HARD TIMES ━ lip gallagher²

08 | men are useless

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"WHAT ARE YOU STILL doing here?" Amara heard Fiona ask, and for a second she thought Fiona was talking to her, and she turned her head, unable to mask her shock, before she realized the question was directed at Sammi, who had just walked up the steps.

"Shouldn't you be at your husband's?" Sammi retorted, and Amara stepped away from the sink so Fiona could stand in front of it. Still, Amara peered over her shoulder, attempting to fix her hair before giving up and pulling it into a bun. "Oh, wait, I forgot, he left you."

"So did your first three," Amara shot back, glaring at her. After the little stunt Sammi had pulled last night (which resulted in Carl getting arrested along with her own kid because of something related to drugs, she didn't know the full story yet) Amara had lost all respect and liking for her. "Incase you've forgotten."

"Yeah, and he went on tour," Fiona rolled her eyes, scoffing, but sent Amara a smirk in the mirror. "That was a good one."

"You sound surprised."

"Must be lonely," Sammi mused, stepping into the bathroom. "For you, not him. Know how groupies make sure their rock stars don't get lonely? All holes, Fiona. All holes."

"Haven't you heard the phrase three is a crowd?" Amara asked, shooing her. "Get the fuck out, you reek."

"Don't you have a home to go back to?"

Amara didn't blink. "I would ask if you did, but I already know that your trashy skank trailer got towed. But I just remembered that I don't care. Nobody wants you here so just go."

"She's right. Pack your shit and get out," Fiona brushed past her. "Mara, come help me with breakfast please." She nodded, sending one last glare in Sammi's direction, and followed Fiona down the stairs. "Now, I'm definitely not complaining," she began, preparing food. "But why did you stay here last night? Lip wasn't home, was he?"

"Oh, no," she shook her head. "Margot was in one of her moods. Pretty sure Gloria had her handled, but I just didn't feel like dealing with it. And Silvia was practically itching for a fight because Debbie has a new boyfriend or whatever and she doesn't, so I needed to drag her out before things got nasty."

"Well let me just say," Fiona glanced behind her, "you're much better company than our step-bitch of a sister."

She smirked. "You act like I don't know that already."

Fiona went to respond, but suddenly Ian came charging down the stairs, and he bolted towards the door with a bat in his hands. "They're coming!"

"Who's coming?" Fiona questioned and Amara straightened in her chair.

"Man, what the fuck are you doing-" Mickey demanded, but Ian ran past him, wide eyes, just as the bathroom door opened, and the redhead nearly smacked the bat into Debbie's face. She froze completely, and Ian stared at her, realizing that he nearly almost hurt his sister, and lowered the weapon slightly.

Debbie had yet to move as Mickey gently pried the bat from Ian's hands, and opened the door. Ian flinched, but Mickey gestured to the outside. "Look, there's nobody there. No one. Come here," he led Ian to the front of the house, out of earshot, and Debbie regained her composure, stepping into the kitchen.

"You okay?" Amara wondered softly, and she nodded.

"Yeah. Little scary, but I'm okay."

Amara silently agreed, watching Mickey assure Ian that everything was fine, and realized that Debbie was right, it was scary. Maybe not Ian himself—but what was happening to him. The world was definitely a terrifying place.

☆

"The fuck are you dressed all fancy for?" Mickey asked, and Amara jumped, dropping the makeup brush in her hand because she hadn't been expecting him—or anyone, actually.

"Jesus Christ, do you knock?"

Mickey rolled his eyes and looked at her expectedly. "Mandy wanted me to give this to you when you got back."

Amara turned, raising her brows in confusion and she took the small envelope from him. "Why isn't she here giving this to me herself?"

Mickey eyed her. "Shit, you don't know?"

Her confusion only grew. "Know what? I've only been back for two days."

"Mandy's gone."

Amara sputtered. "Like dead?!"

"No! No, not dead. Well, she might be, actually."

"Mickey what the fuck are you talking about?"

"Her boyfriend forced her to move upstate because of his new job."

Amara narrowed her eyes. "And you didn't stop her?"

"We tried," Mickey defended. "Wanted to do her own thing. Besides, I thought you bitch's whole thing was that none of you wanted to be controlled or some shit."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Yeah, that's it exactly, but you know, you figured for your own sister's safety you'd try a little harder to stop her from running off with some psycho that will literally kill her if she makes one wrong move." Amara scoffed and brushed past him. "Men are so fucking useless."

"We tried!" Mickey repeated, following after her down the steps. "Fucks sake if it wasn't good enough for you, you could've come down here and did it yourself."

"Maybe I would have if someone fucking told me."

Mickey ran a hand down his face as Amara moved around the kitchen. "Look, I miss her too, alright?"

"Missing her isn't gonna bring her back," she shot at him, before sighing and unclenching her jaw. "Sorry. Bitch move. I know you probably tried your best."

"Yeah," Mickey was closed off again. "No shit."

"And I'm sorry for saying you looked like a crusty toenail."

Mickey shrugged. "Sorry for calling you a skanky doe-eyed sloth cunt."

Amara blinked. "You didn't call me that."

"Not to your face," he muttered, and she surprised herself with a snort. "Anyway, you busy?"

"Uh, yeah," she leaned over the counter to grab a piece of paper. "Why?"

"Ian agreed to let me take him to the clinic."

"Uh-huh, I gathered that after this morning."

"Wanted to see if uh... If you wanted to come with."

She looked up. "You're asking me?"

"No, I'm asking your fucking passed out mom. Yeah, I'm asking you. You're usually good with you know, calming him down. I thought I would be able to handle it, but I was wrong."

She laid a gentle hand on his arm. "You did great at handling it. Better than me. Maybe better than Fiona. He loves you, Mickey. And he trusts you, which is why I think you're the only one who's capable of handling him."

Mickey turned away and she dropped her hand. "Could've saved the speech and just told me you didn't want to go."

"I have a job interview, or else I would."

He glanced back to her. "That why you're dressed like a lawyer?"

"Lawyer?" She echoed. "Fuck, I was going for school receptionist."

Mickey rolled his eyes. "What's the job?"

"Suddenly so interested in my life," she smirked at him. "Are we becoming friends?"

"Fuck no," he flipped her off and walked towards the door. "Bye bitch."

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a/n

yeah i cant wait to make mickey and amara besties ngl