A:N/ I'm so glad everyone liked the first chapter! I'm also thrilled to see so many people are back for the sequel. Also, chapters will be a weekly thing but depending on the amount of reviews (like the first chapter, 19, you guys are amazing) you may get it a day or so early.
Tessa walked through the front door and saw Frank chugging some disgusting drink. She scrunched up her nose in disgust and took in everything else in front of her. She saw Carl giving beer to a dog sitting in Liam's highchair. She saw Sheila sitting at the counter on her iPad and Debbie sitting at the table doing homework. Fiona was in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner and probably getting lunch together for tomorrow.
"And I keep getting pictures of men in their underpants with bulges. I…I have no idea what DTF meant," Sheila whined.
Tessa chuckled and went to sit down next to Debbie at the table.
"Holly says it a lot. I'm not sure what it stands for," Debbie said.
"Down to fuck," Tessa explained, pulling out her phone from her pocket.
She heard Sheila gasp and Debbie giggle.
"Hey Tessa, how have you been?" Fiona asked, moving about the kitchen.
"Fine," she said. "Just working."
Fiona went to continue the conversation but her phone began to ring. She smiled and answered it. "Hey, kid! How's higher learning?" Fiona asked.
Tessa assumed that Fiona was talking to Lip and she looked over at what Debbie was doing. "I hated chemistry," she said.
Debbie sighed. "My teacher sucks," she began. "He's so old I can't even understand him half the time."
"Well I can always try to help you if you need it," Tessa offered.
"Thanks," Debbie said.
"So how are things with Matt?" Tessa asked, making her tone a little softer.
Debbie smiled. "Good. He cooked me dinner the other night."
Tessa grinned. "Wow. That's nice. Was it any good?"
"Yeah he made chicken and green beans," Debbie recalled. "It was good and we watched storage wars."
Tessa nodded and looked up and heard Fiona say, "Well, Debbie uses it for school, and Carl uses it for porn. Uh, can you borrow one from over there?"
"He need the laptop?" Tessa asked.
Fiona nodded her head.
"He can come grab mine. I barely use it. So long as he doesn't break it," she offered.
"Oh Tessa said you can use hers," Fiona added. There was a moment of silence and Tessa assumed Lip was talking. "He'll text you," Fiona said.
Tessa nodded and looked back at Debbie who was wiggling her eyebrows. Tessa rolled her eyes. "What now?"
"Sharing a laptop with Lip?" Debbie asked. "That's cute."
Tessa frowned. "Finish your homework."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Coming!" Tessa yelled as she walked down the hallway towards her door. Sam was working so she knew it wasn't her at the door. She hadn't heard from Fiona in a few days and was actually getting a little worried. When she had last asked her about how things with Mike had been going, she had acted strange and changed the topic.
Tessa opened the door and saw Lip standing there. She offered him a smile and stepped off to the side so he could come inside. "Here for the laptop?" She asked. Tessa turned around and went towards her bedroom to grab the laptop for him. She didn't bother turning to see if he was following her because she could hear his footsteps.
"Something else, actually." His voice was very close behind her and she turned to see Lip only a few inches away from her.
Grabbing her face, Lip crushed her lips with his own.
Tessa should have pushed him away but instead she latched onto him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer so their bodies were pressed against one another.
Lip backed her up until the back of her knees touched her bed and he pushed her down. After taking off his shirt and jeans, Lip climbed on top of Tessa and began to kiss her stomach, pushing her shirt up as he did so. Once he reached her bra, he pulled her top off and tossed it off to the side.
She pulled his face towards her and kissed him, suddenly realizing how much she had missed kissing him.
While his mouth remained attached to hers, his hands worked on pushing her jeans down as far as he could get them. When he could no longer push them down, he pulled away and leaned back and sat on his calves to pull them off. Then he quickly tugged her underwear off, not wanting to prolong his desire.
"Fuck, I missed you," he said through labored breathing as he looked down at her body.
Finally he leaned forward and pushed himself into her, swearing under his breath. Tessa quickly inhaled at the sensation of him filling her.
