YOU ARE MADDY.

You like the cosmos, the nostalgic smell of old paint, sea blue eyes and the clouding of cigarette smoke. You are pigmented ink on pale skin, you are booming fireworks and the colour yellow combined. You like pencils and paper and how easily the two could be controlled, combined, by the sway of your fingertips. You like the stars and the earth; water and fire; you are one to take the joys of a rainy day. There's no one quite like you.

CHAPTER ONE

Fiona Gallagher had stood her up.

Madeleine McKinnon swirled the tip of her straw around her mouth before her latch upon it all but ceased; the oversized cup containing the contents of her grape soda and the sucker sought a new residence on the dishevelled ground. She wondered if whether another neighbourhood would've frowned upon her discarded Superdawg takeout cup strewn across the pavement, but this was downtown Chicago: Maddy was, instead, somewhat lucky she'd not destroyed crime scene evidence in her quick haste. It was 9:32pm on a Friday: 32 minutes after Fiona had previously stressed as their meeting time and 14 minutes after Maddy had texted the Gallagher in question of her intentions of getting fries and soda. She illuminated her damaged phone screen with a press of the home button. No reply shone, and Maddy felt defeated.

She'd met Fiona Gallagher at the 50s style diner that she worked in that morning when the woman ran in, all flushed skin and unbrushed hair, a baby on her hip, brandishing a resume in response to the dusty EMPLOYEES NEEDED sign lazily pressed onto the window.

"Hi! I'm Fiona Gallagher. I called about the job you're advertising. I have an interview." Her shoulders heaved in her intake of breath (or lack of it, for that matter), with notably wide eyes.

"You're early, he'll like that," Madeleine noted with a beaming smile. Recognising her side-tracking, her eyes visibly widen. "Manager's out back! Your, uh –" Son? Baby? Toddler?

"Liam," Fiona rushed. "Would you? What will it be, like, five minutes?"

And leaving no room for argument, a half-empty juice carton was unceremoniously dumped on the countertop and little Liam was passed over into Maddy's half-expectant hold – Fiona gone. She, with fervent grace, held the boy under his armpits for a solid minute before he started to fidget in his discomfort and she moved him to a vacant seat on the bar. Five minutes became ten, and ten became fifteen and neared twenty, in which time Maddy cooed and awed and requested him some soft food. When Fiona finally returned, victorious from her interview, the boy had Maddy's round, silver-framed glasses in one hand and a half-devoured piece of underdone toast in the other; a gracious amount of crumbs coating his plump cheeks.

"I got the job, I start on Monday!" Fiona beamed. "You… Gave him food."

"He was no trouble," Maddy insisted; worried she'd caused a ruckus.

"What's that toast worth, a couple of bucks?" The older woman began searching her pockets vigorously for strewn dollars in any capacity.

"Hey, I'll do you a solid and put it on my discount card," Maddy wasn't going to allow her to pay regardless. She had initiated talk of food with Liam, therefore her idea would be paid for, unfortunately her kindness was mistook for something ulterior.

"We don't need your charity," Fiona answered, throwing two, screwed up, dollar bills onto the work surface; visibly irked. Maddy had felt like the ground could've swallowed her whole there and then, cheeks piquing crimson. Liam was quickly placed back in his pushchair and detoured to the front door without so much as a wave goodbye. Fiona moved to leave, but as she got close to the exit, her ribcage heaved a sigh. Why not?

"Me and my pal V are having a party tonight. You wanna come?" Fiona asked quickly, Maddy's eyebrows had shot up at the suggestion; visibly brightened by the offer (when was the last time she'd gone out?), but excuse her scepticism, they'd just met. "Not a date. I just figured as we're going to be working together, it's a good excuse to uh, get pissed."

Truth be told, Maddy had been missing classes to pick up shifts at the diner and was without a rotar, but she wouldn't correct Fiona in her spontaneous offer, and took the pen from her waitressing apron to scrawl her number on a napkin.

