HARD TIMES ━ lip gallagher²

09 | home sweet home

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"DEBBIE!" FIONA SCREECHED FROM upstairs. Amara glanced from her phone as the redhead ascended from the basement. "Turn my water on!"

"Hey, did you turn the water off on her?" Lip questioned, popping bread into the toaster.

"Yup," Debbie answered with pride. Amara glowered at her.

"Deb, she carried us for years. Give her a break."

"Turn the water back on!" Fiona demanded, marching down the steps in a towel. Amara felt her insides fill with anger.

"Once you pay us what you owe us."

"She doesn't owe you shit," Amara scowled, dropping the cup she'd been holding into the sink, unable to fight off the rage anymore. "She took care of your ass since the second you came out of Monica. You should be paying her. Fuck off and stop acting like a child—you're so desperate to prove to everyone you're an adult but you pull this shit. Grow up."

The room fell silent, she could feel their stunned gazes on her as she grabbed her purse. "Amara-" Lip started.

"I have work," she interrupted, and then slammed the door behind her. She was surprised with how much lighter she felt after that, like a car had just been lifted off her shoulders.

Her mood did not improve at work, in fact, she had to leave to go outside several times to stop herself from snapping again. Maybe Lip hasn't been entirely incorrect, she was due for her period any day now, she could blame her bitchiness on that. Speaking of, he had texted her numerous times throughout the day to check up on her, and his final text of that hour was reminding her about the 5K they were supposed to run when she got home.

When she made it to Patsy's, everyone else was already inside. Amara closed the door behind her, turning heads in her direction. Lip greeted her with a quick kiss. "Hey."

"Hi," she replied, taking the shirt from his hands.

"Work okay?"

"Fine."

Lip nodded awkwardly at her tone and turned to pull his own blue shirt on. "Good to hear."

"Okay, pee now, because you're not gonna get another chance for, uh, about five kilometers," Bob, Cami and Tami's dad told them. Bob then turned to Brad. "Let's try to finish ahead of grandpa this year, huh?"

"Your family makes me want to drink again," Amara heard Brad mutter to his wife as she switched out her clothing. She refrained from grinning.

"We can just jog this thing, right?" Jason asked, approaching them, and Lip nodded. Amara caught the gaze of a random blonde girl checking him out, and bristled. Nope, she scolded herself. Not again. Calm down. Let's not pull a Monica and ruin an event with your mood swings.

"Fucking extra large?" Tami scoffed, examining her shirt angrily. Logan, who was sat in the booth next to where her girlfriend was standing, furrowed her brows. "Do I look like an extra large, Gigi, you vindictive bitch?"

"She seem a bit more on edge than usual?"

"This five-k brings up a lot of memories of our mom's death," Cami explained. "Tough day for all of us."

Lip nudged her. "Are you secretly related to them? Is that why you've been so..."

She narrowed her eyes. "So what?"

He flashed a smile. "So lovely, obviously."

"What's the deal between you two?" The unnamed girl asked. "Like, do you fuck other people or are you exclusive?"