Chapter 45.

This season is going to be a good one, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shameless.


Daniela pulled the zips closed on her duffle bag and stood back to wipe the few beads of sweat off of her forehead. Summer break had officially begun and, needless to say, the whole campus was buzzing with excited energy. Judging by the constant whoops that could be heard out in the corridor, the party had already begun.

Grinning to herself, Daniela arranged all of her bags together before plopping down to sit on her bare bed. On the other side of the room, her roommate Megan followed a similar routine.

"Any plans for the summer?" Asked Daniela as she watched her.

Megan paused from her packing briefly to cast a smile over her shoulder. "Just visiting my grandparents. They're getting old and senile but their Summerhouse is to die for," she gushed causing Daniela to smile back. "What about you?"

"Just work," she shrugged lamely. At her lackluster response, Megan turned to frown at her.

"That's it?"

"That's it," laughed Daniela, realizing how little she had to do.

Megan pouted, feeling bad for the other girl. "Well, at least try and have a little fun. Who knows? You might meet someone."

Grinning, Daniela shook her head. "I doubt that."

At the sound of her phone chiming, she reached for it and checked the screen to see that it was a text from her brother.

"Okay," she said out loud, gaining Megan's attention. "My brother just got here." After texting back her dorm room number, Daniela rose from the bed and began to gather her bags together. Not even a minute later, there was a knock on the frame of the already-open door.

Glancing in its direction, Daniela beamed at Jakob who returned it.

"Hey kiddo," he greeted as he moved forward to scoop her up into a hug. Daniela returned it furiously, glad to see him again before stepping back and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You all set?"

"Yeah, I'm good to go," nodded Daniela.

Jakob then picked up two of her bags leaving her with just the one and nodded his head to the door. "I'll wait for you downstairs."

Nodding, the girl turned back to her roommate who was just finishing up with her own belongings.

"I'm heading off now but I'll see you in the Fall," said Daniela as she slung the strap of her duffel bag up onto her shoulder. Megan spun on the spot before reaching out to meet the other girl's incoming hug.

"Have a good Summer!" She called out behind Daniela as she headed out the door.

"You too!"

Heading down the stairs, Daniela soon found Jakob waiting right outside the entrance. Once he spotted her, he picked up the bags again before leading her to where he had parked the truck.

"How've you been?" She asked on the way. They hadn't seen each other for almost a month.

"Good," responded Jakob, throwing her a grin. "Work's been pretty flat out but on my off days, I usually spend time with Katherine or I go and see Grandma."

"How are they?" Asked Daniela conversationally.

"Gram's good. Still hates the retirement home. I took her out for the day to go and see Mom, she appreciated that."

Daniela's stride slowed at the mention of their mother. In a few months, they would be coming up on the anniversary of her death which seemed surreal to her. Even after all that time, however, she had barely made any progress in truly moving past the tragic event and the grief that came with it.

Now that she was going home for the Summer, she was sure that there would be many reminders of her as well as many urges from her brother to go and see her but still, Daniela hadn't yet managed to work up the courage to do so.

/

"Hey, we're gonna go over to Katherine's tonight if that's okay with you?" Began Jakob on the drive back, throwing her a sideways glance. "She wants to have dinner to celebrate you finishing your first year."

"Yeah, that sounds fun," nodded Daniela, a small smile lifting her features at the thought of getting to hang out with his girlfriend again.

Katherine and her brother were still going strong and the woman was someone Daniela definitely approved of. It would be the first time going to Katherine's place but from what Jakob had told her, she lived in a nice apartment close to the center of the city.

A comfortable silence filled the truck as the landscape outside of the window began to materialize into more familiar surroundings. After being away for what felt like forever, Daniela took this time to assess the many changes taking shape in their neighborhood.

"We have a yoga studio now?" She asked, a brow quirking in surprise.

"Yeah, places like it have been cropping up more and more recently."

Daniela's mouth thinned in distaste. The mere thought of places like that in their neighborhood would've seemed near impossible only a year ago but by the looks of how much construction was going on, it was about to be the new norm.

She didn't like it.

Eventually, the truck pulled into the curb outside of their house. Slipping her seatbelt off, Daniela opened the door to the feeling of a wave of heat smacking her in the face. She grimaced before grabbing a few of her bags while Jakob carried the remainder.

She had been back once or twice to visit her brother after Ian's slip into a deep depression but the feeling of walking back into the house still comforted her as if she had been gone forever.

