★

AMARA GLARED AT THE DCFS officer with a clenched jaw as she showed out all of the minor Gallagher siblings, anger bubbling up in her chest as Debbie looked back to her in pleading, eyes welding up with tears, carrying Liam. Fiona trailed behind all of them, and Lip was the first to break the straight-line formation as he darted over to her, quickly lowering his mouth onto hers before the unnamed woman pulled him away.

"None of that."

"Oh, fuck off," Amara sneered. "You don't have to make it obvious to everyone about your jealousy of never getting laid."

Despite the situation, Lip and Ian cackled before crawling into the van, and Jimmy appeared out of nowhere, jogging over to them. "What the hell is happening?"

"Child protective services," Fiona said shortly.

"They're taking us away."

"Relax, Debs, it won't last, okay? What was it last time, a week?"

"Nine days."

"Twenty bucks it we'll be back in five," Lip grinned. "Make it three with Amara knowing this time."

She smirked mischievously, eyeing the unnamed woman up who shifted under her stare. Amara twirled around the kitchen knife in her hands, mouthing: "You're next."

"All right, Amara," Fiona shook her head and grabbed the weapon from her grasp. "No need to get yourself locked up as well. Oh, can I get their placement addresses now?"

"Not until intake interviews are complete," the woman answered.

"Who reported us?" Fiona asked, but she received no response. "Come on!"

The van door slammed, and Amara frowned as the vehicle sped away down the road. Silvia let out a shout of anger, before spinning on her heel, and storming back into their house.

Amara ran a hand through her hair. "God, we are so fucked."

★

Amara hadn't had time to write with all of the drama and chaos that had been going on in her life. But now, despite being in the worst situation imaginable, Amara's hand brushed across the paper in front of her as the words flooded out of her mind. This was the worst feeling in the world to her. The feeling that she was useless.

And she was.

She couldn't do anything to get the Gallagher's out of the system. She couldn't save them this time. And she hated it. Her brain had raced with countless ideas, but she knew none of them would work. So now, she was panic writing. The worst kind of writing.

Her foot bounced absentmindedly as her hand scribbled down the words appearing in her mind, and before she knew it, she had already written three pages. Swatting her cramped hand in the air, she winced, flexing her fingers.

She bit her lip, and abruptly pushed herself up as she stalked to the house over. When she walked in, she immediately spotted Fiona cleaning up the living room in complete silence. She glanced up as Amara shut the door behind her. It didn't take her long to notice the tears in the older girl's eyes. Amara offered a sad smile.

"Where should I start?"

"Amara-"

"No, Fiona, they're my family too. And you don't deserve to go through this alone. Which room should I start in?"

A small, grateful grin appeared on Fiona's face. "It'd be great if you could do the dishes and go from there."

Amara firmly nodded. "On it."

★

The next day, Amara woke to someone shaking her, and she jolted upright, and was quickly greeted with Fiona's face as they literally bumped heads. "Shit," she groaned. "Didn't think you were gonna jump at me like that."

"Sorry. Bad dream."

"Get dressed," Fiona told her. "We got Frank on board, and we're gonna go visit Lip and Ian at the group home. Need a babysitter for Via? I'm sure Veronica can do it."

"No, no. She's good. We've got our grandma."

Fiona gave her a dumbfounded look. "You trust her?"

Amara shrugged, pulling on her black jeans. "Not entirely. But it's growing, to be honest. Hey, hand me that white tank-top. Anyway, she's been doing pretty well. You know, besides the insulting every Gallagher to exist thing. She thought Lip was my drug dealer."

Fiona rolled her eyes with an amused smile, straightening up when Amara shoved both her feet into her worn out white shoes Joe had gotten her the previous summer. She never owned anything on-brand in her life, but he had insisted buying both her and Silvia Air-Forces for some reason. Although now they were completely filthy, but she didn't care. Shoes were shoes.

"Okay, let's get going."

★

"I've been here once before," Frank admitted once they pulled outside of the building in Jimmy's car. Amara held back a scoff, her thoughts screaming: of course you have. This would be one of the only times she wouldn't voice what she was thinking—she didn't want to piss Frank off and have him scurry away and not help them. "That summer, Mom was sent away for knifing a poodle."

Amara climbed out of the car, sharing a look with Fiona, who just shook her head. The eldest Gallagher's face suddenly broke out into a grin, and Amara watched as she jogged over to two familiar faces who had just walked out of the home. "Hey! Missed you guys. How you holding up?"

