Photograph [l.g]

06- Pizza and Some Company

[Troye Sivan- Youth]
[Whitney Houston- I Have Nothing]
[David Bowie- Life On Mars]
[One Direction- Ready To Run]
[Taylor Swift- Mine]

I returned home to an empty dorm room receiving a text from Matty and Amie that they're 'sorry' and will 'be back soon'.

Knowing that I would not see them for the rest of the evening, I settled in to have a quiet night.

I've always been quite an independent person, I liked being alone but recently whenever I've been alone with my thoughts I start to feel a little closed in.

Remembering his offer of company and pizza, Lip was the first person to come to mind and I got my phone out to text him.

Luna:
Hey, where's that pizza you promised? Come over x Luna

I was nervous on what to say. I wanted to would fun but not to aloof and whether the kiss at the end was the right thing I don't know.

Lip
Oh yeah, I'll be over soon, any preferences?

Luna:
Ham and pineapple!

Lip texted a quick okay and I put my phone on my desk and checked how I looked in the mirror.

I decided to keep what I had on and frantically shoved things into drawers to make sure my room was tidy enough. I did not want Lip Gallagher thinking I was a slop.

As I finally sat down admiring my work and catching my breath I heard a knock at the door. I opened it to reveal Lip with a pizza box and a six pack of beer.

"Did someone order a pizza and some company?"

I moved to the side so he could come in he sat down on my bed and placed the pizza next him. I sat down with the pizza in between us.

"What kind of person has pineapple on a pizza?" Lip laughed before taking a slice and picking off the pineapple pieces.

"The best kind" I said taking a slice for myself.

"It's absurd" he rolled his eyes.

"Good word for an undecided in college"

He laughed and shook his head at my comment not taking any offence to it, I hope.

To be honest, I wish I was more like Lip; he was very carefree and I could tell things didn't bother him easily. Whereas I get caught up on one little thing and spend most of my nights thinking about it.

My life had always been set. I would graduate, go to college, possible spend a few years travelling and then work till I retire. That was it.

"Where are your roommates?" Lip asked.

"Who knows? They could be lying dead in a ditch and I probably wouldn't find out until I get a call from a nearby hospital"

"They don't really share your interests do they?" He smiled sympathetically.

"Not exactly" I sighed, "where Matty and Amie care about looks and boys, I care about books and good grades"

Lip leaned back against the wall, finishing a second slice of pizza.

"It's better to care about books than looks" he shrugged.

"What do you care about?" I asked, from what I heard Lip Gallagher didn't care for anything or anyone.

He just shrugged in response, "come on you must have something that you work towards?" I raised my eyebrows.

He thought for a second before answering, "my family, the only reason I'm here is so I can get a good job and give back to my family"

"Are you close to your family?"

"Yeah really, I mean more my brothers and sisters 'cause my parents weren't around much"

This was the first I had really heard about Lips personal life. If you listen to the rumours they all say he doesn't open up.

"Whats the deal with your parents?" I asked, wanting to know more but not wanting him to reject my questions.

"God what's not" he sighed, "my mom is a bipolar control freak who shows up when it's best for her and dads a drunk who, I think, is hell bent on ruining our lives. If it wasn't for my sister Fiona, I'd hate to think where we might end up"

"Wow, I didn't realise you were dealing with so much" I replied.

"Yeah well, I don't tell everyone I meet about how badly I was treated because I wasn't treated badly"

We sat in silence and ate the pizza. What Lip told me made me realise how strong he was, not many people can deal with what he's dealing with and not need any help.

"So what about you? What's waiting for you outside of college"

"Not much, dad ran away when I was young and my moms a recovering alcoholic. Nothing exciting" I shrugged.

"I beg to differ, tell me more!" Lip smiled and resting his head on his hand and pretending to be interested.

"Well, from what I remember my dad was a dead-beat and left which caused my mom to drink, she always provided as much as she could but we did fall into some rough times"

"You said recovering, what made her stop?" Lip asked.

"She quit when I got into college" I smiled

I was always very proud of my mom. We didn't always have everything and her habits would sometimes get the best of her but I couldn't imagine her ever leaving like Lips mom and I was grateful for that.

Lip and I spent the rest of the night talking about school, friends and life after college until the early ours of the morning until we were practically collapsing.

The pizza box had moved to the floor and Lip and I had fallen asleep. We were both above the covers but his arm was wrapped around me and my cheek was resting on his chest.

I was aware of our closeness and I could feel the steady beat of his heart which was in sync to mine.

And it was in that moment that's I forgot about other people, or my mom, or Amie and Matty and what they may think if they were to walk in right now. It was just Lip and I and I loved it.