Work Text:
Firewood
/ˈfī(ə)rˌwo͝od/ noun
wood burned as fuel
“Hey” Lip pulled his younger brother into a hug. “You doing ok?” The air was weirdly tense as Lip stood at the front door of Ian and Mickey’s new Westside apartment.
It had been less than a week since Ian and Mickey’s anniversary party. Less than a week since Frank’s passing and the Fisher-Balls officially moved to Kentucky. Less than a week since Debbie took Franny and ran off with the crook girl she was hanging with. Less than a week since Tami took a test that confirmed her suspicions that she was in fact expecting. Life had been curveball after curveball with no real-time to settle and relax before the next thing hit them. The Gallagher’s finally seemed to catch a slight lull, it had been two whole days with no earth-shattering news. At that time Lip thought it was time to finally try to settle everything. Fiona was off in Florida with no intention of coming back. Both his parents were dead. In a way, that made him the new patriarch of the family, he figured it was time to start acting like it.
He had texted Ian the night before, saying they needed to come together and hash some shit out. Ian obviously agreed, just as lost and needing some closure as everyone else did.
“Hey, Tami” Ian gave her a slightly awkward side hug, when he pulled them apart he kneeled down slightly, smiling down at the car seat his barely awake nephew was in. “Hey there buddy!” He gave one last greeting before ushering them inside.
“Shit” Lip huffed, looking around the apartment, an impressed look ingrained into his sucked in lips. “This place is nice”
Tami from beside him snorted. “Yeah, go figure two ex-cons have a nicer place than us”
“Sorry, was that rude?” Tami facepalmed herself, eyes widened “I’m not trying to be a bitch, it's the hormones” she mouthed an extra sorry as she settled into the large space.
“You clearly haven’t been around the family long enough if you think that's rude” Ian brushed the comment off, lips curled inward, mimicking Lip’s previous expression. His arm extended outward to the mostly barren apartment.
Mickey gave a half-baked wave at the couple as his attention stayed mostly occupied by the frozen pizza in the oven that didn’t seem to be cooking right.
“I know it's a bit bare but we finally got the sofa we’ve been trying to order for a few days” he gestured to the tan couch in the corner. It was the only piece of furniture in the entire house besides two plastic chairs outside on the balcony and their mattress, stationed right in front of the sad-looking lonesome couch.
“Um, why is your mattress in the living room?” Lip raised an eyebrow at Ian.
Ian definitely could have lied. He could have said that they just gave up and left it there when they dragged it up from the first floor. He could have said they ate their food there cross-legged because they didn’t want to ruin the new couch. He could have said literally anything that didn’t indicate that the mattress was there because Ian had this weird fantasy of having sex in front of their new fireplace. The floor was too hard and he did very seriously not want to ruin the new couch so just having their bed there made sense to him.
“Um….no reason” Ian’s eyes were shifty, landing on Mickey who seemed to have enough with the oven and now resorted to gathering a few drinks from the fridge.
“Oh” Tami’s eyes followed Ian’s watching Mickey. “Yeah, gross!” She gave a fake smile.
Tami settled on one side of the couch, her arm squished tightly against the armrest in case anyone wanted to sit next to her. The couch wasn’t huge. A relatively small loveseat that could hold maybe three people if they all sat with their knees touching, elbows drawn to their own laps.
The couch was more comfortable than Tami expected it to be. Maybe that was because her feet were already starting to swell and would have sat on the probably cum–stained mattress despite her previous protests if that meant she didn’t have to put pressure on her heels for even a second. She nodded at Lip to come to sit next to her. He gave a little head shake, planting his feet near the armrest opposite her. He did reach forward, however, grabbing Fred’s car seat and settling the sleeping baby next to his own feet.
Her eyes fell onto the walls surrounding her. There weren’t any photos or really anything at all to decorate the apartment. She really couldn’t condemn them for that. Tough week. In her scanning, she spotted perhaps the only personal thing the boys had out. A small black frame sat atop the fireplace mantle. It was a photo from Mickey and Ian’s wedding. They held one another close, in loving embraces. She smiled at it, and then as the familiarity brought her some comfort, Ian ruined it.
He stood directly in her line of vision, playing around with the dial of the fireplace. He was trying to get it to start up since a draft ran through the apartment. Ian had accidentally broken the screen door that led out to their balcony overestimating his own strength. Tami could feel the wind brushing against her, the hair on the back of her neck at attention.