"We're fine," Lip responded, stepping out of his sister's embrace only to pull Amara into one. "Place is a joke." Amara felt Ian's arms wrap around her once Lip dropped his own, and she grinned, returning the gesture immediately before they started walking again.

"Still serving that rotten porridge?" Frank asked.

Ian faltered in surprise. "He already on the wagon?"

"Why do you say that?"

"For now," Fiona smacked her father's stomach. "You out on furlough?"

"No, I've gotta work," Ian answered. "He's gotta finish a couple of parole hours."

"Guys want a lift?" Jimmy questioned from his stance against his car.

"Oh, no," Lip shook his head. "Got to get our passes signed by the driver. You find Debs and the boys?"

"Not yet, but I will. You need anything? Cash, clothes?"

"No, look. Don't worry about us. We're fine." He hugged Fiona again. "Worry about him."

Frank held up his arms in surrender as Ian hugged his sister as well. Lip glanced over to Amara, before leaning down to kiss her. It was over way too soon for her liking, if she were being honest, but the two boys stalked off down the sidewalk.

"Where's my hug?" Frank wondered, and they both barley turned their heads in response, only lifting their hands in the air to flip him off.

Amara stifled a sigh, turning to look at Fiona. "As much as I would love to go see the lawyer with you guys, I have a shift at the Alibi in twenty."

"That's fine," Fiona assured.

"I'll drop you off," Jimmy offered, and Amara nodded. "Great. All right, hop in."

★

Not ten minutes after her shift ended, Amara found herself lounging in the living room in front of their cheap television, the volume turned all the way up due to the bad speakers. She flipped through channels, pausing once hearing footsteps and sudden yelling from upstairs.

"Fuck you, you skanky bitch!"

"You're the one who can't keep a husband, you whore!" Amara watched with raised brows as Margot stormed down the steps, Gloria trailing closely behind her with a scowl. Her mother rushed out the front door so quick, she ran into a person standing outside, not even offering an apology. "Sorry you had to hear that."

"It's...fine?"

"There's roast beef in the fridge."

"Um, thanks. What was that all about?"

"Your mother was being a slut. Walked in on her doing it with some homeless man in your bedroom."

"Fantastic."

"I'll wash the sheets, don't worry."

"I can do it-"

"Don't bother, I've got it. You just returned from work. Relax."

"Hey," a familiar voice said from the doorway, and in walked Mandy, almost hesitantly. "I wanted to make sure the whore-show was over before I made my appearance known."

"Oh, hey," Amara greeted with a tired smile. "What's up?"

"I promised Mickey he could have the house to himself this weekend. Was wondering if I could stay here?"

"Of course," Amara replied.

"Excuse me?" Gloria interrupted. "Did you ask me?"

Amara rolled her eyes. "Look, it's really great you're helping us out, but this isn't your house. I still pay the bills on my own. I don't need to ask your permission for one of my friends to spend the night."

"You're an ungrateful little shit," Gloria sneered at her, and Amara struggled to figure out how to reply but her grandmother turned on her heel and walked back up the stairs.

"She seems pleasant," Mandy commented, softly shutting the front door as she stepped into the room, and fell onto the couch next to her. "You alright?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Just worried about the rest of the Gallagher's, is all. Are you? I mean, your dad hasn't tried to..."

"Oh, no," Mandy shook her head. "Nothing like that this time. Mickey is probably doing some group sex thing or something."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"You don't...Do you like Lip, or anything?"

"Yeah, he's chill. One of my closest friends."

"No, I don't mean like that," Amara bit her lip. "This is probably stupid. It's just, Kevin put it into my head that you were trying to like take him from me? Not that I actually think that but, I had to ask."

"Ew, no," Mandy scrunched up her face. "Maybe I liked him at first, but those feelings are gone now. I'd never do that to you. If you're talking about the laundry and stuff, I was just being nice. He saved Molly. I had to repay him somehow."

"I knew it," Amara breathed. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. With the way things go around here, I can't blame you for thinking that. Besides, I like someone else."

"And the thought didn't occur to you to tell me?"

"His name is James..."

Amara froze. Everything was fine. James was a common name. "What's he like?"

And there they were again—talking about boys as if there was nothing else in the world to worry about. For a moment, Amara almost felt guilty. But it went away as Mandy accidentally rolled off the couch, and they were both completely breathless with laughter.

★

— AUTHORS NOTE

happy turkey day to everyone that celebrates it !!