GAME OVER ━━ Lip Gallagher

CHAPTER TWO

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Game Over
chapter two

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

HE TOOK IN HER SLEEPING FORM NEXT TO HIM, FINGERS GENTLY GRAZING OVER HER CHEEKS WITH A GHOST LIKE TOUCH. Liam had been put to bed two hours ago, and Carl had finally fallen asleep. Debbie had promised to go to bed after finishing her current book, and that only left Lip and Ian awake in the quiet Gallagher house. Lip laid on his back, one arm behind his head and the other resting beside him. His arm bent at his elbow as he took in every corner of Phoebe's face below the soft light of his lamp. He ran his finger under her chin. He couldn't deny that Phoebe was beautiful. There was something about the way her cheeks grew when she smiled, like a bread rising. And the way her eyes closed when she smiled or laughed too hard.

          He loved the way she talked about the baby fat on her face, and how she expressed the charm behind it all. She had this mole on the side of her nose that she liked to call her angel kiss. Her grandmother had told her that angels left behind dark spots after kissing their favorite humans. It was childish, Lip knew that, but it was also heartwarming. He liked to think he could possibly be an angel's favorite. He ran the tip of his pointer finger over her bottom lip, sighing at how soft the flesh was. She did have attractive lips. They were full and rounded, though she did have trouble keeping them soft. Most days you would see her with chapped lips, lips so cracked that they looked dryer than a desert.

          Get it together, he thought to himself. He turned toward Ian, noticing the boy still awake. Hesitantly, he thought over multiple ways to ask this. The folder he had found has been present within his mind the entire day. Sighing, he finally settled on winging it. "Got a hummer today," he voiced, gaining his younger brother's attention. Ian snorted. He lifted his head for a second, "What's the law on sex with pets?" he joked. Lip snorted at the comeback. He shifted until he was on his side. "From Karen Jackson." Ian sat up in interest. "No way," he argued in disbelief. "Yeah," Lip fired back, obviously proud of himself. "She got a C in physics, needed a B."

Lip hopped off of the bunk, sighing once he planted on solid ground. Ian chuckled. As Lip sat on the night stand, Ian took out his baggie of weed. There was a pre rolled joint in there that they had shared a few weeks ago. "Yeah, you wouldn't have waited this long to tell me." Lip looked toward his younger brother. "Oh, five hours," he fibbed, causing Ian to scoff. "Okay, you're full of shit," he stated with a smile. "Fuck you," Lip fired back. He turned back toward his bed. Phoebe had grabbed Lip's pillow and forced it under her head, clutching the pillow case between her fingers. She looked so peaceful sleeping there.

          Now's the time, Lip thought. He flexed his fingers from a tight fist, resting his wrists against his knees. He cleared his throat. "You ever get a knob-job?" he asked Ian. Ian, who had put the blunt into his mouth and lit it, puffed out some smoke. He looked over toward Lip, eyebrows pinched. "Once or twice," he answered with a shrug of his shoulder. Lip gaped at his brother. "Ah, wow," he breathed out. He reached for the joint, to which Ian passed it, blowing out the remaining smoke. "I didn't hear you rushing to tell me." Lip placed the joint between his lips and took a deep breath in. "Yeah, well..." Ian shifted on his bed. He was clearly looking for any type of excuse to exit the current conversation.

          "I mean, I thought we tell each other everything." His voice came out tight as he held in his breath. Slowly, he exhaled, a cloud of smoke exiting both his mouth and nose. He stood from where he was sitting and passed the joint back to Ian. His eyes remained on the end of his mattress. "Unless.." He lifted his mattress, careful not to wake the girl in his bed, and picked up the folder he had discovered hours before. The outside was littered in female anatomy taped to the manila flaps. "You got sucked off by a guy." He tossed the folder into Ian's lap. Fear, sadness, an endless amount of emotions filled Ian's eyes. What did Lip think? Was this the moment he'd lose his best friend? He looked down at the folder he thought he had hidden so well before looking back up at his brother.