Chapter 44.

I think this is the fastest I've ever updated.

Anyways, I really like this chapter and I hope you do too. Let me know and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shameless.


"I need to vent."

Mandy, who was carrying a tray of dirty dishes, frowned as she placed them down next to the dishwasher.

"Is this about your guy?" She asked while reaching for a nearby cloth to wipe her hands.

At the pass, Daniela stood by waiting for her order to be finished. She seemed anxious though Mandy figured it was more about what was weighing so heavily on her mind rather than getting the food out to the customers.

"Yes…and no," said Daniela, tilting her head. "And he's not my guy."

"Clearly. What's up?"

"Order up!" Yelled Charlie, the chef before hitting the bell. Daniela wiped her hands on her apron and picked up three of the plates.

She gulped as she glanced sideways at the other girl. "I think I still have feelings for Lip."

Mandy snorted and picked up the other two plates. "Yeah, obviously."

"What?" Hissed Daniela in a whisper as they made their way to the table.

"Are you kidding me? You just figured it out? God, you're in college, you're supposed to be smart."

"That is beside the point, okay?" Pausing, she placed the food down and offered the customers a smile even though they were hardly paying attention to the two waitresses. "What do you mean it was obvious?" She asked once they were a decent distance away.

Mandy rolled her eyes. "I mean that ever since this shit with Liam happened, you two have been getting closer again."

"That didn't necessarily mean I had feelings for him. I-I could've been worried purely from a friendly point of view."

Mandy simply gave her a look that indicated otherwise. Sighing, she placed a hand on her cocked out hip as they stood to the side to wait for plates to clear.

"And I'm guessing you're freaking because a) you still have feelings for the douchebag who cheated on you, and b) you don't know how to handle the situation with this other guy."

With a grimace, Daniela sighed in defeat.

"It's like he expects so much from me but I don't know how to be myself around him," she disclosed, feeling the weight lift off of her chest. "We got into it the other day. I don't know, it's just...when I signed onto this thing with Chris, I only wanted one thing and now he's trying to complicate it all by throwing feelings into the mix. He told me he liked me. Liked me," she emphasized, her voice laced with worry. "How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?"

"Look," sighed Mandy, her face remaining impassive. "Either you try to move on and cut your losses with Lip, or you end it with this Chris guy."

Daniela nodded as her eyes drifted to the clock hanging on the wall.

"My shift is up," she announced, finally happy about one thing. Mandy also turned her attention to the clock and groaned at seeing that she still had an hour to go.

Daniela pulled at the knot of her apron and headed back to the pass while Mandy went back to tending her tables.

"Hey, Charlie?" She called to the chef. "Could I get two grilled chicken melts to go?"

"Sure," nodded Charlie as he turned over the bacon on the grill. "Shouldn't be too long."

"Thanks," smiled Daniela before tapping the counter and heading back around to the front. Walking to the end, she leaned against it and flipped through a menu while she waited. At the sound of hands slapping down on the counter, she looked up to see Mandy staring back at her.

"What?" She asked blankly.

"He's here."

"Who?"

"Lip," answered Mandy with an eye roll. At that, Daniela's eyes widened slightly.

"What? Where?"

"Table 8." Daniela began to turn her head until Mandy stopped her. "Oh shit."

"What?" Frowned the other girl, her brow raising.

"He's coming over," said Mandy; her voice hushed. Daniela's mouth opened to ask how close he was but judging by her friend's look, he wasn't too far away.

Gulping, she twisted around and came face-to-face with Lip, but not just Lip- Lip in a suit. A very nice suit. It took her about three seconds before her eyes flicked back up to meet his.

"Hey," he greeted, with a small smile.

"Hey," she said back, slightly surprised. "Did you need something? Coffee? Because I'm just finishing up but Mandy can help you out." She jutted her head in the direction of the other waitress who had taken off as soon as he showed up.

"No, that's okay. I just came to talk to you."

