do about my military-school interview?' he asked. 'i can't go on there smelling like one of frank's homeless.'
'you're still going through with that?' ian asked his younger brother, as if he didn't think he could do it.
but if anyone lizzie knew could scam their way into military school, it's carl gallagher.
'don't they check your gpa for military school?' fiona said as the younger girl put away the milk.
'dom's dad wrote me a killer recommendation.' carl smiled.
'who died?' lip asked as he entered, noticing the somber mood of the room.
another appliance.' ian answered, pointing to the washer.
'oh, shit, the washing machine?'
'yeah, it's the one fucking jimmy bought for us.' fiona told him. carl told lizzie about jimmy. i should've known it would never last.'
'i guess you're gonna have to date another shithead con artist to replace it for us, huh?' lip joked.
the blonde reached up to put the cereal back on the fridge. 'why isn't lizzie wearing pants?' ian asked, watching as she put the box away.
'fuck off.' she daintly yawned, pulling her shirt down.
'somebody has to call to get this fixed, and it's not going to be me.' fiona said, pulling her clothes out of the washer.
'what am i supposed to do about my shirt?'
'oh, uh, there's such a thing as a sink.' fiona answered.
'oh, flintstones living up in here?' carl asked, walking over to the sink. i hopped up onto the counter, kicking him as he walked by.
'yo, where's debs?' lip asked, taking his coffee around to a barstool.
'i think she's avoidin' me cause she doesn't have her portion of the monthly utilities.'
'you think?' elizabeth asked fiona, crossing her arms.
'you are being kind of cunty about it.' ian pointed out.
'so is lizzie.' carl added, making me roll my eyes.
'it's just playful teasing, i don't actually want her to get kicked out.' the girl replied, running her hands in my hair. maybe she did, but only because she was so bitchy all the time. they used to be best friends but debbie changed, and maybe lizzie did too.
'bullshit.' carl said in fake cough.
'she really thinks you're gonna kick her out.' lip told his older sister. 'maybe you want to set her straight?'
fiona shrugged slightly, putting on her bag. 'who says that i'm not? somebody drop liam at daycare. i got to hit the laundromat.'
'yeah, i'll take him.' lip told his sister. 'liz, you want me to take jasmine?'
'jasmine's been banned from entering any daycare on the southside since like last october. she kept biting kids, remember?'
'alright,' lip said, getting up from his chair. 'come on, bud. go, go, go, go, go.'
'bye liam!' lizzie waved, watching as the pair left the kitchen.
'straight cavemen.' carl scoffed. 'lizzie, what're you doing later? we can hang out after my interview.'
'i'm hanging out at the mall with max and his best friend lindsay.'
'his best friend is a girl?' ian asked, suddenly interested in our conversation.
'yeah?' the blonde answered, turning to face him.
'doesn't that make you jealous?'
'no. if i was jealous over something like that it'd be hypocritical, since carl's my best friend.' she explained.
but, she was jealous.
very jealous.
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AS LIZZIE CLIMBED INTO MAX'S car, she was greeted by her boyfriend and his best friend.
'hi baby.' max said, seemingly happily.
'hi!' lindsay, who lizzie had only met a few times previously, waved. 'your outfit is to die for!'
'thanks.' lizzie smiled, smoothing out her clothes. she leaned over to kiss max. 'i missed you.'
'i missed you too.' he replied as he started to drive down the road. 'what've you been up to?'
'lot of hanging out with the gallaghers, really.' she told him. 'since i can't go to my house anymore.'
'wait, what?' the boy asked, his features twisted into a puzzled expression.
the girl scrunched up her face at him. i've told him about this. she thought to herself. 'i texted you about it.' she answered trying not to get mad. maybe he just forgot? 'me and kev and v aren't talking, remember.'
