Trauma At Its Finest (Lip Gallagher X Male Reader)

Ch 31. Goodbye My Best Friend

It's the next day after the incident and the death of Venom. The entire night, Y/N had been crying, and it broke Lip's heart. Eventually, the now former pet owner cried himself to sleep, and his fiancé knew that come morning, the grief would still be there.

When Lip wakes up, he's surprised to see the man of the house still in bed. He's always the first to wake up, making sure everyone has breakfast and packing lunches for the man he loves. Today is one of the rare times that doesn't happen.

After making his own breakfast—and making sure Mikhail and Alyosha are properly taken care of—Lip comes back downstairs. He sees Y/N lying there with his eyes closed, still hugging what used to be his friend and companion. The blonde walks over to the bed, sits down, and gently puts his hand on the man's face.

"Hey. Do you feel better?" Lip asks softly.

Y/N doesn't respond, merely shaking his head slightly as he opens his eyes just a bit. Lip wishes he could stay, but he has to go to school. He has a test.

"Just rest today. When you feel a bit better, try to get out of bed. It'll help, okay?"

Again, no response. Not even a nod or a shake. Lip leans in and kisses the numb man on the forehead before standing up. "I'll be back home in seven hours. After that, I'm staying with you until the end of the weekend."

Still no response. With a pain in his chest, Lip turns to leave. He heads upstairs to the kitchen, where the rest of the family is still sitting. Ian, in particular, looks worried.

"How is he?" Ian asks.

"Not good." Lip answers, rubbing his hair anxiously. "He doesn't even talk."

"Just give him time." Fiona advises, and Lip merely hums.

Ian stands and walks over to his older brother. "Is he mad at me?"

"He's not mad at anyone..." Lip admits, surprised Y/N hasn't gone into a rage and tried to kill Frank. "He's just... sad."

"It's just a cat." Mickey chimes in, clearly not understanding what the big deal is. Ian, Lip, and Debbie immediately shoot him glares.

"Mickey." His boyfriend says sternly, scowling.

"The cat hasn't even been dead for 24 hours." Debbie points out.

"Just buy a new one." Mickey shrugs. "Besides, he's got like ten cats left. And let's not pretend we didn't all hate that fucking thing."

"That's not the point!" Lip raises his voice, his frustration breaking through. Mickey flinches slightly at the outburst. "Y/N loved her, and now she's dead. It doesn't matter what we thought about her. And now he's shutting himself in."

Mickey stays quiet, not wanting to escalate things further. Meanwhile, everyone else looks at Lip. Ian still feels guilty about what happened, even if he was trying to help Mickey. Debbie and Fiona show clear signs of sympathy for Y/N.

After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Lip speaks again.

"Just give Y/N some space. He won't be doing any chores today... and probably won't be able to take care of Mikhail and Alyosha either. Is there anyone who can stay home?"

"No, got work." Fiona says, though it's clear she wants to help.

"Got school." Debbie adds.

"Work." Ian echoes, though he also looks torn about leaving.

Everyone's eyes then shift to Mickey, who awkwardly looks back at them. After a few seconds, he finally answers.

"Fine. I'll do it."