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AMARA'S HAND hurt from scrolling so much. After going their separate ways once they finished hiding the stolen items, she was all too eager to get home and relax. She could hear the water running from the bathroom as she laid on the bed, and knew Lip wouldn't be done showering for a couple of more minutes.
She rolled onto her side, clicking the link James had just sent her for the apartment complex, and researched on the website. One bedrooms weren't too bad, but once she got to the two bedroom layout, the prices jumped so high that her eyes widened.
The complex was nice. It had a community pool, landscaping, a gym, and each apartment had its own laundry unit, but Amara knew Lip probably wouldn't go for it. Though technically they would be able to afford it on just her income, they would hardly have enough money incase of emergency or for anything, really.
She heard the water shut off, and a moment later Lip walked in with a towel wrapped around his waist. He caught her eye immediately and smirked. "Hey."
"Hey yourself," she watched him pull on a pair of boxers before he fell into bed next to her. Amara quickly disregarded her phone, forgetting all about it as she clambered over to him where he laid. His hands easily found their place on either side of her hips as she leaned down to kiss him. Lip smiled eagerly against her mouth, and she felt his thumb roll up the bottom of her tank-top, and he was already hard by the time she moved to kiss down his stomach.
She heard him murmur something, but it didn't occur to him that he was actually speaking until he said her name, and she glanced up to him. "What?"
"I said I've been thinking."
She gave him a look as if to say 'really?" And shifted into a sitting position, knees placed on either side of him, though she didn't make any moves to climb off of him. "You're thinking about other things right now?"
"No," his lips pulled up into a knowing smile, and his fingertips lightly brushed against her skin. "But if we keep going I'm going to forget what I had to tell you."
Amara raised a brow. "Tell me what?"
"What if we sold the house? The Gallagher house? Split everything evenly.. we could afford somewhere nice with the profit we get from it. Maybe it's time to make gentrification our friend."
Amara paused, and her gut clenched. All those years ago, her own house next to the Gallaghers had burned down. And though technically Lip would be giving up his childhood home willingly, whereas she didn't have a choice, she wasn't exactly sure if she wanted him to lose something like that.
"I don't know, Lip. What will the others think? Silvia and Carl would probably be fine, but they're still young, and the housing market is ass right now. Debbie has Franny to look after too, and someone would have to take in Liam."
"I know all that," Lip said. "And that's why we'd talk to them first, obviously."
Amara slumped against him. "So many memories in that place."
And she was right. Years of her running over there to escape Joe and Margot's arguing, endless nights of her Ian and Lip staying up until late at night just talking, kitchen dancing with Fiona, chasing Carl through the house to grab some self-destructive weapon he found on the street, Debbie and how she used to decorate the walls with her art projects.
"Hey," Lip broke her from her trance, his voice gentle. "It's just a house, Mar. The memories will be with us forever, whether we own it or not. I know it's sad, I mean, I'm not thrilled about it either, but it's just an idea. We had a lot of shit happen in that house. It's where I met you, obviously it's important to me."
Something in her chest squeezed. "Oh, you're the nostalgic type now too?"
Lip pinched her side, and she grinned, reaching back down to kiss him. He easily flipped her onto her back, and she yelped in surprise against him, feeling him smile as he kissed down her neck. Lip's hair had just started to grow back, so she still had nothing to pull on. Now, she'd just dig her fingers into his back, especially when he traveled further down her torso and widened her legs.
There were definitely a lot of things Amara enjoyed about living on her own. All of her life, she'd lived in a huge chaotic household, her own or the Gallaghers, and there was never any quiet. It took a while to get used to the peace of living with just her boyfriend and son. Another plus: they could have sex any time they liked.
"Do you think we should go over there now?" Amara asked once they were finished. "The sooner the better, right? We've gotta figure this shit out. And I'm not trying to be like Hobo Hank from down the block."
Lip quirked a brow. "Do you remember when we drew a mustache on him in sharpie while he was passed out?"
Amara tugged on a pair of jeans and glanced at him from over her shoulder. "Who is we? That was all you, dude."
Lip shrugged. "Worth a shot."
Rolling her eyes, Amara threw him a shirt.
☆
Freddy was still asleep in his carrier by the time they reached the Gallagher house, and Amara gently placed it on the stairs while everyone greeted them from the living room. Mickey and Ian sat next to each other on the couch, Debbie was bouncing Franny on her lap while Sandy rolled a joint, and Silvia sat between Carl's legs from the arm chair.
"What's up, losers," Amara fucked up Ian's hair on her way by, earning her a scowl.
"We wanted to run something by you guys," Lip told them.
"Whatever it is," Silvia said, grinning at them. "No."
"Hilarious," Amara shot her a look.
"You're pregnant," Ian gasped.
Amara crossed her arms. "Lip is."
"Guys, come on," Lip sighed. "This is serious, alright? Jesus Christ, can we just have a family meeting?"
"How long is it gonna take?" Mickey asked. "I'm fucking starving, Lip."
Lip nervously glanced to Amara, who nodded her head encouragingly. He shifted on his feet before turning to the others. "We were, uh, thinking.. we want to sell the house. This house. The Gallagher house. You know, if we fix it up a little bit, like Mar and I did with Milton's, uh we could make a nice profit."
Amara gauged their reactions, and her nerves started to grow. Nobody moved.
"We'd each take our share," Lip continued. "You know.. and get on with our lives."
There was a long stretch of silence. Debbie finally broke it. "Fuck that. Good idea, but no way. You're not selling my house."
