I walked behind Debbie, Grace and Carl. Ian strolled next to me telling me how glad he was that he didn't have to work tonight. We paused at the corner waiting for Lip to catch up with us, he came out of his house but was followed by Monica a few seconds later.
"Is she still trying to take Liam?" I asked lowly so the kids wouldn't hear.
"Yeah she said if Frank divorces her then she'll sign the settlement agreement, but she still wants to bring Liam with her. Lip and Fiona tried reasoning with Frank but he's a lost cause." Ian confirmed but our attention turned back to Lip who reached up to remove his mother's grip on his jacket before walking away from her.
"Everything okay?"
"Yep, just fucking amazing." Lip responded sarcastically walking ahead of us.
"Don't mind him, he's just been in a bad mood since Monica came back." Ian interjected once Lip was out of earshot.
The walk to school wasn't filled with much conversation although I didn't exactly blame any of them. I'd be the exact same way if Grace was being taken away. Monica's return was hard enough on them as it was but now with the addition of this on top didn't make it any better.
Lip's bad mood continued throughout the day, during the last period which was physics for both of us I left him to himself knowing that he wasn't in a talkative mood. When the bell chimed I caught up to Lip in the hallway, I didn't know why he was in such a hurry to get home when Monica would be there.
"What's the rush? I thought you'd want to avoid Monica for as long as possible." I pointed out dodging the crowds all trying to leave the building.
"I do, but the test results might have come and the sooner I know the better." Lip replied and I followed him out the front where I saw Ian waiting.
"I'll leave you guys to it, are you doing anything later?" I questioned, I had no idea how he would take the results whatever the outcome may be.
"We're having a family dinner, I want to be there not for Monica or Frank but just to make sure they don't pull even more shit. Why?"
"It doesn't matter, I'll see you guys tomorrow." I brushed off spotting Mia across the street waiting with her arms crossed.
Lip stared at me for a minute before Ian nudged his arm and they left in the direction of our neighborhood. I crossed the street and Mia smirked at me when I got closer.
"Hey, why are you looking at me like that?" I greeted, she let out a laugh before speaking.
"You and Lip Gallagher? Isn't he fucking around with Karen Jackson?" Mia asked and I rolled my eyes at her.
"We're just friends." I simply countered, but I knew she wasn't buying it.
"Cut the shit, have you fucked him yet?"
"I- yes." I stuttered with a sigh, there was no point trying to hide it she could see right through me.
"I knew it, you were totally giving him those fuck me eyes." Mia squealed and I raised my eyebrows at her.
"Fuck me eyes?" I questioned as we started walking down the street.
"Yeah, it's a figure of speech, so do you like Lip?"
"I told you we're just friends besides he isn't one for relationships." I defended and Mia jutted her bottom lip out at me.
"That's a shame, what other decent, single guys do we both know that you had sex with? Oh yeah Seb." Mia pointed out, I had a feeling of where she was going with this.
"That was a one time thing, we literally just started talking again." I reminded her but she just rolled her eyes.
"Never know unless you try." Mia mumbled kicking a stone ahead of her as we walked aimlessly.
"What about you, huh? Ever thought about Seb that way?" I asked turning the tables on her, she seemed a little caught off guard.
"Me and Seb? No eww, he's like a big mopey brother to me. I prefer a fuck and duck." Mia told me and I had no idea what she was talking about yet again.
"Oh come on, I'm not interested in relationships I'd rather just fuck and leave. I don't need the emotional baggage that comes with all that crap." Mia added and she sounded exactly like Lip but he had never directly said it to me.
It was around seven thirty and I was helping Grace finish her geography project that she had left until the last minute. The kitchen table was a complete mess with scraps of paper, glue, glitter and pencils all over it. I traced over the bubble writing that Grace couldn't get right after numerous attempts, she came back into the room with a printout of a French flag and the Eiffel Tower.
"I just need to stick these on and then I'm all done." Grace muttered putting glue on the back of the pictures.
"Then you clean all this mess up and in the future don't leave school projects until the night before they are due." I pointed out and Grace just huffed to herself.
I was about to head upstairs when I heard a knock at the door, I turned on my heel and opened the front door to see Lip with a dejected look on his face.
"Hey, is everything okay?"
"Monica is taking Liam so we all left dinner and went to Fiona and Steve's new house next door. Debs is a bit down so I was wondering if Grace could come over and maybe take her mind off everything for awhile?" Lip questioned and I gave him a sympathetic look.
"Sure I'll go get her." I answered walking back to the kitchen doorway where Grace was dumping a pile of glitter into the trash.
"Lip is here, Debs could really use a friend right now you mind heading over and checking on her?"
"Yes, no more cleaning. I'll get my coat." Grace raced past me before I could say anything else.
I walked back over to the door where Lip was still waiting, Grace had gone ahead across the street to the house beside the Gallagher's.
"Frank isn't Ian's dad, turns out mom had an affair with one of Frank's brothers. Really adds to my existing image of her." Lip revealed and my eyes widened, he just let out a dry laugh.
"Is Ian okay? How did he take the news?" I asked because Ian didn't show much hatred towards Frank or Monica as much as Lip did.
"He doesn't care all that much, but I'm going to get him to track down his dad. Maybe it'll be his ticket out of the south side, imagine the life he could have..." Lip trailed off and I didn't expect it.
"Ian won't want to leave you guys, you're his family. Lip, are you okay?" I wondered because he had talked about anything but himself and I knew he was bottling it all up.
"Not really, my little brother is being taken by my crackhead mom and her girlfriend. Everything is kinda going to shit." Lip confirmed my thoughts with watery eyes, I don't think I'd ever seen him like this before.
"I can come over too if you want? Some moral support." I offered with a shrug making Lip smile slightly.
"I-" Lip stopped talking and followed my gaze across the street where all the Gallagher's came out of the house next door as Monica and Bob were carrying Liam outside.
Lip left me at the door and joined his family across the street, I followed him just incase he decided to do something stupid. I stood next to Lip and Ian, all of our eyes focused on a crying Monica. Bob climbed into the truck and Monica stopped walking, she pressed a kiss to Liam's cheek. I glanced at Lip and saw the desperation in his eyes, I reached for his hand and held it in hopes that it would make him feel better in anyway at all.
Monica walked towards Fiona and handed Liam to her, Fiona was surprised but quickly adjusted Liam on her hip. Monica turned around and headed for the truck where Bob was waiting.
"Mom." Fiona called making Monica stop and turn around, Fiona nodded at her as thank you for not following through and taking Liam.
I squeezed Lip's hand as Monica climbed into the truck and they left, I looked at Ian to see watching mine and Lip's hands with a small smirk. I looked away and the Gallagher's all started walking back towards their house. I let Lip's hand go and he stopped walking turning to look at me.
"You're not coming in?"
"I don't want to interrupt, you need to be with your family." I countered and he held his hand out towards me again, a sign of hope that was bound to crush me at some point.
"What I need is a beer."
Author's Note;
I'm so excited to update more and more for this book because I have a really clear path of where it's headed.
Do you think something happened between Mia and Seb in the past?
Should Beth give Seb another chance?
Why does Lip have to be so complicated?
Leave a comment and please vote, this book has over 7k reads thanks to all of you. I'll update again soon, see you then.
UNEDITED