Southside ~ Shameless

Chapter 35

Fiona yelped as she stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel as Lip, Ian, Hollie and Carl came running up the stairs. "What's going on?"

"Frank, drunk, looking for a bed." Lip yelled shortly as he ran into his room and started pushing his dresser in front of the doorway while Ian and Carl did the same in their room.

"Who the hell let him in?"

"Debbie." Said Ian.

"We begged her not to," said Hollie.

"He's not hot-bunking my bed." Lip yelled.

"Can't he sleep on the porch?" asked Carl, "it's warm enough,"

Hollie rushed into her room as Debbie and Frank came up the stairs and shut the door behind her, sliding to the floor with her back up against it. She propped her leg up again her drawers incase Frank tried to push the door as she wouldn't be able to hold it.

"This is my house!" Franks muffled yell sounded through the door from the hall.

"What the fuck is going on?" Nick questioned groggily, propping himself up on his elbows to look at her from the bed.

"Frank." Hollie answered shortly, panting slightly from running up the stairs, "he's drunk. Debbie let him in."

He watched as she pressed her ear to the door, listening as Debbie argued with the others about letting Frank stay in her room. When the ruckus died down Hollie dropped her leg from where it was propped up and limply rested against the door with her eyes shut.

"You okay?" Nick asked, carefully studying the way her arms were loosely wrapped around her stomach.

"Hm? Yeah," she nodded, as if she was just remembering that she was not alone in the room, "sorry for waking you up," she apologised as she picked herself up from the floor and came to sit beside him on the bed.

Nick wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her down to lie beside him. She shuffled towards him, moving to a comfortable position, "I love you," she whispered, her breath tickling his cheek as the words passed her lips.

"I love you too," he whispered back, for there was no reason to speak any louder. He turned his head and placed a tender kiss on her forehead, his hand that wasn't wrapped around her waist tracing unknown patterns on her stomach as they lay together quietly.

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Kevin was sitting on one of the bar stools, using a metal wire to scratch under his leg cast. "Third call this week, from the same woman Kev," Hollie told him as she hung up the phone behind the bar.

"She won't leave a message?"

"Nope."

"Probably a fucking bill collector," he said, "can you keep dodging her please?"

"Sure," Hollie nodded as she took two beers over to one of the tables.

"Hey baby," Veronica greeted Kevin as she and Fiona walked into the bar, "how's the foot?"

"It's goddamn itchy." said Kev as V kissed his cheek, "what are you two foxy ladies up to?"

"Need to bum some liquor off you." said Fiona. Hollie rounded the bar again with a couple of empty glasses to clean.

"For her club night." said Veronica.

"What they don't have booze over there?"

"She'll make more of she brings her own," Veronica explained.

"All right." Said Kevin, standing from his stool using his crutches, "hobble this way."

Fiona and Veronica followed Kevin behind the bar, hopping on one foot  into the back room.

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"I'll tell you this, for all their laziness and lack of motivation the Mexicans are lovely people," Frank told Tommy as he sat drinking later that night at the alibi.

"Why'd you go down there Frank" Tommy asked, "I'll take another Hol," he waved his empty beer bottle in her direction.

"Sometimes a man just has to get away," said Frank, "be alone with his thoughts," Hollie grabbed a bottle and slid it along the bar to Tommy but Frank grabbed it, opened it and took a sip.

"Hey!" Tommy grabbed the bottle from Frank and wiped it with his shirt, "Jesus,"

"So what, you woke up from a drunken stupor, didn't know where you were?" said Kevin.

"I knew exactly where I was," said Frank.

Hollie snorted, "Sure you did,"

"I had a business opportunity with our south of the border brothers," said Frank, "what did you do to your foot Kev?"

"It fell off," Kev deadpanned, "it's the only prosthetic I could afford,"

Frank accepted that answer and turned to Hollie, "you having a girl or boy?" He asked randomly.

"Girl." Hollie answered shortly, "what business opportunity?"

"I was hired to move some inventory,"

"Drug mule?"

"Only the best the Mexicanos have ever seen," said Frank proudly.

"Not something to be bragging about," said Kev.

"Which end did it go in?" Asked Tommy.

"Hey Frank, some chicks outside with a baby looking for you," a drunk woman said as she walked into the alibi.

"Oh no,"

"Who is it frank?"

"I don't know but does that sound like good news to you?" Frank questioned incredulously, getting up from his stool, "I'm gonna slip out the back,"

"Sounds like you were slipping it out the back in Mexico Frank," Tommy joked.

A/N

So sorry for the long break and also sorry for the short chapter. This was originally longer but it was unfinished so I had to divide it into two chapters.