Trauma At Its Finest (Lip Gallagher X Male Reader)

Ch 47. Lack Of Communication

Flashes of images keep haunting Lip. Y/N getting shot. Dying in the hospital. Him losing his son. Losing the rest of his children. Falling back into his old ways and becoming the neglectful father Frank always was—only worse, by metaphorically 'eating his kids.' These thoughts constantly plague his mind, until he finally wakes up.

Once awake, he can feel his rapid breathing. When he realizes it was just a dream, he begins to calm down. He looks to his right, seeing Y/N merely asleep, unharmed, and he can't help but be reminded of his newest scar from back in autumn.

As he rubs his eyes, he sits up and glances at the bassinets, where his four babies are sleeping. It seems peaceful, and everything looks alright—yet Lip doesn't feel alright. If anything, he feels like danger could come without warning and destroy everything.

With a deep sigh, he gets out of bed and walks downstairs. In the kitchen, he grabs a glass from the cabinet, fills it at the sink, and drinks. The early light shines faintly through the window, just enough to see by. As he sips his water, he calms down—though deep inside, he still feels shaken.

After a few steady breaths, he sets the empty glass in the sink. Knowing he still needs more rest, he decides to return to bed, hoping he won't be plagued by any more nightmares.

-

When everyone wakes up, Lip decides to pretend nothing bad has happened and just hopes the rest of the day will be better. Together with his family—plus their newest roommate, Vlad.

It's been a week since his real brother-in-law moved in, and Lip still doesn't like him. Neither does anyone else. Still, Vlad helps out with the kids, which is better than nothing.

For Y/N, he and Vlad dropped off the money some days ago. But now that the situation is different—since every penny counts—changes need to be made, and the Russian is prepared to announce them.

"We need to talk about some changes." Everyone looks back at Y/N, who's holding Alyosha while feeding him. Meanwhile, Lip is holding Mikhail. "You all know I lost my job."

"You mean not working with the mafia?" Mickey clarifies.

"Yeah. Because of that, I had to pay back the money I got from them. What's left only covers us for about three months." Everyone grows anxious, already dreading what's next. "From now on, everyone needs to pitch in."

"Are you serious?"

"You shitting me?"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Lip cuts in, trying to quiet the complaints. "You've all been living here rent-free for a year and a half. If you were smart, you'd have saved some of the money you earned."

Silence. Everyone looks awkward, which tells Lip everything. "You didn't save anything?"

"I got a hundred bucks in my account." Ian admits.

"Holy shit..." Y/N sighs. "From now on, everyone contributes—except the kids. I made some calculations. With bills and groceries, that's about $3,800 a month. Split between six people, that's $633 each."

"Are you shitting me!?" Mickey yells. "I don't even got a job!"

"Get one." Y/N replies flatly. "It's cheaper than moving out, so don't even think about leaving."

"This fucking sucks..." Debbie mutters.

"So nothing changes?" Liam asks, the only one unfazed.

"Not for you." Lip answers before glancing around the table. "Look, we can do this. We had it easy for a while, but we got too lax about money."