Lip began to pump in and out of Tessa while peppering kisses along her neck and trying to control his breathing. A moment later she felt him twitch inside of her and he quickly came, groaning and resting his face in the crook of her shoulder.
He pulled out and rolled over onto his back. "Shit, sorry," he said. "Been a while," he confessed.
Tessa looked over at him and quirked an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me there's no slutty college girls you've banged?"
He laughed and tried to catch his breath. "No," he said. "Well. I tried with my tutor for extra credit but she was into some other dude."
She pursed her lips at his confession, but knew that at least he hadn't done anything. On the plus side, he had also told her about it. She wondered if he was actually trying not to hook up with any other girls on campus or if he simply hadn't been having any luck.
"I still just want you," he said, as if he had read her mind.
Tessa chuckled and sat up. "Shit," she swore. "You didn't use a condom." She gave him a pointed look.
"Oh," he said. Lip didn't look the least bit worried.
Quirking her eyebrow, Tessa crawled out of bed. "Oh?" She asked. "Did you not use a condom on purpose?" She reached down and grabbed one of the large t-shirts that she used to sleep in and pulled it on.
He sat up a little and shrugged. "Well no, but…you never know. Ever think about having a little rugrat running around?"
Tessa folded her arms over her chest and frowned. "No," she said, shaking her head. "Not to mention I wouldn't have a kid while you're away at college or have a kid because then you'd definitely drop out of college." This was getting a little too close to home for Tessa, considering what she had done a few months ago.
Lip sighed and got out of bed, finding his boxers and pulling them on. "I'm dropping out anyway. That place just isn't for me."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Tessa asked, glaring at Lip.
"No?" He said. "It's my choice."
"You should leave before I punch you in the fucking face," she snapped. Tessa stormed out of her room and into the bathroom.
Lip followed her. "Why are you so pissed? Is it because of the condom thing? Is it because I might actually want to have a kid with you?"
Tessa turned and glared at him. "That's not what you want. You want to use a kid to use as an excuse to leave college; to give up. But second of all, you don't have to worry about anything because I'm taking the birth control shots."
Lip's face became confused. "Since when?" he asked.
"Why does it matter?" She asked.
"You weren't getting the shots when we were together. So what the fuck changed?"
She ran a hand through her hair, wanting to pull it out in frustration. 'You knocked me up, that's what changed,' Tessa thought. "Because I didn't want something like this happening, okay?" She snapped.
Lip scoffed and shook his head. "Right. Because it makes sense to go on birth control after you break up with someone." He glared at Tessa. "If you're fucking someone else, just tell me," he snapped.
"I'm not!" She snapped back. "And even if I was, it would be none of your god damn business!" She yelled at him.
"Of course it's my god damn business!" Lip yelled. "I'm not hooking up with anyone at school for you!"
Tessa couldn't even yell at him that she had never asked him to do that, because in a way, she had. She clenched her jaw and shook her head.
"Just fucking admit it!" Lip yelled. He walked around the bed and got closer to her so they were only a few feet apart.
She snapped and before she knew it, she had punched Lip in the face. He fell back onto her bed and he looked up at her in shock. He touched his face and his nose was bleeding a little bit, but for the most part she had gotten his eye.
"I am not sleeping with anyone else," she seethed. "And now I want you out of my fucking house." Tessa pointed towards her bedroom door, showing him that he needed to leave.
Lip glared and picked up his clothes, pulling his jeans on and then his shirt. He stormed out of her apartment and slammed the door shut.
The sound scared Tessa and she found herself sinking to the floor out of exhaustion. A sob escaped her mouth and she quickly covered her mouth to prevent another one from leaving.
It had all been too much. There had been so many times where she had almost yelled at him that he had gotten her pregnant and that she had gotten rid of it. She would do it again in a heartbeat if the situation presented itself again. She refused to let Lip use her as an escape from any college responsibilities. He was going to go back and he was going to finish school.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A few days passed and she hadn't heard anything from Lip. She supposed that was a good thing since she didn't want to fight with him. Their fights always seemed to be more exhausting than they should be.
