A:N/ Welcome back! I'm glad everyone enjoyed the ending to Permanent Wound. For those of you just now joining, please make sure you go read Permanent Wound before you start this story. Please note that there's a three-month time gap between the end of season three and the beginning of season four, which I will be sticking with.
Tessa walked in the door of the Gallagher house and walked straight into the kitchen where Fiona and V were getting the food ready.
"You're pregnant?" Fiona asked. "How is that even possible?"
Veronica shrugged. "That's what I said. We can't afford to have two babies. We're barely gonna be able to afford to have one."
Tessa began to take her scarf off and looked back and forth between V and Fiona. "Uh…hi," she greeted. She had no idea what she had just walked in on.
"Oh hey Tessa," Fiona said with a grin.
Veronica smiled and explained to Tessa that she just found out she was pregnant.
"Congrats," Tessa said, putting her scarf over one of the chairs. She walked around the counter and sat down next to Veronica while Fiona continued to get the soda and food together.
"Have you told Kev yet?" Fiona asked. "What about your mom?"
"Oh, she gonna have to have an abortion. I can't have her nasty, Kev-mama baby staring up at me, not with my own Kev baby on my hip." V grinned and Tessa felt a little awkward in the conversation.
She thought back to three months ago when she had found out she was pregnant. No one knew about it. She hadn't even told Lip.
"I'll just end up hating the mama baby and accidentally on purpose run over it in the driveway," V continued.
Fiona's phone buzzed and she picked it up. She glanced at her friends. "It's Mike," she said. "He wants me to come over to his place tonight. Celebrate my three months at the company."
Tessa had heard a bit about Mike here and there but she knew Fiona was only trying to use him to get over Jimmy.
"Oh, celebrate how? By having you sit on his face?"
Tessa chuckled and rolled her eyes at V.
"Yeah, something like that."
"I still can't believe you haven't jumped his bones. He's not a bad looking guy," Tessa pointed out.
"You really haven't slept with him?" V asked.
"No, but I probably should soon." Fiona started to take the food out of the bags. Veronica grabbed a bag of fries and began to pick at them.
"He's already well past the whole two grand in meals thing for me having to put out."
"You make it sound like a chore," V scoffed. Tessa nodded in agreement.
"I know. It's crazy, but he's my boss, you know? I mean, what happens if we break up?" Fiona asked.
"Pretty sure he's the one banging an employee," Tessa pointed out.
"I think you're long past the 'what if we break up' point," said V.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Fiona continued to get the food out and walked over to the fridge.
"You should go. Tessa and I will keep an eye on the kids."
Tessa looked at V and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah…because I have no plans," she said sarcastically.
V rolled her eyes and told her to shut up. She knew Tessa didn't have to work tonight.
"Yeah, times two," Fiona joked.
V groaned and everyone turned to see Sheila coming downstairs with cleaning supplies and a trash bag full of garbage.
"All right, well, I'll be back tomorrow. I can tackle this whole kitchen area. It may take me a few days, but I will make this kitchen my bitch," Sheila said.
Tessa chuckled and glanced over at Fiona.
"Now, good night!" Sheila said before she left through the back door.
V raised her eyebrows at Fiona. "You hired Sheila to be your maid?" She asked.
"No," Fiona said, shaking her head. "She's just been hanging around. I think she's lonely." Fiona attempted to change the subject by talking about V being pregnant. "So when are you gonna tell Kev?"
"Hmm," V started. "I figured I'd give it a bit, see if this thing's still hanging around after a couple of months. I haven't exactly been fertile ground for planting little, baby Kev seedlings."
"You've got to tell him, V." Fiona gave Veronica a pointed look. "It's not fair to keep a secret."
Tessa bit the inside of her cheek and took began to chip away at the nail polish that was still left on her nails. Fiona knew nothing about the secret she had kept from Lip, but she knew that she would have only received a similar lecture if she did know.
"Shit," Fiona said, looking into the fridge.
Tessa looked up and saw Fiona with her hand on her hip.
"What are you looking for?" V asked.
"I thought we had some wine left. Did the two of us finish off an entire gallon of box wine the other night?" Fiona asked.
V furrowed her brows and shook her head. "No way. We definitely still had at least half the box left," she insisted.
Fiona sighed and closed the fridge. She looked at Tessa and she noticed a small amount of hopefulness in her eyes. "Hey have you heard from Ian at all lately?" Fiona asked.
She bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head. She had been about to ask Fiona the same question, but now she knew her answer. It had been a while since she had heard from Ian. In fact, it had been since Lip's graduation party and Tessa frowned at the realization. "I'm starting to worry," Tessa confessed.
"He's seventeen. I'm sure he's fine." It sounded like Fiona was trying to convince herself more than Tessa. "Debbie wants to file a missing persons report."
Tessa shrugged. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. She didn't know what Ian was off doing. She was still worried about his mental state after the wedding fiasco with Mickey, even if he had insisted that he was over it. "Maybe she's right," Tessa said.