Ian could tell she looked cold, rubbing her arms across one another. Plus, he would take any opportunity to turn the fire on. He really liked that fireplace.
As Ian flipped the dial a few times. As she watched the flames roar to life, Mickey suddenly stood in front of her. He offered a can of Coke. She found that kinda odd as, in the limited time they’d spent eating together, Mickey would usually offer up a beer. Then it hit her, since Lip had told Ian about baby number two, there was no way that Mickey also didn’t know. She took it with a grateful nod, pulling back the tab immediately.
“Isn’t this thing cool? I think it's the best thing about this whole apartment” he gave a satisfied little smile as the flames grew in height. He raised his hands to the glass slightly, feeling the warmth. “I love this thing”
“Yeah, tough guy we know ” Mickey gave a little smirk, giving his ass a little squeeze before taking a seat opposite of Tami. the blonde stifled out a laugh, Lip pretended to gag and for just a second everything felt kinda normal again.
“Ight, Ian” Lip gestured for his little brother to come and sit so the conversation could finally start. Ian decided to sit on the edge of the mattress, unable to squeeze between Tami and Mickey.
His legs pulled up to his chest, smiling over at Fred who was right next to him. Long limbs reached past his crunched legs, lightly clasping Fred’s arm with a soft coo to greet his nephew.
Mickey from the other side of the room tried to ignore his husband’s tender move, going stiff before remembering there were others in the room. He forced his posture back to its normal ill-fitting stance, occupying his attention on the beer bottle in his hand. It took Ian a second to register he was being talked to. His eyes finally snapped up to Lip with a little “Huh?”
“Carl got tested this morning. Covid free thank fuck. Debbie didn’t get a chance to get tested before she left but says she feels fine” Lip gave a little huff. “Thanks for booking all the appointments, was a big help man” his hand reached down to his brother, a firm hand cupped Ian’s knee in appreciation.
“Yeah of course, whatever you need just let Mick and I know” His voice was serious, genuine, immediately getting interrupted by Mickey who snorted, lips still pressed against the cold edge of the glass bottle -because they had a little more money now and had a hard week, they deserved beer from a glass bottle instead of a can every now and again. His drink went back down to his lap, pursed unimpressed lips now revealed.
“Yeah ‘cept I’m not getting nose fucked again”
Tami snorted from beside him, that didn’t deter Mickey any, interruptions never did.
“Rather have that shit again they have to keep getting tested”
Lip gave a little sigh. He really wasn’t in the mood to deal with his brother-in-law’s smart mouth or fight him on comments. He was willing to accept passive-aggressive digs or ignorant comments in lieu of some tranquillity. He didn’t need to add more to an already full plate.
“Yeah, well,” Lip trailed off, looking around the room to collect his thoughts before continuing his speech. Ian from beside his feet was already back to playing with Freddie, shaking the set of plastic rings in the carrier in front of his face. The kid seemed unamused, on the brink of sleep as he made no attempt to appease his uncle or play into the game.
“So least important news first” Lip fiddled with the tab of his coke, pushing it open with a crack. “Frank. His body is still in the freezer, they’re gonna embalm him sometime in the next few months. Apparently, covid is still fucking him after death too” Lip raised the can up to his mouth taking a few drinks.
Ian followed the movement with his own beer. Pulling it from his mouth he licked the rim of his lips. “Okay and we care why?”
Another hum from the back of Lip’s throat sounded. His grip tightened around his can, the aluminium crinkled slightly under the pressure. “I don’t. Know you and Carl don’t give a fuck either but it’s um Liam” He raised his hand up, the cold condensation of the can hit his nose. “He wants us all to come to dinner Sunday”
“Aye, we can’t Sunday” Mickey immediately spoke up, all three sets of eyes immediately following him. “We got meetings and shit. Some CEO guy that owns a bunch of dispensaries is considering hiring us”
Ian’s eyes shifted from Mickey over to Lip, his jaw slacked slightly as he tried to formulate a sentence. “We really can’t miss” he reached his hand up to scratch the back of his head. “Can we reschedule?” Ian gave a little sigh, realising Mickey was right.
