Chapter 20.

What's this? An update? Truly shocking.

Also, I am the least artistic person so I apologize in advance for the crappy art talk.

Enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shameless.


The first thing Daniela noticed when she woke up the next morning was the arm slung around her side and the warm, foreign body pressed against hers. The initial shock quickly wore off when she recalled that the warm body was Lip. Tentatively, Daniela twisted her head over her shoulder to peer up at Lip's sleeping face. A small smile lit up her face as she took in his peaceful expression.

He had taken his shirt off before getting in bed, leaving her with a lovely display of his bare chest. Her eyes moved to the simple triangle tattoo inked into his skin, her fingers itching to trace it gently.

"Dani!" The shock of Jakob's voice startled the girl, her head whipping to the door. She heard her brother's footsteps moving up the stairs behind her closed door.

"Shit," cursed Daniela as she slapped Lip's arm. The boy groaned in annoyance, moving to bury his head in her pillow.

Daniela rolled her eyes, ignoring the way her stomach flipped at the sight of his tousled bed-head and instead punched him in the arm.

"Fuc-!" Lip's yell was quickly silenced by Daniela's hand over his mouth. He narrowed his eyes at her, half angry, half asleep. The girl didn't waste any time explaining as she rolled him off the bed and hurried him over to the closet. She had just locked in a grumbling Lip when her brother knocked on her door.

"Yeah?" Jakob opened the door- clad in boxers and his training shirt- and stuck his head in, catching his sister standing with her hands on her hips in front of her closet.

"What was that sound?"

"What sound?"

The man frowned oddly at his sister. "I thought I heard a thump."

"Oh," Daniela pretended to recall. "You scared me awake and I ended up falling off my bed." She wasn't sure if she was clearly frazzled but her excuse must've worked because it caused her brother to chuckle.

"Sorry about that. I was just wondering if you knew where my black pants were?"

"I put them out on the line yesterday," answered Daniela, leaning against her closet doors. Lip must've realized what was happening as he remained quiet. Either that or he had fallen asleep again.

"Right, thanks." Jakob grinned at her, pulling the door handle back towards him. "I'll see you after school." Daniela nodded back with a smile, her nerves still high at almost being caught.

She waited two minutes for Jakob to get his pants and the sound of his truck pulling away from the curb before breathing a sigh of relief. Opening the closet doors, she was met with Lip's raised eyebrow.

"That's not usually how girls wake me up in the morning." Daniela rolled her eyes at him, waving a hand for him to leave the closet.

"I don't even wanna know," she grimaced with a shake of her head. Lip's smirk grew.

"You sure? I can tell you if you want?"

"Positive." Daniela tried to her hardest but couldn't help the small grin on her face. The boy beside her noted her reaction smugly, feeling a swell in his chest. Letting out a breath, Lip took a seat on the edge of her bed and watched as she looked around her closet for a coat.

"So what are the plans for today?" The girl sent him a look over her shoulder.

"School. You know? That place you got expelled from?" Lip made a disgusted face at the reminder of his now-former school. Daniela saw this and laughed. "What about you?"

"Karen wants me to go with her and meet this rich couple who want to adopt the baby." At the mention of the blonde, Daniela's mouth twisted. She noticed Lip's almost sad tone as he spoke of the adoption.

"You don't want her to give the baby up?" The boy simply shrugged.

"Not really up to me is it?"

"Fair point." Daniela grabbed some clothes and a towel hanging off the back of her door, her sudden shift in attitude confusing Lip.

"You okay?" The girl spared him a quick glance and nodded.

"I'm fine." Lip rolled his eyes at her back, understanding that the universal girl code for 'I'm fine' meant the complete opposite.

He raised from his spot on her bed, moving to stand beside her. His chest was nearly pressed up against her back. The familiar feeling of her body pulled against his echoed in Lip's mind.

His hand came to rest gently at her wrist before twisting her around slowly. Daniela's arms hung limply at her sides, the coat she had chosen barely hanging from her fingers. When she looked into his eyes, she was shocked at what she saw.

Lip's eyes were warm with emotion she had never experienced before. Under the actual worry for her, Daniela spotted something else.

"What's wrong?" Asked Lip once again, softer this time. Daniela felt lost under his gaze as her stomach flip-flopped like a pancake. She wanted to tell him the truth. Now was her chance.

