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alexstalkers · 3 months

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Everything Has Changed- Part 1

Hello everyone, this is the first story I've ever written, and especially of the fanfic type. I am a big Shameless fan and have been rewatching lately and Carl is my favorite character. I hope you enjoy!! (Please give feedback, in a nice way) I might do a part two if people like this❤️

Backstory: Carl Gallagher is a police officer, and you are studying Psychology with a minor in Sociology at the University of Chicago. You meet at a time in your life where you don't need distractions or a relationship, but the Gallaghers are hurricanes and Carl changes your world view.

SONG INSPIRATION: Everything Has Changed- Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran (Corny, IK)

Characters: Y/N (Your Name) (black woman), Michelle (Your best friend and roommate also a black woman) Carl Gallagher, other Gallaghers (Ian, Lip, Liam) Kev, V, Mickey

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I wasn’t ready for how this day was going to go. At. All. At. Fucking. All. I was frustrated waiting in line at some check cashing place near my job, and only had 10 minutes left on my lunch break. I was impatient and my only thought was, "can these people hurry the fuck up?!" I felt like the time was deliberately speeding up as the people around me were slowing down.

I was annoyed as I finally walked up to the front counter and put my check in front of the middle-aged white lady that was smiling back at me "Hi, how are you? May I see some ID please?" The woman’s pleasant attitude annoyed me even more as I pulled out my wallet to showcase my ID while rolling my eyes. The woman pulls down her glasses to inspect it for second and grabs the check from me. “One second”, she says with a smile while turning around. After a few minutes, she turns back around and starts to passive-aggressively count out loud my change back to me. “Eight-hundred and fifty dollars.”, she says handing me the money.

I snatch it out of her hand and turn to walk out the door as the woman smiles and waves goodbye. As I walk out of the check cashing place, I look at my phone for the time to see I have one minute left of my lunch break. “Shit! Shit, shit, fuck!”, I yell frantically running to my car that is parked across the street. As I get to my car, I see a cop about to put a ticket on the windshield. “Wait officer, I’m here! Please don’t do that, please!”

“Meter was up. Nothing I can do.”, he says with a don't care type of attitude.

“You can’t just spare me this one time? I’m already running late for work, and it won’t happen again.”, I plead.

He looks at me as I stare back with a pathetic expression on my face, eyes begging him. “Sorry about its ma’am.” He shrugs his shoulders as he places the ticket on my windshield as he turns around and walks away.

“Asshole!” I yell. He stops walking and turns his head to glare at me.

“Oh! So, you want another ticket for disrespecting an officer, ma’am?”, he shouts back at me in a pointed way.

My eyebrows shot up in a scary way as I ran into my car before he tried to ticket me again.

“Damn it!”, I exclaim as I check the time and see I have 5 minutes to get back to work and it’s a 3-minute drive to get to my job at the DoubleTree.

When I get to my job, I rush inside to the front desk where I work, and my boss has beaten me there. “Cutting it close, Y/N. Do you nap on your breaks? I don’t have time to wait for you.” My boss isn’t a tyrant, but he is strict and more so than usual because his wife is pregnant and almost due, so he’s been stressed about that.

“Sorry Brandon, won’t happen again.” I apologized while going behind the front desk. “Did that high school that booked verify their reservation?” I ask while looking on the computer to check the most recent guests that checked in and out.

“No, they didn’t and they’re coming in three days.” Brandon says walking into his office. I sigh as I start trying to get in touch with the school staff for the reservation. This is going to be a long night.

When I get back to my apartment that I share with my best friend at around 6 pm, I am finally ready to settle down, relax from this long day and take a nice bath, but Michelle comes running over to me. “Can you zip this up for me, please?”, she asks turning around in a black corset mini dress.

“Okkkk, you look cute friend!” I hype her up while I zip up the dress, “but where are you going?”, I ask.

“You mean us because you’re coming with me. I met this guy a couple of days ago and he asked me out to this new club, said I could bring a friend and he’s bringing one of his. Make it like a double date kind of thing.” She explained as she put on black high-heeled boots.

I groaned. “I’m not really feeling up to it I had a long day, I was late for work after cashing my check and the cashier was rude as shit. My boss was giving me hell and I got a ticket. Also, we have midterms coming up soon.”

“This is exactly why we need to get you out of this apartment, you’re stressing too much. You could use a little bit of fun and time to enjoy life with no work or school.”