“Dunno” Lip copied with an agitated huff. “Carl says he’s picking up more hours, who knows about Debbie, guessing she’s gonna be a no-show. And Tami and I have so much shit to sort out” He swallowed hard, taking another sip to coat his tired vocal cords. “Don’t know the next time we’re all gonna be able to get together”
“Can we push the dinner out maybe?” Ian tried. He pulled out his phone from his back pocket, aiming it in Mickey’s direction. “We get our deliveries at five-ish, right? Then we can meet with the guy, that’s like what an hour, two at most. That puts us at seven, seven-thirty when we make it to the house. We should be able to swing it, right?” He clicked his phone off, setting it beside him on the mattress. His eyebrows remained fused together as he thought it over, wheels clearly turning.
“No, we have the meeting with the therapist lady after man” Mickey’s voice suddenly corrected. Tone level, stern like he was a father trying to keep his house in line. Lip felt some way about that. That Mickey seemed to have had a planned schedule out that he intended on carrying out. Surly living on the Westside for a week and a half hadn’t changed him that much already.
“Fuck, can we reschedule that?”
“No,” Mickey and Lip answered simultaneously.
Mickey’s eyes shot daggers into Lip the moment the two-letter word had left his mouth. He had a reason to say no, he was Ian’s husband, his job was to look out for him. Lip on the other hand didn’t have a reason to interject. He had long faced out of the time in his life where the authoritative older brother role was acceptable. His utterance notably pissed Mickey off a little but he chose to not make it a big deal.
“No” Mickey repeated, eyes once again falling to him. “Took us forever to get that appointment. She doesn’t even work that late usually, is staying open just for us” He reminded Ian with an eyebrow raise. “We can miss whatever shit your family has to say. We ain’t messing with your mental health” he settled against the back of the couch, lips pursed. His general statute looked like he was ready to fight anyone who had any other opinion than his own in the manner.
“Then just come over after the appointment” Tami had spoken up for the first time since the initial conversation. Her head was in her hands. Her week had been full of conversations like that. mostly pointless yielding no effective results. She was growing tired of the cycle.
“Ah no, it’ll be too late” Lip’s hand extended forward. “Carl has to go at eight to meet Arthur about The Alibi or some shit. Dunno was too busy talking to the funeral home when he was trying to tell me”
Silence fell over the room in an all-consuming tense blanket. All four of them raised their drinks to their lips once more, hoping the move could fulfil some emotional buffer needed.
Ian was the first to speak up, scratching at the side of his head. “Can you just text me whatever you guys end up deciding about Frank? Man, don’t wanna stress you out anymore but I really don’t give a rat’s-ass about what happens to him.”
Lip wanted to sigh and protest that, shooting back a “yeah because this is how I want to be spending my time?” But he managed to bite his tongue, reminding himself that getting into a fight would only amplify his problems.
“Ok, that's fine” Lip handed his coke over to Tami, taking the opportunity to wipe both of his slightly wet hands across his face. He was so over everything. Not that all of these situations resolving would bring him solace. His entire life had been a shit show with no real lull in between traumatic events to recuperate and regroup.
As he grew older, expecting another child now, he found himself craving something he never thought was achievable. Normalcy .
Ian and Mickey seemed to have some semblance of it there in their own bougie apartment. Carl was on his way there with his real blue-collar nine to five job. Even Fiona had achieved it somehow. She ran her own restaurant. Came together with some friends she had made and actually bought the property. From how it sounded, she didn’t have to worry about paying her bills on time and all the freedom that came with running her own place.
Lip wanted his lifelong headache to finally calm. Let his overworked blood vessels breathe. Have a normal fucking life. Give his kids a normal fucking life that he never had the pleasure of having growing up.
“I’ll give you the SparkNotes here of what I assume will be Sunday’s topic” Lip waved a dismissing hand, recollecting the group's thoughts once more. He then grabbed his can, hands once more clammy with condensation. “Liam is insistent we throw a wake for Frank”
“Ok, then why don’t you just throw some shit together?” Mickey’s eyes searched Lip’s like that was the most obvious solution achievable.
The dark-haired man made sure to say ‘you’ instead of ‘we’ . He had proven his worth when it came to planning events. He was even good at it. Their wedding, their anniversary party, all the sleazy shady schemes orchestrated for the Milkovichs. That was all Mickey.
He had accepted his fate as a ‘Gallagher’ even if it was only by marriage and a year standing officially.
But he had grown up with that family. His involvement with Ian and the family wavered throughout the years but he somehow remained there. In the back of everyone’s minds, reappearing just often enough to never be forgotten.
