★

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOUR wife came to your house," Lip mused from outside of the ice cream truck. He was busy fixing the engine while Amara organized the desserts into the freezer, and Kevin was dusting everything off. Despite Lip previously just driving the vehicle, it was still a total mess. Amara watched with a wince as the older man threw out yet another paper towel that was completely covered in sot and dirt onto the grass.

"Yeah, I thought V was gonna rip her throat out," Kev admitted, and they all broke out into matching chuckles. "So, what's going on with you and Mandy?"

Amara froze, glancing up to Kev who was staring out the door questioningly towards the blonde. "What do you mean?"

"You guys seem tight."

"Just friends," Lip shrugged him off, clearly not bothered with the question like Amara was. Of course she trusted Lip. And Mandy for that matter, too, but whenever things finally started to go good for her—something bad would always happen to fuck shit up.

"Good, cause you got a great girl right here," he waved a finger in Amara's direction, and she smiled softly as she continued to stick popsicles inside the freezer before her. "Don't fuck that up. I mean it, man. If you hurt Amara I'm kicking your ass."

"Get in line," came Lip's response. "Fiona and Ian have already threatened me. Along with Carl for some reason, too. Although his was more like 'dump Amara so I can have her.' Fucking weirdo."

"Don't call Carl a weirdo," Amara scolded with an amused grin. "And I don't know where his sudden crush on me came from."

"What can I say?" Lip shrugged. "You're hot. It's about time Carl should go through puberty and become a horny bitch for the next three years."

"Only three?" Kevin repeated. "Man, that never goes away. And neither will Mandy now that you saved her half-sister. Do you know what kind of signals that sends? Chicks dig that hero-shit. You're stuck with her now."

Amara blinked in confusion. Was Kevin implying Mandy was going for Lip? She'd never do that. Luckily, Lip seemed to agree. "Mandy wouldn't try any of that. She knows Amara and I are..."

Kev perked up in interest. "Are what?"

"Unlabeled," Amara answered with a shrug. "Besides, she's my best friend. She knows that Lip and I are together. She'd never try anything like that."

"Whatever you say," Kev sounded unconvinced, shrugging. "I think otherwise. Lip is basically ghetto-married to a girl that isn't you."

"Yeah, okay," Amara scoffed.

"Tell me this, Lip. Has Mandy been doing your laundry? Making you food?"

Lip blinked. "She folded one of my shirts yesterday. Doesn't mean anything, though. She was just being nice."

"No, no way," Kev argued. "You rescued her sister. She probably thinks you're trying to subtly say you're interested."

Amara's heart plummeted. "Are you?"

"Of course not," Lip's reply was immediate. "Kev, stop trying to fuck up our relationship."

"I'm just warning you," Kev stated.

"Gun it," Lip ordered with the firm nod of his head, sounding annoyed. Kev obliged, and the engine hardly sputtered before turning on smoothly. Lip flung himself in a seat with a sly grin.

"Nice work," Kev complimented, and they slammed the doors shut as Amara fell onto the blonde's lap. He eagerly wrapped his arms around her waist, securing her to him as Kev drove off towards the store.

★

"Holy shit!" Mandy shouted in surprise when she saw the cases both Kev and Lip were carrying, and she quickly moved out of the way. Amara shut the door behind her as the boys loaded the fireworks into the living room.

"Yeah, we did good," Kev confirmed. "Boom Town was good to us."

"Blowing up the Hancock building?" Fiona questioned from the kitchen, and Carl rushed over with an evil grin on his face.

"No, we don't have any more room in the truck. Amara bought a shitload of more food for it."

"I'm making your business better," she told him. "You're welcome."

"Liar, you know half of that is for you to eat. Anyway, can we store some here?"

"Are you nuts?" Fiona asked, gesturing to Carl. "Look at that kid's face."

"I promise to put it in a no-Carl zone."

"As if that exists. Keep it at Amara's. She's got that extra spare bedroom."

