Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless. This is just for fun.

A.N: I feel like I have to say that this one takes place a months or two before the first season.

I haven't seen Season 10 yet, so if anything in here feels disconnected to anything that was revealed on the show, I am sorry.

I'm also sorry for taking so long, uplaoding this, I haven't been writing in a while.

Special thanks go to "lemondrizzlecake" for beta reading this Oneshot.
Thank you for the reviews, too. Means a lot to me.

Thanks to the the people who added this one to their follows and favorites, too.

Collect

Debbie & Carl

It's in the middle of the night, but Debbie can't sleep.

She'd like to say that it's the cold November's air that's creeping at her feet because they haven't paid the gas bill; or that it's Liam's hot breath on her neck, since she brought him to her bed so they could both warm themselves up; but actually, it's the hushed voices downstairs, the rustling and walking.

It's pretty clear her older siblings try to be quiet, but they're doing a horrible job at it.

Things in the Gallagher house aren't looking too bright lately, Debbie knows that. There have been worried glances Fiona and Ian exchange, and hushed fights between Lip and Fiona about how and where and when to get money, when they thought everybody else was asleep. There has been that moment, the other day, when Lip searched their father's dirty laundry with a disgusted look on his face, searching for every penny he might find. Or the nights Fiona doesn't come home because she's taken an extra shift at work.

Debbie takes one last look at Liam to reassure herself that he's sleeping and then slips out of bed, grabs her bathrobe and covers herself with it before she sneaks out of her room.

She's a little surprised to find Carl already there, sitting on the top of the stairs in his pyjamas, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. Unseen by their siblings, just a few feet down in the living room.

She wonders how he realized something's going on, since lately Lip and Ian make him wear earmuffs to bed so they can talk at night without waking him. But then again, they found the earmuffs on the sidewalk so it's possible they're broken. Debbie doesn't question it any further, just slips next to her younger brother onto the stairs and looks at him.

"What's going on?" she mouths, so the rest of the family, downstairs, doesn't hear her.

"No money." Carl isn't really a talker, so that's the only answer she gets.

He does, however, gesture for her to be quiet, so Debbie keeps her mouth shut and listens.

"I could get a job at the factory. The boss said I could start next Monday -"

That's Lip, his voice muffled, no doubt having a cigarette between his lips.

"And what, dropping out? No way, you're finishing school."

Fiona cuts him off, and even though Debbie can't see her, she knows that their big sister probably has her head in her hands by now.

"I'd asked Kash if he could give me advance on my next paycheck, but he did that twice last month and Linda won't let him do it again. Sorry."

"It's not your fault, Ian."

More walking sounds, so one of them must be pacing around. .

"You think Frank has anything?"

"That he hasn't spent on booze already? No."

"I looked through his stuff, thrice. Nothing."

"Fuck!" A bang indicates that Fiona must have kicked something with her feet.

They grow silent for a moment, and Debbie shoots Carl a worried glance, but her little brother just stares into nothing.

"We'll figure something out, Fi." That's Lip, again, his voice clearer now. "We always do."

"Yeah, yeah." It's barely audible, and Debbie's chest starts to hurt and all she wants to do is run down there to give her older sister a hug.

"Okay, it's late, we'll talk about this tomorrow. It's a school night, go to bed."

By the sound of it, they're all getting up now, and within seconds, Debbie and Carl jump up and both disappear into their beds.

~break~

Debbie hasn't slept at all,and everything she does the next morning is taking twice as long as normal, so she's glad it's Friday.

She's worried sick, tries to come up with something to help out her family, but she has she sticks to her job of watching Liam after school, while Fiona, Lip and Ian are out earning money.

Right now she's in the kitchen, boiling water for a bath, when Carl enters and gives her a look.

"What?" she wonders.

"I know where to get money."

She gives him a look and almost burns herself on the hot stove.

"What?"

"Sunday, eight a.m.. Meet me outside and be quiet."

She's about to say something, but Carl has already disappeared upstairs.

~break~

Sunday mornings are the only quiet times at the Gallagher house.

Debbie has always loved to have the kitchen for herself while everybody else is still sleeping, but today her heart is pounding and she's so nervous that, despite the cold, her hands are sweaty.

She puts her jacket on, rushes downstairs and walks out of the front door, without making any noise.

Carl's already waiting, covered in his oversized hand-me-down jacket.

"Where are we going?" she asks him, since he won't tell her a thing.

"Collecting money." He's waving his hand to signal to follow him and he walks out of the garden, taking a turn to the left.