Despite his ‘statehood’ as a Gallagher, he was done with their shit. He and Ian had moved away because of them, he felt some separation was warranted now. Mickey and Ian needed to push away from the shitshow, and get their life together. Mickey wanted to assure that for Ian, he deserved better, but also for himself. Mickey reminded himself that he also deserved good things.
“Because this isn’t all on me!” Lip suddenly snapped. He and Mickey held eye contact for a moment.
“No one is saying it has to be” Tami tried to interject and defuse the situation a little but the air fell stiff. Situations less tense had broken out into fights in the past.
Mickey’s eyes flickered over to Ian’s in what seemed to be a fraction of a second. They then lingered for a second more once he realised his husband had gritted teeth. Mickey let out an annoyed sigh, leaning back into the couch completely. Beer bottle raising to his lips once more in a snide surrender.
Lip let the breath he didn’t realise he was holding go, taking a drink of his own. His shoulders rolled back.
“I guess we have time to think it over. Wake can’t be done until July anyway. The body’s being held on ice before cremation. The uh- morgue guys said it had to do something with Covid protocol. Who fucking knows”
Ian’s voice quirked up. “Why’s Frank’s body have to be there?
Mickey immediately nodded, agreeing with his husband. “Just throw a fucking celebration of that lousy fucker’s life or whatever the fuck and you’re done”
Lip ran a few more fingers through his now growing out hair. “Liam says that Frank’s body has to be there or it doesn’t count as a proper burial or celebration of life or whatever the fuck he thinks”
Lip didn’t mean to come up as harsh. He knew that Liam just meant well. He was a young boy who had just lost the only parental figure that he had left- if Frank could even be considered that .
Liam didn’t remember Monica more than one-off memories, Fiona was gone for what seemed to be good. Her guardianship of the kids cut short only for Liam.
All the rest of the Gallagher siblings had to pick up the scraps when it came to their baby brother. They did their best for Liam, he knew that. However, it wasn’t really enough.
Liam couldn’t blame his siblings for that though. They were all grown adults, with their own lives and loves and tragedies. It wasn’t their fault Liam was just the result of Monica’s blip reappearance after leaving her family. Frank for every piece of shit thing he had ever done to all of the other Gallagher children seemed to be just barely, bare minimum, okay when it came to Liam.
Lip understood that. Understood that poor Liam didn’t have much to base on. Felt bad about that, did as much for the kid as he could. If Liam wanted a wake for Frank to be able to let go of whatever small feelings of admiration he had, Lip would see that to be possible. Despite any bad blood or lingering hatred, he had for his own father.
“Like I said, funeral home is backed up. They’ll call when they have a date for us. For now, all we know is that it's gonna be in late July so make sure your schedule is clear enough for that” Lip cleared his throat once more. “Liam and I talked to Fiona last night. She says she’ll come down.We tried to call Debbie too but no luck. Just hoping she’s choosing to ignore us instead of lying somewhere dead in a ditch but with her who fucking knows” there was more heat behind Lip’s words.
Both brothers immediately thought back to Debbie. She had disappeared the day after it was announced Frank died. None of her siblings suspected it was because of the grieving of her father. Her abrupt need to uproot herself and go to Texas seemed to come from the unsettling change in her life as it shifted and twisted around her. She packed herself and Franny up. Along with all the food left over in their fridge and pantry for her ‘girlfriend’.
Debbie had been the biggest unnecessary headache in a while. Not that many of their hardships weren’t unnecessary, bad luck just seemed to follow the Gallagher’s, tripping and inconveniencing them at every stop.
When she first left for Texas she said she would call. That she wouldn’t be gone for long, only to clear her head and let Hiedi do whatever she needed to do then it was back to Chicago. The Gallagher’s didn’t trust that to be true. She said she would keep them updated on her travels but she had been MIA since she left. Carl was also willing to bet they would get arrested before even crossing back into state borders but that was just something Debbie would have to figure out. The only problem was Franny. The poor girl dragged along with her mom’s dumb poorly thought plans.
“Ok” Lip sighed, crossing off his mental checklist. “I saw we bench the whole Debbie thing. She’s a grown-ass woman who can do whatever she wants. I guess to her that means being a runway”
Ian gave a little nod. Mickey went back to being disinterested, scrolling through his phone. Lip could have sworn he heard Tami snort at the Debbie remark. The two women apparently still had discontentment for one another. Lip didn’t have the energy to harp on that.
