Eighteen years ago was an important day. No it wasn’t because troops were sent to Afghanistan or when The Bachelor debuted on ABC. It wasn’t even the expansion of the European Union. No, in the great city of Dubin, a magical thing happened. Right a year after the marriage of Shawn Sheamus Gallagher and Caroline Maisie Brady came the birth of their first born, rightly named Colin Brady Gallagher.

He was a beautiful baby. His bright blue eyes resembled his mother, whose hair was redder than a fire and eyes that sparkled a rich sapphire in the proper lighting. But it was the baby shade of a dimmed gray that he would be declared as his father’s twin.

Colin’s birth wasn’t a special night because of any danger he posed or anything but that he was the firstborn. And him hailing from such a traditional, Irish Catholic family, nothing seemed as important as the firstborn. They wouldn’t say it, but Shawn and Caroline had a favorite. The irony is he’s one of their four kids who has given them the most grief. Whether he did it unintentionally or to make some noise, that’s how raising Colin Gallagher went. But before we get into that, let’s know about his life growing up.

He didn’t always live in Rosefell -- or at least the part of Columbus that was within the Rosefell High district. Actually, up until about three years ago, Colin spent the majority of his life in the upper-middle class. His parents made enough money to where they could live comfortably enough. Even with Rhonda, his younger sister, and the twins that came after, Shea and Sinead, they managed to raise their kids without any signs of there being any struggles.

Shawn was a B-cop for the majority of their time spent in the Liberty district. He didn’t make a lot, but he was home every night. The main breadwinner was Caroline. She serves as lead anchor for MSNBC’s Columbus affiliate and she also wrote crime fiction on the side. That was more than enough for them to live comfortably, but when it came to their kids, there was a divide of sorts on how to raise them. And when both were around, the kids felt it.

Under Shawn’s eye, the kids knew rules and traditions. They went to church three time a week: Sunday mornings and evenings, Wednesday evenings, and Saturday if they could. Shawn was as devout as anyone could be, but he was also really engaged in his beliefs and a traditionalist, at that.

But on the flip slide, Caroline was much more relaxed. Granted, she was also a devout catholic and loved going to Mass, but she didn’t abide entirely by it only because she wanted her kids to feel like the church wasn’t the only thing that should matter.

Naturally, this led to a lot of fights. When they were home, the kids felt it.

Some days, the screaming matches weren’t as bad, but on others, the kids went to their rooms (or at least to a room together) until they were done. This happened frequently, and it forced Shawn to take extra shifts just so he didn’t have to see Caroline all of the time.

During this intense time where his home life wasn’t the greatest and Colin was under too much stress that a thirteen-year-old boy should, he wasn’t entirely miserable. This was due to a fateful encounter that, at the time of it happening, he thanked God. See, he lived in a nice neighborhood that came to mind when you imagine America Suburbia.

And the house to the left of his was special because it belonged to the Marino family. The reason it’s worthy to note is because of the only child of the Marino family. Her name is Cosima. And believe it or not, but she changed his life at hello.

To understand Colin's blackest days and the darkest hours that came after, you must know who Cosima Marino.

Even from a young age, Cosima Marino always displayed a fire that made people pay attention to her. Whether it was her father's friends who always came over or the family from her mother's side, Cosima was always the light of every room. Her wondrous smile and big eyes that thrived from the attention took hold of the attention she received and chained it down to secure it. This was both her greatest attribute as a person and her greatest downfall.

Yeah, you could say Cosima Marino was the kind of girl who thrived off of attention and when she couldn't get it from those who would willingly give it to her, then she had to seek it elsewhere.

Cosima's life was about as normal as one could be with a superintendent father and an actress mother. Her father worked late but was the one around the most. His name is Ricardo Marino; while her mother, Angela Marino, who most might know her from her soap opera fame and starring opposite of Kavi Salvador. Due to Angela's job, she was always gone and only was around when she could -- which was one weekend of every month. And when she was home, Angela didn't always have time for anything but sleep, let alone paying attention to her or her husband.

Yeah, it was normal from the outside, but the Marinos had their fair share of troubles. But Cosima maintained a smile. Her attitude didn't shift in any way that would make others from the outside question if she was unhappy. Of course, she wasn't happy, but Cosima didn't want pity. She hated anyone feeling sorry for her. She hated the very notion that people would throw sympathy at her like she was a begger on the street.

