Reviews make me smile! I don't like using the "threat" of not posting chapters if I don't get reviews, but sometimes you have to realize that the reviews give me that extra push to finish a chapter or bust through an extra one. Reviews allow me to see how the readers perceive the story thus far and note any questions they might have. Reviews give me that extra confidence boost that I need. So remember – be kind and review!

Fiona furrowed her eyebrows when she saw who was calling her. She hadn't talked to him in a while, and as far as she knew, he had a girlfriend. But she answered anyways. "Hey – how are you," she asked. She didn't really have time to talk to him considering her dilemma with possibly losing the house to her cousin Patrick, but listened anyway.

She waited and listened to what he had to say, her facial features quickly changing. Her eyes grew wide and she glanced into the living room. She made eye contact with Lip who was playing video games on the couch with Carl. She turned and finished her conversation. "Thanks Tony, I appreciate it." She tucked her phone into her pocket and walked into the living room. "Hey guys I'll be right back. I just need to run out for a little bit."

Lip paused the game and Carl yelled out in protest and Lip pulled Fiona off to the side. "What's going on?" he asked. Fiona glanced over at Carl who had stolen Lip's controller and un-paused the game. "Tessa was arrested," Fiona said in a hushed tone.

His eyebrows shot up and he pulled his phone out. No missed calls. Why hadn't she called him? He was a little pissed that she had called her sister instead of himself.

"So what did she say?" he asked.

Fiona shook her head. "That wasn't her. That was Tony."

"Arrested for what?" Lip tried to ignore the bubbling anger inside of him.

"Simple assault," Fiona said. She glanced at Carl again. "Will you stay with Carl while I go see what's going on?" She asked.

He shook his head. "Fuck no."

Fiona should have known Lip would have refused her request, but she knew she had to at least try. "Carl, we'll be back." Her and Lip left the house and went towards the L as quickly as they could. Both Gallagher siblings had a million thoughts running through their minds. What had happened? Why hadn't Tessa called them? How bad had things gotten? They had seen her just the other day and things had been fine. Tessa had been fine.

When they walked into the police station they spotted Tony and immediately walked up to him.

"What happened?" Fiona asked.

Tony glanced around before turning back to the siblings. He really shouldn't have even called Fiona to begin with, but truth be told he still had a soft spot for her and he knew how Tessa was close to the Gallaghers. "Picked her up for beating some shit out of a guy. No relationship to him and he won't be pressing charges," Tony said.

"Yeah because no one wants to know a chick kicked his ass," Lip scoffed.

"I'll see what I can do about our Prosecutor not going forward with the charges either, but he can do whatever he wants regardless of the victim," he explained.

Fiona sighed and ran a hand through her curly hair. What the hell had Tessa done? What could have possibly set her off like that? She just wanted to get her friend and get out of there.

"But, uh, someone already bailed her out," Tony said.

The siblings exchanged confused glances. Tessa hadn't called them so who could have possibly bailed her out?

"Who?" Fiona asked.

"Oh uhm. Someone named Samantha, I think?"

Fiona knew that Tessa had worked with someone named Sam at the diner and bet that it was the same person. But still, she was confused as to why Tessa had called Sam and not herself.

"I gotta go but she should be getting released soon if you want to wait in the lobby." Tony nodded and offered a small smile before he walked away from the siblings.

The two walked back into the lobby and fell onto their seats. They both kept quiet as a million thoughts ran both of their heads. Every time the buzz echoed through the lobby, signaling the door opening, they looked up to see if it was Tessa.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that it was Tessa who actually emerged from behind the door. The officer ushered her towards the counter next to the door so she could get back her things.

Tessa shoved her belongings into her bag and turned to find Fiona and Lip looking at her. She had a gash in her eyebrow and a bruise was already forming on her left cheek. Her knuckles were painted in dry blood and ripped open; clearly no one had bothered giving her anything to clean them up with.

"What are you doing here?" Tessa asked. She did not give them a smile and she did not rush towards them to embrace them. Instead, she walked towards them slowly as if she were afraid of what would happen next.

"Tony called us," Fiona said. "Are you okay?" Fiona asked and she rushed forward and reached a hand out to touch Tessa's face. Tessa flinched and hurt crossed Fiona's face. "Sorry," Tessa mumbled. She hadn't meant to hurt Fiona's feelings. She just didn't want anyone fussing over her.

"What the hell happened?" Lip scoffed.

Tessa folded her arms across her chest and glared at Lip. "You're fucking joking, right?" She raised an eyebrow.

The door opened and Sam walked out of the bathroom. The dark haired girl stopped walking, already feeling tension in the group. She did not want to walk in on that. Instead she waited by the door for Tessa to finish her conversation.

"Notice you weren't my one phone call," Tessa pointed out to Lip. She offered a small smile to Fiona. "I'll call you later Fi. Thanks." She walked around the siblings and ushered Sam out the door.

Lip clenched his jaw and after a moment he rushed out after the girls. "What the fuck Tessa!" He shouted after her. A few police officers tossed glares at him but he ignored them.

