GAME OVER ━━ Lip Gallagher

CHAPTER FOUR

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Game Over
chapter four

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                    "WHEN I SEE HIM, I'M GOING TO KILL HIM," Lip hissed. What was he thinking? What did he do? Phoebe rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "Fine, then," she breathed out. She continued with her fast paced walk, stepping around obstacles that would come into her path. "Go to jail for assault and battery. Miss graduation. Ruin your future. Its not like your family needs you." As much as he loved Phoebe, there were moments where he couldn't stand her. This, in fact, was one of them. He gritted his teeth, choosing to remain silent. "Lip, seriously think about it. What will you gain from killing Steve?" she asked. He shrugged his broad shoulders. What could he gain?

"You're not thinking straight." He scoffed. "And how would you know that?" His question was ridiculous. They had known each other for years. She knew him inside and out, like the back of her hand. "I know you better than I know myself, Phillip." He was starting to grow angrier. Every jab she spoke made his skin crawl. The mere thought of confronting Steve was making his blood boil. "You're being an idiot," she sighed. That was it. His jaw clicked. "You know what?" He stopped in his tracks, causing the girl to slide to a stop. "Go home, Phoebe." He looked straight at her, eyes barely showing any sign of emotion other than pure rage. "No," she fired back.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "You called me out here. I'm here because I care." He scoffed. He knew she cared. He knew that she was just as worried for their drunkard father, but he couldn't accept it. He couldn't accept the fact that she was there of her own will and not because she was trying to get something from him. "Yeah, well maybe I shouldn't have. Go home." The way he was acting made her stomach hurt. He was retreating again. "Okay, and then what?" she asked. "You're going to get into a fight, which you'll get in trouble for. And then what?"

"I don't know!" he suddenly shouted. His voice echoed in the distance. It felt like knives flying into her being. She flinched at the suddenness of it, shocked by it. He ran his hands through his blond curls, pulling at the strands in frustration. "I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do, okay? I just... he knew something but didn't tell any of us." Phoebe's arms slowly unwrapped around her and fell to her sides. Her chest felt swollen, tight, like someone had tied a string around her until the other end vanished. Finally, Lip looked back to his friend. He noticed her crestfallen face, the way her fingers twitched uncertainly. Her eyes, they avoided his. He fucked up.

They stood there in silence. The wind thundered in their ears. Phoebe felt her face growing hotter and hotter as his actions replayed in her mind. There had been moments where they fought. They fought a lot, actually, but Lip had never raised his voice at her. It was a pet peeve the both possessed, and yet there he was. She could still hear the way his voice reverberated in her eardrums. "Phoebe," he finally sighed. His chin dropped an inch, his hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. She sucked in a deep breath. "I know," she blurted out, interrupting his thoughts.

          "It's okay. You're stressed out, I get it. I can be a little much." She pushed back the flyaways from her face and sniffed. Lip didn't know what to say. She was right. There were moments where she did too much or said too much. There were moments where she didn't know when to shut up, or listen. But he had grown to understand that. Just because he was stressed didn't mean that it gave him the right to lash out at her when she was only trying to help. That being said, she shrugged her shoulders before turning away, hiding the fact that it all did hurt. Silently, she lead the way back to the Gallagher house.