GAME OVER ━━ Lip Gallagher

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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Game Over
chapter thirteen

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                    AS SHE TURNED THE CORNER, SHE SPOTTED THREE OF THE GALLAGHERS OUTSIDE WITH AN OFF PUTTING AMOUNT OF RAW MEAT. "What are you doing?" she asked, climbing over the fence with ease. Lip looked up to spot Phoebe with a small smile. "Some meat truck broke down so... free meat." He rested the axe he was using against the large pile of wood he and Carl were previously chopping. She hugged her arms around her to shelter her from the cold. "Huh," was all she said as she moved toward Debbie, who wielded a meat cleaver. "Grab a knife and get to choppin'," Debbie advised, using all of her might to chop up the pieces of meat. Phoebe smiled at the directness the girl had. "Aye, Captain."

          There was a second knife resting there much smaller than Debbie's. Phoebe pushed up her sleeves despite the cold and prepared to start swinging. She squeezed to keep a grip on the knife despite the damp handle. "Woah, woah, woah," Lip suddenly exclaimed. He rushed to her side in a matter of seconds. His gloved hands immediately took her wrists into them. "What happened? Did you fight a brick wall?" Though his question was a joke, Phoebe shrugged her shoulders. She looked down at the wounded appendage with a sigh. "Um, my bedroom door," she admitted. "Let's just say that I didn't exactly win that fight." A purple and yellow bruise littered her soft skin, two tiny and swollen cuts spread across her knuckles. Lip frowned. "Did you clean it at least?"

          Phoebe yanked her hand back with a scoff. "What are you, my mother?" she clipped. Lip stared at her in confusion. What was the deal with her hostility? She'd never been so snappy, except for the brief moments while she sailed the red sea. The edge of his lips curled into a sarcastic smile. "Uh, no. Can't I be worried about you?" he asked, his tone sharper than he had intended it to be. She held her hand close to her chest to hide the damage she had done. It wasn't one of her best moments, that she knew, and she was ashamed of it. She had lost all control, why would she want someone she cares about to find out? "I don't want to talk about it," she told him with pleading eyes. "So, drop it?" He sighed, nodding his head. He picked up the axe that he had been using and twirled it in his grip. But his eyes kept wandering toward his best friend.

          She chopped away at the meat the best she could, her cheeks puffed in concentration. Her scarf hid a lot of the bottom half of her face, making her cheeks seem rounder than they were. Lip always loved that. It reminded him a lot of when they were kids, when she still had her baby fat. He could still remember the winters when they'd make snowmen in the front yard and they'd use her scarf, only to give it back when she'd start sneezing. He shook his head of his thoughts and got right back to work, chopping the wood. The only sound they all could hear was the chopping of wood, or the blades of knives slamming against the cutting boards. The sudden opening of the door, however, disrupted their pace.

"Oh, hey, Phoebe," Steve greeted the girl. She waved in response. "See? Even better." His hands held onto Fiona's arms tightly, a smile crossing his features. "You think you guys can survive one night without Fiona?" he asked. Fiona looked completely annoyed. Debbie was first to answer with a worried, 'no!', but her tune changed moments later when she claimed she was just kidding them. Lip shrugged his shoulders. "Sure," Carl answered. "Yeah, have a great time," Lip responded. "Pheebs and I can hold down the fort for one night." Phoebe nodded her head in agreement. "You can count on us, Fi." Fiona wanted to argue. She didn't know why because she trusted Phoebe and Lip to take care of the kids. She trusted them more than trained nannies, so why was she so hesitant?