Tessa had thrown herself into work, taking doubles at the diner whenever she couldn't get extra shifts at the club. The club had slowed down since it was winter and the outdoor patio was closed. The tips were still better than the ones she got at the diner, but Tessa couldn't afford to only work at the club.
She just got out of work when her phone began to ring. Pulling it out of her bag, she looked to see who it was. Lip. She glared at the phone in her hand. After letting it ring for a bit, she finally picked it up.
"I'm not talking to you until you go back to school." Tessa hung up the phone before Lip could say anything.
Tessa got into her car and her phone began to ring again. It was no surprise that it was Lip calling her again. She played with the idea of ignoring it and letting him leave a voicemail, but decided to see what he had to say.
"Did you go back to school?" She asked.
She heard Lip huff in frustration. "Yes, okay?"
He seemed to be in a bad mood, but Tessa didn't care. She was just happy that he had finally gotten some sense knocked into him, maybe quite literally since she had punched him a few days prior, and had returned to school.
"Then how may I help you, Mr. Gallagher?" She asked, making her tone sweet.
"When was the last time you heard from Ian?" Lip asked.
Tessa frowned. If Lip was calling about Ian that meant that they still hadn't heard from him either. That wasn't good. "Your graduation party," Tessa confessed.
"Fuck," Lip swore. "He took my name and social and signed up with the Army. Now he's AWOL."
"What?!" Tessa gasped.
"Yeah. Fucking Military Cops showed up at my school looking for me," he explained. "I'm gonna go see if Mickey has heard from him."
"He hasn't," she said. "He was trying to be subtle a week or so ago by asking if anyone had heard anything from Ian."
"Well I'm going to still try."
Tessa pursed her lips. She wasn't crazy about the idea of Lip going over to Mandy's house, even if it was to talk to her brother. She just didn't get a good feeling when she thought about him going over there.
"Keep me updated?" Tessa asked.
"Uh yeah," Lip said.
Tessa hung up the phone and tossed it back into her purse. She leaned back in her seat and took in a deep breath. If Ian was missing then she was going to worry until they found him. If Lip was going to ask Mickey then maybe she could try to ask anyone else. She knew that if she went home and did nothing, it would just drive her crazy.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Looking down at the iPhone ping Debbie had sent her, Tessa walked down the street towards her destination. A few hours after she had gotten off the phone with Lip, Debbie had texted her saying that it was an emergency and that she needed her to meet her somewhere. Instead of trying to get details from her, Tessa had simply dropped what she was doing and left to find Debbie.
Her surroundings were becoming a little sketchier and she quickly realized she was in Boystown. Why the hell was Debbie telling her to meet her in Boystown? Her phone buzzed and she looked down, realizing that she had reached her final destination. She looked around but didn't see Debbie anywhere. However, she did see that she was standing in front of a gay club called the White Swallow. "Good grief," she mumbled.
"Tessa!" The sound of someone calling her name made her glance around. She finally spotted Debbie running towards her and she smiled. Her smile began to fade slightly when she noticed Lip walking behind her. Why had Debbie insisted on her coming here if she was with her brother?
Debbie got to Tessa and she smiled. "Thanks for coming," she said.
"Uh huh," Tessa said. She gave Debbie a skeptical look. "And what's this emergency you told me about? I was under the impression you were stuck somewhere, but it appears you already have a chaperone?"
"We're looking for Ian. I thought it might help for you to be here," she confessed.
"Debbie," Tessa said with a sigh. "I don't think you need me here. You have Lip."
Lip finally caught up to the two girls and he glanced at Tessa. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"Ask your sister," she said, shooting Debbie a look.
Lip looked down at Debbie and raised his eyebrow. "I just thought she could help," she said.
"Ian's supposed to be here?" Tessa asked, glancing at the club.
He sighed. "I guess."
"And you think bringing a thirteen year old inside is a good idea?" Tessa asked.
"Well I guess we could tie her up to the light post and leave her outside," Lip joked.
Tessa and Debbie glared at him.
"Hilarious," Tessa deadpanned. She shoved Lip closer to the door and wrapped her arm around Debbie's shoulder.
