Chapter 7.
Hey, guys! I'm so sorry for the late update, I've just been held up with school but I have a few weeks off now that I can dedicate to writing this story. Hope you enjoy and please don't forget to let me know if you do.
Special thanks to: scarlettsoilder, MademoiselleRiddle, melanie102000, ladyby16, landrycole, ChanelisEverything, jessofitz, Apotter118, soccergurl382 and blue Wren!
Disclaimer: I don't anything to do with Shameless.
Daniela frowned down at the blocked toilet. The rim was almost overflowing with waste. She held her sweater over her nose, barely resisting the urge to throw up. Disgusted, she closed the door quickly and wiped her hands on her jeans as if some of the murky water had hit her.
"Shitter's blocked up," stated Daniela casually when she saw that Ian and Lip had made their way down the stairs.
"Always so eloquent, El," scoffed Ian with a shake of the head to his friend who now looked thoughtful.
"Eloquent, El. Has a nice ring to it don't you think? Anyway, are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, Mandy said she'd meet us outside."
Daniela nodded, not wanting to show her slight disappointment that Mandy would be walking with them to school. She knew she shouldn't be jealous. Ian and her were friends now and Daniela had to try and be as civil and welcoming as possible.
Ian didn't seem to notice his friend's discomfort as they grabbed their bags and made their way down the porch steps. Mandy was there, as expected, her hands shoved comfortably in the pockets of her coat. The girl's face lit up in a grin when she spotted Ian and she quickly moved forward to weave her arm through his.
"Morning," she greeted happily before glancing at Lip and Daniela. Lip gave her a short, curt nod with Daniela giving her a similar response.
Once the greetings were out of the way, the four teenagers made their way to school. Daniela walked in between Mandy and Lip, the latter pulling out a cigarette to puff on.
"I'm thinking we should start those tutoring sessions soon," mumbled Lip, not even looking at the girl beside him. "There's a test coming up soon that's worth a lot of your grade so you probably won't want to fail."
Daniela nodded her head in agreement.
"That would be good but I'm not gonna lie...I'm pretty hopeless at Physics."
Lip scoffed and pulled his cigarette into his fingers. "I'm aware of how much you suck."
The girl shot him a vicious glare in response. But she couldn't deny that what he said was the truth. "Yeah, but when I say hopeless, I mean hopeless. I barely even know the basics."
"Newton's Laws?"
"Uh, I know that one of them gets quoted a lot in movies," shrugged Daniela, her face screwing up in thought. The boy finally looked at her properly, looking personally insulted at her lack of knowledge of the science.
"Shit. Well, this should be interesting."
"Gotta love these half-days," said Ian from the end of their little line.
"Good thing public education is broke," smirked Mandy beside him.
"Yeah, waste of time anyway. The only thing those people are equipped to teach is how to live with crippling disappointment."
"There are a few exceptions," argued Daniela. "You, for example. I mean, you're smarter than any of these other assholes living here." She stopped in her tracks, frowning down at her feet. "Wow, I'm sorry. That was way too nice. You're a douchebag- albeit an intelligent douchebag."
"That may be true, but that doesn't mean I'm going to do anything about it."
Daniela frowned at Lip's answer, unsure of why someone with his smarts would limit himself to staying on the South Side.
"Hey, you wanna catch a movie later?" Asked Mandy to Ian.
"Can't gotta be at work by 3."
"Nice jacket Kash bought you by the way," nodded Lip.
"Yeah! Tell Kash I'll take it in the ass if it gets me free stuff." The corners of Daniela's lips turned up as she recalled saying a very similar thing to Ian when she had seen the shoes their boss had bought him.
All four teenagers turned when they heard a man calling out to them. The girl raised an eyebrow at the clearly frustrated man before flicking her eyes to the truck parked up behind them.
Reading the sides of it, she realized with excitement that it was a meat truck. Her mouth practically watered at the thought of a huge steak.
"You got a phone?" He asked as they approached.
"What, you're truck break down?"
"No, genius, I like standing in a shitty neighborhood with my dick in my hands," grumbled the man making Daniela crinkle her nose.
"I don't usually judge people's fetishes but that's kind of weird, dude."
"Look, I'm already two hours late on this load. I try to take one shortcut and this is what I get. My goddamn kid drained my phone playing Doodle Jump, my goddamn wife took my charger!"
"Sounds like you're not having the greatest of days," joked Daniela lightly.
"I'll give you five bucks if you let me use your phone. Just one call," pleaded the man urgently.
"Oh we don't have a phone," claimed Lip. "Our dad says not till we're 18. But there's a bar, about 10 blocks that way. What's it called?"
"O'Flaherty's," supplied Daniela quickly, the name springing to her mind.
"Yeah, tell them your family's from County Cork."
Once the man headed off in search of a bar that didn't exist, Mandy pulled out her phone and handed it to Lip who then called Kev.