"Not spare anymore," Amara replied with a shrug. "I thought I told you my grandma is living with us now. It's so weird waking up to the smell of bacon. For a second I thought I was dead when she called me down for breakfast the other day. But there's room in the basement, we could keep it there."

"Go wash your face," Fiona instructed, patting the top of Carl's bald head. Mandy—who had been staying at the Gallagher's ever since Lip rescued her sister—appeared with a bunch of folded clothes in her hands. Kevin's words echoed in her brain, but she shook them away. Mandy wasn't like that. She wasn't. She was probably just trying to repay Lip in the only way she knew how. "Mandy, make yourself useful and set the table. Amara, come with me and help me drown this chicken in sauce."

"My favorite activity," Amara quipped, watching from the corner of her eye as Mandy told Molly to put the folded clothes onto Lip's bed. Fiona smacked her ass, and Amara laughed, swatting her away as she stepped into the kitchen to help.

"What's with Jimmy?" Veronica wondered as Jimmy slowly walked into the bathroom, not saying a word. "Shit with his dad?"

"He's pretty worked up about it."

"I think I'd be pretty messed up if I found out my dad was fucking my girlfriend's brother," Amara said, handing Fiona a knife.

"It's his first big family crisis. He's taking it pretty hard. Hey, Kev, left side of your mouth. No, other left."

"He's got daddy issues," Lip interjected. "No wonder you dig him."

"I can hear you!" Jimmy called from the bathroom.

"Hey, you two, finish unloading and organizing the truck. Put the weed in the fridge," Kevin ordered, gesturing to the pair.

"On it," Lip responded, grabbing Amara by the hand and pulling her out of the kitchen.

★

"Wait, so there's buttholes involved?" Amara could hear Carl ask as her and Lip stepped into their shared bedroom. The blonde pulled off his shirt, chucking it onto his cot as Amara narrowly avoided stepping on the boy who was laying on the floor.

"Sometimes, not always," Mandy answered.

"Are you still on this, Carl?" Amara questioned with a snicker. "That conversation happened like twelve hours ago."

"Hey," Mandy greeted them with a smile. "Ian and I are gonna get high and watch Family Guy. You two wanna come?"

"Uh, no," Lip replied. "Been driving all day. I'm exhausted."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Who knew unloading a bunch of illegal products would be so tiring?"

"Doing a night load," Fiona announced, stepping into the room with a laundry basket. "Any takers?" Both Carl and Ian reached to grab some tossed clothing on the floor, before chucking it into the basket. "Lip? Nothing?"

"Did ours this afternoon," Mandy said with a proud grin that made Amara's insides churn as she hopped onto Lip's bed.

"Maybe next time you wanna throw in Debbie or Carl or Liam's with yours," Fiona suggested sharply.

"Sure," she replied. "No problem."

"And you," Fiona turned to face Lip, pointing an accusing finger at him. "No sticking it in Amara. The last thing we need is another Gallagher running around here. You're lucky I trust both of you enough to sleep in the same bed. Don't fuck it up."

"Relax," Amara assured. "If he's gonna stick it in me it won't be in your house."

"Can we stop talking about sticking it in Amara?" Lip demanded. "I'm trying to go to sleep and topics like that are gonna make it difficult to do so."

Amara shoved his shoulder before rolling over to make room for him. "Pervert."

"Fiona started it."

"If you guys change your minds, come down okay?"

"Sure," Amara responded when Lip didn't say anything, and Mandy flicked off the light as she left the room. Lip pulled her closer by the waist, and she buried her face in his chest—loving the way his embraces always made her feel safe. He lightly kissed the top of her forehead, but the moment was ruined when Carl spoke up again.

"I need to know where the gay wieners go."

"That sounds like the title of a song," Amara muttered, and Lip heaved a laugh as he flipped onto his other side to look at Carl.

"You know how you plunge a toilet when it's backed up? Think of it as one dude plunging another dude's toilet."

Amara face-palmed. "Oh my God."

★

— AUTHORS NOTE

i actually just started watching s10 and i completely forgot that lip knocked tami up😐😐😐 now how am i supposed to write in amara when we get up to that point