I've been recently watching Shameless (I know it's kinda late, but I don't watch a lot of TV Series really). And I fell in love with the character Phillip, I just want to ugh... I can't even. So when I heard XO by John Mayer, I kind of had this story in my head and I told myself I needed to write it out. I don't write stories, but I'll try to write just as how I imagined it in my head. I haven't written stories/essays since I left high school so my grammar and English is rusty, I apologize in advance. So this basically will just be a series of Lip/OC, just going with the flow of my imagination. Not really for anyone to read, but as a documentation for myself, so I don't lose the story among thousands of assignments in my laptop. Cheers :)

XO

"In the darkest night, I searched through the crowd and your face is all that I see. "

Her eyes were a mysterious shade of resolute and agitation. I could sense that she was not happy being in the middle of the whole situation. This is not a place for a girl to be in alone, especially not in a crazy drunken crowd of an underground fight in a random warehouse of the South Side. The rotten smell of vomit infused with heavy alcohol and cigarette smoke burned the back of my throat while I shifted to get a better view of the fight. Jackson Miller was knocking some heavy fists onto his opponent, my brother, Ian Gallagher.

'Fucking slam him to the wall, Ian' Mickey slammed his fists to the side of the cage that were put up to contain the fight.

Ian complied and smashed Jackson heads on to the other side of the wall, where I could see glimpse of that girl. She wore a black lace dress with her hair pulled up in a loose bun. And then I realized, she was the only girl in the crowd. This girl is freaking dressed like she was going on a date, did she even realize that she had walked in to the wrong event? I kept my eyes close on the fight, the odds weren't on our side tonight. There goes this month's cash, I thought of the bills that needed to be paid by this week. I saw the girl's eyes were fixed on Jackson Miller, girlfriend perhaps? I don't think so, and she's far too clean looking to be one of Jack's little tramp groupies. Her eyes were heavily lined with black liner and dark eye shadow, it's almost hard to tell if she had eyes at all, really it looked like a massive black orb of darkness on her face. Her open red lips accentuated her face, and the only color on her I could see, it almost felt gothic. Everything was dark about her, her eyes, her hair, even the way she looked at…My thoughts were interrupted by a loud buzz from the megaphone.

'JACKSON MILLER EVERYONE!'

A loud roar from the crowd signaled the end of the night. I knew it was a mistake to even get into tonight's fight, Ian's head was out of the game in the first place.

'I'm sorry, Lip.' Ian got out of the small opening of the cage, his face bruised and bloodied.

'We lost almost a grand, you were a disaster out there' Mickey threw his cigarette on the floor and stomped on it. Ian ripped his bloodied shirt from his body, suddenly feeling disgusted and irritated, 'And you think you could do better against Jackson?'

Mickey grunted, pushing the crowd aside and we followed his steps. If Ian didn't drunkenly spend the squirrel money box on liquor and strippers after his breakup with Sean, we wouldn't be worried for this month's house and medical bills. Although it's not great to see your little brother getting beat up, I have to admit he had it coming to him. You don't take money from the household fund and get away with it. I like to think it as lesson learned.

'It's aite, lil' brother. We'll spruce you up for your next gig' I wrapped an arm around his neck and gave him an extra choking to release some of the annoyance that I felt. Mickey maneuvered towards the exit and at the corner of my eye a shadow shuffled across the top of the warehouse where Jackson and the squad were celebrating their win. That girl.

She was walking towards them with two tall, well built men tailing closely behind her. Even from the opposite end of the warehouse I could tell she had a look on her face that was mixed of impatience and annoyance.

'Lip? You coming?' I didn't realize I had stopped walking. Ian nudged me, looking at an agitated Mickey. He was done with the night, you could tell.

'Yeah, you guys go ahead. I'll be around in a sec' I gave Ian a pat and jogged the opposite way. My eyes were on the spot where the girl was last standing, I walked towards the flight of stairs that led up to the upper warehouse. By now, the crowd had dispersed and the whole place is empty save the handler and host who were doing some banknotes transaction. The upper warehouse is lit by dim fluorescent lighting that led to the main office. Even from up here, the stench of alcohol and vomit is distinct. I could hear Jackson hollering his mates for drinks. I had direct view of the office, but the girl is nowhere in sight. Could she have gone somewhere else?

