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★
"I CAN'T BELIEVE KAREN is knocked up," Amara said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I mean, I knew it would happen eventually cause she can't keep her pants on, but she's like seventeen. I thought it'd happen within the next two years, not this soon."
"Yeah, it's blowing my mind too," Ian mused, taking a sip out of the coffee Amara had made him. "Lip's really upset about it. Nothing is cheering him up."
"Well, I'm definitely not gonna help to that cause." At his confused look, she continued. "We got into a really big fight last night."
"Did you guys kiss this time?"
Amara choked on her drink. "How do you know that? Did he tell you?"
"Of course he told me," Ian scoffed. "I'm his brother."
"We didn't, for your information, you nosy prick." Ian laughed as she punched his arm, stopping once a knock sounded at the door. Amara scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, knowing it couldn't be any of the Gallagher's—none of them knocked, they just barged in. She pulled open the door, and there stood a man in a business suit who she didn't recognize.
"You Amara Gilbert?" He asked, and she glanced back behind her to see Ian shake his head.
"No, I'm actually her twin sister...Misty Gilbert?"
The man raised a suspicious eyebrow, before he pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, and handed it to her. Amara hesitantly took it from his grasp, and straightened the paper out to realize it was a hospital bill. "Tell your...twin sister, that for breaking my son's nose, you will be paying for his surgery." Amara's eyes widened in shock, and she stared at the man in front of her, unable to form a sentence. "If you do not, however, my company and I will press actual charges, and I'm sure you don't have the type of money to pay for the bill, and for a lawyer. It's easier this way."
"I'm sorry, what are you talking about?" She asked, and she felt Ian come to stand protectively behind her.
"You hit my son, James Lewis," he reminded her. "Broke his nose. Ringing any bells, Miss Gilbert?"
"But, you're rich. Just pay for it yourself."
"I'm afraid that would be no fun. You see, he was very generous to offer you his hand in marriage, and since you refused, you not only broke his nose, but you also broke is heart. From here on out, I will be making your life a living hell."
Before she got the chance to answer, the older man turned on his heel, and briskly walked back to his fancy car that was parked on the street. "For your information, my life is already a living hell!" Amara yelled after him, but her shoulders sagged, revealing her true feelings. "Well, fuck me."
★
Amara walked back home after her shift at the ice cream parlor, she barely had half of the money that she needed stashed in her room. Luckily, she'd managed to save three hundred from the money she took from Margot, but besides that, she had no idea what she was going to do. There was no way she'd be able to make five grand in such a short amount of time. But the money wasn't the only thing on her mind, Lip was there as well. She jogged up the stairs to the Gallagher residence. It was time she apologized for being such a dick to him.
When she walked into the living room, it was empty, and she glanced around, confused. The Gallagher house was never empty. Amara stepped into the kitchen, finding out that there was no one in there as well, until she heard a loud thump upstairs. Then multiple more, and some yelling joined in.
Amara rushed up the steps, and watched in horror as Lip and Ian fought in the bathroom. The redhead shoved his older brother back, making him fall into the bathtub. Ian crouched over him, punching Lip in the face until the other boy grabbed a shampoo bottle and weakly smacked it over his head.
"Enough!" She screamed, but neither of them seemed to listen. With her heart pounding, she quickly went to grab Ian's bicep, trying to get him to stop hitting his brother, but he easily shrugged her off. Amara scowled, putting all of her strength into pulling Ian away from Lip, until she felt a fist collide with her jaw.
Ian's eyes widened in shock almost immediately, and Amara's hand flew up to grab her face in pain. She stared at him, stunned, unable to grasp that Ian, her best fucking friend, had punched her jaw. "Shit, Amara—" He started, but she shook her head.
"Don't."
Ian bit his lip, glancing back to his brother, who was still sat in the bathtub, then back to her, before leaving. A silence filled the room as Amara clutched her throbbing jaw, and she opened her mouth to taste metallic.
Lip pushed himself out of the tub, carefully making his way over to her. "Are you alright?"
Amara swallowed, "are you?" Lip shrugged, nodding slightly, and she sighed. "I'm sorry, about last night. It's not my place to get in your business about which whore you fuck. Shit! I just did it again."
"Yeah, well, you're not wrong," he muttered, gesturing for her to sit onto the toilet, which she did. "Let's make sure he didn't cause any serious damage."
"What about you?"
"I'm fine."
She watched him, unsure if she believed him or not. "Why were you guys fighting?"
Lip frowned, crouching in front of her as he held a cold rag to her jaw, instantly making the throbbing stop. "Brother shit."
"You guys always have brother shit, but you've never gotten into a physical fight. What is happening to you, Lip?"
"I don't know, okay, Amara? Just drop it." Her mouth snapped shut, and she awkwardly stared at the wall behind Lip's head, not wanting to piss him off again and for the two of them to fight. "I'm sorry too."
"For what?"
"You're right. I have been a complete asshole lately."
"You've always been an asshole."
"Says you, gigantic bitch." She snorted, and after a moment, she heard him chuckle as well. "I've missed you, you know. I feel like we haven't really hung out since..."
"I know," Amara said. "And I miss you too. Can we stop with this whole awkward shit? It's really annoying. We can just pretend the kiss never happened."
"What? You didn't like it?"
"Oh, the kiss was hot. The guy who just happened to do the kissing wasn't."
Lip rolled his eyes, pushing himself up so he was standing straight. "Well, thats too bad. The guy who did the kissing thought the girl was gorgeous."
Amara blinked at him in surprise. "You think I'm gorgeous?"
"You know you're gorgeous, Mar. Don't pull that shit with me."
"No..." She trailed off. "No ones ever told me that before, Lip."
For a second, he looked like he was about to lean down and kiss her again, and she couldn't ignore the flicker of disappointment that flooded through her when he didn't. "We should probably get to bed."
"Right," Amara replied, standing up as well. "See you in the morning?"
