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Pat*eon : Belamy20
Naruto: Uchiha Shiroge Rebellion
"Hmph, not let him down?" Lip smirked.
"Fiona, if Shane found out you hid this laptop in the cabinet because you were terrified of what it might make him think, you think he wouldn't be even more disappointed?"
Fiona looked up, her eyes sharp. The pale fragility she showed in front of Shane was gone, replaced by a touch of hysteria.
"Then don't let him find out. Ever. And Lip Gallagher, if he had come home even one fucking minute later, the whole thing would have blown up in our faces!"
Fiona still felt a lingering sense of terror.
When Shane walked in, he assumed the flush on Lip's face was from an argument, but it was actually because Lip had sprinted all the way back from outside.
When Shane called, Fiona had been using that damn laptop to look up the city's impound process and the locations of the South Side impound lots, while Lip was physically on his way to the nearest one.
"Well, couldn't you have stalled him a little longer?" Lip shot back defensively. "You could've dragged out the phone call, or blocked him when he walked in."
"Stall him how?!" Fiona leaned forward, her every movement radiating frustration.
"He called, didn't even let me finish a sentence, and ordered me to wait at home. You can imagine the tone he used. What was I supposed to do? Run outside, block his path, and say, 'Hey Shane, go cool off on the street for a bit, Lip hasn't sprinted back yet'? You think that would have fucking worked?"
Silence fell between them.
Both knew it was a miracle they had managed to scrape by under the heat of Shane's anger.
"Tomorrow night at the latest," Fiona spoke first, her voice returning to its usual cold pragmatism.
"Tomorrow night at the latest, we have to get that laptop back. I just checked: the city does a detailed inventory of impounded vehicles on the morning of the third day. Every extra day that laptop sits in the van is another chance it gets found."
"Right, obviously," Lip agreed instantly. His eyes darted around before forcing them to focus.
"What do you think I was doing outside just now? Tonight, or tomorrow during the day at the latest, I'll go scout the place. At least figure out exactly where the van is parked, check the perimeter, and see what the guard situation is. Then, in the middle of the night when Shane is asleep, we go get it."
The familiar gleam of street-smart confidence returned to his eyes.
"When we're done, nothing will have happened. We'll have the laptop, the accounting data, and the client info all back under our control. Shane will just think we lost a van, paid a fine, learned a lesson, and this whole thing will be over."
Fiona looked at Lip, but her eyes held little optimism. "I hope so. Let's just pray those lazy city bastards don't toss the van the second they get it."
She rubbed the bridge of her nose, her fingers trembling slightly.
"But Kevin definitely knows by now. Go talk to him first, explain the situation, and get our stories straight."
"Yeah, I know." Lip stood up. "I'm heading to the bar right now. I'll tell him the van was my idea, that it had nothing to do with you or Shane, and that we'll pay the fines out of our profits... But most importantly, I'll ask him exactly which lot the van was taken to."
Lip walked to the door and put his hand on the knob. He paused, looking back. "We'd better pray Shane doesn't suddenly ask about the laptop before the day after tomorrow."
With that, Lip opened the door and headed toward the Alibi Room.
...
Meanwhile, inside the pizzeria, bathed in warm yellow light.
Karen held up Shane's iPhone 4, pressing her body tightly against his to fit them both in the frame.
"Smile, baby. Look at the camera. The big internet star and his lead photographer~" she dragged out the words, pressing the shutter.
Click—
Karen checked the photo immediately, then pouted in dissatisfaction. "Hey, your eyes are practically glued to the floorboards. What are you thinking about?"
Shane poked at a piece of sausage on his plate with a fork, mumbling, "Oh, nothing. Just wondering if they skimped on the cheese here."
"Look at you," Karen put the phone down, leaning in close to study his profile. "You're definitely thinking about Fiona and Lip again. Come on, the van is already impounded, you already yelled at them. What else can you do?"
Karen stabbed a piece of pizza with her fork and shoved it directly into Shane's mouth.