"Nothing." She chickened out, her mind chastising her for it. Lip slightly deflated at Daniela putting her walls up against him. She stepped back from him, creating space between them. "I'm gonna have a shower. Help yourself to breakfast." Daniela grabbed some clean clothes and deodorant.

"Need any help in there?" Lip called after her, grinning to himself when he heard the sweet sound of her laughter. There they went again, slipping back into their normal routine.

/

After parting ways with Lip later that morning, Daniela met up with Ian outside his house. On their way to school, he recounted the drama that had happened between Fiona and Lip that resulted in his brother leaving home.

Throughout the story, Daniela hummed and nodded along-feigning shock when she had to- pretending she hadn't already heard all of this from his brother the night before.

"So Monica showed up again this morning," said Ian bitterly. Daniela raised a surprised brow.

"How long do you think she'll stick around this time?"

Ian snorted. "A week. Tops."

"Who's Monica?" Frowned Mandy, strolling beside them and frightening the two in the process.

"My mom," spat Ian, quickly recovering. "She's back."

"She sticking around?"

"Never does." The topic of conversation soon changed to Lip, with Mandy seeming extra curious about where he was. Daniela narrowed her eyes at the girl, wondering why.

"He probably spent the night at Karen's,"said Ian as they headed into school and Daniela kept silent. "You see Karen is like cancer. You kill it in one spot and it pops up in another."

"That's a very accurate analogy," hummed his best friend. She knew that if she didn't say anything at all, Ian would grow suspicious considering she was never quiet about her opinion of Karen. On the other side of Ian, Mandy fidgeted with her hands; something the other two teens picked up on.

"You okay?" Asked Ian. Mandy snapped her attention away from her fingers to offer a small smile to her friend.

"Yeah." Accepting her answer, the redhead then turned to his best friend.

"Hey, have you heard from Lip?" Both Mandy's and Daniela's eyes shot to Ian, the Milkovich glaring slightly.

Frowning, the older girl shook her head. "Nope. The last time I saw him was yesterday at school."

The boy nodded, somewhat deflated.

Daniela's curiosity grew. She knew that fidgety lost behavior she had seen on Mandy. Hell, she often experienced it herself. The girl knew it was no small coincidence that Mandy had suddenly gone quiet at the mention of Lip and Karen.

Thinking back to Debbie's sleepover, she remembered seeing the girl sneaking glances at Lip. A knot twisted in Daniela's stomach as she realized that she wasn't the only one hung up over Lip Gallagher.

/

Daniela decided to spend her lunch inside to work on her art piece for the competition. Her art teacher had been thrilled at the news that she was entering and encouraged her to use the art room and its supplies as she wished.

She frowned at the blank canvas in front of her. She didn't like forcing an idea out of her head, choosing instead to let her inspiration flow out of her as it came. Unfortunately for Daniela, there didn't seem to be any.

The theme for the first round was 'torture' and while she could've gone with the obvious choice, Daniela wanted to be a bit more vague.

The book on Gustav Klimt that Jessica had shown her sat to the side of her, propped up on a stool. She had been flipping through it for inspiration.

Sighing, Daniela decided to just dabble with the paints and see where they took her. She opted for warm colors; reds, yellows, oranges.

Beginning with a deep red, she moved her brush in a single line over the canvas. She continued like this for the remainder of her lunch break, her brush strokes varying between gentle to harsh. Painting was a getaway for Daniela. Whenever she had the chance to or if her mind was too busy, she would pull out her paints or scrapbook and let it all flow out.

Daniela's mind had been particularly clogged as of late. Frustration at herself for not telling Lip how she felt, along with anger at him too. She also felt guilt. Guilt for not telling Ian about any of it. He was her best friend who had confided in her about his relationship with Mickey despite knowing the troubled past their families shared.

Meanwhile, she had been growing closer to Lip- her best friend's brother- and hadn't said a word of it to him. Lip had unknowingly affected her in a way she never thought he would and Daniela didn't know what to do about it. Any chance of a relationship with him seemed futile with Karen around.

Daniela knew about Lip's deep feelings for Karen. She knew that he would follow her to the ends of the earth if it meant Karen would give him the time of the day. He had been visibly upset that morning when he told her about the adoption. Lip pictured himself raising a child with Karen in their own little dysfunctional family. That was something Daniela didn't fit into.

