A/N: This is my first attempt at doing a Shameless story. Hopefully it turns out as well as I'm hoping for!

A/N2: I own nothing except my characters.

Chapter One

Twelve year old Paisley Carmichael was wearing the dress that her seventeen year old brother had helped her pick out. It wasn't a happy occasion, it was one that would alter both their lives forever. Last week had been a relief to everyone in the courtroom besides her father. He had pleaded innocent on all four charges that he stood accused of. Two counts of murder in the first degree, one count of attempted murder, and one count of domestic violence.

She had been sitting with her brother, holding his hand tightly not knowing if she wanted to know what these strange people would decide for her father's fate or if she had already resigned herself to knowing that nothing would ever go back to the way they had been not that long ago. Hearing the word guilty four times, she buried her head into her brother's side and cried. Tears of joy. Her father would be going to jail where he belonged.

It was pure luck that Paisley did not have to testify during the trial. She had seen what her father had done to her mother, but there was plenty of evidence that both lawyers seemed to agree that she would not be a witness in the trial. But that was last week. Now they were back to hear the sentencing.

Judge David Harrison had eyes like a hawk, at least Paisley thought so. And there were many times that her own eyes had met his during the trial. It seemed to her that although his eyes were on her or someone else, he wasn't missing anything that was happening in his courtroom. Right now, Judge Harrison was looking down at a folder as everyone waited for him to begin.

"Not one single person on the jury believed in your innocence. I'm not sure there is any one person in this courtroom today that believes it. I know that your son and daughter are here and my heart truly goes out to them for they are old enough to know how their father has taken two lives and feels no remorse," the man said as he looked from Paisley and her brother back to their father who looked detached, but not sorry in the least for what he did. "In all my time here, I can honestly say I have never seen someone so selfish and self-centered. You had an affair while married to the mother of your kids. Then the woman you were cheating on your wife with becomes pregnant. And instead of taking responsibility for your actions you started to plot and plan how you could get out of the mess you made and start over again. What is deplorable is all the innocent lives you have ruined and not once did you think of them. Your children were just in the way and you didn't think how your actions would affect them. Your daughter has been in this courtroom and not once have you spared her a glance or a smile that maybe things would be okay. No, your only thoughts were about you."

Everyone in the courtroom let the judge's words sink in. It would seem that he had not been unaffected by the trial of a man that had thrown everything away. Paisley took a deep breath, she knew from the previous days and with her brother being honest about what was happening that this would not be an easy day for them. After a few moments, the judge picked up where he had stopped at.

"I hope and pray that your actions have not done severe damage to those around you. Your brother will have custody of your children until they reach the age of eighteen if he can prove he has suitable living conditions for them," Judge Harrison said before looking down at the folder in his hand. "For the crime of domestic violence you are sentenced to twenty years. For the crime of attempted murder you are sentenced to forty-five years because of the use of a firearm in your crime. For the crime of two murders in the first degree the sentence is the same for both. Life without parole."

Letting that sink in, the Judge looked at the man who still had not looked at his children. Not once.

"I know that you weren't sorry when you committed these horrendous crimes, you weren't sorry during the trial, and you aren't sorry now. Maybe one day you will be, but it is already too late for that. You will have the chance to appeal. Do you have an attorney for that?"

"Yes, your honor."

"If you wish, you may tell your children good-bye before you are taken away."

Paisley looked at her father, but he did not turn around. He didn't glance over his shoulder at them, nothing. He was led out of the courtroom and that was the last time she saw him until she came to live with her uncle and he forced her to visit her father with him every month. But then she got smart and made sure that he wasn't able to find her by the time he left for the jail.

Three months after her father's sentencing was the very last time she saw him. And that was how she preferred it. He started to write her letters when she was fourteen, but she never opened a single one before throwing it away into the trash.

On the day her brother turned eighteen, they spent the day together. First visiting their mother who had yet to wake up from the coma their father left her in. Paisley spent the most time out of them in the hospital room and had come to know the nurses that took care of her mother fairly well. After their visit with their mother, they just spent the day together before having dinner at a diner to celebrate Andrew signing the papers to join the Marines. They both knew this would be hard, but they knew they would stay in touch. Andrew had saved the money and was able to buy a decent cell phone for her that was already paid for and he had her number so that they could always stay in touch while she still lived with their uncle.