"Great… Maddy," Fiona smiled a characteristic smile as she read the scribbled digits, before returning to her previously flustered state. "Shit, I have to go but, uh, I'll send you a pickup location! Say bu-bye, Liam!" She moved to leave again before snatching something from the little boy's grip and lazily held them out to her. "Your glasses." And with a wave, she was gone. When Maddy returned to her place behind the counter, rereading the orders of the day, she noted a regular smirking at her over his round of bacon and eggs.

"Fuck off, Hank. Not a chance."

And that woman had stood her up.

Maddy didn't know what she expected from their very brief introduction; she was clearly a busy woman with much on her mind, and maybe Maddy had been too thrilled at the idea of spending time with someone outside of work. She regretted the choice of a thick layer of make-up and the short skirt combo, it would feel silly taking them off without having been anywhere, and she regretted her idea to wolf both her fries and soda down as she had nothing to amuse herself on that tedious walk home. She rose from her seated position on the ground and began hauling herself homeward. Three steps in, an obnoxious horn sounded from behind her and she felt her eyes roll in protest to the oncoming abuse that usually hurled her way. She sped her pace up, yet the black car halted beside her and one of the back doors was ceremoniously flung open, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Jesus, mother Mary and hot sauce!"

"Bitch, I ain't here to kidnap you," a dark-skinned woman announced loudly, her body spread across the backseats where she'd leant across to holler at her. "Although if you don't get in the god-damn car, I'll have to leave your skinny ass for dust. I'm getting married!"

The woman gave her a laugh that was all tongue and teeth, head tipping back in evident euphoria. She spared a quick glance to those in the front, a red-head with impossibly unkempt curls (and a little lipstick spread across her teeth) and… Fiona. She smiled and turned back to the passenger who seemed annihilated already, although Maddy didn't mind. It made the whole introduction thing a little less daunting.

"You must be Veronica," Maddy nodded in something of understanding. There was a resonating 'who the hell else would I be?' as she clambered in beside her. Maddy realised she'd yet to reveal that she was only 17 – she often had work parties which required attendance, so that year prior she called in a favour with Mickey Milkovich to get her a fake ID. Since her mother had bounced, she required it for even the most basic necessities. A click of purple-nailed fingertips dragged her back into reality.

"Earth to D. I can call you D, can't I? I'mma call her D." Maddy briefly pondered the significance of a secondary nickname, she supposed it was a preference to calling her 'M' – which, to Maddy, sounded like a guttural moan every time it was announced.

"Sure," Maddy agreed, as a cheap bottle of clear vodka was pushed against her lips with a "Drink this." She supposed it was to even out their sobriety, and took a ghastly swig of the beverage for Veronica's approval. "So, what is this, Bachelorette party?"

"Bachelorette? Honey, I only got engaged yesterday," Veronica replied curtly, as though Maddy had something utterly ignorant. "Bachelorette party, that's next week." Another toothy laugh followed.

To Maddy's delight, she was dragged to Fiona's – which saved her the embarrassment of a night fuelled by cheap beer and low-alcohol wine. Apparently, she'd yet to tell the others of Veronica's news and the alcohol, that Veronica had kindly spared her, they had picked up prior to Maddy in endeavours to share with everyone in attendance to their get-together. They met with a man who had enthusiastically introduced himself to her as 'Kev', who was waiting by the Gallagher fence, contently puffing away on a cheap cigarette. Veronica, in her booming voice, ordered him to move the numerous bottles of alcohol from the depths of the car boot whilst she hurried in to announce her news. Kev scurried, and in that moment, she saw the love the duo shared. She felt envious, in the kindest of ways.

She followed Veronica up the back steps into Fiona's home, more graceful than she, clad in heels a similar length to her legs. She ceremoniously let herself into the household, lower tier sucked between a set of pearly whites.

"Woah, and who the fuck are you?" And here she thought she'd have the pleasure of avoiding humiliating introductions. It was a boy, perhaps a similar age to her, with blue eyes and a mop of wavy hair, wrapped up in a cute blonde who gripped him like an extra piece of clothing.