Her eyes flicked once again to the book beside her. It was flipped open to a page depicting the image of one of Klimt's popular pieces; The Kiss. She knew it was cheesy- she hated herself for thinking it- but Daniela couldn't help the jealousy she felt as she looked at the embraced couple. It almost felt...

As if a light went off in her brain, Daniela hurriedly grabbed a fresh canvas. She had just begun painting the first few lines when the bell rang out in the classroom.

She jumped at the sound- the loud ringing knocking her out of her sudden inspiration. Groaning, she quickly packed up her things and rushed to class.

/

Daniela tried to keep in contact with Lip over the next few days, sending him the occasional text to check up on him. His responses were always quick and brief, telling her that he had taken up residence with Steve and Estefania. The girl attempted convincing him to go home to his family but he wasn't having any of it. He had even threatened to stop replying to her if she kept going on about it.

Shooting him a quick reminder after school that Carl had a game that afternoon, Daniela and Ian headed home.

"Has Frank claimed Peggy's body from the morgue yet?" Ian shook his head at the girl's question.

"Nope. Him and Monica keep going on about how expensive it is." The pair walked through the back entrance straight into the kitchen spotting Frank and Monica. Daniela had yet to see the woman after she resurfaced.

"Oh, Ian!" Beamed Monica. She moved to kiss the boy's cheek but was quickly denied. Her disheartened eyes turned to Daniela with recognition.

"It's nice to see you again, Daniela."

The girl simply nodded back. "Monica."

"I made some cookies if you two are hungry?"

Ian scoffed, making his way to the fridge. "Oh, so now we're square for you abandoning us and everything?"

"Hey!" Butted in Frank. Sensing things would escalate, Daniela casually changed the subject.

"You going to Carl's game, Monica?" She eyed the woman's cheerleader outfit paired with face paint and pigtails. Monica nodded, smiling brightly.

"What about you two?"

"I always go to Carl's games because I actually give a shit." Ian's snide remark earned him a glare from Frank who was quick to defend his estranged wife. Her friend brushed off his father's words, tugging Daniela up the stairs to his room to hang out before leaving for Carl's game.

/

"What did Monica say to you earlier?" Asked Daniela lightly as they climbed the bleachers. Ian sighed in resignation, dropping unceremoniously on one of the seats.

"Frank told her about Mickey. She asked me if I wanted to go with her to some gay bar she went to with Bob."

"You thinking about going?"

Ian shrugged. "Why should I bother?"

"The way I see it," began Daniela, waiting for her friend to look at her. "You should go- enjoy however much time you have left with your mom before she up and leaves again." Ian chewed on his lip in thought for a few moments. His gaze moved to his mother who stood next to the field cheering on his little brother.

"Lip told me." Daniela's voice broke him out of his thoughts and he frowned at her in confusion. "He said you and Monica were really close- that you were her favorite." At Ian's dry laugh it was her turn to frown.

"No, no." The boy waved off her claim with a chuckle before sobering. "I wasn't Monica's favorite. Lip was." Ian nodded at his friend's surprise and rubbed his hands together for warmth.

"Yeah, he was always the golden child. Monica doted on him the most so when she eventually took off he kind of just shut everyone out." The ginger eyed his friend suspiciously. "He told you it was me?" Daniela nodded in silent confirmation making Ian tilt his head in confusion.

Fiona then came up to them with some homemade posters they could hold while they cheered Carl on. Daniela noticed her friend slowly warming up to his mother, even joking around with her.

They were in the middle of watching Carl run down the field when Daniela's eyes caught onto Lip's figure making his way towards him. Debbie ran to her brother, quickly wrapping her arms around his torso as he dropped a kiss on her head. When he spotted Daniela, he flashed her a rugged grin. It slipped when his eyes shifted to Monica.

"Lip!" Smiled the blonde, gesturing with her pom-poms. "Come sit with us!"

The boy scoffed a laugh and addressed Daniela in annoyance. "You didn't think to warn me she was here?" He then narrowed his eyes at his smiling family. "What? I'm off the boat for one minute and there's a fucking mutiny?"

"No-one told you to get out," argued Fiona.

"Actually you did."

"Come on now," butted in Monica, continuing to wave her pom-pom. "Don't be mad at Fiona."

"Hey, Monica- shut up. Like most of my life, this has nothing to do with you." Daniela stood up from her spot on the bleachers.

"Come on Lip," she tried. He eyed her in thinly-veiled anger. Maybe she should have mentioned that Monica had returned. Lip waved a tired hand at her.

