A Different Kind Of Dysfunction - A Shameless Fanfiction (Book One)

It was supposed to be a normal afternoon.

Tessa had walked Alyssa home from school, stopped at the corner store for milk, and was halfway to the checkout when she saw her.

Lily.

In the snack aisle.

Moving fast, too fast — eyes glassy, pupils huge. Shoving things into her hoodie with jittery hands: gum, candy bars, mini Advil packs. Stuff they didn’t need.

Stuff they couldn’t afford either, but that wasn’t the point.

It wasn’t about survival.

It was about something else.

Tessa froze.

Her fingers clenched around the milk jug until the plastic creaked.

She watched as Lily moved toward the exit without buying a thing, head down, hoodie up, like she was invisible.

She wasn’t.

A second later, a voice barked from behind the counter.

“HEY!”

The clerk — a guy in his twenties, tired eyes, probably paid minimum wage — jumped over the half-door and ran after her.

Lily made it two steps outside before he grabbed her arm.

Tessa dropped the milk and bolted.

---

She reached them just as Lily was trying to wriggle free.

“Let go of me!” Lily shrieked, voice too loud, too high.

“You stole,” the clerk snapped. “You think I’m just gonna let that go?”

“She didn’t mean to,” Tessa said quickly, stepping between them.

The clerk blinked. “You with her?”

Tessa nodded. “She’s my sister. She’s... sick.”

Lily stiffened.

Tessa kept going. “She’s on meds. She doesn’t think straight sometimes.”

The clerk stared at her, suspicious.

Tessa pulled a crumpled ten from her pocket and held it out. “Take it. Please. Just... don’t call the cops.”

He looked between them.

Then snatched the bill from her hand.

“If I ever see her in here again, I will press charges.”

Tessa nodded, already tugging Lily’s arm, walking fast, pulling her away.

They didn’t speak for two blocks.

Then Lily yanked free.

“You didn’t have to lie,” she snapped.

“You didn’t have to steal,” Tessa snapped back.

“I’ve done it before.”

Tessa’s heart dropped.

She stared at her sister.

“What?”

“I said I’ve done it before,” Lily repeated, louder. “This wasn’t some one-time thing. You just finally saw it.”

Tessa stepped back like she’d been slapped.

Lily shoved her hands into her hoodie and looked away.

Her mouth was tight.

Her eyes were red.

And not from crying.

“You’re high,” Tessa said.

Lily didn’t respond.

Tessa felt something crack inside her chest.

“You said it was nothing,” she whispered. “Back when I found that bottle. You said it was just a one-time thing.”

“I lied.”

“Why?”

Lily looked at her, face hard.

“Because if I told the truth, you’d treat me like a fucking patient. Or worse — tell Adeline.”

“You think I want to treat you like anything?! I just want my sister back!”

“I’m right here,” Lily snapped.

“No, you’re not!” Tessa yelled. “You’re numb. You’re shaky all the time. You steal. You lie.”

They stood on the sidewalk, two blocks from home, staring at each other like strangers.

Then Lily’s voice cracked.

“I’m just trying not to feel like shit for five minutes.”

Tessa’s throat closed.

And there it was.

The truth.

The ugly, broken truth of all of it.

Lily wasn’t chasing highs.

She was running from pain.

The kind no one talks about.
The kind you swallow.
The kind you can’t name because naming it means dealing with it.

Tessa stepped forward, slowly.

But Lily flinched back.

“I’m not ready,” she whispered.

Tessa nodded, swallowing hard.

“Okay.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay.”

“But I know it’s bad.”

Tessa took a breath.

“Then let’s make a deal,” she said. “You don’t lie anymore. And I won’t leave you.”

Lily looked at her, lip trembling.

“You mean that?”

“I swear.”

Lily nodded slowly.

Then leaned forward.

And for the first time in a long time, let her sister hold her.

---

That night, Tessa sat awake in bed while Lily slept beside her, curled tight like she was hiding from the world.

She didn’t sleep.

She didn’t cry.

She just watched her sister breathe.

Counting the seconds between each inhale.

Because now she knew how fast it could stop.

[Word count: ~695 words]