"I'm a burglar, came for the TV," Maddy introduced with fervent sardonicism, allowing her body to drift all the way into the household.

"I wouldn't bother, it only plays three channels," a little red-haired girl informed her. She was slightly more intelligent, she'd presume, as the girl took in her appearance – her make-up, her mini-skirt, heeled boots, and registered she was here to join the party with them. She beamed. "I'm Debbie."

"Maddy," the blonde responded with an equally as enthusiastic smile, holding out her hand to shake. She also noted little Liam crawling and spared him a waggle of her fingertips.

"Oh, that's D," Veronica told the teenage boy with a wave of her hand, as if he hadn't been present for the brief introductions. "Shit, now I got two D's. Okay, Debs is D. You can be… DD."

"Double D?" He snorted. "N'aw, that's just setting her up for bullying." The blonde slapped him playfully across the chest. It was scolding, however her expression revealed her true good humour; smiling up at him like he was comedian of the century. Maddy was less than impressed, a roll of her eyes confirming the notion.

"And you are?"

"This is Karen, I'm Lip."

"Lip, huh? What, you backchat a lot? Give a lot of head?" Maddy enquired, upper limbs crossed over the breadth of her torso.

"It's actually short for Phillip, but your idea was almost original. How about that?" A smirk, and just as Maddy went to retort, Kev collapsed through the door – weighed down by the box of beverages he sported.

"Children, children – this is not a time to be fightin'," he preached as Maddy took half the load off his staggering form. "It's a time for celebrating! Me and Veronica, well… We're gettin' –"

"Yadda, yadda, I've already told 'em, Kev." Veronica interrupted, taking a bottle from the box Maddy set down on the kitchen counter-top.

"What? Baby, we were s'posed to tell them together," Kev replied with obvious disappointment. Maddy clapped him on the shoulder in a callous expression of her sympathy. Veronica shrugged, her mouth now full with alcohol and her mind without care.

"What the hell? Champagne?" Another male voice reverberated from the staircase, suddenly aware of the growing commotion that filled their kitchen.

"I'm getting married!" Veronica announced a third time, pressing a minute bottle of champagne into the chest of Maddy. She was very welcoming towards her. In fact, V acted like they'd been friends for years and Maddy hoped it wasn't due to the euphoria of a fast-approaching wedding or the alcohol that already coursed through her veins. The man, who Maddy overheard to be called Steve, gave her a once-over; the space between his brows narrowing considerably.

"Wait, who the fuck are you?"

Hours passed, and Maddy found herself strewn across the Gallagher couch; a straw rotating her mouth, lacking the hydrating bottle that she held lazily in her left hand. She was a voyeur, the party slowly petering as the couples dispersed to, in lame terms, fuck. Karen was devouring Lip's face in the kitchen, Veronica was cradled in the arms of her husband-to-be on the armchair and Fiona was dancing up against Steve – the kids were dancing wildly too. Before long, the boy she learned to be Ian dropped down next to her. She tipped her acquired hat skyward to look at him, her position being the least comfortable.

"It's Maddy, right?" Ian began, a smile forming. "You're in my Trig class."

She grimaced, "You always start party small-talk with Trigonometry?"

"Not usually," he shrugged. "How's it going so far?"

"Terribly," she laughed, and it was as if a light switched on. "Ian Gallagher! Your Mandy's uh… Something, aren't you?"

"Something? Yeah, I guess so," the red haired boy flushed. He seemed quick to dismiss the subject, pressing another matter entirely. "Does Fi know you're 16?"

"No," another grimace. "In truth, she never asked."

"I'm sure she'll figure it out soon enough," he was reassuring in this; less than unkind. It seemed that not all the brothers of the house were unruly. "Are you okay?"

"Why?" She frowned, in wonderment that she gave off an ulterior vibe.

"You're at an engagement party with your friends, and half way through you end up laying on the couch, chewing a straw."

"We're friends?"

"I don't see why not. Any friend of Fiona's is a friend of ours. Unless you're a huge bitch, and you're not. Everyone here's already taken a shine to you. And you're… Uh, questionable dancing."