"Not you too. I can't believe you're falling for her crap!"

"Don't be a dick. Come and sit down."

He shook his head at her in disbelief. "No. I am not hanging around her." Lip jutted a finger at his mother.

Monica fumbled with her pom-poms as her son began arguing back and forth with Fiona. The frustrated boy sent Daniela one last look before turning and leaving. Fiona called out after him but to no avail.

Falling back into her seat, she pinched the temples of her forehead. Daniela felt eyes on her and met Ian's gaze. His raised eyebrow conveyed that they were more than definitely going to talk about this later.

Sighing, she turned her attention back to the game, just in time to see Carl- blissfully unaware of the drama that had just done down- tackle another player to the ground.

When the game was over Daniela texted a quick apology to Lip and made her way down the stands. Ian was already waiting at the bottom beside Monica. The pair were obviously talking about their plans for the night and when the woman glanced at Daniela she gasped as an idea popped into her head.

"Daniela, why don't you come along with me and Ian?" The girl looked at her friend to see him shrug.

"I don't know. That's not really my scene."

"Oh come on. Have some fun with us!" Monica placed her arm through Daniela's, clutching it in excitement. "I thought the same thing about myself at first, next thing I know I'm with Bob." At the sight of Daniela's continuing hesitance, she clicked her tongue.

"At least come along for a little while. Let loose, you know?"

Daniela looked to Ian for help and at her friend's nod she relented.

"Sure," she smiled at Monica making the woman squeal gleefully. She looped her other arm through Ian's, pulling the two teens closer to her.

"This is gonna be so much fun." The two friends shared a small laugh with each other over Monica's head.

/

"Me and Bob used to come here," explained Monica as he led the two teens through the nightclub. Daniela was a little astonished at how easily it was to talk their way in. "It's a cool mix of gay, lesbian, bi and cool breeders."

Daniela frowned. "Cool breeders?"

"It's a little weird being out with you," said Ian glancing around the place uncomfortably.

"Hey, you don't think we'll get carded do you?" Monica waved Daniela's question off with a laugh.

"Doubt it. You two are the bread and butter of this place." She subtly pointed out a few women eyeing the girl and older men throwing glances at Ian. "Places like this need fresh meat to bring in the older men."

Daniela averted her eyes quickly from a woman by the bar staring at her in a silent appraisal.

"Yeah, I think I'm just going to go find a table to sit." Monica caught her arm before she could get far, pulling her back with a grin.

"Uh-uh! I don't think so missy. You're dancing with us!" She pulled Daniela's arms, moving them to the beat of the music. Ian chuckled at his friend's face and joined in, taking one hand from his mother to dance on the other side of her.

Daniela threw her head back with a laugh, slipping into an easy rhythm with the other two. As they danced Monica urged Ian to forget about Mickey and let loose. Slowly, Daniela saw the woman's words take effect on him and the hunch in his shoulders lessen.

When they all felt their throats dry Monica headed to the bar to get some drinks while Ian and Daniela took a seat at a nearby table. Ian let out a low breath of exhaustion, reclining on the seat. He eyed his friend who pulled out her phone to check it. Lip was ignoring her. She seemed dejected by what she saw and typed another text.

"You okay?"

Daniela's head popped up. "Yeah." Her tone betrayed her.

"You texting Lip?"

"No! Why would you think that?"

Ian smirked wryly and shook his head at her. "Come on, El." He leaned over to gently shove her shoulder. "I'm your best friend, just tell me." Daniela fumbled a little more with her fingers.

"Lip and I..." Her voice trailed off. Ian raised an eyebrow in suspense. "We almost slept together- well technically we did sleep together but we didn't have sex."

For a moment Daniela thought her friend had turned into a statue. He stared at her, a look of disbelief on his face.

"When did this happen?"

"Um...the night he found out about Karen and Frank." Daniela chewed on her lip as her friend continued to process it all.

"How?"

"You were working that night so he showed up at my house half-drunk and fully pissed-off. He told me what had happened so we talked over a bottle of Jakob's whiskey. Then, well. One thing led to another." She shrugged and Ian narrowed his eyes, the gears in his head turning.

"That was months ago!"

"Yeah." She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry. I know I should've told you but I didn't think anything would change."

"And?" Prodded Ian.

"Well."

"You like him." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Daniela nodded somewhat guiltily. "Stupid right?" She gulped. "You're not mad are you?"