“Next?” Ian prompted. Took Lip a second to figure out his next talking head when he did his lips curled inward.
“Liam still”
“He doing okay?” Mickey was the one to speak up that time. His attention was still spent on his phone trying to seem nonchalant. Even if deep down he did care for the youngest Gallagher. He watched that boy grow up and he had admitted on more than one occasion that the little man was his second favourite Gallagher.
“Getting there I think?” Lip was quick to answer. He looked over at Mickey, who still avoiding any eye contact.
“Right now, we’re still trying to figure out our whole living situation. He's staying at the house. I know he can take care of himself but he’s still upset over Frank and I don’t really trust him alone with Carl’s work schedule or in general. Would you mind if he spent the night here a few days a week? He can get himself to school or I can, you don’t have to worry about that. Just wanna make sure the kid has a roof over his head and food to eat”
“Yeah absolutely” Ian was quick to agree. Mickey had no protests.
“Ight, well, that’s most of what I have to say” Lip looked around the bare apartment once more. He leaned down placing the coke can on the floor next to Freddie’s carrier. “Bathroom?”.
“Down the hall”
Lip went as instructed to do his business. As he wandered back down the hall he noticed one of the doors was creaked open slightly. He listened out. Ian was laughing, it didn’t seem like the conversation faltered any in the time he wasn’t there. So he decided to push the door open a little more.
He didn’t mean to be nosy, well he kinda did, his curiosity just seemed to get the best of him. It was quickly obvious that this was their extra room. A dozen or so boxes littered the left wall, the old air mattress was in the middle of the room. Then Lip noticed metal glimmering from the sun from the corner of his eye. It was a crib.
A crib hidden behind draped towels and curtains and full of boxes. As if it wasn’t really supposed to be there and just got swept in with everything else. Lip thought back to a few days ago when they confirmed Tami was really pregnant. He texted Ian, told him the news, and asked if he was serious about wanting the baby. It took Ian a few hours to answer. When he finally did it was a simple “Nah man was just joking, congrats though” . At the time he thought nothing of it but now as he looked over at the crib he couldn’t help but wonder if it was a sign of conflict. Wondered if that was the reason Mickey seemed to get so tense when the whole baby number two thing was mentioned.
His head started to hurt a little. He had so much on his plate with the thought of having another baby, he really didn’t need to add his little brother’s baby drama to his. Lip sighed, looking over the room once more before closing the door behind him. He left just a crack open to making it seem like he never stepped in, in the first place.
“Hey” Lip reappeared in front of the group, hands stuck in his pocket. Ian was somewhere off to the side, digging through the coats hanging at their front door.
“Hey, the fire’s dying down, I’m going to get s’more firewood, wanna come?”
He looked back at Tami who gave him an encouraging nod to go with Ian.
He didn’t think that Mickey and Tami had ever had a real conversation before but shrug anyway. They seemed to bond over their shared love of giving Lip shit so maybe a friendship was destined to bloom there.
“Yeah alright,” Lip grabbed his hat, throwing it on his head. He waved a little goodbye to Freddie who was starting to stir back awake before following Ian out.
They took the ambulance in favour of Tami’s small red car. Ian always hated how he had to pull his legs up when he rode in it and argued that he didn’t even know if they could fit wood in the trunk of the thing. He probably had a point.
“Tami and I are going to move to Milwaukee,” Lip said after a second. They hadn’t even made it a block past the apartment but the news was killing him. He had to tell Ian.
“Oh?” Ian turned to him, trying to remain nonchalant. “Thought the Wisconsin idea was a real bust?”
“Yeah well,” he trailed off, trying to find the right words to say. He looked out the window, some hipster chicks were hugging outside a coffee shop before his attention went back to inside the car. “We figured it might be a fresh new start. With the second baby and all having an actual place to live is kinda a top priority”.
Ian’s lips curled inward, a solemn nod. He understood. Lip didn’t understand why he felt the need to keep talking. Maybe it was because he felt so bottled off and emotionally cut off from all the events that kept bombarding his life. Maybe it was because he was a little excited about the prosperity of a good normal life. Maybe it was because when he met Ian’s eyes, his eyes looked scarily like the sad ones Lip got when the two were just boys.
“Are you taking Liam with you?” Ian was anxious to ask.