"Everything should be where you left it," said Jakob as they entered her room. "I washed the linen though, just in case it was dusty."

"Thanks," replied Daniela, dropping the duffel bag onto the bed with a sigh.

"No problem." Jakob placed her last bag down beside her chest of drawers. "I'll let you unpack. You want a sandwich?"

"No thanks," she shook her head, eyes flicking around the room. "I'm good."

"Alright. Call if you need anything."

Daniela listened as her brother's footsteps carried down the stairs before spinning around, taking in the whole room. Her brother wasn't kidding. Everything was exactly how she had left it.

Her feet crossed the room to where her desk was placed. Art pencils, as well as some good quality paper, were stacked neatly to the side, untouched. She hadn't had much time for her hobby with how hectic the past year had been.

Finally, her eyes came to rest on her family photograph. Biting the inside of her cheek, Daniela picked it up to stare at the image of her mother, brother and herself on her fifth birthday. Her brow furrowed in thought as she brushed the pad of her thumb over their faces; the sight of her mother's smile causing her chest to clench painfully.

Pressing her lips together, she placed the frame back into its original position. Her thumb brushed against her index finger, feeling the build-up of dust. Not wanting to linger any longer, she forewent unpacking and headed downstairs.

"Hey," she began, coming to stand in the archway of the living room. Jakob twisted around on the sofa to look at her as she jutted a thumb in the direction of the door. "I'm just heading out for a bit."

"Sure, no problem," nodded Jakob before settling back into his seat with his sandwich. "Dinner's at 6."

Storing that piece of information away, Daniela slipped on her shoes and headed out the door into the sweltering heat.

/

"So what, you bang a bunch of coeds up at college?"

Lip accepted the offered smoke from Stumpy's hand and brought it to his lips. "Here and there," he shrugged, releasing the puff of smoke. "Hey, you still at your dad's chop-shop Wayne?"

"When he gets the work," answered the second guy as he lounged against the steps of his house. "Towelheads are getting most of the scrap now. But did you hear? Stumpy knocked up Gloria Hu."

Lip's brow raised in surprise as his attention returned to his old friend. "Oh, shit."

Stumpy simply shook his head making his various piercings jiggle. "She squirted a kid out two months ago. I ain't convinced it's mine though so I'm saving up to get one of those DNA tests."

"Right," nodded Lip as he placed the smoke between his lips again. He glanced at his watch impatiently as his mind tried to find an excuse to split from them when Wayne let out a low whistle and jutted his chin across the street.

"Wouldn't mind a piece of that," he said with a sly grin.

Frowning, Lip looked over his shoulder to see Daniela. The cigarette in his mouth hung a little looser as they all watched her walk down the street. The weather had warmed up leaving them with a good look at her tanned legs.

Daniela appeared blind to the lingering looks on her as she raked her hands through her hair in an attempt to pull it up into a messy bun. Lip's eyes remained on her as she came to stop outside of his house. Meanwhile, behind him, the other guys continued their conversation.

"Haven't seen her around here in a while."

"I think she went away to college like this pussy."

"Aye, weren't you hitting that, bro?" Asked Stumpy. Snapping out of his thoughts, Lip twisted back around and nodded slightly, not really wanting to elaborate any further.

Across the street, Daniela stood conversing with his brother and sister. Debbie was still taking her anger out on a doll but occasionally glanced upwards to reply to the older girl.

Sensing eyes on her, Daniela looked out to see Lip staring back. She cracked a small smile and raised her hand in greeting. He returned it before turning back to the guys.

"I'm just gonna-" He gestured over his shoulder to the house causing the others to a share a few knowing looks. "I haven't had a chance to go inside yet," continued Lip in an attempt to shrug off their suspicions.

Stumpy let out a howl of laughter before leaning forward to clap him on the shoulder. "No judgment, we get it."

Bobbing his head in amusement, Lip dipped out and headed across the street where Daniela was still stood talking to Carl and Debbie. As he approached he caught onto their conversation.

"-needs something at the bottom to help smooth it out," said Daniela with her hands on her hips. She was currently scrutinizing the ramp Carl had thrown together to help get his new scooter up and through the door.

As Carl peered over the side to look at his wheels, Daniela glanced over her shoulder, quickly catching sight of Lip.

"Hey," she smiled once he was close enough to hear her.

"Hey," he replied. "Did you just get back?"