Fiona rolled her eyes. "God, don't let her hear you say that. She's been hanging out with Holly and it's been driving me insane. She's been acting like…like…" Fiona made a frustrated noise.
"Like a teenager?" V finished.
"She's wearing the slutty clothes and the tacky make-up. It's awful."
"And I'm sure you never did that when you were thirteen?" Tessa asked with a chuckle.
Fiona didn't answer but instead shoved a French fry into her mouth.
"How about I talk to her or have her over for a little make-over? I'm sure she'd like to hang out and I've gotten some good make-up since working at the club." Tessa assumed Debbie would be happy to spend time with her, but she couldn't be too sure now that she was going through this phase Fiona was ranting about. She might just want to spend time with her own friends. But Tessa had promised Debbie to make an effort ever since her and Lip had ended things.
Her and Lip had hung out a few times between his graduation party and his departure to college. Tessa had been disappointed when he had decided not to go to M.I.T. but instead pursue an education at Chicago Polytechnic. His reasoning had been the same as usual; his family needed him. Although since he had left for college she hadn't seen much of him. Classes had been keeping him busy but they texted here and there.
Tessa had tried to distance herself from Lip after she had found out she was pregnant. A trip to the doctor had confirmed what those three positive tests had told her and she had left feeling numb. She couldn't believe she was pregnant. She had always been so careful and so insistent about protection. It hadn't been until a few days later that she realized it must have been the night she hooked up with Lip when she had been drunk. Tessa had told Sam but had refused to tell anyone in the Gallagher household, afraid that Lip would find out.
While Sam's morals were questionable, even she thought Tessa should at least talk to Lip about it. Tessa's fear was Lip wanting to drop out of college and have the kid. Tessa was only a year older than Lip and she had no desire to have kids, let alone when she was this young. A few weeks later Tessa made the appointment and solved her problem before it could get much bigger. She never told Lip. She never told Fiona. Sam always nagged her about telling Lip but Tessa always ignored her. She didn't see the point in bringing up an issue that was no longer present. She didn't see the point in causing drama over nothing.
V snapped her fingers in front of Tessa's face. "Earth to Tessa!" She yelled.
Tessa looked over at V then over at Fiona. They were both looking at her expectantly. "What?" She asked.
"Where the hell did you just go?" Fiona asked with a laugh.
Tessa ran a hand through her hair and stood up. "Somewhere more interesting," she joked. "Look, you go to Mike's and jump his bones and V and I will handle things here." Tessa gave Fiona a pointed look.
Fiona laughed and nodded. "Alright I got it," she said. "You sure you two are okay?"
V and Tessa exchanged glances. "I think we can handle it."
Fiona disappeared upstairs to start getting ready. "We're gonna want details!" Tessa yelled after her.
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A few days later Tessa sat in her apartment with Debbie. The red head hadn't been totally crazy about the idea at first, but after a failed attempt at getting Fiona to allow her to go on the pill, she decided that talking to Tessa might not be such a bad idea.
Tessa was currently painting Debbie's toes a bright pink that she had picked out. Debbie was sitting still but picking at the fake nail Holly had helped her put on a few days ago. "Have you talked to Lip lately?"
The brunette was concentrating on keeping the polish on the nail, so she didn't bother looking up. "Nope," she said, popping the 'p'.
"I thought you guys were good?" Debbie asked.
Tessa put the brush in the bottle to get more nail polish. She looked at Debbie who now had her arms folded across her chest. "We're friends," she said. Tessa returned her attention to Debbie's toes.
Debbie sighed. "Holly says guys and girls can't just be friends."
"Well Holly doesn't really know everything, Debbie," Tessa pointed out after she rolled her eyes.
Leaning back on the couch, Debbie scoffed. Fiona didn't like Holly and now Tessa didn't. Her sister and Tessa just didn't understand how helpful Holly was being, especially when it was coming to Matt.
"But we don't need to talk about Lip," Tessa said.
"But I want to," Debbie said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Tessa gave Debbie a pointed look. "Why?" She asked. "We've had this conversation a million times, Debs. He's at school. I'm here. We're not doing the long distance thing."
"He's still in Chicago," Debbie said with a scoff.
She was growing irritated with Debbie's attitude very quickly. Tessa put the nail polish brush back into the bottle and set the bottle back on the table. "He's away. He's not home. He's a freshman in college." Tessa stopped herself. She didn't even know why she was explaining herself to Debbie. Tessa made a frustrated noise and shook her head. "Debbie…just drop it. Okay?"
Debbie looked pissed but Tessa didn't care. She didn't know what was going on with Debbie but she found her prying to be very annoying. "So who's the new boy?" Tessa asked, attempting to change the subject.
"What?" Debbie asked.
"The boy. You know, the one that dropped you off the other night. Kev said he had a pizza thing on his car or something." Tessa sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. Now it was her turn to grill Debbie on a boy.
"Oh…" she trailed off and started to pick at her nail. "That's just Matt. He's really nice."
Tessa nodded. "Is that why you wanted Fiona to let you go on the pill?"