“Finnee…” I say looking at her hesitantly as she pushes me into my room to get dressed. After I take my shower, I stand in front of my closet and pull out a taupe-colored sweater knit dress, a black mesh bodysuit, black pantyhose, black mesh designer gloves and suede leather high-heel ankle boots.

I lay out all of my clothes and start to get ready by doing makeup, hair and putting on body cream and perfume then I get on my clothes after about 30 minutes. I grab everything I need including my phone charger and wallet and leave my room to see Michelle waiting in the living room watching ‘The Kardashians’. She looks up as I come out. “You ready?”, she asks expectantly.

“Yeah girly, let’s go before I change my mind!”, I joke half-heartedly as she turns off the TV and grabs her keys to leave. “You’re driving?”

“Well, you have a ticket, remember?” She laughs as we leave and lock the apartment to go to the club.

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“What is this place called anyway?”, I ask on the way there while I play one of my Spotify playlists to help me get a little more turnt for tonight.

“Cosmo, I think”, she replies “I just know it’s somewhere on the Southside.” She shrugs.

“Why are we meeting some random ass guys on the Southside of Chicago?!”, I questioned. What type of horror movie shit did she get me into? “What the fuck do I look like going to the Southside and possibly getting murdered?”

She sighs, “I’ve already met one of the guys and have been talking to him for a couple of days like I told you and he’s a cop and so is his friend. He also showed me a picture of his friend so we’re not going into this blind.” She explains.

I give her an annoyed look, “Whatever, I’m only doing this for you. But if this gets weird, I’m taking my ass home.”, I explain. She nods with a smirk on her face as I roll my eyes. When we finally got to the club, Michelle followed the parking sign that leads to a small parking entrance next to the building that has a flickering neon sign that reads "Cosmo” and people lined up to get inside already.

“Damn this is shitty. And there’s a line already. Come on, let’s hurry up and retouch our makeup before we go inside to meet the guys. I also want to show you a picture of my dates friend.”, Michelle explains excitedly as she starts to fix her lipstick.

After we get done fixing ourselves up, we get out of the car and walk up to the line where we see people standing around the entrance, talking eagerly while waiting to get inside. It’s a little chilly outside and Michelle didn't bring a jacket, so she stands closer to me for body heat as we join the bustling line.

Michelle looks at me nervously as I breathe out a breath of cold air. She pulls out her phone. “So, the guy that I’m meeting up with tonight is named Carl and like I said before he’s a cop and so is the friend he’s bringing for you. His friend's name is Michael. Here’s a picture that he sent me of him.”, she explained pulling up a picture of the Michael guy from her text messages. “What do you think?”

I look at the picture for a minute and take in his olive skin, tattoos, and brown eyes. He’s attractive. “Yeah, he’s cute.”, I shrug off an oncoming smile that I know she can see by her smirk as she looks back down at her phone probably texting my approval to her date. “I just can’t wait to get inside, it’s cold as shit out here.”, I complain to change the topic as we inch closer to the entrance. “So, are they inside already or are they on their way?", I ask Michelle about the whereabouts of our dates.

We inched even closer to the entrance. “I texted Carl and he said they’re meeting us here from his house, but that he doesn’t live far.”, she answered rubbing her hands together trying to warm herself up. As I was about to offer her my gloves we reached the entrance of the club. “Yay, finally!”, she groaned happily as she steps to the entrance nervously, but a giant man with a stern expression is standing there blocking it off with his arms crossed.

“ID, please.”, the bouncer demands. Although he says ‘please’, it’s filled with authority and he’s not someone to mess with, so we go in our bags for our IDs immediately but get interrupted by a voice from behind.

“Michelle, is that you?” We both turn around and see two guys, one is who Michelle showed me a picture of a few minutes earlier, he’s put together and wearing a nicely ironed shirt and jeans. The other guy who called Michelle’s name is more rugged looking, his hair is dark and messed up, he has sharp hazel eyes and a series of scars around his face. He’s wearing a random band t-shirt and a leather jacket and looks like he just rolled out of bed and put it on.

“It’s ok, they’re with us,” he says to the bouncer as he and Michael flash their badges at him. Michelle and I glance at each other with impressed looks on our faces as the bouncer opens the rope and lets us in.

____________________________________________

We step into the dingy-looking club and the pulsating beat of the music automatically fills the air bringing up the vibe and has Michelle and Carl out on the dance floor already. “Would you like a drink?”, Michael asks me over the Nicki Minaj remix blasting through the speakers.

