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The Gallagher House.
It had been over a week. Today was Lip's first day back home, and absolutely nothing good had come of it.
The dinner from hell was finally over.
Fiona, Lip, Karen, and Liam moved to the living room couch. For a while, no one spoke. They just sat there, lost in their own thoughts, staring blankly at the TV.
After a long silence, Lip, who despised this kind of heavy atmosphere, couldn't take it anymore. "Fiona, don't overthink it. We can fix this."
"I promise, Carl and Ian will be home soon."
"Give me a few days. Once I can move around properly, I'll deal with Peggy. I'll send her back to the slammer."
Fiona had already agreed to the "send Peggy back to prison" plan earlier.
Hearing this, she turned and stared at Lip blankly for a few seconds. Her mind was still a chaotic mess.
Too much had happened. She couldn't bear the thought of Lip getting into trouble again...
"Just rest for now," Fiona said weakly.
Seeing her like this, Lip felt a genuine pang of heartache.
That heartache quickly morphed into hatred for Ian and Peggy.
Mostly Peggy...
As for Carl... Carl was just a kid. He didn't know any better. Lip didn't hate him; he figured Peggy had just brainwashed the boy.
Seeing that Fiona wasn't in the mood to talk, Lip decided to change tactics. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a wad of cash, and handed it to her.
Money fixes everything.
Fiona saw the cash, and her mood lifted instantly. Noticing the thickness of the roll, she asked in surprise, "How much is this?"
Lip grinned smugly. "Fifteen hundred bucks. It should have been more, but I spent a little on the way back."
Fifteen hundred dollars!
That was enough to keep them afloat for quite a while.
Fiona felt a rush of relief as she took the money. But she didn't forget to lecture him. "This was a one-time thing. You are not doing this again."
"Yeah," Lip agreed without hesitation.
In reality, Lip had already decided to do a few more runs.
The reason was simple.
The money was too easy. One trip to Canada, buy some stuff, bring it back, and boom—at least two grand in his pocket.
He couldn't make that kind of money doing anything else. And even if he could, it wouldn't be this easy.
More importantly, on the ride back, Lip had chatted up the driver—who knew the ins and outs of the business—and they had already made a verbal agreement to do another run soon.
Of course, knowing Fiona didn't have the stomach for this kind of risk, and being confident he could handle it himself, Lip didn't plan on telling her.
They chatted idly for a bit longer.
"Fiona, get some rest. We have to be up early tomorrow," Lip said. It was getting late, and he wanted to go upstairs and screw Karen.
Fiona, having a body count in the triple digits herself, saw right through him. She frowned slightly. "Your leg is still messed up. Take it easy."
Lip flashed a confident smile. "It's fine."
Fiona glanced at Karen. She wanted to say something, but after hesitating, she held her tongue.
Soon.
With Karen's help, Lip hobbled upstairs to their room.
With Ian and Carl gone, the bedroom felt incredibly empty.
This was the first time Lip had been in the room since he got back. Seeing the empty beds, he felt a sudden wave of melancholy.
But he quickly forced himself to swallow the feeling. Acting casual, he pulled a small jewelry box from his pocket and handed it to Karen. "I bought this for you in Canada. See if you like it."
Karen immediately feigned excitement. "Oh! What is it?"
She took the box and opened it.
Inside was a pair of maple leaf-shaped earrings... Yep, very Canadian. And very cheap-looking.
Karen estimated this junk cost ten bucks, tops.
She looked at the expression on Lip's face—like he had just bestowed a royal treasure upon her to express his undying love...
Karen beamed, leaned in, and gave him an "excited" kiss. "Thank you! I love them!"
"Good," Lip smiled.
The fact was, Karen's guess was pretty accurate.
The earrings cost eight dollars.
Lip thought that was plenty.
After all, Lip's philosophy was to never spend big money on women.
"Karen, here's four hundred bucks. I'm paying you back part of it now. I'll get the rest to you slowly," Lip said, pulling out the cash he had prepared.
After the smuggling run and expenses, Lip had $2,060 left when he got home this afternoon.
He gave Fiona $1,500 and Karen $400. That left him with $160 for cigarettes and weed.
Karen pretended to be reluctant for a second before accepting the money.
Shortly after.
Naturally, they started going at it.
---
Downstairs.
Fiona sat on the sofa, silently counting the fifteen hundred dollars Lip had given her. Over and over again.
As she counted, tears suddenly started to fall.
She thought of Ian.
Ian had moved out because of the money earned from this smuggling trip.
Just for this little bit of cash, the Gallagher family had lost another member!
Money!!
Fxxk!!!
Fiona gritted her teeth and cursed. She threw the money violently onto the sofa next to her, buried her head in her hands, and sobbed.
She cried for a while.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock at the door interrupted her breakdown.
Fiona wiped her face aggressively, took a deep breath, quickly stuffed the money into her pocket, and got up to answer the door.
She opened it to find Tony standing there.
Instantly, Fiona's brow furrowed. She assumed Tony was here for sex again. A wave of disgust and nausea washed over her.
"Tony, now is not a good time. Come back tomorrow," she said with a dark expression.
Bam.
She slammed the door right in his face.
Tony was stunned. It took him two seconds to process what just happened, and then anger flushed his face.
He looked down at the bag in his hand.
It was filled with snacks and a few beers.
He'd had enough sex earlier in the day; he didn't have any physical needs right now. He had come over just to hang out, talk, have a drink—try to make sure they didn't become just "fuck buddies."
And this was the result...
He hadn't even gotten a word out before being ruthlessly shut out.
Tony was pissed!
"Bitch!" Tony hissed under his breath. He turned and walked away.
Screw this!
Being fuck buddies was fine!
Tony swore he wouldn't try to be the nice guy again.
Just then.
Dexter, who had just parked his car and witnessed the entire scene, couldn't help but chuckle. He thought for a second, then got out of his car and greeted Tony casually. "Tony."
Tony was still fuming over Fiona and hadn't noticed Dexter. He jumped a little. "Oh, Dexter. You're back."
Dexter smiled and nodded. "Yeah... Tony, don't blame me for asking, but what just happened?"
"Didn't you just help Fiona get Lip back from Canada? And she won't even let you in the door?"
Tony stood there, paralyzed by awkwardness. "..."