"Oh." Daniela nodded along, now even more surprised. "Why?"

Lip's smirk grew as he quirked a brow at her. "Can I not?"

"Of course you can," she replied, laughing slightly. "What's up?"

"Nothing," he shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I, uh. It's just that we didn't really get a chance to talk the other night."

"Talk about what?" Frowned Daniela, an image of him and Amanda kissing flying into her head.

"Well, I don't know." He glanced over his shoulder to where Amanda was sitting wearing a flower crown and flowy white dress. "How are you?" He asked, focusing his attention back on her. "Debbie said you punched a girl. That's not usually your style."

"It was a rough day, besides it's not like it's the first," shrugged Daniela.

Lip's head bowed for a moment causing her to regret bringing it up. That was somewhere neither of them wanted to revisit.

Lifting his head, he nodded. "Right. But you're okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry," she assured him. Despite herself, she couldn't help but look him up and down whilst trying to keep the silent appreciation off of her face. "What's with the suit?"

As if remembering, Lip looked down at himself and adjusted the lapels of his suit jacket.

"Oh, Amanda had this sorority thing."

Daniela nodded in approval, noticing his slight hesitation to tell her but she didn't understand why. Absentmindedly, she reached out to feel it. It certainly didn't look cheap and she had a pretty good idea that Amanda was the one who gave it to him.

Her hands smoothed over his chest as she felt the fabric. Lip stood, rigid under her touch. His eyes bore down on her, something unmistakeable swirling around in them as he watched her admire the piece of clothing.

Suddenly catching herself, Daniela's hand paused until it was just resting above his heart. Her face was sheepish as she turned her stare up to meet his. Her hand fell away quick as lightning.

"Sorry," she mumbled, trying to laugh it off at the end.

Lip just shook his head, not seeming to mind. He cast another look over his shoulder towards Amanda whose eyes flicked back down to her menu once they met his. Daniela, seeing this, cleared her throat and took a step back.

Luckily, she didn't have to scramble for something to say as Mandy swooped back in at the last second.

"Charlie said your food's nearly done," she said, causing Daniela to quietly sigh in relief.

"Thanks," she answered back sincerely. Mandy nodded and flicked her eyes between the two, seeming to pick up on their sudden awkwardness before taking off again.

"I should probably get back to Amanda," said Lip.

Daniela nodded and mustered up a small smile. "Sure. You two have a good night."

Lip folded his mouth and tapped his hand on the counter before spinning around and walking back to his booth where Amanda sat, pretending to read her menu.

"Was that the girl from last night?" She asked as soon as he sat down.

Lip nodded and slung his arm across the top of the booth. "Yeah."

"You never got around to introducing her."

"Oh, she's friends with my brother," said Lip evasively. Before Amanda could further question him, he slid over a menu to skim over it. "Alright, what's everyone getting?" He asked, his eyes instinctively flicking back to the counter where Mandy was handing Daniela a bag of food.

He watched as she pulled on her coat and scarf before heading out the door. Once the bell rang out behind her and she was out of his sight, Lip cleared his throat and turned back around, his ears catching onto Amanda's conversation with her friends.

/

When Daniela woke the next morning, she was surprised at the number of miss calls she had from Simon and Ian. Curious, as well as a little worried, she punched in Ian's number. It only took a few short seconds before the other line crackled into her ear along with a rough voice.

"It's about fuckin' time, Kaufman."

Daniela's brow hiked in confusion as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes. "What? Mickey? Why do you have Ian's phone?"

"I've been tryna call you for an hour now," answered the Milkovich, his aggravation evident. "Does nobody answer their fuckin' phones?"

"Sorry, I was asleep." She sat up on her bed and wiped a hand over her face, still exhausted. "What's going on?"

"You need to get your ass here right now."

Instantly, Daniela's hand slid from her face, replaced with a look of anxiety. "Is it something to do with Ian?"