'oh, yeah.' max chuckled. 'it's cause we haven't been hanging out as much, i'm sorry.'
lizzie sucked her teeth silently and glanced back at lindsay before turning back to her boyfriend. 'it's alright max,'
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THE MALL WAS SO AWKWARD for lizzie. max and lindsay talked more than lizzie and max did, which made lizzie want to leave the whole time. they had only been there for a half an hour before lindsay said she wanted to leave.
it felt like she was third wheeling, when it should've been lindsay who felt like that.
lizzie hated lindsay but she would never dare tell max that. their relationship was already on the rocks and she didn't know how max would react.
she felt like a hypocrite, her and carl were close too. but, max never felt scared that something was going on between them.
or maybe he did and he just wouldn't tell lizzie.
'ian, is my life a mess?' the girl huffed, walking into the kitchen.
'you want me to be honest?' ian questioned, setting his coffee down on the table. 'yes.'
before elizabeth could say anything else, debbie popped her head out of the bottom of the stairwell, looking around a bit before asking, 'is fiona gone?'
'she knows you're avoiding her.' ian hummed.
debbie walked out into the kitchen. she shook her head and told her brother, 'don't feel like being harassed about the bills. i still got two days to pay up.'
'she's not really gonna kick you out.'
'yes, she is.' lizzie said, raising her eyebrows. 'don't lie to her.'
ian shook his head, 'alright, don't listen to liz, pretend she's not there.'
'gladly.' debbie replied snarkily, making a face at lizzie.
'she just wants you to put in an effort.' ian told her.
debbie grabbed the formula off of the fridge. 'she's a bitch. my stuff will be on the street in 48 hours.' she huffed starting to make a bottle. 'i've got to find financial security for me and harry.'
'alright, well i'll loan you the money.' ian offered. 'i get paid tuesday.'
debbie shook her head and replied, 'yeah, 372 dollars?'
'372 dollars?' ian asked in disbelief. 'what, is that baby formula made out of caviar or something?'
'how much formula does harry go through in a month?!' lizzie asked, crossing her arms.
debbie rolled her eyes, shaking the bottle as she began to walk away. 'it's cool. i'll get the money. i've got time. i can handle it.'
'she's not gonna kick you out!' ian called after her, before she vanished upstairs.
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ELIZABETH AND JASMINE SAT ON the living room floor, playing monsters. 'roar! roar! roar!'
from the floor, lizzie heard the back door open. it was v. jazzy got up and ran to the woman, wrapping her arms around her tightly. 'hi!'
'hi jasmine,' v chuckled, looking down to her.
fiona glanced to v and then back ahead. 'had some of your things at my house, so i thought i'd bring 'em by.'
'oh, those fit you better than they fit me anyways,' fiona said, referencing the black sparkly pumps on the table. 'you can keep them,'
'not sure what you want to do with the spare key, but. . .' she tossed the key down on the table.
'i can bring by your stuff later.'
'no need. kev will pick it up.' v said, grabbing things out of her laundry basket and placing them down.
'fine.'
'cool,'
ian came down the stairs, 'hey, v.'
'hey.' she responded, pointing at a shirt that ian grabbed out of the basket. 'sorry. kev put that one in with the colors.'
'ah, it's okay.' ian nodded, looking down at the shirt before putting it back down. 'thanks.'
'no problem.' v smiled sweetly. 'that's what friends do for each other.'
veronica walked over to the young girl, who was still sat on the floor with toys in her hands. 'hello elizabeth.'
'hello veronica.'
'thought you'd like to know, the attic is breaking it from all of the weight your furniture put on it.' every word she spoke was so cold.
elizabeth's heart broke. she may not've been living in it, but she loved her room so much. for the longest time it was the only place she felt alone at last.
v continued not letting lizzie process the information, 'we're moving everything down to jasmine's room. just so you know, when you two decide to come back.'
'is svetlana's dad still there?' the girl questioned.
'yes.'
'i think i'm better off here.' lizzie shrugged, turning away from the woman.
v started heading for the door, 'alright.'
'jesus, any colder in here, we're gonna need parkas.'
AUTHOR SPEAKS
blessing yall with this shitty chapter <3