HARD TIMES ━ lip gallagher²

12 | cheers

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"WOW, WHAT A FUCKING welcome home party," a voice said, Amara cracked her eyes open to see Silvia standing by her door, flicking the light switch in her room repeatedly, but nothing was happening. "No power. Yay!"

Amara jolted upright in her bed, ready to embrace her sister, but her stomach lurched and she darted right past her. "Sorry! I'd hug you but I don't wanna vomit all over your shoes."

"Um...?" Silvia blinked from behind her in confusion once Amara straightened from the toilet and flushed it. "The fuck?"

"I'm pregnant," Amara shrugged as if she were discussing the weather and rinsed out her mouth. "How's that for a welcome home party?"

Silvia seemed completely taken aback, but returned the hug her sister wrapped her into. "Again?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't say it like that, jeez."

"And why are you here and not at your baby daddy's house? Isn't that their whole thing, you know, to provide?"

"I'm mad at him and he's mad at me," she made her way into the kitchen. "He had a temper tantrum last night and took his anger out on me. Maybe partially I deserved it, but it wasn't my fault. I had just found out I was pregnant. Besides, not like we can raise two kids. We barely have the money for one."

"I'm so confused. What are you talking about? You're keeping it?"

"I got promoted at my job," she said. "Lip makes good money as it is. With the income both of us are making we can afford having a kid now. If Lip could just stop being such an asshole I would actually tell him."

"He doesn't know?"

"Nope," Amara hopped onto a stool. "And I'm gonna milk the hell out of his guilt once he finds out this is what I was trying to tell him last night. I'm gonna get random surprises for months." Silvia laughed and stood across the counter from her. "Now, not to be a bitchy parental figure but what the fuck?"

"I know," she ducked her head. "But it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. When would I ever get the chance to go to Disney? Never. And you were already so stressed out and... I didn't want to bother you, so I asked mom."

"You're not a bother," Amara sighed. "I mean, what if he tried to kill you?"

"I brought four cans of pepper spray," Silvia said with a proud grin. "Also his mom was with us, so... less likely?"

"Guess I can't ground you since you're eighteen," she shook her head. "But I am pissed at you for leaving without even telling me."

"Would a t-shirt and necklace with your initial on it from a souvenir shop make you less mad?"

Amara grinned. "Yeah, it's already forgotten."

"Hey, where is Margot anyway?"

She straightened in her seat. "What time is it?"

"Eight."

"Yeah, she's working the night shift at Planet Fitness, she usually gets back around nine."

Abrupt knocking on the door cut their conversation short, Amara rose to her feet and fought off the urge to puke again as she made her way over to it. She was only slightly surprised to see Lip, half of her had been expecting him to hold out a little longer.

"This thing where you show up to my living space and apologize every other week is getting old," she leaned her head against the door without dropping her hand from the knob.

"To be fair," Lip started. "You did forget to show up, and Fiona did cause my sponsee to slip by offering him vodka. But I guess you can be excused."

"Wait, backtrack, Fiona did what?"

"Offered him vodka, he drank it. I threw her out."

"Lip," Amara groaned. "It's not like she would've just known that."

"Look, I'm not here to talk about that, I'm here to talk about this," he held up a pregnancy test. This time she was completely caught off guard. She tried not to let it show. "Can I come in?"

"Uh," she stammered, moving out of the way. "Yeah. How did you get that?"

"It fell out of your purse when you ran out last night," he sunk into the couch and patted next to him. Amara reluctantly sat, keeping a small distance between them. "This is what you wanted to tell me, isn't it?"

"It's so sexy when you use your brain."

He glanced away at her tone. "God, I really am such an asshole."

"Yeah," she agreed, watching him. "You've really gotta get that under control."

"Says the one who screamed at Debbie over a muffin the other day."

Amara shot him a look. "It's the hormones."

Lip smirked. "Is it? Or are you just a gigantic bitch like I knew all along?"

"You don't seem surprised," she said, eying him. "Last time you freaked the fuck out. Now you're calm."

He pursed his lips. "That's because I already kind of knew."

"What?" Amara furrowed her brows and shifted on the cushion. "How?"

"The extreme mood swings, for one. I mean, Carl said something about a dead raccoon he saw on the street and you looked ready to bawl your eyes out, and then I offered to take you to Taco Bell and you were fine. Oh, and your face actually turned green whenever I handed you food in the morning. I just put two and two together. I wasn't sure but I can't say I'm surprised. You got like this last time, too."

"Perceptive as always." She kicked his leg before letting her smile fade. "I'm serious, though. I know what it's like to grow up with a raging father who screams at you any chance he gets. I don't want that for our kid."

"Wait," Lip pushed himself up. "You want to keep it?"

"Well, yeah," she bit her bottom lip. "Do you want to?"

"Only if you do."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes," he nodded. "But I don't want you to feel forced to keep it. And I promise I'll get the anger under control. Pinky swear."

She rolled her eyes but linked her finger through his anyway. "So that's what you were worked up about last night?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Question, how the hell are we gonna afford this kid? Not that I don't want it but-"

She snorted and he stopped talking to stare at her quizzically. "Oh, also, I got promoted, that's another thing I wanted to tell you before you went all Hulk on me," Amara raised a pretend glass. "Cheers."

Lip scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "Jesus Christ. I mean, congrats, I'm proud of you, but are there any other surprises lurking behind a corner?"

"Boo!" Silvia yelled, popping out from the kitchen, Lip jumped about five feet off the couch and nearly fell onto the floor. Amara couldn't remember a time when she'd laughed so hard.

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a/n

filler chapter tbh