Debbie's head snapped up and she looked at Tessa. "She told you about that?" She asked. Debbie didn't know if she was more furious or relieved. She wanted to talk to Tessa about it but had been too embarrassed to bring the topic up. But she was also pissed at Fiona for telling Tessa about such a personal conversation.
Tessa shrugged, not giving Debbie a straight answer even though she knew it would only annoy her. "So?" Tessa probed.
"So I should be able to go on the pill if I want to. I mean, I'm thirteen now," Debbie began. "Wouldn't Fiona rather have me being safe than anything?"
She fought the urge to shutter at the idea of Debbie having sex. "Dude, you're thirteen. You do not need to be having sex," Tessa said with a pleading look on her face.
"Well how old were you when you first had sex?" Debbie asked.
Tessa's eyebrows shot up at the bluntness of Debbie's question. She thought about lying or simply not answering her, but truth be told, her answer wasn't a horrible one. She certainly hadn't been thirteen. "I was actually sixteen," Tessa said.
Debbie's eyebrows shot up, mirroring Tessa's previous actions. "Why did you wait that long?"
Tessa scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Sixteen is still young Debbie," she pointed out. "And I waited because that was my choice. But you know what? I don't even remember the first time I had sex. I got drunk after my mom split and went to a party," Tessa said. "It was consensual but other than that I don't remember it."
"You should wait until you find someone," Tessa explained.
"But Matt is my someone. He's so sweet and nice and he treats me like an adult and not some little kid," Debbie gushed.
Tessa quirked a brow. "And how old is he?" She asked.
"Oh," Debbie said, beginning to panic. She sure as hell wasn't going to tell Tessa that Matt was twenty. "He's fifteen," she lied.
Tessa didn't believe her but she would have to wait for another opportunity to ask about Matt's age. She made a mental note to tell Fiona about her suspicion though.
"Well," Tessa began. "You're still too young. I agree with your sister that you should wait."
Debbie rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You guys just don't understand."
Tessa laughed and threw her head back. "Oh my GOD." She looked over at Debbie with a smile. "Come on Debs, I expected a better line from you. None of that cliché teenager shit."
Even though she tried not to, Debbie smiled at Tessa's words.
"How about next time you have a date with Matt, you let me do your make-up instead of Holly?" Tessa suggested.
"Okay," Debbie agreed after thinking about it for a moment. She would have to make sure Holly didn't know about the date because she didn't want her getting mad at her. However, Debbie did want Tessa to help her out. Debbie looked up to Tessa and thought Tessa was beautiful and she almost never wore make-up, but when she did it looked great. "But you don't even really wear make-up," Debbie pointed out.
"I wear eyeliner," Tessa said. "I just don't wear mascara because I'm always pulling at my eyelashes."
Debbie chuckled. "I've actually noticed that before," she said.
Tessa grinned and was about to ask Debbie to promise not to do anything with Matt without talking to her, but her phone buzzed on the table, catching her attention. She reached over and grabbed it, noticing that it was a text from Lip.
Debbie tried to see who it was, even though she was sitting across from Tessa on the couch. "Who is it?" she asked. "Is it Lip?"
Rolling her eyes, Tessa nodded. "If you must know," she said with a sigh.
"What did he say?" She pried.
"He said 'hey'," Tessa said. She showed Debbie the text in case she didn't believe her. "I know it's super exciting and all that you hoped it would be, right?" She asked, sarcasm clear in her voice.
She pulled the phone back and replied to Lip before she set the phone back down on the table.
"That's it?" Debbie cried.
"What do you mean?" Tessa asked.
"I mean, where's the romance? Where's the yearning?" She asked, a dramatic tone in her voice.
Tessa rolled her eyes and threw a couch pillow at Debbie's head. "You dork. I told you. We're just friends."
"I don't believe you," she said.
"Well I don't really care," she said in a singsong voice. Her phone buzzed again and she snatched it off the table before Debbie could grab it.
"Now what did he say?" She asked.
Tessa read his text to herself. I bombed my first English paper. Bullshit, right? Tessa sighed and began to type back a reply. She bet he didn't even try. He was so used to not having to do any work in high school. She had tried to tell him that college would be different but he had dismissed her warnings.
Bummer. Put any effort into it? Tessa asked.
"What are you guys saying!?" Debbie asked. She got up from her spot on the couch and walked down to Tessa's end. She tried looking at her phone but Tessa held it close to her chest. The conversation wasn't private, but she liked annoying Debbie. "Come on!" She complained.
Trying to talk to Debbie. I'll text you later. She quickly sent the text to Lip before she shut her phone off and put it on the table.
"Come on!" She said, getting up from her spot. She put her hands on Debbie's shoulders and began to usher her out of her living room and down the hall. "Let me do something with your hair."
A:N/ I know there wasn't any Lip/Tessa interaction in this chapter but Lip didn't really do much in the first few episodes other than suck at college. Lip and Tessa will have contact, but the first few chapters will focus on Tessa's relationships with the other Gallaghers. What did you guys think?! Reviews get quicker updates.