★

THE RIDE BACK HOME from the hospital was tense, Kev didn't even blare his shitty country music to try and make them feel better. In fact, there was no music at all. The only sound had been the tires moving against the pavement. Now, the only sound was distant sirens, and honking from the main road. Amara hopped out of the car first, taking a half-asleep Silvia gently by the arm. She sighed, glancing back towards the Gallagher household, until Fiona came into view.

"Take her home."

"I want to help you clean up, Fi."

"Amara," she put a comforting hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "You look like you're about to pass out from exhaustion. You have those raccoon bags under your eyes, the same ones you always get right before you fall asleep on my couch. Please, go home. We've got it covered."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Fiona assured. "I promise. And check on Lip for me? He's still pissed and not talking to me. I just wanna make sure he's alright."

"I will. See you tomorrow."

"Night," Fiona quietly called after them as Amara walked Silvia home. Their house was quiet once they entered, which surprised her. It was only about midnight, and it was a holiday. Although, she wasn't complaining, she wasn't in the mood for any bullshit from her parents.

After tucking Silvia into bed, Amara jogged down the stairs to see what messes she had to clean up that night. Her mood instantly darkened once she saw that the entire kitchen was trashed. Food covered plates still sat on the table, beer cans and trashed were thrown all over the room. There was even some sticky shit next to the fridge, which Amara didn't even want to know what it was.

She blinked back the tears that had been threatening to spill over all night, and swallowed the lump in her throat as she began to throw all of the debris into the trash can. By the time she was done, it was almost two o'clock, and she leaned against the countertop with a sigh. Why had she been the one to get stuck cleaning after everyone else? Why was it her job?

Amara's gaze found the calendar taped on the far wall, and she slowly made her way over to it once she saw a giant red circle on one of the dates.

November 29.

The day after Thanksgiving. Why had that been marked? Amara's eyes went wide once she realized, and she immediately grabbed a marker, scribbling out the words that had been written. With a sigh, she glanced around the room one last time to make sure she didn't miss anything, before she flicked the light switch off and began to walk towards the stairs.

★

"Hey," a masculine voice greeted, shaking Amara from her sleep, and she cracked open her eyes to meet Lip's gaze. She slowly pushed herself up, yawning as he shifted on her bed.

"Hey," Amara grumbled, her voice still groggy from sleep. "Where were you last night?"

"The hospital. Karen."

"Jesus," she groaned. "Why are you so obsessed with her? Aren't you glad it's not your kid? You can walk away from that psycho like none of this ever happened."

"Planning on it," Lip told her. "Just had to have a little chat with her, and I ended up falling asleep in the armchair."

"What, so you guys are done?"

"We've been done. The only reason I kept hanging out with her was because of the baby."

"Right," Amara replied, sounding unconvinced.

Lip sighed, before turning around to grab something off of her dresser, and Amara watched him with furrowed brows. He faced her again, revealing a small chocolate cupcake with a singular candle on it. "Happy birthday, Mar."

Amara couldn't stop the grin that formed on her face as he held the dessert closer to her, and she blew the flame out. "Thank you."

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty broke so that's the best you're gonna get."

"I think you did pretty good," she told him with a mouthful of cake. "I love chocolate." Lip laughed, the sound echoing off the walls as Amara kicked the lower half of his back to keep him quiet. "Jeez, would you shut up? My parents and sister are sleeping."

"Sorry. So how's it feel to be a legal adult?"

"Weird. But I love being older than you."

"Only by a couple months," he reminded her, and Amara scoffed.

"Hey," she said, suddenly serious. "Your sister's really worried about you. I think you should cut the passive aggressive shit and go over there. Why are you even mad at her again?"

"Because she's a bitch."

"Lip!" She punched his arm. "Dude, come on. This is Fiona we're talking about. She never fucks up, and the one time she does you're not gonna let her live it down?"

"Can we not talk about this?"

Amara let out an angry huff. "Fine. But for the record, I think you should forgive her. She's your sister, Lip. She loves you."

He sighed. "Yeah. I know."

★

"Don't forget to do your math homework," Amara called after her sister as she ran up the to her room. "That's like your lowest grade!"

"I know!" Silvia replied, before her door slammed shut and Amara rolled her eyes. Lip's footsteps came down the stairs, and she glanced up to see him carrying his stuff.

"Where you going?"

He placed his bags down onto the table, taking a step closer to her, making Amara stare into his eyes, confused. "I have to tell you something."

"Okay, well could you get out of my personal bubble?" She asked. "Jeez, you're like breathing down my neck."

"Amara, let me talk."

"Okay," she placed the plate she was washing down back into the sink, facing him again. "Talk."

"I, um. Shit."

"Wow," Amara snorted after a moment of silence. "Great talk. Can I get back to doing the dishes—"

Before she got the chance to finish, he took her cheeks into his hands, and leaned down to connect their lips. Amara's eyes widened, before they closed in pleasure, and she tightly wrapped her arms around Lip's neck, pulling their bodies flush against one another. The only time they broke apart was for air, and they stared at each other intently.

"We can't do this again, Lip," she whispered. "We can't kiss, and then go back to acting like nothing happened. It killed me. I can't go through that again."

"It killed me too," he told her, seriously. "God, Amara. I've had a thing for you since we were six."

"Really? Explain Karen."

"Yeah," Lip scratched the back of his neck. "Can't."

She shoved his shoulder. "Then what the fuck was that kiss and confession?"

"Actions speak louder than words," Lip said, leaning towards her to give her forehead a quick peck, making her insides explode. He walked back over to the table, grabbing his bag.

"Where are you going?"

Lip turned to face her once he was at the door, and she could feel herself smile as the realization dawned on her. "You were right. I need to stop acting like a child. I'm going home."

★

a/n

sorry i took so long to update this HAHAH i lowkey forgot about this book if i'm being honest. ive been so wrapped up in my other ones that it completely slipped my mind.

i'm still deciding whether or not i'm going to write a sequel. i was planning on it but my inspo for shameless has been really low recently, so i'll update y'all in the future in case i do decide to write a few more seasons. if you're interested, make sure you don't remove this from your library ! anyway, thank you guys for reading !!!