Daniela bobbed her head. "Yeah, Jake came and got me." Her eyes shifted past his shoulder to the trio of boys sitting on the stairs across the street. Already watching the pair, they waved cheekily at the two of them causing Daniela to smile slightly and quirk a brow at Lip. "Is that Stumpy?"

"They were just telling me that he knocked up Gloria Hu," replied Lip with a nod. He spared the pack another glance but they seemed to be more concerned with their joints than him and Daniela anymore.

Beside him, Daniela's brow lifted. "No shit," she mumbled before waving a hand in his brother's direction. "Well, Carl was just showing me his new wheels."

"Where'd you even get that?" Frowned Lip, turning his attention to his injured brother.

Carl simply shrugged and played with the joystick. "I found it on the side of the street."

"You mean you stole it from the side of the street," criticised Debbie behind them on the steps. She paused in her stabbing of a doll to meet Carl's scowl.

"You don't know, you weren't there."

Rolling her eyes, the girl brought the pen down into the plastic doll once again, working out her frustrations. Daniela and Lip stood watching her, a bemused expression on each of their faces.

"You alright, Debs?" Questioned Daniela, her voice laden with concern but the younger girl simply growled to herself.

"Stupid bitches."

"You need me to hit someone again?"

"Not until I do it first," responded Debbie bitterly, not lifting her eyes.

Daniela's brow raised as she shared a look with Lip. They both shrugged, sure that the girl would come to either of them if she needed anything. Picking up his bag- which Daniela then realized was a garbage bag- Lip ruffled Carl's hair on the way up the steps.

Following behind, Daniela paused when she got to Debbie.

"We'll talk later, okay?"

Debbie nodded shortly as Daniela kissed her hair before going inside. Once she was out of the heat and into the slightly cooler household, she used her shirt to fan herself.

In the kitchen, Lip pulled out a couple of drinks and handed her one once she was beside him. She accepted it with quiet thanks and cracked it open quickly, the cool temperature feeling amazing.

"You been keeping in touch with Ian lately?" Asked Lip as he leaned against the sink.

Daniela nodded and took a long gulp of her drink. "Yeah, now and then. I tried to stop by a couple of times to see him but college was keeping me busy."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. You know if he ever went to get checked out?"

"Nope," said Daniela with a sad shake of her head. "He and Mickey have been pretty stubborn about it all. It's like the episode was nothing but a blip on the radar for him."

She sighed in resignation. "Mandy's been keeping me updated but Simon managed to rope her into going to Denver with him for the Summer so I'll most likely be going over there a lot to check up on him."

"Denver, huh?" Lip bobbed his head. "Looks like things are getting pretty serious between them."

"Mhm. Quite frankly, I think she just can't wait to get the fuck out of here."

"I don't blame her," said Lip before taking a sip of his drink.

Daniela toyed with her own and leaned against the adjacent counter. "So what are you planning to do for the break?"

"Uh, I was gonna go talk to Tommy," he responded, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. "He promised me a job on his demo site. You?"

Daniela shrugged. "Apart from work and checking up on Ian, I don't have much else to do. I'm pretty sure he'll be too busy with Mickey anyway so I'll probably just relax in the sun."

Nodding, Lip placed his empty bottle into the sink. "Well, if you ever get bored or lonely you're always welcome here," he said causing Daniela to smile back at him. "We're all going over to Patsy's later for dinner if you wanted to join?"

"Oh, thanks but Jake's already made plans," she said before elaborating. "Dinner with his girlfriend." Lip just nodded as her eyes moved to the clock on the wall. "Speaking of, I better get back so I can get ready."

She pushed herself away from the counter before walking to the sink where Lip was. He shifted to the side to allow her to place her drink down. When she pulled back, she flashed him a warm smile.

"I'll text you."

"Yeah, sure," agreed Lip. "Have a good night."

"You too!" She called out on the way to the door; her hand raising in a wave.

/

"Jake's so glad to have you back home," said Katherine during dinner. Throwing a cheeky smirk at her boyfriend, she turned her attention back to his sister. "I mean, he was so proud of you going off to college but I've got to say, he's been missing you."

"Aw," teased Daniela, watching as Jakob let out a long sigh at being picked on. "I missed you too, big bro. This is really good by the way," she said, pointing with her fork at the food.

"Thank you," grinned Katherine, the comment pleasing her. "I thought it'd be nice to celebrate. I can't believe how fast this first year went."

"Yeah, it was pretty crazy."

