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

The sound of drawers slamming woke Adeline at 2:43 a.m.

Not a thud.
Not an accident.

Intentional. Sharp.

She sat up on the couch, heart already racing.

For a moment she thought it might be Lily — rummaging again.
Or Tessa, sleepwalking.

But then she heard it.

Sylvia’s voice.

Low. Muttering.
Cursing under her breath.

Adeline stood, bare feet cold against the warped floorboards.

She followed the noise into the kitchen — past the dim glow of the stove light, past the smell of sour wine and sweat — and found her.

Sylvia.

Kneeling by the pantry, ripping through cans and boxes like she was looking for something buried alive.

“Jesus Christ,” Adeline muttered.

Sylvia turned sharply.

Her hair was wild, face slick with sweat, pupils huge.

“What are you doing?” Adeline asked, voice low and deadly.

Sylvia didn’t answer.

Just turned back to the shelves, yanking out boxes of pasta and dropping them on the floor.

“Sylvia.”

Nothing.

Adeline stepped forward. “What the hell are you looking for?”

Sylvia mumbled, “Money... pills... something... I know it’s here... you little shits hide everything...”

And then Adeline saw it — her eyes locked on a bottle in the back of the top shelf.

Lily’s old pill stash. Hidden weeks ago. Forgotten by everyone — except, apparently, Sylvia.

She lunged.

Adeline moved faster.

She shoved Sylvia aside, grabbing the bottle, shoving it into her own pocket.

Sylvia scrambled to her feet.

“Give it to me!”

“No.”

“You don’t get to say no to me!”

“I just did.”

Sylvia's hand shot out, slapping Adeline hard across the face.

The sound echoed through the room.

Adeline didn’t move.

Didn’t flinch.

She just stared at her mother — face stinging, hands shaking — and something inside her broke.

“This is over,” she said flatly.

Sylvia’s chest heaved. “I raised you.”

“You raised hell,” Adeline snapped. “You broke things. Broke us. You think screaming and bleeding counts as parenting? You think surviving in this house is your win?”

“I kept you alive.”

“No,” Adeline said. “We kept each other alive. Despite you.”

Sylvia’s eyes burned.

“You ungrateful bitch.”

Adeline stepped forward.

"You’ve stolen every piece of peace we ever had. Every second of childhood we tried to hold onto. And we still stayed. Still fed you. Still lied to the system to keep us together."

Her voice cracked, but she didn’t stop.

“But now you’re tearing into cabinets like a rabid animal. You hit me. You steal from your own kids. You almost got Lily arrested. You almost got Rory expelled.”

Sylvia blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Adeline laughed — hollow and cold.

“You don’t even know. Because you’re too wasted to care.”

Sylvia grabbed the edge of the table, breathing hard.

“You think you’re better than me?”

“No,” Adeline said. “I know I am.”

Sylvia let out a bitter laugh, but she looked scared.

Because Adeline wasn’t yelling anymore.

She wasn’t pleading.

She was done.

Adeline stepped forward, eye to eye.

“If you ever touch the kids again — if you ever steal from us again — I’ll call CPS myself. I’ll beg them to take us. And if they don’t? I’ll make damn sure you’re dragged out of here by the cops.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Adeline pulled the pill bottle from her pocket and slammed it into the trash.

“Try me.”

Sylvia stood frozen, shaking.

Then she turned.

Stormed into her room and slammed the door so hard the wall cracked.

Adeline stood alone in the kitchen, shaking.

Not from fear.

From release.

From rage.

From finally, finally drawing the line.

---

She didn’t notice Tessa in the hallway until a few minutes later.

The girl stood in the shadows, eyes wide.

“You okay?” she whispered.

Adeline nodded.

Then walked over, sank to her knees, and pulled her into a hug.

“I’m here,” she said. “We’re okay.”

“Is it really over?”

Adeline paused.

“No,” she said. “But it will be soon.”

[Word count: ~653 words]