GAME OVER ━━ Lip Gallagher

CHAPTER TWENTY

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Game Over
chapter twenty

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SOMETIMES SHE TRULY HATED HAVING A CELLPHONE. She buried her face into the pillow case, her hands gripping the blanket tighter around her to escape the chilly air. She could feel Alan shift behind her, his arm unwrapping from her waist. "I got it," he grumbled. Phoebe only nodded, eyes still closed, mind still reeling with sleep. She never thought about who exactly could be calling her so late. "Hello?" She turned to face Alan, her arm snaking over his torso, fingers gliding over his ridged stomach. She neared him even more, her chin resting at his shoulder. "I'm Alan, who the fuck are you?"

Finally, her eyes cracked open. It was dark, almost rendering her blind except for the standing lamp on the opposite side of the room. She looked up at Alan silently. "Lip? You're her best friend, right?" Lip? The mention of Lip's name was enough to clear the fog in her mind. She gasped and sat up in the bed, snatching the phone from Alan's hand. "Lip? Is everything okay?" Her heart was beating in her throat. Fuck, she thought. "I'm guessing you've gotten back in the lead," Lip replied, though there was a small lilt in his tone that she couldn't quite comprehend. She bit down on her bottom lip. She hadn't thought about their game in a while.

          "I guess so. Why are you calling so late?" she inquired, wanting to change the subject. She didn't feel comfortable talking about her shenanigans in front of Alan just yet. She felt Alan's hand crawl up her back softly. "What are you doing at a boy's so late?" There was a pause. Her eyes rolled skyward in annoyance. "Did you need something, Phillip? I was asleep." His chuckle rang through her ears. She could picture him smirking now. "So, uh, me and Ian went and did a DNA test today." Her eyebrows furrowed. Why would they do that? She knew that Roberta and Monica had planned for Liam to take a DNA test. Why would they? "I mean, wouldn't it be great if we weren't Frank's?"

          She frowned. "I guess so.." A heavy sigh echoed in her ears. It seemed just by his demeanor that the results didn't go as planned. "What were the results?" Silence flooded the line. Her hand moved to take Alan's. It had somewhat become instinct. He continued to rub soothing shapes into her back. "I'm Frank's," Lip answered, "but Ian's not. Apparently Monica fucked Frank's brother." She gasped in shock. She hadn't seen that coming. Of course there was the whole Liam being black with only white parents. It was obvious that was most likely an affair. But Ian? "What about Liam?" she asked, a little scared of the results. If Frank wasn't the father, Monica had every right to take Liam from his family. There would be nothing legally binding him in that house and the idea of losing that sweet baby made Phoebe's heart clench.

          "Funny enough, he's Frank's." She sighed a bit in relief. Her shoulders relaxed and she slouched back into the bed. She rested against Alan's arm, right below his armpit. "Monica and Bob just left, though. They left Liam. And I think Fiona's moving back in." Good news continued to come as Lip talked. The family wasn't splitting, the matriarch of their pain finally disappeared. "Things are looking up, Lippie my boy," she sighed, breaking out into a smile. He sighed into the phone. "I told you not to call me that. It makes you sound like an old sailor." She couldn't contain her laughter. Her whole body shook with it, causing a small smile to filter onto the boy's face beside her. "Who's Alan? You serious about this guy?" The subject was bound to change eventually, but she wasn't quite ready yet. Her laughter died down and she pinched the bridge of her nose.