Once inside they were hit with the bright lights and loud music. Tessa glanced around to look for Ian but didn't see him after they had descended from the stairs. She kept her grip tight on Debbie, not wanting her to get lost in this type of crowd.
Debbie and Tessa finally spotted Ian behind the bar. He was wearing a silver sparkly tank top and his hair was slicked back. He looked happy but he didn't look like himself.
He did a double take and he realized that the people staring at him were ones that he knew.
"Does he know it's us?" Debbie asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Lip waved his hand at Ian. "Yo!"
Ian grinned. "What's up!?" He yelled.
The three of them walked over to the bar and Ian met them near the bar's entrance. Lip went to give his brother a hug but Ian had his hands raised in the air for a double high-five.
"Oh," Lip said, not expecting the overzealous greeting.
"Debbie! Oh my gosh!" He hugged and kissed his sister. "You look great!" He exclaimed.
"Thank you," she said with a forced smile. "You do too."
"And Tessa! Wow I've missed you!" He engulfed her in a hug and she patted his back lightly. She could see Lip smirking and she glared at him.
One of Ian's co-workers walked by and he stopped him. "This is my brother and sister and one of my best friends. This is family!"
"Hey," the other bartender greeted.
"Hey, how long you been working here, huh?" Lip asked.
"A couple weeks," he answered. "This place, it's awesome. It's…it's super convenient. You guys want drinks? They're on the house," Ian gushed.
"No, I'm good. I'm good," Lip insisted.
"Appletini, Appletini!" Ian said, going to stand behind the bar again.
"No," Lip said again.
"Three appletinis," he said pointing at all three of them.
"Okay," Debbie said with an uncomfortable tone.
"Probably going to need a drink for this anyway," Tessa pointed out, leaning closer to Debbie so she could hear her.
"Hey, Ian, is there anyplace we could talk?" Lip asked.
"Oh! I love this song!" Ian said, completely ignoring Lip.
"Yeah, look. Some army MPs came by looking for you. They want to arrest you for going AWOL – stealing government property."
Tessa's eyes widened and she looked at Lip. He hadn't told her any of this. She wondered how long he had known about it and why the army had gone to Lip looking for Ian.
Ian held up the vodka he was using for their drinks and pointed to it. "This is top shelf," he explained.
"No, hey, did…did you hear me? They say you stole a helicopter." Tessa could tell that Lip was getting frustrated. She knew that if he snapped everything would go to hell and they could possibly risk not being able to find Ian again.
"That's hilarious," he gushed.
"Is it?" Lip asked.
"Yeah, yeah. I mean, I didn't steal anything. I just started the rotors," he explained like it was no big deal. "Hey, can you guys hang around for a while? My shift gets off at 2:00, but I always go out after or hit the local gym, depending on how pumped I am. But seeing you guys, I...I just feel great, you know?" He was beginning to ramble on as he poured their drinks.
"Okay, you know what, hey, let's go outside so we can hear each other, huh?"
Ian placed their drinks down on the bar and pushed them towards Lip, Debbie and Tessa.
"Try your drink," he insisted.
"No, outside," Lip demanded. Ian began to walk away and Lip grabbed at his brother. "Come on, come here."
A bodyguard walked up behind Lip and began to grab at Lip. "Hey, get your hand off him."
"No, it's fine, it's okay. We're brothers, all right? We're just talking," he explained. "Yo, Ian!" He yelled after his brother
Tessa picked up her drink and downed it as quickly as possible. She had never been one for fruity drinks but Ian had done a pretty good job. However, she had just been in need of the alcohol. Debbie went to reach for her drink but Tessa slapped her hand away.
Debbie glared at Tessa and opened her mouth to protest but the bodyguard interrupted her. "And I definitely need some ID." He began to tug at Debbie.
"Hey let go of her!" Tessa yelled.
Lip continued to try to get Ian's attention to no avail, but Tessa had given up and was trying to get the large man to release Debbie from his grasp. He finally pushed them down the hall and Tessa glared at him.