Ten minutes, later he showed up with his crowbar. Fiona, Steve and Veronica had also joined him. They watched eagerly as Kev jimmied the back doors open. All eyes feasted upon the meat hanging from hooks in the truck. Not wasting any time, Daniela fished her phone out of her pocket and dialed her brother's number.
"Aren't you supposed to be at school right now?" Grumbled Jakob who she had clearly just woken up. Rolling her eyes, Daniela took one more look at the meat and grinned.
"You in the mood for steak?"
/
"You sure you know how to use that thing?" Yelled Daniela, warily eyeing up Lip. In his hands was a chainsaw. The girl had her fingers plugged into her ears to drown the loud noise out as much as she could.
"Figured as long as I don't cut off a hand, I'll be good," wagered Lip, going to make his first cut into the meat. Daniela watched with a mix of fascination and fear as the boy clumsily cut up the meat before switching the chainsaw off. Looking at his work, he tipped his head slightly. "Not bad."
Debbie and Daniela each grabbed some newspaper to begin wrapping the meat. The young red-headed girl pulled out a meat cleaver before hacking away to break the meat up even more. The older girl eyed her carefully before offering to take over.
Both girls looked up when they heard the back door open and saw Steve and an annoyed Fiona walk out.
"You guys think you can survive one night without Fiona?"
"No!" Cried Debbie. Daniela nudged her gently, reminding her of Steve's request from a few minutes ago. "Kidding!"
"Sure," shrugged Carl, not really caring.
"Yeah, have a great time," finished Lip, moving over to help his brother cut up wood.
"Debs, go pick up Liam from Sheila's," ordered Fiona before Steve quickly told her not to. The arguing couple headed back inside, leaving the rest of the kids outside to continue their jobs.
Daniela glanced over at Lip as he swung the axe over his head. Wrapping up another cut in newspaper, she tilted her head.
"Should we start tonight?"
The boy looked over his shoulder for a second, shrugged and continued his cutting. "Sure. You might need to help with the kids, though."
"We don't need a babysitter!" Argued Carl, cutting up a piece of wood beside him. Daniela took no offense and simply nodded her head.
"Sounds good."
/
Daniela stood over the stove in her kitchen, one hand propped up on her hip, the other holding the handle of the old fry pan. The sweet aroma of steak wafted out into the girl's nostrils, making her mouth water. She had already dished up a salad and set the table.
All that was left was for her brother to come home from work. It wasn't often that they did this kind of sit down dinners. Most of the time she was at work, or hanging out with Ian or he was also at work or passed out in bed. However, the fresh meat she had happened to score that day made Daniela feel like she should make it special.
The sound of the door opening, along with the removal of heavy boots, alerted her that Jakob was home.
"Something smells damn good in here," praised the man as he finally stepped into the kitchen. His sister turned from her spot and flashed him a proud grin.
"It's steak."
Jakob rubbed his palms together eagerly and took in his sister's hard work. "This looks great, Dani." The girl gave him a small nod of thanks before taking the pan off the stove and moving over to dish up their plates.
"I made extra as well. Just in case. And there's way more where this came from."
"Speaking of," began Jakob, picking up a knife and cutting into his meat. "Where did this come from?"
Daniela shrugged nonchalantly as she sat down across from him. "A nice man who just happened to get lost in our friendly neighborhood."
The young man smirked and let out a deep chuckle, popping the piece of steak in his mouth.
"This is so good," moaned Jakob as he went in for another bite.
/
After dinner was finished and Jakob had helped her wash up, Daniela grabbed her books and headed back over to the Gallagher's. As soon as she stepped into the lounge, she froze.
"Um, is that a coffin?" Frank, who was currently watching as his children maneuvered furniture around, turned and nodded.
"Why yes, it is young, Daniela. As you can see, my children are helping me do what they've always wanted to: plan my funeral."
The girl snorted a loud laugh and shook her head at the man. "Who the hell did you piss off?"
Lip spotted her and lifted his chin in greeting before she could get an answer. "Hey, you ready?"
"Yeah, what about you? You seem a bit busy."
Lip waved a hand in dismissal and headed into the kitchen. "We were done anyway."
His own Physics book was already waiting on the table as Daniela pulled out her own and sat beside him.
/
"So what's up with the funeral arrangements?" Asked Daniela.
Lip had just finished explaining Newton's Third Law and her brain already felt like it needed a break. Early in, he realized that she hadn't been exaggerating when she claimed to know barely anything about Physics and he knew that it was not going to be easy.
"Frank went bad on a deal with two guys. I don't really know the details, something to do with a car that went missing."
Daniela quirked a brow, unsurprised. "I guess this is pretty exciting for you, huh? Pretending Frank's dead."
Lip smirked slightly as he guided his pen over the words in the textbook. "It's a bit of a dream come true actually."
Daniela smiled in amusement. She didn't blame him. The Lord knows, Frank Gallagher wasn't the best father to walk the Earth.