Ian chuckled. "Why would I be mad?"

"I don't know. Because it's Lip and we both know how he is."

"Honestly, I'm not that surprised," admitted Ian with a shrug. Daniela frowned at him. "I always suspected something changed between you two after Monica showed up last time."

Speaking of the woman, Monica finally reached them with their drinks in hand. She placed them down cheerfully and Daniela pounced on hers, her throat feeling even drier now.

Monica sat down beside Ian and grabbed her own glass. She threw it back quickly before slamming it down on the table. Wiping the back of her hand against her mouth, she whipped her eyes between the two in excitement.

"Who's ready for round 2?"

Daniela shook her head. "No thanks. You two go." She looked back down at her phone and Ian sighed.

Squeezing her hand he said, "We'll talk more about this later okay?" With a nod from his friend he turned to his mother and ushered out onto the dance-floor again.

Daniela opened her phone, her eyes skimming over the text she had just sent Lip.

I'm really sorry

Monica came back to sit with her ten minutes later, chest heaving. She giggled as she slid down beside her.

"Where's Ian?" Asked Daniela. Monica pointed to the bar.

"He's getting us some more drinks."

"Will they even serve him?"

"If he smiles enough." Monica huffed another laugh under her breath and turned to Daniela. Her expression suddenly became very somber. The woman played with her hands on top of the table. "I wanted to thank you, Daniela."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"Taking care of Ian. He told me you how you two met after I had left." She reached across and placed her hand over Daniela's. "I'm really grateful."

"They're family," shrugged Daniela, the word making Monica's face fall even more.

"I know you don't think much of me, I understand that. But I mean it when I say I'm sticking around this time. I want to make things right with my kids." The woman glanced over at Ian working his charm on the bartender. Daniela did the same, a sad smile on her face.

"I hope you're right Monica. For their sake." Monica wiped a few tears from her eyes and rubbed Daniela's hand in gratitude once more.

/

They stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up some beers. When they entered the house they spotted Frank and Estefania.

"Who's this?" Asked a grinning Monica.

"Steve's wife," answered Ian as he placed the case of beers down.

"Oh! The Brazilian."

Debbie, Carl and Little Hank came in through the front door carrying donuts and fried chicken. Daniela quickly grabbed a drumstick and bit into it with a moan. She hadn't eaten since lunch.

Frank put on some music, cranking up the volume and encouraging everyone to start dancing. Daniela was exhausted from their night out, wanting nothing more than to collapse in bed and sleep. She even considered just falling asleep on the sofa she was sat on.

Unfortunately for her, Ian grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

"This is not okay," said Fiona from the bottom of the stairs. Frank made a noise of disapproval as she moved over to the radio before surprising all of them and simply changing the station to something more modern. Recognizing the song as a personal favorite, Daniela swayed to the beat slowly.

"Why the hell weren't we invited?" Everyone looked to Veronica with Kev following behind with a bottle of vodka. He moved past them into the kitchen to whip up some drinks.

Daniela's yawns grew more insistent. Ian noticed and pushed her up the stairs telling her to go sleep in his room. She nodded and sluggishly climbed the stairs.

Her eyes moved from Ian's bed to Lip's bunk. Telling herself that Ian would want his bed to himself, she climbed to the top bunk and laid down. She rolled onto her side, eyes drifting shut; the comforting smell of Lip easing her to sleep.


Yooooo! She finally told someone!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who are still reading this story or giving it a chance. Also a special shout out to those people who read all 19 chapters in one sitting. That's one of the most gratifying things an author can hear and it really made me work harder to get this out there.

Special thanks to: Rae, Berryx, demonicseer, January Raines, Nightingale'sLullaby, austingirl101, Guest, gossamermouse101, Alina, blue Wren, itsjuliaaaa, toxic click, x NikiSt x, UzumakiRein, viohanna, harl3yg1rl, Void Impala, degrassilovelive101, inescc, BlackShooter17, mermaidcakee, kd123, freeminds4all, nataliaivette1, Witch-in-Tardis, seeking-a-great-perhaps, amaliesofie, TheCatalystx, Luckygirl1013, javspy, shadygrl91, koolabbyg, Thetkdgirl15, Please Ignore This (sorry), hawknv, kankananime123, nycsinger16, robeccaluangaphay97 and Dark-Hunter1992!

Mwah!

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