But as she grew older and came into her own, Cosima's personality changed -- well, maybe a better way to describe it was that it evolved. She craved attention and sometimes that led to her acting out. With her parents barely around to notice her and the fact that she was an only child meant she didn't have any siblings to turn to. Cosima was relegated to being taken care of by nannies and relatives, but even they had their limit. Cosima made their lives miserable and if it meant her parents paid attention to her, even to punish her, she persisted.

And they did. On one summer, just a week after she graduated seventh grade, Cosima underwent the worst verbal -- and, if the marks on her arm and face were to be taken as proof -- physical abuse, too. See, her father had a stressful job and instead of drinking like many would, he was the type to smack around his daughter.

Moments after, Ricardo stormed out and his convertible stormed out of the driveway. Cosima took a few moments to bandage up her face and in doing so, as she went through her mother's medicine cabinet, she found a bottle of Vicodin pills. She knew enough to know what they were and she did so with slight hesitation.

And then she walked outside. The pain in both of her arms and jaw had more than faded and she smiled as she parked herself on the steps on the front porch. She turned her head and that's when she met Colin. Both came from troubled homes that appeared normal. They exchanged glances and both smiled at each other.

When they met, both were only thirteen, both were still young, but their life experiences were that of someone in their later teens. They’ve both endured tremendous trauma and frustration with a homelife that hid the truth behind a facade of normalcy. And maybe that’s why they took a liking to each other.

Their first impression of each other was how both seemed to have this enigmatic allure about them. Cosima was energetic and engaging, her eyes filled with fire and life and Colin had a protective aura about him. Even at thirteen, Cosima saw that and she clung to it. Plus, even though Colin didn’t know it at the time, he gave her the attention she had been seeking.

As they spent nearly an hour talking, they bonded over how much they hated their school, how their music tastes were nearly identical, and how they both agreed that Person of Interest was a severely underrated series that deserved more recognition than it got.

In the weeks that followed, Cosima spent more time at the Gallagher’s than she did at her own house. Her parents signed off on it because the Gallaghers were known for their decency. And let’s be honest here. The only reason they did was because they didn’t want Cosima around.

Cosima not only bonded with Colin and he with her, but she also got along well with his siblings. When Colin realized that she was getting along with them, it made him smile. And the more time he spent with her, a quick friendship blossomed into what would become his first relationship. They didn’t go to the same school, but it didn’t matter because Colin knew, no matter how hard his day was, she would be there waiting for him. And his parents also didn’t mind because they adored Cosima.

As the weeks went on, Colin and Cosima had done more than just hung out at his place. They experimented with their relationship physically. Neither knew what they were doing, but they were learned with each other. It was definitely a rough patch and Cosima started to pull away. Beside himself with anxiety, Colin knew there had to be something he could do to make Cosima stay. He loved her more than he loved himself. Every part of him that was happy and safe began and ended with her.

So he hit up a friend of his from Rosefell. He knew his father was a drug dealer who often brought the product home. Colin asked if Hunter could steal a small vile of cocaine. He didn’t need much, only enough to amp up his connection. Hunter not only stole a single vile, but he managed to sneak a few pills of E.

On a Sunday morning, Colin and Cosima were alone at her place. Both of their parents were at work and Colin had asked if Rhonda would watch the twins. She didn’t have much of a choice. Besides, they were sleeping, so it wasn’t as though it would be that hard.

They were in her room and on her bed. Colin had brought up the idea of experimenting differently. Cosima being the type of girl who just appreciated being noticed by Colin agreed to whatever it was. She nearly jumped off her bed from how excited she was when he pulled the vile of the white powder from one pocket and two pills of E from another.

Colin didn’t know it, but before he came over, she had already taken a few oxy pills and was already feeling the high.

The mood was set: Colin had a clear, flat glass plate that he placed on the bed. He had rolled up a dollar bill he had in his pocket and the cocaine was divided into two lines. He was nervous as he hesitated to snort his line. He felt Cosima’s hand touch his and he looked up at her.

“It’s okay,” she said to him and they smiled at each other. “I can go first if you want me to.”