Rolling over, seventeen year old Paisley turned off the alarm clock on the table next to her bed. Another day of school, another day she was forced to act as if things were alright. Hitting the alarm to shut it off, she groaned as she sat up. Glancing at the bedroom door, she smiled. It had been her brother's room for the year that he lived here with her and their uncle after their father went to jail. But it didn't last long since he had long ago knew that he wanted to be more, to become a Marine. And so after talking about it with her, at the age of eighteen he enlisted. And he was on a deployment at the moment so she hadn't heard from him for about a week. But that was normal and it wasn't as if she was waiting by the phone for him to call her. She had her own life and a big part of that was learning to cover the bruises that her uncle would leave on her face when he got sloppy. Normally he would only bruise her where no one would be able to see. But last night she got mouthy and he hadn't been sober for two days and so he had hit her.

As much as she hated her uncle, she knew it could be worse. She had seen what foster care did to some kids. It wasn't as if she spent a whole lot of time with her uncle, well not intentionally. Two years ago he lost his job and that was when he started drinking and that was when the hitting began. She didn't dare tell anyone about it for fear of having to go into foster care. Usually he didn't hit her anywhere that couldn't be covered by clothing, but after one time that he had gotten her face really good, she stayed home from school the next day and taught herself how to cover any neck and face bruises that he might leave in the future.

The first time she tried to cover up a face bruise was a complete disaster. She had used her normal foundation, but she didn't realize it until after she applied concealer that she had did she realize that the color was all wrong. Instead of hiding the bruise and not calling attention to her face it did the exact opposite. The attempted cover-up of the bruise drew the attention that side of her face. If she didn't want to be taken out of her neighborhood or from her Uncle's house, then she needed to get better cover-up. Knowing where her Uncle kept the cash left over from his drinking, she left her bedroom and made sure he was still passed out before taking it. Most nights there wasn't much left so she would take the leftover money each night and save it for things she need that her Uncle wouldn't provide for her.

She wasn't too far from the L, so instead of going to school the morning after her uncle hit her face for the first time she boarded the train that would take her to the mall where she could find the right make-up that she would need to make it through life under her uncle's roof. The last thing she was expecting was to see Mandy Milkovich on the same train as her. She had pulled the hood of her jacket up over her head before she left the house in hopes that she wouldn't be recognized. It didn't do the trick where Mandy Milkovich was concerned. Not only did she recognize her, she came over and commented on the bruise on her face. And then she did something Paisley had not been expecting. She offered her help with covering up the bruising on her face so that no one would know about it.

The Milkovich family wasn't known for their kindness and Mandy was known to have a reputation that was not flattering in the least. Perhaps it was because of what she saw on her face, but the offer that Mandy gave her was one that she Paisley knew she couldn't turn down. So she didn't. Together the two girls made their way to the mall after getting off the L. At first glance it seemed Mandy was up to no good no matter what, but what if it wasn't like that? What if she just needed a friend that didn't judge her the way everyone else did? That was when she decided that she would be a friend to Mandy Milkovich even if it had to be in secret. After all people like Mandy Milkovich as well as Paisley Carmichael herself had reputations to uphold.

By the time that she had to be at the Kash and Grab for work, Mandy had taught her what she needed to know about covering bruises to make it look like there was absolutely nothing wrong. Nothing is ever smooth sailing because as soon as she walked into the store she saw Ian behind the counter and the owner Kash was no where to be seen. She was five minutes early so it wasn't as if Kash's wife would yell at her like she did to Ian when he didn't arrive on time for a shift.

"Where were you?"

It was a simple question and she could have given a simple answer, but the day had been emotional enough as it was. So ignoring her best friend, she just went about her business and headed into the back room. Knowing that he wouldn't follow her since there was no one else to watch the front for the time being, she started to grab things that needed to be stocked and made sure she followed Linda's rules about the store. Kash had come in and Ian was gone by the time she came back out so for the moment she didn't have anything to worry about. But the next time they saw each other she knew he wouldn't let it go so easily.

Tossing the covers off her body, Paisley made her way to the connecting bathroom and looked into the mirror. The bruising around her eye was darker than she thought it would be. Opening the top drawer, she pulled out the purple bag of concealers and placed one on the counter before placing the bag back in the drawer and shut it. Then opening the lower drawer she pulled out her foundation, eye shadow, mascara and eye liner. After carefully making sure that the bruise was covered, Paisley applied the rest of her make up before continuing her normal ritual for what was to be another shitty day on the South Side of Chicago.

After she was dressed and had everything she needed for school, she placed her messenger bag over her shoulder and unlocked the door. Walking out of her room, she closed the door and walked down the stairs as quietly as she could in her heeled boots. They weren't her high heeled ones, but they were still cute and made for winter with a bit of a heel. A gift from her brother before he was deployed overseas. Making it to the kitchen she grabbed a strawberry pop tart and a brown sugar one as well. Shoving both packages into her bag, she grabbed a travel coffee mug and filled it up with coffee that she programmed every night before going to bed. If she were going to survive the day she would need every last drop. Adding a little creamer, she quickly stirred it before slamming the lid on it.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"School," Paisley said, her back still turned away from her uncle who had apparently woken up before she left today. That was a rare occasion these days. "After all, if I don't show up to school, they might call CPS and ask for a wellness check and I might forget to cover a bruise. And then you can maybe share a cell with your brother."

