Chapter 1

Cammie

I get my keys out of my pocket and unlock the door hoping that mother hadn't come home. I was sadly mistaken. I see her sitting on the couch with booze in her hand watching TV. I walk past her and put my bag in my room. I hear her yelling from my room and go and look.

"Cameron! Start making dinner!" she snaps as I simply nod not wanting to disobey her. It was only 4:30 so it was weird. I decided to cook a chicken risotto. I always had to cook every night, since my mother was a hopeless cook. Dad had always cooked and ever since his passing I was in charge of cooking. Once I finish cooking, I hear the doorbell ring. Who could that be? I'm about to go answer the door when Mum arrives out from the hallway in a tight purple blouse and jeans. She was wearing makeup and looked almost beautiful. This was the first time in months that I'd seen her actually attempt to look good. She answers the door and a man stands at the door.

"Hello Rachel" he says kissing her cheek as she lets him in.

"Cameron, can you come in here please?" she asks as I sigh and head into the lounge room to see a man in his late 30's standing there.

"This is Joe, he moved in yesterday and I thought we'd invite him over" she says giving me a fake smile.

"Hello Joe, I'm Cammie" I say giving him a smile, he smiles wholeheartedly and shakes my hand.

"I was going to invite my son over as well, who's about your age over but he wasn't exactly interested" he said letting out a laugh, I look at him and raise an eyebrow. New kid? That's new.

"Oh, will he be going to Roseville high?" I ask as he smiles nodding

"Yeah, Zach's starting tomorrow. Maybe you could show him around?" he asks as I nod, this man seemed nice enough.

"That sounds great, I'll give him a ride if he wants?" I ask as Joe looks at me curiously and smiles brightly.

"He'd love that, I really need to invest in getting him a car" he says smirking I nod as mother looks at me angrily. "Well I'd better get back to cooking, I'll see you soon Joe" I say as I hurry to the kitchen and put the meat and vegies in the pan and begin stirring it. I finish fifteen minutes and grab out the nice plates and serve the food up. I head to the dining table and call for them both as I take a seat and Joe and Mother come in.

"Honey, why don't you go have dinner in your room? I know you have heaps of study to do for that test coming up" she says with that tone of voice which means, don't mess with me. I nod, grabbing my plate and head to my room and take a seat on my desk. I was glad that Joe was here, he could handle her, and I wouldn't get abused tonight. Once id finished my food I catch up on some of my study for a few hours.

When I look at the time, it's already 10:00. I hear a knock on my door and sigh, nervous about what's to come. I open the door to see Joe standing there.

"Hey Cammie, I was just leaving and wanted to say goodnight" he says giving me a smile.

"It was nice meeting you Joe, what time should I pick up Zach?" I ask raising an eyebrow.

"Say, 8:30? He's a pretty lazy bugger. But I'll make sure he's up and ready" he says smirking. I nod smiling.

"Thanks Joe, I'll take that into consideration. Sleep well" I say as he just smiles shaking my hand as he leaves. I can hear Mum and Joe talking and hear them exchange their goodbyes. I head to the bathroom to brush my teeth when I feel the first blow on my ass.

"Don't you dare ever flirt with my romantic interests, you hear me?" she says as she slaps me across the face again. I shudder in fear nodding my head.

"Good" she says as she storms off. I sigh my body still shaking as I finish brushing my teeth and head back to my room, getting changed into my t-shirt and trakkie pants and hop into bed. Hoping for a better tomorrow to arise.

(*)(*)(*)

I wake up in the morning and look at my alarm. 7:30. Mother should of left for work. I was happy for that. I grabbed a blue cami and light blue jeans, I figured I'd just go for a simple look, pairing it with black converses and my gold watch. I smile at myself before putting my hair in a messy bun, leaving some pieces to frame my face. Macey really had digged into me about my fashion sense. It was worrying. I go into the kitchen, to find no sign of mother and decide to make some toast with Nutella. It was a lovely morning and I was interested in the neighbour. Would he be hot? Would he be annoying? I chose to distract my mind with something else. I had my social studies test today, I'd studied hard for it, so I figured I'd do well. It was my best subject after all. Once I finish eating my toast I decide to make myself a mango smoothie. Once I finish my smoothie I apply my perfume and look in the mirror, and do my makeup. I put a light amount of foundation on, some cherry lip gloss and some blush. I always liked to keep it simple. I looked at the time and saw it was 8:25. Almost time to pick up Zach. I head to the kitchen and start packing my bag. Once I'd finished I grab my keys from the dining room table and head to my red Suzuki swift. I throw my bag in the backseat of the car and start the car, and drive into their driveway. This house had been for sale for months, I was glad someone had bought it. I decide to head to the front door, and knock on the door. Joe answers it.

"Morning Cammie, Zach's almost ready. Why don't you come inside?" he suggests. I nod as I enter the room, I'd been in the house before, when the previous owners lived here. Nothing had really changed in the house.

"So whereabouts did you move from?" I ask Joe as I take a seat on one of the bar stools.

"Zach and I came up from Chicago" he exclaims, I nod.

"Has it always just been you and Zach?" I ask as Joe sighs, putting a hand through his hair.

"For about ten years now, I had a divorce and she had been abusive towards Zach, so we filed a restraining order" he explained, I nod shocked. Now he was interested in my mother. Gosh this was interesting.

"I'm sorry for bring it up. I didn't know, I was just curious" I exclaim. He nods giving me his warm hearted smile as Zach comes through the hallway. He was dressed in a plain grey shirt with blue jeans, he had dark brown hair that was messy and his emerald eyes really struck me. I smiled as he walks over looking me up and down.

"You must be Zach" I exclaim as he nods smirking.

"And you must be Cammie" he says as I just nod.

"You guys had better head off, I don't want you both to be late" he exclaims letting out a laugh. I nod casually as I give him a smile and walk alongside Zach.

"So Joe had dinner at your place last night huh?" Zach asks as I just nod concentrating on the room.

"Was nice to have someone else in the house" I say as Zach just nods.

"Bet you would of preferred me in the house" Zach says smirking. I roll my eyes in disgust. Boy this guy was cocky.

"Don't flatter yourself" I exclaim as I park in my normal spot.

"Now I promised Joe that I'd help you get started at the school, and since your Dad is actually nice unlike you I'll stick by my word" I snap as Zach just smirks.

This was going to be a long day.

So what did you think? Haven't written a Gallagher fanfic in like forever! Had this idea and needed to write it! Been busy with school stuff, and being away. Plus struggling to find motivation to write, I finally managed to write this. More chapters to come! I promise! Please review! And PM me with any queries and concerns! Thanks everyone x