"Apart from Lip," Maddy pointed out, vaguely aware that it was mostly her fault they had gotten off on the wrong foot. "Hey! My dancing has landed me plenty of guys, I'll have you know."

"I'm sure it has," he chuckled. "Fancy one now?"

Maddy almost leapt at the idea of befriending another of the Gallaghers, even if he'd played critic of her techniques – she simply avoided beings at school, but perhaps if the night played out as she had hoped, grabbing lunch with a friend on occasion would be good for her wellbeing. She smiled enthusiastically, and allowed him to graciously pull her to her feet. Apparently Kev's collection spiralled into the 'cheesy' section, and within moments the thundering drum and bass mix transpired into Phil Collins.

"Oh, I love this track," Ian said eagerly; and Maddy was uncertain whether or not he was joking. Her suspicion that it was false passion was confirmed when he began dancing in slow-motion, his lip sucked between pearled sets of teeth. Carl, the second youngest Gallagher brother, had begun spinning in fervent circles and Debbie had the hands of Liam and side-stepped with him. Ian's hips had begun rotating circularly, arms too, in a mock of the anthem of 'Groovy Kind of Love'. Maddy's head began dipping to the side, accompanied with slow clicks of her fingertips, before taking to the other way. Veronica and Kev were far too preoccupied with each other's tongues to perform DJ for the petering house party, and the teenage couplet were enjoying fervently the new meaning they provided to slow-dancing.

She caught the eye of Lip ascending the stairs, hand-in-hand with Karen who was seemingly tugging him along in her excitement.

Maddy didn't remember much about that night beyond that.

Maddy stirred the following morning upon registering the unnecessary amount of noise that coursed through the household, and soon she recognised, by both the carrying voices and the strange odour of burning plastic and (unmistakably) teenage boys, it was not her crappy apartment. She was momentarily unphased by this revelation, pressing her shoulders further into the mattress in order to feel her spine pop at the movement. She registered something about a new water heater, and…

Wait.

A mattress? Maddy was sure she'd gracefully passed out against the thin cloth of the Gallagher's worn out couch at an unruly hour. Unless…

Her eyes popped open; the light of the hazy room an immediate eyesore, yet Maddy was without care of this, internally pleading with the Lord to rid herself of her sleepy vision so she could gauge her peculiar surroundings. She noted posters of dimly lit men, of uniforms and postcards, of…

"I didn't," she declared loudly, realised she was seeking comfort underneath war-crazed Ian Gallagher's sheets; eyes wide with unspecified fear.

"Ah, she lives," she scarcely represses her jolt of surprise, wide eyes tipping to look at the second brother who occupied the top bunk across the room. Lip was smirking at her, tousled hair wild with sleep, yet he was lying on his front with a book open and a pen uncapped. It couldn't have been much later than 8am. She knew little about his behaviour (or any of the Gallaghers behaviour), but even as dedicated as Maddy was to her studying, she deduced this attitude to learning as abnormal. She pulled a face of disgust before rubbing a palm over her face. "You better go and tell Ian that you're awake, he's already digging you a grave out back."

"Where's Barbie Doll? Shouldn't you two be off boning somewhere?"

"She didn't stay. Turns out her dad doesn't like me too much."

"I can hardly imagine why."

"She was lucky though. She lost out on listening to you and Ian going at it until the early hours of this morning." Her eyes widened considerably. "Kidding."

His sardonic sense of humour went unappreciated, "Not funny."

"Believe me. You're not his type," Lip continued mystically, and before Maddy had a second to ask what it was he meant by that, the door flung open to reveal Fiona giving her a peculiar look.

"Maddy? I thought you left." It was more of a query than a statement. Maddy had her look penned down as 'flustered' for the second time since their first meeting. She deduced it wasn't due to her unexpected inhabitance of a Gallagher bed, but more to the unrelenting tears of baby Liam attached to her hip and the wordless complaints of the younger siblings downstairs.

