sexual tension // l. gallagher (DISCONTINUED)

one

"It was beauty that killed the beast."

-king kong

{edited 04.11.21}

[•]

Delaney Rodriguez sat, perched on the top step of the Gallagher household, waiting for her best friend, Phillip to arrive home from wherever he had been. Her un-brushed brown hair whipping in the wind on this particular cold Chicago afternoon.

Her chin rested in her glove-clad hand, rubbing against the itchy wool. The one thing Delaney hated about the cold was the ways it would turn her tanned cheeks into a pale and pink masterpiece.

'Where the hell is he?' Delaney thought as she pulled her jacket closer to her body. Unfortunately for her, no other member of the Gallagher family was currently home, a rare occasion.

Delaney's smile grew as she spotted a certain mop of curly brown hair making it's way past the L. The young girl stood instantly, rubbing her arms to create heat.

"Gallagher!" She yelled, catching the older boy's attention. Lip began jogging to where the girl stood, his face instantly full of concern.

"Jesus christ Del, how long have you been out here? You went from Italian to see through!" He commented, noticing how her tanned skin was now a very prominent shade of pale.

"Not that long, it's not even that cold honestly." The girl responded. Lip rolled his eyes with a chuckle as he proceeded to pull out the key to his front door as Delaney spoke again.

"Oh, are you coming to the diner today? I work the night shift tonight so it'll just be me until closing time. We can hang out in the storage room if you'd like."

"Ah, I'd love to, but I can't. I'm tutoring Karen Jackson today." Lip smirked to himself as he opened the front door to his house.

"Isn't she passing?" Delaney asked, curious as to why the semi-smart girl all of the sudden needed tutoring from her friend.

"Fuck if I know, doesn't matter anyway, 'might get a knob job out of it." The boy grinned, resembling the Cheshire cat.

She groaned, not needing to know that much about Lip's hidden motives for tutoring Karen Jackson. Considering Delaney had known the Gallagher boy for nearly her whole life, she expected it, but she definitely did NOT need to hear about it.

"I mean unless you'd like to take her place." The boy smirked, lighting one of his Marlboros.

Delaney smiled at the boy, "As nice as that offer is, I think I'll have to pass, some of us actually have a job."

She delivered a quick thump to the boy's forehead, earning a grunt from her friend.

"You coming over after work?" Lip asked passing his lit cigarette to the younger girl.

"Eh, maybe. Depends if you're gonna go into all the gory details about getting head from Karen Jackson."

"I promise I won't, just come over okay? We can watch Scarface."

"Lip, we have seen that movie at least a dozen times already." The girl groaned. 

"I can't help that it's a great movie."

Delaney couldn't help the small smile that made its way onto her face. "Fine, but you have to meet me at the diner, I hate walking home alone."

Lip nodded and grabbed the cigarette out of his friend's hand, "Deal."

[•]

Delaney sighed as she rested her chin in her hand. She watched the clock as another minute droned by. She didn't mind her job, honestly, she would even say she enjoyed it. Her boss, Stanley, practically let her get away with anything she wanted so long as she didn't steal any money. 

The bell above the diner door signaled the arrival of a customer, or in this case Lip. Delaney was quickly brought out of her thoughts as she jumped slightly, startled by the loud noise.

"God Lip, you scared the hell out of me." She frowned, placing her hand over her fast-beating heart.

"Well, maybe you should have been paying more attention?" He responded in a snarky tone. Delaney's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Lip was never rude to the girl.

"Ouch. What's eating you?" She asked cautiously, not wanting to be the butt of her friend's aggression.

"Nothing, you ready to go?" Lip asked, his voice rough.

Delaney nodded silently and began locking up, making sure everything was ready for the next morning.

[•]

As the two teenagers sat watching Lip's favorite movie, said boy decided to finally speak up.

"Have you and Ian ever hooked up?"

Delaney looked towards the boy, a worried look crossing his features.

"Uhm... No?" She laughed.

"You don't so sure about that." Lip grumbled lowly, his harsh attitude returning.

"What the fuck has gotten into you? Karen's dad catch you or something? You're being an ass." Delaney jibed.

"Ian's gay." He spoke quickly.

Delaney's attention immediately snapped to Lip, ignoring the movie playing on the screen.

"What?"

"Ian likes dudes. I don't know how to make it any clearer." Lip responded aggravated.

"Don't be a dick just because you're pissed your brother likes to fuck guys." Delaney snapped her patience with the older boy wearing thin.

Lip's harsh eyes immediately softened towards the girl. "You're right I'm sorry. I just- I can't believe he wouldn't tell me. We're brothers, we tell each other everything." Lip frowned as he thought about his brother not trusting him.

"Don't take it personally. This is a big thing to talk about Lip, it's not like telling someone you lost your virginity. This is talking about your sexuality in a town that's not so understanding. He's probably just scared. Just talk to him about it okay?" Delaney gave a sympathetic smile to the boy as she rested her hand on his shoulder. Lip gave a curt nod.

"I'm sorry if I was rude. I love you."

"I know." Delaney smiled before returning her focus to the movie on the screen.

AN: and I'm back