Mickey didn't answer right away, causing a ball of nerves to develop in the pit of her stomach. After what seemed like forever, he sucked his teeth before grinding out, "Just get here."

/

Within an hour, Daniela was outside Mickey's house. Not wasting any time, she jogged up the stairs before knocking on the door. Vaguely, she heard voices shouting inside; no doubt being Mickey and his sister, before it opened to reveal the disgruntled guy who had developed a close bond with her best friend.

"Fuckin' finally," he said shortly though Daniela could've sworn she heard some relief in there too. Jutting his chin, he headed inside with the girl following closely behind.

"What the hell is going on?" She asked as he led her down the hallway. Before she could get her answer, Mandy and Simon emerged from a room, shutting the door behind them.

They each wore saddened expressions with none of them helping to quell the dread building up inside of her. Their mouths folded when they saw Daniela standing with Mickey.

"Hey, El," greeted Simon though it lacked his usual joy. Beside him, Mandy toyed with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, the action causing Daniela to eye the two of them warily.

"Alright, can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" She demanded, her eyes whipping to all three of them.

"It's Ian," began Mandy, her voice barely audible. The sight of her timidity scared the other girl. "We don't know what's wrong with him."

Daniela frowned and turned her attention to Mickey. "Wrong? What do you mean wrong?"

His arms were crossed as he stared at the door of the room. "I don't know, he's been in bed for nearly two fuckin' days I can't get 'im to do anything."

"Well, is he sick?"

"No," denied Mickey, his words growing more hurried as he elaborated. "He was fine before. Jumpin' off walls, throwing fists. I couldn't pin 'im down he was so wired."

Daniela frowned, the whole thing sounding familiar to what she had experienced with Ian. "Then what changed?"

"The fuck should I know?" Shrugged Mickey, a sliver of worry passing over his face.

Daniela heaved a sigh before pointing at the door. "He in there?"

At his nod of confirmation, she edged forward to push open the door. Slowly, she craned her neck through the gap; her eyes falling on Ian's figure. His back was to her as he lay on his side. Chancing a look behind her at Mandy and Simon, she continued on and circled around the bed until she could see his face.

Perching by his legs, she placed the back of her hand against his forehead to check his temperature. It felt fine which worried her even more given the look of fatigue on his face. Gently, she raked a hand through his hair, his heavy eyes opening a sliver at the feel of it.

The corner of her mouth inched upwards as she took him in. "Hey."

Ian's brow furrowed as he nudged his head further into the pillow. "I'm tired."

Daniela's mouth pinched. "You've been asleep for a while though. Don't you want to get some fresh air? Or, at least, get into some fresh clothes?"

"No."

"How about some food? You must be starving."

"Get…out," mumbled Ian causing Daniela's hand to still. She felt her eyes water and her mouth twist at the sound of emptiness in his voice.

Sniffling, she leaned forward to press a kiss to the side of his head before standing and heading back into the hallway where the others were watching and waiting.

"You said he was like this all day yesterday?" Questioned Daniela as she wiped at her damp cheeks. Mickey nodded as they moved down the hallway into the lounge.

"Have you seen him like this before?" Asked Mandy, drawing Daniela's attention away from her brother. "You know, when he was with you?"

Daniela shook her head, a frown forming. "No, he was the complete opposite. I mean, up all hours of the night, throwing parties in the dorm. I-" She stuttered, not sure what was wrong with her friend. "I don't know what this is." Turning her head, she looked at Mickey. "Did you call his family? Lip?"

"The two kids came over last night to see him," nodded Mickey, resorting to biting his nail. "They didn't say much."

At the sound of a knock at the door, Mandy tore her eyes away from the group and went to answer it. Daniela glanced at Simon who seemed equally as upset as everyone else. The two had grown closer in recent months and she knew the worry was eating him up inside.

They each heard footsteps approaching as Mandy came back in with Fiona, Debbie, and Carl trailing behind her. At the sight of the woman, Daniela rushed forward to pull her in for a hug. Fiona returned it furiously, clinging to the younger girl. She hadn't had the chance to see her, having been too busy with midterms to help track her down.