Lip deflated slightly, falling against his seat. He remembered how he had asked Tami that very same question a year ago when they first planned the move. He was content taking his little brother, offering him a better life - even if the quality was just slightly better- a sure place to sleep and eat. He posed the question to Liam again a few days ago. His little brother shook his head.
“Lip, I don’t think I can” was all he said. Lip knew that Frank’s passing was continuing to weigh harder on Liam than anyone else. There was a little relief there in some sick twisted way. At least Frank managed to not mess up one of his kids completely.
He remembered how against Milwaukee he was. Whatever he was holding on to about the Southside seemed to vanish. He knew it wasn’t because of Frank now being gone. Maybe whatever had hit his siblings to leave was doing its rounds on him.
Fiona was happy in Florida. Ian was happy on the Westside. He knew he could be happy in Wisconsin. It was at least worth the try.
“Uh no. He wants to stay at the house”
Ian gave a nod he understood that too. “Well congratulations” he forced a smile. It was a genuine effort but Lip could see there was something looming there.
Lip’s thumb rubbed against the tip of his cold nose. “Do you have any thoughts?”
“Am I allowed to?” Ian gave an eyebrow raise.
Lip huffed at that, chest constricting slightly from the sudden inhale. “Yeah?”
Ian watched the light for a second. Hands tapping against the wheel to the beat of the song on the radio. “I’m happy for you” he decided after a beat of silence. “Want what’s best for you but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna miss my big brother”
“Hey, don’t get all sappy on me here man. Milwaukee is like a two and a half-hour drive” his hand extended outward to tussle his little brother’s shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah”
Lip let the natural lull of the conversation follow. He looked out the window again. At the trees swaying in the wind. It was a nice day out, one of the better ones in recent months. He looked back over to the driver’s seat as Ian stopped at the red light.
“Not going right away though” Lip finally added, Ian tried not to bring any attention to himself but the man wasn't exactly subtle. Lip noticed the slight jolt forward.
“Living back at the house while we try to figure everything else out. Thinking we’ll leave in probably about four months? Before Tami is too big to move. Still got to set up a few things before we get there. Trying to find Tami a new salon, me an AA group. All that shit” He sucked his lips in. He was mentally preparing himself for the next sentence. “And before the fall semester starts”
Ian’s face lit up a little, mouth slacking open. “Are you?”
Lip gave a nod. “Turns out I still have a few credits. ‘Probably do night school. Might take a while but fuck it, I’ll finish when I finish”
“Aye, good for you” Ian managed to nudge him with his shoulder.
“Thanks” Lip’s hand crossed his body, giving Ian’s a hearty pat. “You and Fiona inspired me, ya know?”
That sentiment brought forth an instant smile on Ian’s lips. “Wait, really? Why?”
“You both were able to get out of your own ways” Lip gave a shrug as if that sentence wasn’t one that packed so many meanings. “Fi is in a whole new fucking tax bracket. You’re running a whole ass business that seems to be a success”
The car rolled forward, Ian laughed. “Yeah, we can afford name-brand Ramen now ya know”
They were both smiles. “I’m thinking house flipping to make money while I’m in school,” He scratched his neck. “Figured I’m pretty good at it. Milton was able to make a shit ton of money off of my improvements. Plus you know rich people, they’ll pay double for something just so they don’t have to do it themselves”
Another snort. Lip waited longer this time to speak up. Lowe’s visible from a few blocks away. “Last thing” He got his brother's attention once more.
“Well, Tami’s already pregnant and moving. How jarring could anything else you got to tell me be?” Ian joked.
Lip’s eyebrow raised accepting the challenge. “Getting married too”
“No shit?”
“Yeah. Both figure that it's what will be best for the kids. Or in case of an emergency. Not gonna be anything big… just at the courthouse marriage”
“You sure you don’t want Mickey to plan it for you?” Ian immediately joked, pulling into the parking lot.
“We’re good. Save his talents for something else” another small smile cracked Lip’s expression “we’re gonna tie the knot before we leave. Wanna come? Return the favour and be my best man?”
Ian scoffed. “Do you even have to ask?” He shifted the gear to park, turning the rig off. “‘Nough about life, let's go get the wood” a cheeky little smile as he unbuckled his seat belt. “I ‘fuckin love that fireplace man”
Lip eyed him once over, undoing his own seatbelt. “Don’t have to worry about you catchin’ another arson charge do I?”
Ian rolled his eyes, poorly concealing his own laugh.
