1/ Ava's Past
Ava is 19 years old and lives on the South Side Chicago with her stepfather and sister-in-law Heloise. Paul is an alcoholic whom her mother, Nikita, met when Ava was 9. Before moving with him to Chicago, Ava and her mother lived in New York City. Nikita had been an addict since the death of her father, 3 years earlier, who didn't really care for her; she used to come home from school and find her mother asleep on the couch with drool in the corner of her mouth and a used syringe in her hand. But she eventually met Paul, who was a musician at the time, he brought joy back into her life, they were married two months later and moved to Chicago.
At first, everything was going well, Ava was happy to see someone looking after and loving her mother and she no longer had to go around the block stealing food and clothes. She had a new three-year-old baby sister who she considered her real sister. Her relationship with her stepfather was courteous, they never got along particularly well but they supported each other out of love for Nikita and Heloise, they were what held the family together. Ava started going to her new school and met Ian and Lip Gallagher who became her best friends rapidly and she now considers their family her own. As soon as they met, she and her little sister started spending all their free time in their house, which was three houses down the street from theirs. Heloise also considers them her family and met her best friend Debbie, who is the same age as her. Despite having to take care of her sister because their parents were too focused on each other, she loved her life.
But a year ago, Ava's life started falling apart and her personal hell began. Her mother died of an overdose after she relapsed when she learned that Paul had cheated on her with one of his coworkers. Ava was devastated because, despite their difficult relationship, Nikita was still her mother and she loved her. But from that day on, Paul was not the same and started coming home later and later and drinking more and more. He stopped caring for Heloise and became angry with Ava.
(TRIGGER WARNING : mention of rape and assault below)
One night he came home very upset after a bar fight and started yelling at the girls. Ava sensed it was going to get out of hand and forced Heloise to let her handle it and go to the Gallaghers for protection. She tried to calm Paul down but all he could think about was Nikita and how Ava was just a walking memory of her. He started slapping her and threw her to the ground holding her arms to make her pay. She wasn't a virgin then, but that night Ava lost an innocence she could never regain. Despite weeks of questions, the Gallaghers and especially Lip never knew what happened that night, only Fiona knew because she needed to take the morning-after pill and didn't have the money to pay for it.