"When did you get back?" Asked Daniela, pulling away and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"This morning," answered Fiona, not sounding as happy as she should've been. Her eyes shifted to Mickey who was waiting to the side anxiously. "Where is he?"

/

"You want to get up? I'll make you a sandwich."

Daniela stood between Mandy and Mickey in the hallway, watching as Fiona tried to coax Ian out of bed.

"Or we could go for a run at the track. You want to go for a run? Get some fresh air?" It was silent for a few more seconds which Fiona took as a definitive answer.

Pressing a kiss to his hair, she climbed off of the bed and wiped at the eyes. On her way out of the room, she gestured for them to follow her.

"How long's he been like that?"

"Since yesterday morning," answered Mickey as they came to stand in the lounge.

"And he hasn't gotten out of bed?"

"No, he's just sleeping. I can't get him up, I-I tried."

"Yeah, so did I," nodded Mandy as Simon took hold of her hand.

"I've been trying to get him to eat something but he just doesn't want to," he added, his face solemn. Feeling bad for him, Daniela reached out to squeeze his arm reassuringly.

"Okay, and what about before?" Asked Fiona, placing her hands on her hips. "What was he like?"

"Before he was fine, he was happy. He's staying up all hours of the night, dancing, telling fuckin' jokes. He kicks my ass every day, I can't keep up with him."

"We've got to get a hold of Lip, he should know," said Fiona, turning her attention to Debbie. At that, Daniela's brow raised.

"Know what? Do you know what it is?"

"Uh, depression. I think."

"He's depressed? What do you mean he's- we all get fucking depressed, how the fuck could we not living around here?"

"I don't think it's that kind of depression Mickey," sighed Daniela as she came to a grim realization. Suddenly, all of the pieces fell into place. Chewing her lip, she turned to face Fiona. "Are you sure?"

"Sure?" Frowned Mickey; eyes darting back and forth between the two. "Sure about what?"

Fiona raked a hand through her hair and sighed. "Look, I could be wrong, but it could be bipolar disease like our mom."

"Bi- what? What the fuck is that?"

"It's manic depression, Mick," said Mandy as she grabbed onto her brother's arm to calm him down.

"It's like high-highs followed by low-lows over and over again," explained Fiona before raking a hand through her hair. "We'll get him an appointment at the clinic, and we'll see what they say."

"What, no." Mickey shook his head, instantly against the idea. "Look, we'll just cheer him up."

"It's not that easy," said Daniela carefully, tilting her head. She knew he was trying to protect Ian but at the same time, they needed to consider the dangers if Ian really was bipolar.

Beside her, Fiona nodded in agreement. "He may have to be hospitalized."

"What do you mean, like a psych ward?" At Fiona's face, he began shaking his head furiously. "No fucking way. No fucking way! He's staying here."

"He could end up suicidal!"

"Then we hide the knives until he perks up. I can take care of him, just let me take care of him," he said as he began to pace. "He's not going to some fucking psych ward."

"Mickey, maybe we should-"

"No." Mickey shook his head again, stopping whatever Simon was trying to say. Instead, he gestured towards Daniela for help. "Kaufman, tell her."

Daniela stuttered at the feeling of being put on the spot. Her eyes flicked back and forth between Mickey and Fiona as she tried to think of the best way to handle the situation.

With a sigh, she looked at Mickey. "Look, I don't want Ian in the hospital any more than you do but we don't have the proper resources to take care of him here."

At her response, Mickey's anger flared up again. "Hell no. Hell fucking no. We're taking care of him here," he stated before gesturing between all of them. "You, me, them. His fucking family."

He wiped a hand over his mouth in frustration before heading into the kitchen. Behind his back, Daniela shared a deflated look with Fiona until the sound of her phone cut into the silence.

