I'll Always Love you - Lip Gallagher

~chapter 9~

"Morning Aurora!"

"Frank?" I ask sleepily, just having been woken up by the sound of the front door opening and then slamming shut. I sit up on the couch with a yawn and watch as Frank passes me on his way to the kitchen, a couple bags of groceries in each of his hands. "What are you doing?"

"I'm making breakfast," he calls back to me. "Go wake up the rest of the family."

"Um, I would if it wasn't hours before we usually get up on a Saturday."

The sun hasn't even begun to break through the dreary winter sky yet. Frank doesn't seem to notice, humming to himself and rummaging loudly through the fridge. I let out a sigh, resigned to the fact that I'm not going to be able to fall back asleep down here, and grab my blanket so I can head upstairs.

All of the boys are sleeping soundly when I enter their room. I cross over to Ian's bed and push him over before climbing on top of the mattress next to him.

"Rory?"

"Frank is downstairs," I complain. Ian groans and rolls over to give me more space.

"Did he bother you?"

"No. Well, other than starting breakfast at five in the morning."

"Jesus. How long is this sober thing going to last?"

"No idea."

"Hopefully he'll crap out soon," Ian yawns. "Then you won't wake me up at five to crawl into my bed."

"Relax," I tell him. "Enjoy the body heat and go back to sleep."

"Whatever."

Despite what he says, I know that Ian doesn't mind me crashing up here. I don't do it often because I don't want to invade his space but we used to a lot when we were younger, especially when it was super cold outside. Fiona would come to wake us up in the mornings before school and find me nearly falling off the bed as Ian slept spread out next to me.

This morning, however, neither of the two of us have trouble falling back to sleep even if it's only for a couple of hours. When I finally wake up for good I head into the bathroom to get ready and pass Lip on my way out once I'm finished.

"Morning."

"Morning, Rosie. Did you sleep up here last night?" he asks me.

"No, just early this morning. Frank got here early to make breakfast. Apparently he's still sober."

"Not a surprise," Lip says darkly and I can tell that he's not in a good mood. "He's going to drag this out as long as possible."

He shuts the bathroom door behind him with more force than necessary and I frown. I thought that our conversation last night might have helped him feel a little better but apparently I was wrong. Lip is still struggling with this and I don't know how to help him.

I grab my blanket from Ian's room and fold it, heading downstairs to place it on the couch before moving into the kitchen. Carl and Debbie are already seated at the table while Frank flips food on the stove.

"What's going on in here?" Fiona asks, entering just behind me.

"Daddy made us some Mickey Mouse pancakes," Debbie explains as Frank hands me a plate of food. I take it reluctantly.

"Are you serious?"

"What did I tell you?" Lip says as he comes down the stairs, pulling a sweater over his head. "Still not drinking until he gets his money."

"If I ever drink again," Frank adds. "Java is my vice now."

"Sure," Lip says as he pours himself a cup of coffee. "Drunk or sober, you're still an asshole."