'Are you an acquaintance of Jackson's' A mysterious voice asked me, I looked up on the other level and saw there was sitting at the top of the stairs with the two men behind her watching me closely. There's something about this situation that warned me this isn't just another ordinary fan visiting her favorite fighter. The way her face maintained a rigid expression was as if she was considering if I was worth her time. My eyes swept over her long legs extending down the stairs as she sat casually like she wasn't wearing a short black lace dress. A bright pink panties peeked through the short dress…

'I don't like to repeat myself' She gave a loud exhale, throwing a chewing gum wrapper at my feet.

What a bitch.

'Well, we did just lose against him' I shrugged casually leaning against the railing. A loud roar of laughter from the office was heard. He seems to be having a good time, that fucker.

'You're with Ian Gallagher?' I nodded

'He had potential but it seems like he's head wasn't in the game tonight' She pointed out my exact thoughts, looking up like she's contemplating on something. Her hands prompted her chin on her knees. Man, that dress is hella short. 'Yeah I know, he just went through something'

'So why fight?' She asked, her eyes wondered at the door of the office. She didn't look like she was the conversation type, and although she was asking, her mind seems to be somewhere else.

'Let's just say he needs to learn a lesson for something he did' I shrugged and pulled out a cigarette to clamp on it. The presence of nicotine does help with the bad memory of losing a thousand dollars on a single night.

The girl stood up and walked down the stairs. She has really smooth legs, I just want to touch them. Her eyes are fixed on the door as she leaned on the railing beside me.

'So, you put him in a fight with the most dangerous fighter in town?' She finally looked at me for the first time, her eyes delighted from the fact that I would throw my brother in just for the heck of it.' To teach him a lesson?' She repeated with an amused grin, but the men behind her didn't seemed fazed at all.

'A highly costly lesson, at that' She threw her head back with a laugh, my lips matched her smile.

'Well, I am an advocate for teaching people what they deserve' She took the unlit cigarette from my lips and laughed in agreement with herself, like an inside joke I didn't get. I don't get a lot of things, like why she's here, and who she's waiting for, and who are those guys behind her?

The door of the office creaked open, and the smile on her face disappeared. Her eyes moved to the two guys and they nodded in unison. 'It's been a good talk, but you might wanna go' Her voice lowered in anticipation. When I didn't make a move, her eyes narrowed on me, '…now'. I raised my hands in mock defense, grinning and slowly backed towards the stairs. She kept the cigarette between her breasts the moment Jackson came out of the room, her eyes on him like a hawk. Jackson was with his mates and three other girls. They were all over him.

'Well, well, well Jackson Miller. What a great show tonight, my Jackie.' The girl clapped her hands loud enough to let them know she was there. Her voice was no longer innocent and appealing, but now laced with thick poison.

'Oh shit' I heard Jackson say with a panic realization on his face.

Before you know it, he was sprinting towards the opposite direction, clearly afraid of this girl that just a minute ago, didn't seem harmful in any way. I heard the girl sigh as she ran pass me and down the stairs, 'Fucking pussy'. The men behind her had already gone halfway across the floor catching up to Jackson.

What the hell is going on? I bet the groupies who were with Jackson didn't see this coming tonight, they looked shocked just as I was at the scene.

'Get your delicious ass here, you pussy. You know you're due today!' Jackson was already out of the warehouse, but one of the guys were quick to tackle Jackson down. I saw the girl kick him in the crotch, clearly pissed that she had to break a sweat. I didn't see what happened next, but they threw him in a car that came just as quick as it left.

I looked over at his mates. I had a feeling one of the guys knew something, cause he was frantically texting and calling someone. My phone rang, 'Yo Lip, where are you? Fiona's doing an extra shift tonight, you okay with looking after the kids?' I heard Mickey's gruff voice in the background, I'm sure he welcomed himself into the house to tend to Ian's bruises.

'Yeah, I'll be there' I looked down at my feet to see a purple scrunchie. It's the same one that girl wore, it must have fallen down when she was chasing Jackson. I picked it up and shoved it in my pockets.

'I'm gonna head to Karen's first'