"Shit," she mumbled under her breath, seeing Chris' name flashing up at her. Raking a hand through her hair, she moved to the corner of the room to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, we need to talk," he said shortly and leaving no room for argument.

Daniela clenched her eyes shut. "Uh, I'm actually kind of busy right now. Do you think we could do it later?"

"I think it would be better if we just got things out of the way first." When Daniela didn't budge, she heard his voice come through again. "Please?"

A long pause followed before she eventually sighed and nodded. "Okay. I can meet you at the café near the Business building in about…" She whipped her head around in search of a clock. "40 minutes."

"Yeah, that sounds good," agreed Chris, satisfied.

"Okay, see you then."

Once the call ended, she felt like banging her head against a wall. There was too much going on already and while she really didn't want to deal with Chris, she knew that he was right in saying that it would be best to get it out of the way.

Heading over to Simon, she let him know that she was going out for a bit but coming back later, and then she was out the door on her way to confront Chris.

/

Her fingernails tapped against the side of the paper coffee cup. Across from her sat Chris, equally silent. Neither had said much during the ten minutes they had been there except to order their drinks. She watched as he raised his own cup to his mouth and took a sip. Her eyes flicked down to her own and the hand splayed out on the table top.

"You were right," she finally said. Chancing a quick look at him, she continued. "Before I came here, I went through a pretty rough time. A lot happened and it's something that I'm still trying to deal with." The pad of her finger pressed down on a few beads of sugar as she shook her head. "Regardless, it doesn't excuse how I've treated you; like some sort of walking fix for my problems."

"When I met you, I didn't want any attachments. I thought that in some way, it would help me to...seperate myself from my thoughts. And, for a little while, it worked, but then these things that I had been trying to move on from came rushing back into my life and ever since then I've been struggling to decide what to do. And I suppose, in the process, I forgot to take your feelings into consideration." Daniela's eyes softened as she stared across at an attentive Chris. "I'm sorry if I hurt you because I really didn't mean to. I never wanted to."

Chris nodded back solemnly; his hands folding together. "Was there ever any part of you that thought this could work?"

Daniela rolled her mouth in contemplation before tilting her head.

"I'd be lying if I said a part of me didn't want this because I do-" she assured him, though there was no promise in there. "But I don't know how. It's like-" she struggled to put it into words. Licking her lips, she heaved a sigh as a watery sheen took over her eyes. "It's like I can't trust myself to trust others without worrying that one of us will just fuck things up. Because I don't want that. I- I don't think I'd be able to handle that if it were to happen to me again."

Throughout her entire confession, Chris remained silent. He wore a small frown as he studied her body language. Her shoulders were hunched, but for the first time ever, she was opening herself up to him and while he had wished it were under happier circumstances, he couldn't deny that things made a lot more sense now.

Daniela's mouth twisted as she sniffed, wishing away the unshed tears. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry I couldn't be enough for you."

Chris' frown deepened in disagreement before he shook his head and leaned forward.

"I had no expectations about who I wanted you to be," he told her causing Daniela to release a ragged breath. "I just wanted you to open up to me."

"I know you did," she nodded, toying with her paper cup. Meeting his eyes again, she shook her head sadly. "I just don't think that I can."

Silence ate away at the space around them as each took a moment to process what this meant. Eventually, Chris cleared his throat and bobbed his head to himself.

"So I guess this is it, huh?"

Daniela nodded slowly in agreement, her shoulders lifting slightly. "I guess so."

Chris exhaled a long breath across from her before also nodding. "Thank you for finally being honest with me. I would normally say that we could still be friends but uh... I'm not so sure."

Daniela managed to muster up a half-smile, though she was sure it didn't convince either of them. "That's fine."

Without another word, Chris rose from his chair, taking his cold coffee with him. He paused briefly, his mind trying to figure out the right parting words before choosing to simply leave. Daniela tried to not let it get to her.

Her eyes fell shut and she sunk down into her chair. Behind her, she heard the sound of the bell over the door sounding out Chris' exit.

