GAME OVER ━━ Lip Gallagher

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Game Over
chapter forty seven

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

SHE WAS THANKFUL FOR A LOT OF THINGS. She was thankful for Ian and the way he listened to all of her problems without a shred of judgment. She was thankful for Fiona and how she basically raised Phoebe alongside the other Gallaghers. She was thankful for Alan and the love he shows her every second of every day. And she was thankful for Lip. She was thankful for the friendship they shared, for the nights where he'd hold her hand when she got anxious, for the days he made her laugh even though she really just wanted to shrivel up and die. She was thankful for the love she had for him and the way it made her feel, even if she didn't realize it was love until it was too late. She was thankful for him being Lip, for him being her best friend regardless of the shit they went through and were currently going through.

Maybe that's why she found herself standing under the el tracks, a jacket wrapped tightly around her shoulders. She had her headphones in, listening to a random playlist on the 8tacks app called "wedding songs". She still had to pick the perfect song for her first dance. She stared up at the gray sky, boots scraping against the gravel beneath her feet. "Why are we meeting here again?" She turned her head to the side to find Lip standing there. He smiled over at her, hands shoved deep into his pockets. "I don't know. I didn't want to stay at home alone," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Would you rather go home?" She was challenging him, he knew this. He shook his head in response, stalking closer to her silently. "What are you listening to?"

He took one of the buds from her ear and put it in his own. They stood in front of one another, close enough that they were breathing the same air. She watched the way his brows pinched together, his finger still pressed to the headphone in his ear. "This is so slow," he mumbled softly, eyes locked on the ground between their feet. "I'm picking the song for the first dance," she explained. "I have an idea for one, but I'm not sure if it'll work." He hummed, finally understanding her reasoning behind the playlist. The song they were currently listening to was in Spanish, so he was oblivious to the meaning behind it. "What song?" he asked, finally meeting her eyes.

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. A slight blush rose on her cold skin. "It's, uh, it's a Cigarettes After Sex song." His brows furrowed slightly. "Do you not know Cigarettes After Sex?" she asked, eyes wide. He shook his head. "I've had a few cigarettes after sex," he replied teasingly. When she didn't react to his joke, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "I can't believe you. How long have we been friends?" Her question triggered a smile at the corners of his lips. Her head ducked down as she typed away at her phone. He looked down enough to see her searching for the band on the YouTube app. Curiously, he tilted his head just right until he could see her screen just as well, regardless of it being upside down for him.

"This is the song..." She clicked a lyric video. He tried to read the title, but she put it in landscape mode before he could catch it. Suddenly, the music began to play in his ears. He noticed the way her head swayed to it. Her eyes were closed, bottom lip between her teeth. Lip glanced up, blue eyes admiring her in silence. It would only take a second for him to touch her skin, for him to brush his fingers through her hair. He wanted so desperately to do so, to meet her lips with a whispered confession. Instead he refrained, letting his shaking hand come to find her waist. The other took the wrist of her hand holding her phone. Surprise etched across her features as her eyes flew open, meeting his only inches away from her.