I'll Always Love you - Lip Gallagher

~chapter 2~

"Guys, Ian and Steve are here with the burgers!"

My voice rings out through the full Gallagher house and everyone begins to make their way into the living room, grabbing one of the sandwiches that Ian is handing out and finding a seat in front of the TV.

"Napkins!" Fiona reminds us and I head off into the kitchen to grab a stack. As I get them out of the cabinet I listen to the chaos taking place in the living room and smile to myself.

I may spend a lot of time with the Gallaghers but it's not very often that all of us are sitting still in once place. Moments like these, with all of us crowded in front of the tv to watch Fiona's favorite program and stuffing our faces with burgers, are the times that remind me that it does me no good to miss the family I lost. All I need is the one I've found.

I head back into the living room and am placing the stack of napkins on the coffee table when the front door opens, Veronica joining the party from next door. I greet her and grab my burger and fries, and I'm surprised when the front door swings open yet again. Karen Jackson steps inside the house next and she's quickly ushered in from the cold by Lip.

"Who's this?" Veronica asks, eyeing the girl carefully.

"This is Karen," Lip introduces her.

"Hey girl. Nice top!"

"Thanks," Karen says carefully, sitting in the armchair next to the couch and accepting the burger that Lip is handing her. "Hey Aurora."

"Karen," I nod at her, not unfriendly.

I don't have anything in particular against Karen Jackson. Lip is allowed to fuck whoever he wants and she seems like a nice enough girl. Even though I'm pretty sure she's actually a psycho, at least according to the rumors at school.

"Shhh!" Fiona hisses, grabbing the remote to turn up the tv as everyone gets situated. V, Carl and Debbie join her on the couch while Lip sits next to Karen in the large armchair. Liam is playing with his toys on the floor and I sit beside him, leaning back against Ian's legs to eat my burger as he sits in the chair behind me.

Steve eventually appears from the kitchen and slides in next to Fiona as he hands her a beer. She takes it from him without taking her eyes off the screen. A peaceful silence falls over us as we all watch the show, a rare occurrence in the Gallagher house.

After I finish my burger, I wrap up my trash and stand to go throw it away, ruffling Liam's hair as I walk by. I grab myself a soda while in the kitchen and walking back to my seat I notice Karen adjust herself next to Lip. She shifts so that she's closer to him, pushing her hips against him and throwing her legs over his lap while wrapping her arms around his neck and snuggling closer.

The whole thing makes my stomach churn uneasily but I wouldn't have taken much issue with it if the girl hadn't made eye contact with me when she did it. Karen glares possessively at me as she begins to run her fingers through Lip's hair. It's almost as if she's staking her claim on him, like she thinks that I'm a threat and she's trying to scare me off.

I scoff quietly and roll my eyes before sitting back down, intent on ignoring the situation. At least intent on trying to do so.

"Rosie, let me have some of your soda," Lip says from his position in the chair behind me.

"No! Go get it yourself."

"Please? Come on, just a little bit."

"I said no."

"Rosie-"

Lip cuts himself off when I huff loudly and stomp towards the kitchen. I grab another soda and when I get back into the living room I shove it into his hands with more force than is necessary.