She told Sam she would meet her at the car and turned to face Lip. "What?" she asked. She turned to look at Lip who looked pissed off. After everything she had just dealt with, she really didn't feel like dealing with him.

He held his arms out like it were obvious and she shook her head, pursing her lips into a bitter smile. "You think I wouldn't find out? I know you fucked Mandy Milkovitch! And I know it wasn't just one time so don't even try! So don't come after me like I'm the one who did something wrong!" She yelled.

For once, Lip was at a loss for words. He hadn't meant for her to find out. He wasn't even sure how it had all happened. It just…had.

"Your silence speaks volumes, " she scoffed. Tessa ran a hand down her face and shook her head. "I don't know what I expected, but I'm done. I'm not doing this Lip." She turned to leave which seemed to snap Lip out of his frozen state. He ran after her and grabbed her arm, spinning her around and forcing her to look at him.

"Tessa it didn't mean anything."

She laughed and ripped her arm from his grip. "You're a lot stupider than I thought if you really thought I'd fall for a line like that. What? You didn't mean for your dick to fall into her vagina? Multiple times?" She clenched her teeth and fought off the urge to punch Lip in the mouth, but her hands were already screaming at her in pain.

"I told you, I didn't do casual hook-ups. I toldyou, I had no tolerance for cheating. And you did it anyways. Do you have any idea how stupid I feel for believing you?" She shook her head and tried not to cry. She hated crying. "I don't want to hate you, Lip, but you're making it really hard. So can you please, just leave me alone?" Tessa ran a hand through her hair and walked away from him.

She was thankful that he didn't try to go after her again. She just wanted to go home, shower, and lay in bed. She didn't have to work tomorrow and was thankful for that rare opportunity. However, she knew she would at least have to talk to Fiona and explain things. Her fallout with Lip shouldn't affect her friendship with Fiona. Tessa got into the car and Sam gave her a worried glance. Sam, who almost always wore an unamused expression, or resting bitch face as people called it these days. "You okay?" Her friend asked.

"Just bring me home," Tessa said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Halfway home Tessa remembered that Lip had a key to her apartment and made a pit stop at the hardware store to buy a new lock for her door. She didn't want any surprise visits from him anytime soon, and it wasn't something she would put past him.

She had no intention of telling Lip how she found out about Mandy. It really shouldn't matter but she had promised that person to keep them as a source to herself, even if they said they didn't care. She didn't want to cause problems.

Sam dropped her off and asked if she wanted her to come inside, but Tessa insisted that she was fine. Tessa said goodbye to Sam and went inside. She half expected Lip to already be waiting for her, but was glad when she came back to her empty apartment. She immediately began working on her locks and it didn't take her long to switch everything out. She took her old key off her keychain and tossed it in the trash before she put the new one on.

Deciding that a shower was her next step, Tessa stripped her clothes off and started herself a shower. She waited until the water became hot before she stepped inside. She finally let the tears fall after trying so hard to keep them inside. She hated crying but she was only human. She had really cared for Lip and he had gone and completely broken her trust. She should have known that he couldn't be exclusive to one girl. She should have listened to her gut instead of her heart. God, she really hated herself.

She gently brushed the dried blood off her knuckles and ignored the searing pain that hit her when the hot water touched her open wounds. She hadn't even been aware of the fight until someone was dragging her away. She remembered getting off the phone and then taking a walk to clear her mind. Then the next thing she knew she was getting pulled off some guy and hauled into a police car.

Tessa's fingers pressed into her cheek and she winced at the tenderness. She hadn't looked at herself in a mirror but bet that a bruise had already started to form there from the one good hit the guy had gotten in on her. There was no way she could work at the club like this. Meg would have a fit at her appearance.

The hot water ran out and Tessa finally pulled herself out of the shower. She wrapped herself in a towel and wiped her hand over the mirror to get rid of the mask the steam had created. She looked like shit and a bruise had indeed already formed on her cheek. Her eyes were red but not so puffy, which she was thankful for. The last thing she needed was for someone to know that she had been crying.

She needed to talk to Fiona. She needed to explain everything to her because Lip sure as hell wasn't going to. She winced when she remembered the hurt expression on Fiona's face when Tessa had pulled away from her at the police station. She had grown so accustomed to having people that cared about her around, but she already felt herself pulling away. She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let Fiona suffer for something she had nothing to do with.

Tessa considered asking Fiona to come over tonight, but decided against it. Tonight she was be the heartbroken girl that she was. Tonight she would cry herself to sleep and turn her phone off. Tomorrow she would face the world, explain things to Fiona and pretend like Lip hadn't actually broken her heart.

A:N/ WHAT DID YOU GUYS THINK?! I know this was short but I really wanted to get this out to you guys, especially after so many of you reviewed the last chapter. I honestly had the police station scene written out two months ago and was just waiting for the right time to use it. Who do you guys think told Tessa about Mandy and Lip? What do you think is going to happen between the two? Let me know what you think! The next chapter will reveal who told Tessa, so I'm interested to see what you guys think.