They had barely made it through the building's front door before Lip was queueing up more questions to ask.
“How do you think Tami and Mick are doing without us?” He pushed his hands into his pockets.
“Probably talking shit about us”
“Yeah, that adds up”
Ian grabbed a cart out of the corral with shaky hands. Lip took notice of that quickly pushing out another breath to appear casual.
“So you’re actually doing okay, right?” Lip’s elbow poked into Ian’s tough ribs.
“What don’t think I am?” Ian challenged, not giving Lip an opportunity to answer as he nodded over at the large orange aisle marker.
“Aisle eight,” It was a few rows down from them, definitely not visible to the naked eye, he figured Ian had probably been there on the same missions a few times over. That then begged the question of how many times Ian had lit that fireplace in the week span he had been in the new apartment.
“I’m fine, really” Ian’s hands tightened around the handle of the cart till his knuckles appeared white. Lip chose to ignore that as something to be looked into, eyes focused ahead, trying not to run into the old woman in front of them who walked painfully slow. “A bit of an adjustment for us. I’m trying to grow some tomatoes” he gave an innocent shrug.
“Why tomatoes?” Lip had the nerve to give an actual laugh. It felt good, he felt like he was losing that sense of whimsicalness.
Ian’s shrug deepened, a small hopeful smile subconsciously forming. “Why not?”
Lip nodded. He guessed that Ian had a point. “So you like the apartment?”
“Westside people are fucking weird but Mickey and I are doing good. We actually had a real conversation ‘bout our future the other day”
Lip immediately thought back to the crib but decided not to push it. “Oh yeah? Westside already changing that much?”
“Oh yeahh,” Ian nodded, sarcastically drawing out his words. “Got into a pretty heated argument over what colour our couch should be” He chewed his bottom lip, head once again bobbling as he thought it over. “Mickey actually ended up winning that one”
Lip snorted. Fully from the chest, feeling the ringing vibrations in his throat, snorted.
“What?” Ian gave him an incredulous look, he aimed the front of the shopping cart towards Lip, hitting his hip with the metal.
“Nothing, nothing, just think about how we used to worry about real problems” Ian raised an eyebrow, beckoning for a little more information about what that was supposed to mean.
Lip’s hand extended to his side, grabbing the edge of the car before Ian could slam it into him again. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, the fucking Frank shit has been a fucking nightmare to deal with. M’sure it’s not easy trying to run a start-up but c’mon isn’t it kinda funny?”
They took a few more steps forward, seeing a crowd of people around the fridges displayed. They took a shortcut, weaving into the paint aisle to cut off the traffic. “We used to be worrying about how we were gonna eat or keeping the lights on or who was gonna watch Liam while we were all at school. Now we’re spending our time stressing about babies and marriages and fucking couches ”
Lip could see Ian processing that over in his head. He unexpectedly stopped, slowly looking over the display of hanging fixtures before grabbing a few command strips, throwing them into the empty cart. He started walking again, the end of the aisle causing them to halt again, as a few carts pushed past them hurriedly.
“I guess but if you think about it, nothing we haven’t dealt with before”
Lip’s eyes flicked to the overhead light above them. He hadn’t thought about the reminiscence of his youth in a long time. He couldn’t really think of a time he was thinking about where he thought about his ex-girlfriends and all their commitments.
He didn't know why his mind was wandering to Sierra, someone he hadn’t thought of in years. Or her son, Lucas. He hoped they were okay. He thought about his very short-lived college days. His ghetto marriage to Amanda - who he didn’t wish well- or even Mandy -who he knew was doing okay through the grapevine, aka Ian-. He didn’t understand why he was suddenly thinking about Karen Jackson and the baby he thought was his.
He guessed that maybe all those traumatic days, faithless loves and hardships attributed to who he was. The same could be said about Ian. His own ghetto marriage before he got the real deal. His brief involvement of trying to help raise a kid that wasn’t his.
Maybe Lip was just sentimental because of all the recent shit. He had never really felt that way looking back before. Or maybe it was because he was ready to shed those memories, didn’t want to hang onto every old shitty loose thread and hurt. He wished he could burn those memories away. He guessed letting it go was as good as it could get. But what did he know, really.
He always kinda admired that about Ian. he had this unfettered sense of optimism no matter what he was going or doing. Maybe that’s why Ian seemed to get his life on track when it all seemed so bleak. Maybe that was why Lip struggled with that for so long because he didn’t think everything would eventually figure itself out. He had seen everything crumble around him in wildfires his whole life, he really didn’t have any reason warranted to expect an okay outcome. Ian, despite everything, always did.
