Shameless (Spec Idea) - Ian in Abusive Relationship

INT. GALLAGHER HOUSE

Ian stands wearing sunglasses and concealer to hide the bruises on his face.  Fiona sees him and goes to hug him then she steps back to appraise him and sees that he is trying to cover something.

Ian
It’s not as bad as it looks.

Fiona
What happened?

Ian
Doug and I were goofing around and he caught me off guard.

Fiona
He hit you?

Ian
It’s different with guys.  We were both going at it.

Fiona
Then you started it?

Ian
(shrugs shoulders)
We don’t have to talk about it.

Fiona
No, I want to talk about it.  Were you hitting him and he struck you back?

Ian
I’m not, I mean it’s nothing.  Just uh, rough play is all.

Fiona
Did he hit you anywhere else?

Fiona grabs at his shirt and tries to raise it but he stops her and pulls away.

Ian
It was my fault.  I taunted him and we started arguing.

Fiona
You sound like every domestic abuse case I ever heard.

Ian
It’s not that.

Fiona
Then what is it?

Ian shrugs and walks away into the kitchen and Fiona follows.  Ian starts to clean up.

Fiona
I’m serious.

The front door opens and Lip yells into the house that he has arrived.

Ian
Don’t say anything to Lip.

Fiona
Why not?

Lip enters the kitchen carrying bags of groceries.

Lip
Are we ready for a feast?

Fiona looks to Ian who turns away to the sink.

Fiona
Show him.

Lip
Show me what?

Ian
Nothing.

Lip
What don’t you want me to see?

Lip steps to Ian but his smile fades when he sees Ian’s bruise.

Lip
What the hell is that?

Lip grabs Ian’s shoulder and turns him making Ian wince.

Ian
It’s nothing.

Fiona
Show him the rest.

Lip
The rest?

Ian
It’s nothing.

Fiona
He’s got other marks on his body he doesn’t want me to see.

Lip
Who did this to you?

Ian
It’s nothing.

Fiona
That piece of shit Doug beat him up.

Lip
Your boyfriend?

Ian
No.

Fiona
Show him the rest.

Lip
There’s more?

Ian
No.

Lip
(turns Ian and pulls off his glasses)
Let me see.

Ian struggling to keep composure and not lose his temper begins to lift his shirt.

Lip
Take it off.

Ian pulls his shirt over his head and off.  He has several black and blue marks over his body from fighting with Doug.

Lip
Is this the first time?

Ian looks away.

Ian
When it happened before--

Lip
Hold on, it happened before, your boyfriend kicked your ass?

Ian
We were goofing around and it got out of hand.  It was as much my fault as his.

Lip
Your fault?

Ian
We were goofing around and he apologized.

Lip
Why didn’t you tell me?

Ian
Because I didn’t want you to do something.

Lip
Oh, I’m going to do something.

Ian
Don’t.

Lip
This isn’t getting mugged.

Fiona
We worked too damn hard to have a safe home all these years.  You shouldn’t have to go back to this.

Ian
We aren’t together right now.  He’s at his mother’s place for a few days.

Lip
A few days?

Ian
I don’t want you to try and do something like you always do.

Lip
You’re my brother.

Ian
I’m your brother.

They all stand looking at each other when Carl walks into the room from upstairs.  He is shocked to see Ian shirtless and with bruises over his body.

Carl
What happened?

Ian
Nothing.

Carl
Were you in a fight?

Ian pushes his way past Lip and walks into the living room.

(or else Carl overhears the conversation from the stairs and confronts Ian about it later)

Carl
Your boyfriend beat you up?

Ian
It’s not like that.  We were fighting.

Carl
Why were you fighting?

Ian
It’s complicated.

Carl
I’d never fight with a girl I was dating.

Ian
That’s very good of you.

Carl overhears Lip and Fiona talking about Ian an abusive relationship...

Lip
What was he thinking?

Fiona
It’s not easy.

Lip
The guy beat the shit out of him.  Not once, maybe not even twice, we don’t know how many times it happened.

Fiona
Think about all the shit we put up with each day of our lives.

Lip
No one would ever treat me like that.

Fiona
Think about all we’ve been through.  None of us have had good role models.

Lip
What’s that supposed to mean?

Fiona
We normalize abuse.  It’s not just the family.  It’s life.

Lip
I don’t.  Never.

Fiona
Think about when you got into a fight with Mikey Drisk in the the first grade.  You made up with him the next day and then you two were inseparable for that whole summer.

Lip
Until he stole my GI Joes.  It’s not the same.