"Uh, nope. Still here," Maddy grimaced. She desperately wanted to inform her that she did, in fact, not have sex with Fiona's brother (confirmed by Lip), but felt blurting that out randomly would not help her case. It was momentarily uneasy between the cluster of them, but Fiona soon recovered and offered her a quick 'good morning'. "Lip, Debbie won't shut up about going to the park. Could you –"

"No can do, I've got to tutor some guy a couple blocks away. Total dunce, probably won't be back for a few hours." Fiona then turned to Maddy, who was now sitting upright in the bed, with a pleading look.

"I could take her, my shift at the diner isn't until – " Maddy began, before she was quickly cut off by Fiona offering her gratitude.

"You would? Thank you, Maddy. It's just I would but I've got work in an hour and I feel like I keep asking for you to do me solids. I'll make this up to you, I swear it."

"Don't sweat it. It's not as if I've got anything better to be doing," Maddy yawned. "Do you want me to take Carl too?"

"Please, anything to stop him from trying to melt his action figures in the toaster," Fiona sounded exasperated from the experience, and gave her a tight-lipped smile. "If you wanna borrow some clothes, you can grab something from my room. I'll call you tonight." And with a turn on her heels and she was gone.

Maddy felt her eyes were sufficiently dry and realised in her rapidity to get to bed, she'd left her contacts in overnight. With a sigh, she sat up and reached for her jacket – conveniently placed next to the bed.

"Tutoring? Really?" She scoffed, upon realisation that Lip was still present (albeit silent as he studied his text).

"Something wrong?" A lop-sided smirk tugged the left corner of his mouth skyward, cockiness set into his expression.

"Didn't take you for someone so charitable."

"I get paid to do it."

"Ah, and here I thought it was you doing something noble."

"Well, it got me Karen though, didn't it?"

"Congratulations. What, she suck you off for helping her scrape a B in Math?"

"Physics actually." Maddy wrinkled her nose at that, however she was uncertain what it was she expected to hear from Lip.

"You're disgusting," she informed after a moment of unease, rising unsteadily to her feet with jacket in hand. She realised their playful exchange was nearing personal boundaries.

"And you're a bitch, what's your point?" Lip retorted. Maddy raised her brows considerably, yet disallowed any other flicker of emotion to become apparent on her image.

"Well, as always, it's been a pleasure talking to you, Phillip," she beamed a smile full of falsity, before moving to escape the thick tension of the room.

"We barely know each other," he reiterated, confusion set in stone.

"Doesn't mean I can't express how much of a delight you are to be around," Maddy was sickly in her tone, sweet being a certain understatement. She flipped him off before hastily exiting his bedroom and dipping into… Fiona's? Nope, that definitely was not Fiona's room (who's the old drunk guy?). After two more attempts she found the room she sought and grabbed a pair of grey jeans and a worn, green flannel shirt from the heap on the floor. With that, she returned to where the bathroom was situated – not before acquiring an active Carl running across her pathway to his shared room.

She wasted little time in making herself presentable, swapping her bunching mini skirt for jeans and the clinging tank to Fiona's loose shirt. The jeans were an inch or two longer than her height, so she rolled them up a couple of times until they hung just beneath her ankles, and tucked the bagging shirt into her waistline. She used her fingers and a small amount of hot water to remove the eye make-up that pooled underneath her eyes and removed the, now itching, disposable contacts from her line of sight and discarding them in the waste basket, placing her silver frames back on the bridge of her nose.

She was most unrecognisable compared to the night before, and that's how Maddy liked it.

an: that's all folks ! that's the first chapter of my lip/oc fanfic . i have two ways i want this story to go and iM so stuck with what i wanna do so i reckon yall might be getting two completely different lip/oc fanfics if ur up for that . also u might notice that i will try and fit a lot of off screen moments into this with my own fictional storylines to get the most out of writing, but ill try to stick to a lot of canon stuff tooooo ! thank u sm for reading i reaaaally hope u enjoyed it . reviews get quicker updates ! have a good day now :)