LOVESTRUCK ━ lip gallagher¹

12 | long drive

★

"AMARA," LIP'S VOICE CAME through the other end of her phone quietly, and she shifted it on her shoulder at his tone, putting the plate she'd been washing back into the sink. It'd been hours since her Ian and Debbie went on their search for Fiona, but came back empty handed, and eventually they'd given up for the day, hoping she'd come back sometime during the night.

"Lip?" She was certain he could hear the frown in her voice. "What's that sound?"

"I'm driving," he answered. "I'm coming to get you. Fiona just called me from some random number. She's in some gas station in Sheboygan and I'm freaking out."

Amara shut off the faucet. "Where the fuck is Sheboygan?"

He let out a chuckle. "I don't know. I was hoping you could be my co-pilot? And if not I just- I really need you right now."

She dried her hands on the towel. "I'll be ready in ten."

"Great because I'll be there in twenty."

Amara was already outside sitting on the steps when Lip pulled up in the same car from earlier, and she instantly stood to make her way over. She pulled the door open and climbed in, admiring the interior. "Damn, this is nice."

He smiled weakly. "Yeah."

She shut the door and looked to him, reaching to grab his hand. "She's gonna be fine you know."

Lip ran a hand down his face and didn't reply, only put the car into drive and pushed on the gas. "So I uh, I got the address to the gas station, just want you to tell me when to turn and stuff so we don't get lost."

Amara grasped his phone and scanned the screen. "Wisconsin?!" He nodded without looking at her, and braked at a light. "How the hell did she get there?"

"I'm worried to find out the answer to that," Lip admitted as the light switched to green. She caught his drift immediately, noticing how his jaw tightened, and sighed.

"You should be glad she's not in a ditch somewhere."

"I'd be more glad if she didn't fucking do whatever she did to end up there in the first place!"

She fell silent and stared out the window. "I don't want to fight," Amara said after a moment, and his gaze darted to her for a split second as if he couldn't believe his ears. "I don't. I just... Maybe save the yelling and screaming at her part until after we get home? You know she probably already feels like shit, Lip. Don't make her feel worse."

"You keep defending her. Like she didn't have a choice in all of this. Like it wasn't all her fault."

Amara played with her hands. "I'm not saying she shouldn't be held accountable. Fiona did do this, she wasn't like possessed or anything. But nobody's perfect. And Fiona's been close to it for a long time—taking care of all of us, raising you guys, basically raising me. I know it couldn't have been easy, I mean taking care of Silvia was stressful enough, it still is, I couldn't imagine doing it for five more people."

He swallowed but kept his eyes on the road. "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying give her a break," she replied quietly. "Everyone is bound to fuck up sooner or later. Everyone has bad days, Lip. And sometimes they're not just days. You have to stop being so hard on her, she doesn't deserve it."

She saw him bite his lip from the corner of her eye, and finally willed herself to look up when she realized he wasn't going to snap at her. Lip turned his head to meet her gaze, and gave her a small nod. "Okay."

She raised her brows in surprise. "Okay?"

"Yeah," he shrugged, turning on the blinker once the GPS spoke out and gave him the direction. "You're right."

"Well I know that," she grinned and fell back against her seat. "Just didn't think you'd agree."

He rolled his eyes, although she could still see the smile growing at his mouth anyway. "Shut up and play some music. And not any of that Swifty shit, either," he added once she went to click her playlist, her fingers freezing over the screen. She shot him a look, and he grinned knowingly.

"I know you did not just put Taylor Swift and the word shit in the same sentence."

"You better believe it."

"I'll dump you right now, asshole."

"No you won't, gigantic bitch."

"Fine," she huffed. "I won't. But let me at least play one song."

Lip sighed dramatically and brushed his hair out of his face with his free hand. "No sappy shit."

She grinned and clicked through until she found the song she was looking for, and began to sing along just to annoy him further. "People like you always want back the love they gave away."

Lip threw his head back against the seat and groaned. "This is going to be a long ride."

★

"This is it," Amara announced, eyeing the run-down building they pulled in front of. The sun had just started to rise, she hadn't even realize that they'd been driving all night until Lip shook her awake not even an hour ago. Lip put the car into park and let out a shaky breath. She leaned over to kiss the side of his mouth. "I'll stay in the car?"

"Yeah," he nodded, looking at the mini-mart and then at her. "Lock the doors."

It was literally nothing, but the statement made her heart swell and she nodded.

She watched as he made his way towards the building until he was out of sight, and leaned back against the seat again, closing her eyes for what it felt like only a minute, before someone tapped on the window next to her and made her jolt awake. "Don't tell me you fell asleep," Lip accused as she unlocked the doors. They both climbed into the vehicle.

"I definitely did no such thing," she responded, turning to look at Fiona who had paled drastically over her disappearance. Her hair was knotted and frizzy, and her clothes were rumpled. But she was still Fiona. "How do you feel?"

Fiona sprawled across the backseat, wincing. "Hungry."

"Does Wendy's have breakfast?" Amara asked, turning to Lip who shrugged. "Okay, well that's the only other food place around here. Chop-chop."

"I'm about to chop-chop your mouth if you sing me another Taylor Swift song."

She glared at him and faced the windshield. "Midnight," Amara began smugly after a moment, allowing her voice to raise as the song continued on, grinning when she saw Fiona slightly smile. "You come and pick me up no headlights."

"Fuck off not again."

"Long drive."

"With you? Most definitely."

"Could end in burning flames or paradise."

"Mar, I'm gonna kill you."

★

a/n

double update today since the finale motivated me and also made me extremely sad at the same time like ??? can't believe we're never gonna see them again i am in PAIN

also i just updated amara's section in my oc book! so if u wanna check that out and see what i added pls do so :)