"You're invited, by the way," said Lip. His eyes connected with hers. "I figure you hate Frank almost as much as the rest of us do."
Daniela smirked back at him. "Wouldn't miss it."
Clearing his throat, Lip nodded and returned back to his teachings. "Okay, so tell me again what Newton's Third Law is."
The girl nodded and pushed the answer to the front of her mind. It was the easiest one to remember because she had always heard people use it in movies and TV.
"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
The boy beside her nodded happily and flicked the page over.
/
The next morning, Daniela found herself moving seats out from the kitchen into the lounge room as the rest of the Gallaghers finished off the rest of the funeral arrangements.
When she was done, she moved over to the coffin where Carl was setting up flowers. Lip walked past with a tray of food for later on and Veronica gave out orders on where to put everything. They all turned when they heard Fiona and Steve walk in.
The woman came to a stop in the entrance. "What the hell?"
Debbie soon came down the stairs and explained the situation to her sister before heading over to where Daniela was.
"Hey, Debbie. Cute outfit," smiled the teen.
"Thanks. Have you heard from Ian?"
Daniela frowned, realizing she hadn't properly talked to him since yesterday afternoon. "Sorry, Debs. I haven't."
"Hello, family!" Beamed Frank as he walked down the stairs in a nice suit. Where he had managed to steal that from, Daniela had no clue. "Beautiful day to die isn't it?"
Daniela snorted at the man as Veronica got to work on knocking him out. He was soon sat down so that Carl could shove bags of ice into his suit.
"Your body needs to be cold," said Fiona as she watched her father deny any more ice bags. It hadn't taken her long to join in on the scheme.
"More morphine," he whined, making everybody roll their eyes.
Veronica eyed him apathetically. "It's horse tranquilizer..."
"Get in the coffin before you pass out," ordered Lip in irritation.
"Just a little taste?"
"I don't even know why we do this for you."
"You think it's easy being a parent? Letting Fiona be the good cop? The important thing is you kids. Carl, I remember when the nurse in the hospital handed you to me."
"Carl was born in the back of the van. You weren't there," stated Lip, growing more agitated.
"I slapped his little ass myself!"
Whatever Frank was planning on saying next was quickly cut off by his son socking him in the jaw. The others stared in shock, and slight appreciation, as it managed to knock him out.
Ian chose that particular moment to walk in. Like bus sister had done, he came to an abrupt stop at the sight of his family crowded around a coffin. Daniela's eyes, however, were glued onto his face. More specifically the cuts and bruises on his face.
"What the hell happened to you?" She asked, stepping forward to grab his shoulders. Her friend gave her a small smile, which confused her before shaking his head.
"Nothing."
"It doesn't look like nothing."
"I'll tell you later."
Ian headed up the stairs to change into a fresh shirt and got back down just as the two men looking for Frank, pulled up outside.
"They're here," announced Daniela, who had been watching out the window for any signs of them. She quickly moved over to Ian's side, weaving her arm through his in a sign of support.
When the two men walked in, they stopped to pick up a small funeral booklet that Daniela had suggested would be a nice touch. The girl stayed quiet as she watched the men question the family before one of them went as far as picking Frank up out of his coffin and shaking him. The other pulled out his phone and made a call.
Things suddenly got complicated when the men announced that they would leave once Frank was in the ground. After hastily switching Frank with the scraps of meat in the trash and burying that in the ground, they decided to move on to The Alibi for the reception.
/
Daniela sat, sipping a beer at the bar. She needed to talk to Ian to find out what had happened to him.
Chewing on her lip nervously, her eyes continued to flick towards the door, waiting for her friend to walk in and explain himself. An inkling in her gut told her it had something to do with Kash.
Daniela perked up when she finally saw the familiar head of red hair walk through the door. It appeared she wasn't the only one worried because Lip also pulled him up on his bruises. Ian moved over to his friend who was waiting with a raised eyebrow.
"Spill." The boy sighed and leaned his elbows on top of the bar.
"Think I need a drink first."
"That can be arranged," smirked Daniela before calling over Kev.
Once there was a glass of beer in front of Ian, Daniela made a show of getting comfortable, signaling for him to start talking.
His fingers traced his glass sheepishly. "Linda knows about me and Kash."
Daniela's eyes widened. "Holy shit! I mean, I did tell you this would happen but...shit. How are you feeling?"
Ian shrugged and took a long drink. "Linda wants another baby. And until she's pregnant, nothing can happen between Kash and me."
Daniela gave her friend a grimace and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "That's heavy. But don't worry, didn't you say so yourself that after that night in Kash's house, you've felt a little weird?" Ian nodded. "Well, this could be a way for you to try your luck with another guy. Preferably one who isn't married or has kids."
Her friend let out a short laugh and nodded his head. "Thanks, El."
The girl shrugged and knocked her beer against his.
"Anytime."
This chapter's the shortest one so far, so apologies for that. I just really wanted to get something out.
Let me know what you think so far.
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