𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 | 𝓁.𝑔.

eighteen

Lip wakes to the sun shining too brightly in his eyes. 

He closes them again, and wonders why his head hurts. 

He is confused as to what happened the night before. How did he get home?

Right then, Lip feels someone move next to him. He opens his eyes completely and sees Mandy's naked body next to his. 

He bolts upright and is dumbfounded as to why he is in Mandy Milkovich's bedroom.

"What the fuck?!" he shouts out loud. 

Lip can't make sense of why he is there.

Mandy rolls over to him and touches his arm. 

"Good morning, lover," she says in her most seductive voice.

"What the fuck Mandy?!" Lip repeats. "What happened?"

"What always happens when we are together. You came home with me," she replies in a very satisfied voice.

Lip closes his eyes and start shaking his head back and forth. 

"No! No! That's not right!" Lip is wracking his brain about the night before. 

He remembers vividly trying to avoid any connection with Mandy. 

All of the sudden, he realizes he has to get as far away from her as he can. 

Lip jumps from the bed and finds his clothes. He is frantically pulling them on when Mandy pulls back the covers and lies on her side, completely naked.

"Where are you going?" Mandy asks, her voice laced with spite and vengeance.

Lip decides he doesn't have to answer her now. He's lost his need to be nice.

"You know we are always good together. Last night proved that. You haven't lost your touch," Mandy continues.

Lip cringes at the thought. He doesn't know how to handle what is boiling inside of him. He starts shouting. 

"Look Mandy. I don't know what the fuck happened last night. I don't know how I got here, or what happened after I left the club. I have a feeling you had something to do with that." 

Lip's anger has risen to the surface now. He slams the door as he leaves Mandy's bedroom, and runs all the way home. 

His heart is racing when he walks through the door at the Gallagher house.

It's still very early, and Ian is sitting at the table eating eggs while the rest of the house is still asleep. 

"Just getting in?" Ian asks his brother, surprised to see him come through the door. 

"Eggs?" He points to the pan of eggs he's made.

"No, no eggs," Lip says as he immediately grabs a chair and sits face to face with Ian. "What the hell happened last night?!"

"What do you mean? I went to that other party I told you about, and got home a little while ago."

"No, not with you. What the hell did I do?"

"You? You danced, hung out with us, and talked to some people we ran into. Why?" Ian reminds his brother, perplexed at his agitated state.

Lip sits back in the chair, completely defeated. 

"I woke up in Mandy's bed this morning."

"You WHAT?! I thought you were going to stay away from her Lip?"

"I was. I have no fucking idea what happened. I was trying to get away from her all night. The last thing I remember was talking to her and Todd."

"The last thing you remember? I thought you weren't drinking?" Ian questions surprised his brother would drink again after he's been doing so well.

"I wasn't!" Lip starts rubbing his head again. "I can't figure it out. I think maybe Mandy slipped me something. I feel hungover, but I wasn't drinking."

Ian's eyes widen at the thought. 

"Wow. Maybe. Did you ask her?"

"No, I didn't ask her. I got the hell out of there as fast as I could."

"We know Mandy has a need for revenge. People that have crossed her generally don't fair well." Ian suggests. 

They both think back to Mandy running over Karen. 

That's not the only example.

"Revenge? Revenge for what?" Lip is practically sick when the pieces start falling together about last night.

"Revenge for not loving her? Revenge for finding someone else and being happy? I've gotten the sense she's never really gotten over you," Ian implies.

"Really?! Shit Ian. Then she must have roofied me. She knows that this will probably destroy my relationship with April." He says, panicked.

"You aren't going to tell her, are you?" Ian asks his brother. 

He knows how much Lip cares for April, and what a positive influence she has been to him. He can't imagine Lip risking losing her, or what that will do to him.

"It's more complicated than that. What if I slept with Mandy? I mean, who the hell knows who she's been with and what she has. I can't just sleep with April without knowing. I can't."

At that moment, Lip gets a text. 

He looks at his phone and sees where April has boarded and her flight is on time. 

His heart breaks a little as he pushes his chair away from the table and heads upstairs to shower.

"What are you going to do?" Ian is genuinely concerned.

"I have no fucking idea," Lip says without turning around.