"How's Ian?" Asked Jakob as he cut into his roast beef, referring to when Daniela had told him about Ian possibly being bi-polar.

"He was doing okay the last time I spoke to Mandy but sometimes I think he's doing too well, you know? It's like I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Yeah," nodded Jakob in understanding before the table slipped into a comfortable silence as they continued to eat.

Throughout it, Daniela noticed the other two sharing small looks. Katherine finally resorted to nudging Jakob under the table and sent a prompting look in her direction causing Daniela to slow her eating.

"Right." Jakob cleared his throat and placed his cutlery down. Narrowing her eyes, she assessed the couple, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I'm starting to think we're not here just to celebrate me finishing my first year of college."

"No- I mean of course we are! But we have something else that we wanted to tell you," answered Jakob, glancing sideways at his girlfriend.

Instantly, Daniela's eyes clenched shut. "Dear God, please do not tell me she is pregnant." Katherine shook her head with a grin as Daniela hummed under her breath and surveyed the woman's hand. "Well, the lack of a ring kills my next theory."

"How about I just tell you?" Offered Jakob making her nod.

"Or you could do that, yeah."

"Katherine and I have been talking about things, and I'm thinking about moving in here with her," he revealed. At Daniela's lack of reaction, Jakob continued. "I mean, obviously, this Summer I'll still be staying at the house you know, so we can hang out and everything but uh, once you go back to school we're thinking of making things permanent here."

The couple shared a happy smile before turning back to Daniela who simply bobbed her head slowly.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day."

"So, you don't have a problem with that?" Asked Jakob.

"Why would I? Even when I was still living at home you were barely there," she laughed before putting down her fork. "Seriously Jake, it's fine. I'm happy for you. Although I'm not too sure about the future of your relationship now that she has to deal with you 24/7."

At another one of her barbs, Jakob rolled his eyes while his girlfriend simply laughed. Clapping her hands together, she fixed the two of them with a pleasant smile, obviously happy that things went well.

"In that case, let me go get dessert," she said as she rose from the table.

/

Later that night, after eating way too much food at Katherine's, Daniela had tried to get an early night but the heat was making it almost impossible. Bored, she resorted to lying on top of her stripped bed and staring up at the ceiling.

It was simply too hot to sleep.

Blowing out a long breath, Daniela twisted and slapped her hand down on the mattress in search of her phone. With it in hand, she then scrolled through her messages until coming across her chat log with Lip.

Hey, you still awake?

She chewed on her lip and watched as the little chat bubble popped up straightaway that signaled he was typing a response.

Yeah, what's up?

Can't sleep. It's way too hot

A minute later, her phone pinged with another message.

It's your lucky day then. Fiona just called an impromptu pool party

Smiling, Daniela typed out a hurried response and got up from the bed.

Haha, I'll be right over

.

Ten minutes later, Daniela rocked up to the house with a towel over her shoulder and her swimwear underneath her clothes. Seeing Fiona standing by the pool, she headed over.

"Fi!" She called out as she drew nearer. At the sound of her name, the woman's head swiveled around so that her eyes came to rest on the other girl.

"Hey!" She grinned back, pulling her in for a tight hug. "You should've told me you were back, I would've invited you to dinner at Patsy's."

"That's okay, Lip already did but I had other plans."

"Right, well this is my boss Sean," she gestured to the stranger beside her. "And his son Will."

Daniela gave each of them a kind smile. "Hi."

"Sean, this is Daniela," continued Fiona, this time gesturing at the girl. "She's basically family."

"Right, it's nice meeting you," nodded the man.

"You too," said Daniela before looking at Fiona. "I'm just gonna go say hi to everyone else."

Slipping away, she headed over to the back steps where Veronica was sat looking incredibly morose. Beside her was Debbie who didn't look much better than the last time she had seen her.

"Hey." She gave each of them a warm smile as she took a seat on the step below them.

Veronica waved unenthusiastically. "Hey, D."

"Everything okay?" Frowned Daniela.

Blowing out a breath, Veronica shook her head. "Me and Kev are having a few problems."

"You're kidding," said the other girl, clearly surprised. Sure, she knew that they had had a few problems in the past- namely when Kev's ex-wife rolled into town- but this one seemed different.

"Nope," sighed Veronica.

"Well, I think we should leave the moping for tomorrow and have some fun." Daniela jutted her chin towards the pool where Fiona, Sean, and Will were splashing around. "You gonna get in?"

"I don't know. I'd rather just sit and watch."