“Yes please, thank you! I’m going to go find seats!”, I answer back as he nods and walks over to the bar. I squint my eyes over the flashing lights as I walk over to the seating area of the club with dimmer lighting and worn-out leather couches, chairs and tables in private sections. As I approach the seating area, the faint smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke creeps up my nose as I walk around looking for an empty section. I finally found one in a secluded corner near the bathrooms and saw Michael looking for me with our drinks in his hands, so I gestured him over to our section.

“I just got you a vodka and cranberry. That, ok?”, he asks as he sits down and hands me my drink. I nod and take a sip before putting it on the table. "What do you study at the University of Chicago?" Michael asks, leaning back casually and taking a sip from his own drink.

"I’m majoring in psychology, with a minor in sociology," I respond, relaxing into the worn-out leather couch. "It’s a lot of work, but I love it. What about you? How long have you been a cop?"

"About three years now," he replies. "Carl and I actually met at the academy. He’s a good guy, though sometimes a little too eager to throw himself into danger."

"Sounds like Carl," I say with a small laugh, glancing over at the dance floor where Carl and Michelle are tearing it up. "Michelle told me he’s a bit of a wild card."

"That’s one way to put it," Michael agrees with a chuckle. "But he’s got a good heart. We both do this job because we want to make a difference, you know?"

"Yeah, I get that," I say, nodding. "It’s just... sometimes I wonder if the system is too broken to fix."

Michael looks at me thoughtfully. "You sound like someone who’s seen a lot for your age."

I shrug. "Maybe."

"Okay..." he says, raising his eyebrow and taking another sip of his drink. "So, what do you do for fun when you’re not buried in books or dealing with rude cashiers?"

I laugh, feeling the tension of the day slowly melting away. "Honestly, not much lately. Between school and work, I don’t have a lot of free time. But when I do, I like to read, watch movies, and sometimes go out dancing with Michelle."

"Sounds like you need to have more nights out like this," Michael says with a grin. "Life’s too short to spend all of it working and studying."

"Maybe you’re right," I admit, taking another sip of my drink. "So, tell me more about you. Any crazy stories from your time on the force?"

Michael’s eyes light up. "Oh, I’ve got plenty. There was this one-time Carl and I were chasing down this guy who stole a car. We’re speeding through the streets, and Carl is hanging out of the window trying to shoot out the tires. It was like something out of a movie."

"That sounds intense," I say, eyes wide. "Did you catch him?"

"Yeah, we got him," Michael says proudly. "But not before Carl ended up with a busted lip and a bruised ego."

We both laugh, the conversation flowing easily. Before I know it, an hour has passed, and I’m feeling much more relaxed and in the moment. Michelle and Carl joined us, flushed and laughing from their time on the dance floor.

"Having fun?" Michelle asks, plopping down beside me.

"Yeah, actually," I say, smiling at her. "Thanks for dragging me out tonight."

"Anytime," she says, nudging me playfully. "So, Michael, what do you think of Y/N?"

Michael looks at me, a warm smile spreading across his face. "I think she’s pretty great."

I feel a blush creeping up my cheeks and look away, trying to hide my smile. "You’re not so bad yourself."

Carl and Michelle exchange a knowing look, and I feel a sense of camaraderie growing among the four of us. Maybe tonight wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

The rest of the night passes in a blur of laughter, dancing, and good conversation. By the time we leave the club, I’m feeling lighter than I have in weeks. As we walk to the car, Michael walks beside me, his hand brushing against mine.

"I had a really great time tonight," he says softly.

"Me too," I admit. "Maybe we can do this again sometime?"

"I’d like that," he says, smiling down at me.

As we reach the car, Michelle and Carl are already inside, talking animatedly. Michael opens the door for me, and I slide in, feeling a sense of contentment I haven’t felt in a long time. Maybe this was the distraction I needed. Maybe, just maybe, this could be the start of something new.

Back at the apartment, Michelle and I collapse on the couch, exhausted but happy.

"See? Didn’t I tell you it would be fun?" she says, kicking off her boots.

"Yeah, you were right," I admit, smiling. "Thanks for dragging me out tonight."

"Anytime, girl," she says, giving me a hug. "Now get some sleep. We’ve got midterms to tackle."

"Right," I say, rolling my eyes. But as I head to my room, I can’t help but feel a sense of excitement for what’s to come. Maybe Carl and his friend had brought more than just a night of fun into my life. Maybe they’d brought a new beginning.

I fall asleep that night with a smile on my face, ready to see what the future holds.