HARD TIMES ━ lip gallagher²

04 | st. francis of the southside

☆

AMARA FELT LIP BEFORE she saw him. More like she could still feel the warmth of the hand that had been on her back right before he pulled it away and jolted in the bed, yanking the covers up to hide her face when Liam walked in. Lip dismissed him and the youngest Gallagher sibling disappeared behind the door.

She pushed herself into a sitting position, running a hand up her face. "Jesus Christ that was close."

Lip cocked his head to the side. "Would it be so bad to let people know what we're doing?"

Amara raised a brow. "Do we even know what we're doing?"

He looked like he was about to argue, but then decided against it and nodded his head in agreement. "No. But I know what I want to do. Specifically to you. Right now."

Her mouth tugged up into a smirk and she kicked the blanket off them, exposing her bare legs. She watched his eyes slowly work their way up them until they landed on her face. Her own gaze was on his lips, she couldn't help but swallow when he wet them with his tongue. "Oh?"

Lip rose to his knees, laying a hand on her chest to push her fully onto her back. She stared up at the ceiling impatiently, feeling the heat of his mouth travel further down her stomach, biting here and there every so often. She was certain her entire lower half would be covered in hickeys by the time this was over.

Amara's hands found his hair, she rested them on a few of his curls, playing with them absentmindedly as she closed her eyes in anticipation. His own hands rubbed the inner part of her thighs, she could already feel the climax starting to form inside of her. He spread them apart, and slowly rolled down her underwear until they were at her knees.

The moan escaped her before she could stop it, mostly out of ecstasy, but partly out of surprise when she felt his tongue instead of his dick, and arched up against him. He groaned into her and reached a hand up to pinch her hip as if telling her to stay quiet, which was definitely going to be a struggle. She gripped the sheets, squeezing her eyes shut and arched upwards again, but he pushed her hips back down onto the bed.

He parted her thighs further, she could barely see at this point, the entire popcorn ceiling above her was a blur of colors and shapes that mixed together like a palate of paint. When she came, Lip pushed up her panties before rising to his feet, and leaning down to briefly kiss her. "Brad thinks you're bad for me."

"That's definitely something I want to hear right after I just had your tongue inside me."

"Well not you personally just... Relationships aren't a good thing to have when you're trying to get sober."

"If you're subtly trying to ask if I want something more than just a fuck-buddy right now, I don't. This is fine."

"Only fine?" He crawled over her. "Guess I better up my game."

She kneed him in the stomach and he laughed. "I'm gonna shower," he told her, tilting his head. "Unless you wanna join me...?"

She kicked her leg at him and moved so she was sitting again. "Pass. Can I use your laptop?"

He nodded and didn't stop shuffling through his dresser. "Yeah, it's downstairs in the kitchen."

Amara kissed his cheek in thanks before grabbing her shorts and going down the steps. She flipped open the device and scrolled through the website of the writing group that Donna's brother had given to her. She hadn't been down there ten minutes before the back door swung open.

"Violating a veteran of the Armed Forces required an immediate show of counterinsurgency," Carl was saying as he and Ian stepped into the kitchen. Amara looked up from the computer. "Shock and awe for those bitches."

Lip came down the stairs with furrowed brows, Ian handed him the flyer he had within his grasp. "Don't ask."

"The fuck is a neighborhood watch?" He asked, eyes scanning the paper.

"A club of George Zimmerman-type of pussies who aren't trained for military action," Carl answered.

"Oh," Ian shrugged, filling up a cup with water. "I think it's a group version of not minding your own business. What're you doing here?"

She saw Lip freeze from the corner of her eye at the question, but she smoothly just nodded to the laptop in front of her. "I needed to use this."

"Fiona's gonna be pissy," Liam announced, entering the room. The boys glanced to him in confusion. Amara stopped her fingers on the mousepad and stared at him curiously.

"Why, what'd you do?" Lip teased.

"Let Sean in."

This time, everyone in the room froze as they shared bewildered looks. "What? Sean-Sean? He was here?"

"Yep, then he left."

Ian slid onto the stool next to her with a KFC bucket. She leaned over to grab a wing from out of it, ignoring his scowl. "That bastard."

"Fiona's gonna kill him."

"I don't blame her," Amara remarked.

"Sun salutations," Frank said, coming out of nowhere. "Fruit of my loins, and additional people who do not live here but for some reason are always in our home."

"Lovely to see you too, Francis," was her reply.

"Am I hearing correctly?" He asked, grabbing a cup from out of the cabinet as if he hadn't heard her. "The Sean has returned?"

"Yup."

"This is a test of our family's spiritual growth. I forgive him and wish him peace on his journey."

"How much longer are we going to be putting up with St. Francis of the Southside?" Lip wondered, helping Liam with his cereal.

"Permanent life change is a daily practice, Lip. Or should I start calling you Phillip?"

"Oh, please do," Amara put her hands together like she was praying.

"I've just entered my symbolic thirties," he continued on. "And they require a new sense of maturity."

"What happened to your symbolic twenties?" Ian chimed in.

"We grow up fast in the age of enlightenment."

Amara smirked. "Or in the age of being so delusional you think you're thirty years younger than what you actually are. But sure, we can call it that."

☆