"Why was he acting like that?" Debbie asked.
"It's late. We should go," Lip said, ignoring her question.
"Is there something wrong with him?" She asked.
"At least we know where he is now, okay? I'll come back and check on him. Let's get you home, though, all right? Come on." He ushered Debbie out the door and Tessa trailed behind them. She glanced behind her to see if she could see Ian, but she had no luck.
Once the three of them were outside, Tessa sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"Thanks," Debbie said, turning to look at Tessa.
She shrugged, not sure why Debbie was thanking her. She hadn't done anything spectacular to help. "Do you guys want a ride home?" She asked.
"Can we stop at the grocery store so I can get a birthday cake for Fiona?" Debbie asked.
"Of course," Tessa said, offering Debbie a small smile. She glanced at Lip who had lit up a cigarette during their brief exchange.
The three of them began to walk towards Tessa's car, with Tessa walking next to Debbie and Lip trailing behind the two of them, smoking his cigarette.
They got to her car and climbed inside. She was thankful that Lip put his cigarette out before he got in, since she didn't really want to have to talk to him. Tessa sped off towards the grocery store so Debbie could get the cake.
"I'll be right back," Debbie said, unbuckling her seatbelt. Tessa wanted to protest, but knew it would only make Debbie question everything.
"Oh wait." Tessa dug into her pocket and pulled out some money and handed it to Debbie. "I didn't get Fiona a birthday present. Use this for the cake," she said.
Debbie thanked her and got out of the car to go get the cake.
There was an awkward silence between Lip and Tessa. He was staring out his window and she was staring through the windshield, hoping Debbie didn't take too long in the store.
"I think Ian's like Monica."
His words broke the silence and Tessa turned to look at him. She had to take a minute to comprehend what he had said. "What do you mean?"
"I think he's bi-polar. He just didn't seem like Ian."
Tessa sighed and started to make indents on her steering wheel with her fingernail. "We'll get him home and figure things out from there," she said. "Getting him away from Monica is probably a good first step," she said through a sigh.
There was another awkward silence between the two, but this time it was Tessa that spoke up.
"I'm glad you went back to school."
Lip released a dry chuckle. "You weren't the only one chewing my ass out over not going back. Kev did a pretty decent job too."
Tessa smiled. "Someone's got to keep you in line."
"That's what you're for," he said, looking over at her with a smirk.
"Oh my bad," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Must be why college just isn't working out for you."
Lip laughed. "See? I'm not wrong."
Tessa rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Whatever you say, Lip."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tessa pulled up in front of the Gallagher house and put her car in park but didn't turn it off. Debbie began to get out of the car but paused. "Aren't you coming in?" she asked.
She hummed in response and pulled the key out of the ignition. Truth be told, she had spaced out.
Tessa walked towards the house but Lip and Debbie were ahead of her. Debbie was already up the stairs when Lip called for his sister's attention.
"Thanks for coming with me today," Lip said to Debbie.
She smiled at her brother. "Yeah, thanks for letting me."
Tessa smiled and was glad that Lip had reached out to Debbie. She was glad that he hadn't gone searching for Ian on his own. She knew he could have handled it no matter what, but it made her feel better knowing that he would have had some sort of support, even if it was his little sister.
The three of them walked inside and everyone began chanting about the cake. Debbie walked into the kitchen to put the cake away.
Fiona smiled at Tessa and Lip. She was dancing away and Tessa guessed she was already fairly drunk.
"Where have you been?" Fiona asked.
"Oh, we were just on a little adventure. I'll tell you about it later," he said.
"Well, looks like somebody's gonna get to keep their job!" Fiona cheered.
"Oh, no shit, that's great," Lip said.
Tessa raised an eyebrow, wondering what had happened for Fiona's job to be in jeopardy in the first place. However, it was Fiona's birthday and she didn't want to ruin it by asking about something that could possibly put her in a sour mood.
"Fiona!" Debbie cried from the kitchen.
Fiona rushed into the kitchen and saw Debbie leaning over a passed out Liam.
"Oh my god," Debbie said.