But he shook his head, knowing he needed to do this to show her he wasn't a coward. So he bent down. Colin took in the drug in the nose, snorting deeply and as he raised his head immediately, there was such a wild mix of emotions flowing through him like blood rushed to his head ten times over. He shook his head repeatedly, grunting loudly, and “woooo!”-ing with excitement.

And Cosima was feeding off of his energy. She smiled widely until it hurt her face. She kissed him and took her line almost immediately after. Her reaction mirrored his, but something was different. Colin didn’t notice it because he was still reeling from his own line and he kept sniffing in and out.

By the time colin recaptured control of his awareness, he looked down as Cosima was down face first. He didn’t think much of it because he figured this was something she did. She always was the type to do weird shit to get a rise out of him.

But after a few minutes and him commenting that it was getting old, he shook her body. When she didn’t budge, he tried again but shaking her harder. When that failed, panic set in and Colin desperately shook her tiny body but her body remained motionless.

“Shit. No…”

Colin panicked more and pulled out his cell phone. He was grateful that his parents had let him keep it. He dialed 9-1-1, not even thinking about how his father could find out.

Already in tears and his voice cracking, his despair coming through as he tried to hold his emotions back long enough to let the 911 operator know what happened and where he was at.

After he did and Lucille told him to remain calm and check her breathing and if she was breathing.

She wasn’t and Colin’s tears poured out in an unyielding stream. He held Cosima’s lifeless body in his arms, clenching her tighter than he had for anyone. He wept for her, repeating her name over and over in a grief-stricken voice. His screams filling her room even as the ambulance arrived and EMTs came into her room.

Even as they pulled him away from her, telling him it was okay, Colin didn’t believe them. He saw them see the evidence of the drugs. He knew they were judging him, but the only thing he could focus on was them performing CPR on her. They did everything EMT’s were supposed to.

But in the end, it was for nothing. Cosima was pronounced dead. She had died of a drug overdose on August 11th, 2015. She was going to be fourteen in just seven days.

But this was where Colin’s troubles began.

First it was the grief from her death. That uncontrollable, raw sadness that rendered him bed-ridden for days. But Colin's troubles weren’t only emotional. The DA wanted to charge him with negligent homicide. At only thirteen, Colin would be the youngest to be tried for that crime as an adult, but with all of the pull that his father had, it never went that far -- it didn’t go anywhere. Colin would never see a judge, wouldn’t need to be arranged or arrested.

He suffered enough.

Cosima’s death played a rather important part in what Colin’s life would become. Her death and how it sent ripples would not only divide many involved, but at the Gallagher house, it also divided Shawn and Caroline.

Or rather, Shawn’s disdain for Colin grew to points that nobody in the family could have seen. Even though he had did everything he could (and then some) to keep his son out of jail, it was obvious to Colin, to Rhonda, to the twins who were at the age where they were starting to recognize the body languages of what was and wasn’t good, that Shawn couldn’t stand the sight of Colin. It wasn’t disappointment. In Shawn’s eyes, there burned a genuine hatred for his oldest son.

Not even a month after Cosima’s death, Shawn and Caroline Gallagher not only filed for divorce, but while Shawn stayed in the house Colin grew up in, Caroline moved out with the four kids. They would split custody with three of their four children while Caroline was practically given full custody of Colin and she moved away, closer to where Colin would attend high school at Rosefell.

As all of this was unfolding, Colin’s mental state took a turn for the worst. His girlfriend was dead and his father didn’t want anything to do with him. Colin was beside himself with grief and the pain that knew no end. He just wanted it to end.

And he knew hunter would have his back, so Colin hit him up again for more drugs, even buying some from Hunter’s dad. He started small. He just wanted some heroin to make himself feel better, but when the high didn’t last long enough, he snuck his mother’s alcohol.

This process continued, Colin putting himself down a dangerous, self-destructive path where he chose to not feel anything. He shut down ever caring about his life. And in the process, the Colin everyone knew: the brash, yet friendly and warm Colin Gallagher was no more. He died with Cosima.

Besides, being drunk all the time and getting high when he could was better for everyone. Not like his mother gave two shits anyway, right? That’s why she worked. And Rhonda was old enough to take care of everything.

Just let Colin do what he always did best: look after himself.