Lip was always going to give Mickey shit. He knew that Mickey didn’t plan on stopping berating at any point either. They had known one another their whole lives, far before they were romantically involved with any one of their siblings. But what it was worth, Lip was glad that Mickey was in the family. He knew those days of caring for his little brother only the way an older sibling could stop a long time ago. He was glad that Mickey had stepped in to protect his little brother.
“Well, here’s to hoping for a future full of dumb little problems” Ian gave a hopeful little smile. Lip felt his declaration settle somewhere deep within him. His stance on God was blurry but if there was one, he prayed his problems were only going to be as big as what pre-school his kids were gonna attend.
“Shit, you’re telling me” he finally settled on saying.
They eventually made it to the aisle desired after a few more interruptions. Ian needed more nails, Lip realising that the kitchen downstairs was still flickering and he should probably just get a lightbulb whilst they were already there.
“Here grab the side” Ian appeared once on one side of the giant bag full of wood scraps. He was already bending at the knees to try and grab it. Lip followed suit, on the count of three they managed to lift the bag into the cart.
“Ya know we could have just gone to the woods to do this” Lip said a little out of breath. He gripped the edge of the basket watching Ian throw in another log of wood as it angrily hit the metal siding. “Would have been free too. Has the Westside already brainwashed you into thinking you need to buy shit that's already free? What’s next? You buying plastic water bottles? Actually, scan the fruit when you take it from the store!”
“I did pay for fertiliser the other day which I guess is just glorified dirt” Ian snorted. “But I don’t got an axe, just a bat”
“I’ll go buy one. Consider it my housewarming gift for you”.
The thought of going into the woods to collect his own firewood was forming an unexpected idea in Ian’s overworked mind. “Hey, do you know if Carl’s working?” His eyes went squinty.
“He was still at the house when Tam and I left. So, I don’t think so. Why?”
Ian’s eyes stayed fixated on the wood in the cart. Lip still eyed him expectantly. “Call him, make sure Liam’s there too” he finally looked up, a reassuring smile as the gears in his head continued to think “I have an idea”
Ian’s brilliant idea was to gather the family up and have a bonfire. Lip nodded in agreement, that definitely wasn’t a half-bad idea. Especially knowing they wouldn’t be able to meet up for a while as they were all starting to grow. Branch out into their own lives and grow roots.
The two brothers gathered up the rest of the wood they needed, calling Carl and Mickey to tell them the plan. Everyone was game.
The Gallaghers met up in a woody area not too far away from their house. As Lip looked over the block he felt it oddly reminiscent for whatever reason. Turns out they were where the Jackson’s house once stood.
Lip found out later, looking for a place to buy a house once Milwaukee didn't work out and his family returned to the Southside.
When Shelia had sold the house the lesbian’s knocked the entire block down. Their remodelling plans apparently fell through leaving them with a lot of vacant land never used. Lip felt some type away about that but decided to push it down.
Regardless, the Gallaghers gathered. Boxed up the pizza Mickey had made. Carl brought a few buckets of KFC chicken for old time's sake.
They lit a bonfire sitting around as a family. Everything that was so shitty before was burning in the fire. Metaphorically, of course, they couldn’t just burn their daddy issues, well maybe once Frank got cremated they would feel differently about that.
They laughed and drank and sang. Having the same amount of fun and life they did as kids. Halfway through the little Gallagher event, all four brother’s got a text. From Debbie. She and Franny were heading back to Chicago as soon as they could find a car to rent.
Even if it was just one of their brothers they all could breathe a little easier knowing at least one problem was getting resolved, they chose to ignore her cry-like-sounding pattern of speech.
Ian waved his hands up to the fire trying to get warm. His head snapped back as Carl and Mickey were having a friendly argument over something. Off to the side Lip helped, Freddie to his chest laughing at something Tami had just said as she motioned to her tummy,
He felt Liam come up to his side, he extended his arm out, taking his brother in his embrace with a sigh. “Hey man, you doing ok?”
Liam looked back at his family like Ian had just done the faintest smile crossed his painstaking face. “Getting there” he looked back at the fire watching as the ambers danced across the sky, tufts of smoke billowing up to the sky.
Yeah . Ian through, that was for sure.