Tessa and Lip rushed into the kitchen, not too far behind Fiona.
"Oh, shit," Fiona said. She put her cup on the washer and knelt down next to Debbie.
"What's on his face?" Debbie asked.
"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god." Fiona kept going on and on. Tessa covered her mouth when she saw the empty bag Fiona picked up that had been next to Liam.
He had taken drugs. If Frank had brought drugs into the house she was going to kill him. She knew the other Gallagher siblings would already be way ahead of her, but she didn't care. She couldn't believe he could be so careless.
"Step back, step back," V said, pushing everyone out of the way.
"Call 911," Tessa said, shaking Lip's arm. He immediately took out his phone and dialed the number, but his eyes stayed locked on his unconscious little brother.
"Oh, my god," Fiona cried. "He's not breathing."
"Liam? Liam? Liam?" V called out, trying to wake the toddler. "Step back, give him some room. Liam?"
"Oh my god," Fiona cried.
The ambulance finally arrived and everyone quickly moved out of the way so the paramedics could do their job.
"BP is 200 over 120. Heart rate's 130. What'd he take?"
"Coke! He got into my coke," Fiona answered, he voice shaky.
"How much?" The paramedic asked.
"A half-gram, maybe more. I don't know."
The paramedics picked Liam up. "Coming through," they announced.
"He gonna be okay? He's gonna be okay, though, right?" Fiona asked.
"Yeah, clear the way, please," the paramedic insisted. "Coming through! Three-year-old male, cocaine ingestion. BP's 200 over 120. HR is 130."
They loaded him into the ambulance and Fiona climbed in after them. She turned and looked at everyone standing outside.
No one could believe what had just happened. Tessa felt a tear roll down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away.
"I'll get the truck," Kev announced.
"Lip, let's go," Tessa said, tugging on his hand.
They rushed over to her car, which was thankfully not blocked by the fire engine. They climbed in and Debbie had climbed into the back seat.
"Where's Carl?" Tessa asked as she started her car.
"With V," Debbie said through a sob.
Satisfied with Debbie's answer, she took off towards the hospital, breaking speed limits without caring.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
They all sat in hospital chairs, waiting as patiently as they possibly could. Fiona was off talking to a nurse and Tessa had no idea where Lip had disappeared.
She finally spotted Lip and she could see the empty look on his face. He approached Fiona and she saw them talking but was unable to hear anything.
Debbie, Carl, Kev and V all rose from their seats to see what Fiona had to say so Tessa thought it was okay if she did too.
"I was watching him at the party," Fiona insisted. "I thought he was in the living room."
No one was offering her kind words. Tessa could see a hint of anger on Lip's face and she fought the urge to grab his hand.
"Excuse me, Liam?" Fiona asked, grabbing a nurse that walked by. "Liam Gallagher?"
"Have a seat," she said. "Someone will be out with you in a minute." The nurse avoided eye contact and quickly walked away.
"What was that?" Fiona asked, turning back to everyone else.
"Who's Fiona?" A police officer asked, walking towards the group with a second officer by his side.
"That's me."
"Put your hands behind your back," he ordered. He pulled out his cuffs and Tessa felt her eyes go wide.
"What?!" She asked.
"Fiona Gallagher, you have the right to remain silent," he began to read Fiona her rights.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on?" Kev began, but the other officer held him back.
"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand your rights as I've read them to you?"
The officer started to push Fiona down the hallway and she looked back at everyone. Her eyes showed how scared she was.
Debbie, Carl, Kev and V all walked down the hallway following the officers and Fiona, but Tessa stood by Lip's side.
The two stayed in place and just stared at everyone that followed after Fiona. Tessa didn't know what to do. Fiona was her friend but she didn't know how she was going to forgive her for something like this. She knew that Lip was thinking the same and that's why she had stayed with him. Despite their recent fight, Tessa knew Lip would need her help and she was going to do everything she could for them.
A:N/ Nice and long chapter! What did you guys think? I'm finally at the part I've been the most excited to write for a while. Let's just say, Lip and Tessa playing house is basically going to be relationship goals. Please leave me a review!