"Oh, come on. It might help to take your mind off of things," reasoned Daniela, trying to persuade her. "At least for a couple of hours."

Thinking about it, Daniela watched as Veronica's shoulders slumped in resignation. "Alright, alright. Just let me go get changed."

With a grin, Daniela watched her stand from the steps and head back inside. Once she was gone, she focused her attention on Debbie and moved up to where Veronica once was.

Her eyes softened as she tucked a piece of red hair behind the girl's ear. "How're you feeling?"

"Shitty."

Daniela resisted the urge to smile. "What's happened?"

"Holly and Ellie won't talk to me anymore," answered Debbie, her bottom lip hanging. "And I have no idea why."

Daniela tutted and placed an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Debs. For some shitty reason, it's something we all go through but in a way, it's a blessing."

"How?" Frowned the younger girl.

"Because this way you know who the fake people that don't deserve an ounce of your time are," said Daniela causing Debbie's gaze to drop to her lap. "And even though I know this seems really major right now, you'll be glad that they're not your friends in the long-term. Just try not to worry about it too much, okay?"

Folding her mouth, Debbie gave her a small nod. "Okay."

"Good." Daniela pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "Now go have fun!" She urged, nudging her shoulder. Debbie managed a small grin before heading straight to the pool to join the others.

Daniela watched as she climbed the steps and was greeted by Fiona's arms pulling her into the water. Happy with herself, Daniela clicked her heels together as a splash battle ensued between Fiona and Sean.

"They're definitely on the road to fucking," whispered a voice in her ear.

Jolting slightly, she turned her neck to see Lip smirking as he sat down beside her. She ignored the pleasant shiver down her spine and instead focused on the couple in the pool.

"Fiona's new squeeze?" She prompted with a quirked brow.

Lip nodded with a chuckle. "It's getting there. You should've seen them at dinner."

She snorted a laugh, already imagining what sort of subtle flirting the two were doing. "How was it?"

"Good for the most part. Frank decided to show up for the free food."

"Of course he did," said Daniela, rolling her eyes. She hadn't seen the man around in a while but knew that he was still recovering from his liver transplant.

"Look who's a cheater!" Yelled Fiona as she continued sending waves of water in her boss' direction.

"Look who's a sore sport!" He replied back.

On the steps, Daniela and Lip shared a knowing look.

"Yup. They're definitely on their way," said Daniela as they observed them. "How long do you think it'll take them?"

"Who knows?" Shrugged Lip. "With Fiona's persistence, probably a month."

Daniela laughed lightly when another voice announced themselves.

"You guys have room for one more?"

"Ian!" Cheered everyone as he approached them all while both Lip and Daniela rose from the stairs quickly to greet him.

"You're here," grinned Daniela as he gave her a tight hug.

"Yeah, Fiona texted me."

"No Mickey?" Asked his sister from the pool causing Ian to flash them all a sly grin.

"Oh, I wore him out."

"Oh God," groaned Daniela as she rolled her eyes mockingly. Ian simply grinned back at her and proceeded to take his shirt off. She followed suit, leaving her in her swimming bikini and board shorts.

The rest of them piled into the pool causing numerous games to ensue until it was just Ian trying to drown Daniela after she splashed water up his nose. His arms circled around her waist and heaved her up causing her to shriek at the momentum.

Her legs flailed as he swung her back down into the water causing her head to go under. Shaking her head, she felt his arms grab her waist and bring her back up again. Daniela wiped the hair out of her eyes ready to blast Ian in the face again when she saw that it was Lip who had pulled her.

Her lips parted as he stared back at her; the corners of his mouth turned upwards. Once he was sure that she was steady on her feet again, his hands fell from her waist. Daniela was thankful for the cover of the dark because she was sure her cheeks were flaming red.

Opening her mouth to say something, she was quickly stopped by Ian's battle cry followed by a tsunami of water to the side of her face.

"Mother-" was all she got out before she leaped and jumped onto Ian, trying to shove his head under.

Peals of laughter rang out from the backyard as they kicked off the Summer the only way Gallaghers knew how to; by pissing all of their neighbors off.


.

I'm going to be really busy basically up until December so updates will be varied.

In other news, the new trailer for season 8 is out. Did you all watch it and if so, what did you think?

Special thanks to RHatch89, Hapsgurl80, angelicedg, 13teen, funwithstark, Volleyball Babe22, littlerosebudbroke, and Guest 1&2 for leaving a review!

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