"Have some respect for your father."

"Maybe if he wasn't a murderer I would," Paisley said as she turned around. "Oh wait, no I wouldn't. He's nothing but a coward. Now unless you want CPS coming to check up on me I suggest you move."

Evan Carmichael moved over enough to where his niece could get by him and out the door. He never wanted to have children and now he was stuck with his brother's kid because he had gotten locked up and his wife was in the hospital. Hearing the door slam, Evan walked to the fridge and grabbed a beer before heading back to his room.

Paisley had every intention of going to school when she left her Uncle's house, but having to have a conversation with the man just totally put her in a shitty mood. So instead of meeting up with Ian, she headed to the Gallagher household. Since they only lived a few blocks away from her, it didn't take her long to show up. What was surprising was the expensive looking car in the front of the house.

Making her way to the side entrance, she opened the door and caught the tail end of the conversation between Fiona and some guy.

"Quit pretending you don't even know me. You weren't that drunk."

"Maybe she isn't into you." Paisley said as she closed the door behind her as she took her beanie off and tossed it on the counter with her bag.

"Hey it's Phillip and someone that I don't know."

"Hey it's dead man walking. Jimmy Clifton called today looking for ya," Lip said before looking at his brother's best friend as she looked at the man she didn't know. "Hey Lu."

"Hey Lip." Paisley said as she took the pop tarts out of her bag and put them on the shelf in the kitchen.

"No school?" the man asked.

"Nah, I got some teeth pulled today."

"Wisdom teeth?"

"Sugar rot." Lip said as he pulled two containers of juice from the fridge and handed one to the blonde girl in the kitchen.

"Ah," the man said in understanding. "Little known fact. Don't just chew your food on one side. It can buckle your jaw, which can buckle your hips and affect your posture."

"Ah, that a fact?" Lip asked.

"Skeletal fact."

Both Lip and Paisley looked at Fiona as she said her brother's name and then mouthed the words fuck off to him. Paisley had been coming around the Gallagher's for awhile and knew that Fiona wanted privacy, but wasn't sure she wanted to leave the woman who was like an older sister to her because frankly she didn't know if she could trust the guy in the kitchen.

Lip nodded his head as Paisley went over to her bag and pulled out a box of hot pockets since was going to give them to Ian later, but now she didn't have to.

"Talk out of your ass with that much conviction," Lip said as he left the kitchen before turning and looking at Steve. "You end up needing a much bigger toothbrush. Anal fact."

"Lu…" Fiona said as she looked at the teenager.

"Fi…" Paisley said, crossing her arms over her chest. Fiona stared at the girl knowing that her intentions were to protect as she had been doing since her father put her mother in a coma. She protected those she cared for most. "Ian's hot pockets are buried. Tell him we are even now."

"If you are sticking around-"

"Lu is it?" the man asked.

Glaring at him, she snapped. "Only my friends call me that."

"Steve this is Paisley. Paisley, Steve," Fiona said introducing them. "Paisley is Ian's best friend. She should be at school, but I suppose she is having an off day."

"I forgot my way." Paisley said grabbing her stuff as she followed Lip in the direction of the stairs where he had probably gone to his bedroom.

"Hey, Lu," Fiona called her, which stopped her in her tracks. "I might need you to watch Liam."

Nodding her head, Paisley continued on her way upstairs to the boys' room.

After the kids got home from school, Lip and Ian took off to Karen Jackson's house. Apparently Lip had found out Ian's biggest secret, but when Ian said something in front of both her and Lip, Lip had been in shock that Paisley already knew. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. Of course she knew, Ian was her best friend. Instead of going with them, they left her at the Gallagher house and she helped Debbie with her homework.

When the door opened and Ian and a limping Lip came crashing in. Paisley could hear the commotion from where she had been reading on Ian's bed. Ian helped Lip to Carl's bed before calling for Fiona to help. Hearing their made-up story, Paisley hid her face in her book so she didn't give them away. It was so obvious to her what really happened, but she would keep their secret as long as they wanted to keep up the charade. When Veronica came in, she told Fiona she was doing it all wrong before sending Ian for the stuff at her house. Checking the time on her cell she groaned.

"Tell Ian I had to split. Gotta get home before Uncle Evan."

"Bye Lu."

Fiona and Veronica called out to the teen who grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs and out the door. Heading back to the one place that she hated more than anything else.

That's it for the first chapter! Let me know what you think!