At Last [Lip Gallagher]

Chapter 3:

Ian put a plate on the table infront of Debbie's night nurse as Lip and Fiona walked in. 

"Come on Harriet. Sleeping time." Joleyemi said, carrying Harriet out of the kitchen while watching Fiona cautiously.

I reached across the table, pulling the plate to me. Lip walked over and took the plate from me, giving me a grin before walking away.

Once she was gone Fiona turned. "Is she still scared of me?"

"Well she did watch you bounce Frank's head down a flight of stairs." Ian pointed out.

"How do you say "he had it coming" in Nigerian?" Fiona asked.

"What are you doing up?" Lip asked Ian.

"Caleb won't stop drunk texting me." Ian said.

"Begging forgiveness?" Lip asked.

"Begging, then name calling, then begging some more." Ian said before looking up at Fiona. "Nice sex hair." 

"Tinder rocks. Free sex, anytime I want it. No strings attached." Fiona said.

"Yeah but you're female. Isn't that always available to you?" Lip asked.

"Maybe. Tinder makes it simple. No confusion. No misguided weddings. Now I just bone and go. So I can save my energy for more important things." Fiona said.

"Like what?" Lip asked.

I stood up and walked over to the counter, taking a bit of food to join in on the conversation. 

"Like my job." Fiona said.

"Patsy's Pies?" Lip asked. "Sure you want to be directing all your freed up energy there?" 

"You're one to talk. You spend all day working for free." Fiona said.

"He has a point." Ian said.

"But my bullshit internship is gonna turn into a non-bullshit career." Lip defended.

It got quiet. Fiona, Ian, and I looked at each other while Lip turned to the fridge.

"What?" Lip asked reaching into the fridge.

He closed the fridge and turned back to us. "It was no offense."

"Wow. Some taken." Fiona said.

Fiona walked upstairs and I continued to take food. 

"Kind of harsh." Ian said.

"Only cause it's true." Lip said.

"Are you sure about that?" Ian asked. "Working for free is called slave labor last time I checked."

Lip grabbed some food and bit into while walking away.

"Asshole." I muttered. 

Ian continued to make food, leaving the two of us to stand in silence. After a couple seconds, he looked up. 

"What?" He questioned before looking back down at the pan.

"I need to be caught up on all I missed." I said.

Ian looked back up from the pan. He raised an eyebrow and I smiled.

"Brief summary?" Ian asked.

I shrugged. "Whatever works for you. Start with whoever too."

"We'll start with Lip." Ian sighed. "After you left he continued his relationship with Karen. Karen got pregnant and he thought the kid was his but it turned out to be someone else's. He then got into a relationship with Mandy but that ended when he went to college. At college he started going out with his roommate's girlfriend and then going out with his professor. After his previous girlfriend sent out a picture Lip took of the professor, their relationship ended and he left college." 

I stared at him in disbelief. "You're kidding."

Ian shook his head and we stood in another moment of silence as he focused on the food he was making. A couple seconds later he looked back up.

"Debbie started dating this guy and got pregnant, getting into his argument with Fiona. Fiona was also pregnant but got an abortion. Turns out Steve came back and they did it. Fiona cheated on the guy she married who was in a band. She also cheated on one of her bosses with their brother. Then she was supposed to get married to Patsy's previous owner but Frank went on a rant. Turns out the guy was still doing drugs." He paused by looking down before looking back up. "Also the brother that she cheated with, he left drugs and one night we were partying and Liam got into them so Fiona went to jail and Liam was admitted to the hospital." 

"Woah." I breathed out.

"What else. Oh, yeah. Frank was thrown in the lake after the wedding. He also started having a failing liver and tried to find a donor. He found another daughter and she took over our lives and ran the house as if she was our mother. We drove her out after that." Ian said.

"Carl remained safe through all of this?" I asked in disbelief.

Ian shook his head. "He went to jail for using Frank's other daughter's son for some drug run." 

I stared down, surprised. Ian went back to cooking.

I looked back up. "Anything else?" 

"V and Kev married Svetlana. Well V did since Kev is still technically married to another woman." Ian added.

"Svetlana?" I asked.

"She was married to Mickey for a while after Mickey's dad found out Mickey was gay." Ian explained.

"Dang. How is Mickey?" I asked.

Ian tensed up slightly. "He's in jail." 

I went to speak again but Ian's head shot up to look at me. We stared at each other. He went back to cooking and I stared at him in silence.

"So what have you been up to ever since you abandoned us?" Ian asked looking up at me.

"It was against my will." I said rolling my eyes. "And I've been saving up money to come back since my dad abandoned me." 

"He abandoned you?" Ian asked.

"Long story short, he was fired and would go MIA for months at a time with different women." I explained.

He remained silent. I pushed away from the counter 

"Goodnight, Ian." I said, heading towards the living room.

"Elena." Ian said, stopping me.

I turned to look at him. He gave me a small smile, making a small smile spread across my face.

"It's good to have you back." He said softly.

I nodded. "It's good to see everyone again." 

He looked at me and I gave him a small wave before turning and disappearing into the living room. I stopped when my eyes landed on Lip who was sitting on the stairs. His eyes were on me.

"Lip." I greeted, nodding my head.

He stood up and stepped from the stairs to the floor. I walked behind the couch, leaning against the back of it across from Lip. We stared silently at each other. I reached into my pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. 

"What's that?" Lip asked.

I held the paper in both my hands and looked down at it. "A piece of paper." 

"Is there anything on it?" He asked.

"Doesn't matter, does it?" I asked, shrugging.

His hands landed on mine, making me look up. I moved my hands and put the paper back in my pocket.

"It's nothing." I shook my head.

After a moment, he let go of my hands and walked upstairs. Once I was sure he was gone I unfolded the paper to read the words on it again. The ones I've read more than I should have ever since I left.

You're the only one. Give it a chance.