/

When she arrived at Mickey's house the second time, Lip was sat out front. His gloved hands were clasped together as a cigarette hung limply in his mouth. Daniela crossed into his line of vision; her hands shoved deep into her pockets and a deflated look on her face.

He raised his chin in greeting.

Wordlessly, she took a seat beside him, quickly accepting the second cigarette he offered out to her.

"What's the verdict?" She asked as she lit the end.

Lip toyed with his own, a faraway look on his face. "It looks a hell of a lot like Monica."

"Thinking back, I should've realized. That whole time he was with me he was just completely off."

"Don't beat yourself up about it. You wouldn't have known. Me on the other hand, well…" he shrugged his shoulders. "I've seen enough of that shit to know."

"You already had too much on your plate," she reasoned, turning her chin to meet his eyes. "Something like that would've just slipped under your nose."

Lip's eyes roamed over her face giving her a chance to try and pinpoint exactly what she saw in them. There was understanding, as well as something else- something that scared her if she dwelled on it for too long. Nevertheless, neither pulled away, not for a long while until she finally has to break it to save herself.

She placed the cigarette between her lips and shifted her gaze to the car parked across the street.

"Nice car," she said, drawing the smoke away from her mouth. She glanced sideways at Lip. "Is it Amanda's?"

He studied it for a second and nodded, his eyes falling to his lap. "Yeah, she's letting me borrow it for the day."

Daniela nodded, her teeth taking the inside of her cheek between them. "She seemed nice," she said, trying her hardest to sound genuine before quirking a brow. "Can't say the same for her parents."

Lip chuckled and flicked the ash off of his cigarette. "Yeah, they're uh… not exactly approving of her ghetto white trash boyfriend."

Choosing to ignore the sting at the word, Daniela instead mustered up a small amused smile. "That explains the other night."

"Her dad paid me 10 grand to stay away from her."

Daniela's brow raised in surprise. "And you took it?"

"Mmhm," he nodded, making her laugh outright. He watched her with a small grin before catching himself and looking out at the street again. "It should cover the bills for a while until we get back on our feet. Amanda reckons I could've squeezed out at least another 5 if I held on."

Shrugging, Lip took another inhale of his cigarette.

"Anyway, what about you?" He asked, settling his attention on her. She stared back cluelessly. "Your, uh…friend."

Daniela put her own smoke out and heaved a sigh, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I uh, I ended things with him," she revealed, pressing her lips together. "About an hour ago actually." Feeling his eyes on her, she twisted her neck to meet them and mustered up a smile. "It was for the best anyway, it would have never worked out."

"Why's that?" Frowned Lip. He seemed to have an idea but Daniela wasn't about to admit anything- especially to him.

Instead, she pursed her lips and shrugged, deflated.

"Because, despite trying my hardest, I can't seem to move on."

There was a crease in Lip's forehead when she chanced another look at him. His stare had intensified and there's a rigidity to his jaw that she figures means he understands what she's implying. But it wasn't just him. It was her mother as well.

Twisting her mouth, she stared at her hands and rose, abruptly, rose from the steps. Lip's eyes followed her movement as she dusted herself off.

"I'm gonna head back in," she said before clearing her throat and avoiding his eyes. She didn't want to look at him. She didn't want to see whatever emotions were lurking around in there.

Daniela remained standing there for another moment, debating whether to say something but ultimately deciding against it. With the door closing behind her, she left Lip alone to his thoughts which were growing more and more difficult by the minute.


Like I said in the beginning, there are so many things I love about this chapter. Obviously, we have the Ian bombshell as well as Daniela's resolution with Chris and finally, that moment of opening up with Lip.

Let me know what you thought of each of these things and I'll see you in Season 5 - AKA the one where shit starts to get real.

Special thanks to 13teen, Hapsgurl80, angelicedg, RHatch89, LolaCat, Raging Raven, Guest, and littlerosebudbroke for reviewing!

REVIEW!