"How?" she insists, shuffling on her feet to keep his pace.

He doesn't answer, though, just silently leads her through the neighbourhood blocks.

They stop at a church.

"What's this?" She doesn't have a good feeling for it, and knows exactly why. If there's one thing Gallaghers don't do, it's begging.

"A church," Carl answers and leads her inside.

"I know that, doofus" she whispers. "What are we doing here?"

He gestures for her to be quiet, grabs her hand and drags her towards the pews.

They sit down in the last row and Debbie is stunned. She has been to church once or twice with her school, but never on a Sunday morning. She doesn't catch what the priest is saying, because she's too busy counting all the people. Why on earth would someone get up so early on a Sunday to hear an old man reading boring stuff?

They sit through the whole service, until the very end. Debbie almost falls asleep twice, and when the priest finally finishes, Carl has to hit her to wake her up.

"Ouch."

Some people are giving them weird looks, and an old lady puts her finger to her lips.

Carl just points forwards and tells her to listen.

"And now," the priest says "the altar boy will give around the collection plate. Everything you give is for the less blessed people of our city, who are struggling to pay for everyday things. This money might help them to feed their children and keep warm at night."

People are shuffling through their bags and jackets, while a little golden plate is given around and Debbie's heart is suddenly pounding wildly in her chest.

"Carl-"

"He said it's for the less blessed people."

It takes an eternity until the plate finds its way to the last row, where Carl and her are seated all alone.

Carl grabs a handful of money and stuffs it in his jacket, but Debbie is frozen.

"Debs!" Carl shoves another handful into her jacket and is about to grab more, when Debbie, grabs his hand to stop him. She looks around to see if anybody noticed, but people are already getting up and leaving and talking about what to have for breakfast. Debbie's hands are shaking violently, when she takes another look at the plate.

"Not all of it" she says to Carl. She shoves him away, takes the plate into her hands and moves out of the back row. The altar boy is waiting there to take the plate from her. He doesn't seem to notice, and Debbie even takes it one step further, when she grabs into her pocket, rummages through the loose change, takes out a quarter and lets it fall onto the plate.

"That's all we got", she says.

They make it back home just in time to put the money in the squirrel fund box without anyone noticing.

~break~

It's three days later when the electric payment is due.

It's Ian who takes out the squirrel fund and counts the money and Debbie watches him carefully from her spot at the kitchen table.

He does it once, twice, a third time, and then shakes his head.

"That can't be."

"I put the money I got from the Jackson's in there yesterday -"

"It's a hundred and two dollars more than the last time I checked. "

"What?" Fiona looks at him in disbelief and Debbie can't help but smile, while Lip grabs the money out of Ian's hands and checks it again.

"How did that happen?" he wonders.

It's then that Debbie gives Carl a look, but he shakes his head. It's too late, though, Fiona has already noticed.

"You guys know anything about it?" she asks them.

The thing about Debbie is, she is a horrible liar. She bites her lips, but the words come out anyway.

"We put it in there."

"A hundred and two dollars?" Ian is obliously stunned. "Where did you get that much money?"

Fiona is already in front of them, kneels down and grabs their chins.

"Where did you get that money from?"

"It's for the people who are freezing and hungry," Carl then blurs out. "And I'm freezing my balls off."

Fiona frowns and then looks at Debbie.

"We took it from the church's collections."

She can hear Fiona taking a deep breath, before speaking.

"Okay. That's – that's wrong. You can not steal money from the church. What if you got caught?"

"But we needed money," Debbie whispers.

She watches as Fiona gives Lip and Ian a look and waits for her to speak again, but it's Carl who opens his mouth first.

"We just wanted to help."

Debbie nods. "We can pull our weight, too."

Sighing, Fiona stands up and runs a hand through her hair.

"Okay, but – not like this. I guess. It's - wrong."

"Do we have to give it back?" Debbie then asks.

Fiona snorts. "Hell no! We can finally pay that fucking gas bill and maybe even have pizza for dinner. I don't wanna freeze to death, either."

~break~

The next month, Fiona, Lip and Ian don't discuss their finances at night.

Instead, Fiona puts a box on the breakfast table and simply says "Electric."

A/N: I find this a little weird, but I needed to write something lighthearted after"Protector".

If you like it, you can help decide which OS I will upload next.
You can choose between

"Easy" (with Ian and Carl)
"Neverland" (with Lip and Debbie)
"Keys" (Fiona and Liam)