"Are you gonna run back and beat Lip up again? Just feed your stomach first. It's way less of a headache than your two disobedient family members."
Shane chewed the pizza, not replying.
The smug look in Lip's eyes as he stiff-necked argued "we made money," and Fiona's pale face trembling as she apologized, kept flashing in his mind.
Fucking hell. A bunch of idiots who only remember the meal but forget the beating.
His frustration began to rise again.
He had warned them over and over. He drew the bottom line in the sand repeatedly. But just to squeeze out a few extra bucks, they stomped right over it.
Did they not know how severe the consequences could be?
They just wanted to gamble. They thought, This time, it won't be me. Was the Gallagher family fundamentally incapable of shaking this addiction to taking stupid risks and relying on flukes?
Sigh...
Shane sighed heavily and grabbed his Coke, taking a huge gulp.
Whatever. At least no one got arrested. At least their info wasn't recorded, and their faces weren't caught on camera. I guess that's the silver lining, Shane consoled himself.
As for the laptop... Shane didn't even consider it.
Given how fiercely Lip had guarded that thing the past few days—treating it like his own flesh and blood—there was no way he would have brought it to the breakfast stall.
Besides, with the chaotic rush of the morning rush hour, he wouldn't even have had time to boot it up.
Shane's brain automatically filtered out the possibility.
"Hurry up, smile again. Don't waste your photographer's creative energy!" Karen held up the phone again, aiming the lens at him.
Shane forced the corners of his mouth up and threw up a peace sign for the camera.
"There we go. Much better." Karen checked the new photo and nodded in satisfaction.
Her fingers flew across the screen, logging straight into Shane's Facebook account. She selected the photo and typed out a caption: "A 'sinful' pizza afternoon with the little GF~ Occasional indulgence after training is a must! (Course link in bio btw :P)"
After checking it over once more, she hit post.
Moments later, the phone pinged with new notifications. Comments started rolling in.
Karen opened the comment section. Most of the avatars belonged to heavily made-up women:
"Who's the girl next to you? She totally doesn't deserve you."
"Your smile looks so forced. Is she making you do this?"
"She doesn't look very big... daddy, you have to make sure you take care of yourself~"
Karen's face instantly clouded over. She scoffed, "A bunch of bitches hiding behind screens!"
She immediately pulled out her own phone, logged into her account, and her fingers flew as she rapidly fired back replies.
"Think you can steal my man? Not a fucking chance!"
...
Time slipped away amidst stretching cheese and Karen's... enthusiasm.
By the time Shane walked downstairs from Karen's bedroom, feeling thoroughly refreshed, the sky outside had already grown dark.
As he reached the front door, he was about to call out a goodbye to Sheila, who was busy in the kitchen, but she beat him to it. Her tone carried a rare hint of embarrassment: "Oh, Shane... could you guys... um, try to keep it down a little bit next time? I know you're young and full of energy, but the noise today was a little loud. And the walls... they aren't very soundproof..."
Sheila's voice got quieter and quieter until it was barely a whisper.
Shane actually felt his face flush red—a rare occurrence.
Upstairs, Karen had pulled out all the stops to extinguish his anger. She used hands, feet, and even threw in some weird new moves she had picked up from God knows where. It naturally got a bit loud. But in the end, she had successfully dragged him out of his foul mood.
Shane coughed. "Uh... sorry, Aunt Sheila. Today was an exception. It won't happen again."
With that, he practically threw his shoes on and bolted.
...
When Shane rode his scooter back into the Gallagher neighborhood, he ran right into Kevin.
Kevin immediately waved him down from the sidewalk: "Hey, Shane! I was just looking for you!"
Shane pulled over. "What's up? What's going on?"
Kevin looked troubled. "I thought about it all afternoon, and I think I should just pay the fine and get the van back. What do you think? Buying another van—even a used piece of shit—means dealing with a ton of paperwork. It's too much of a hassle. It's a beater, but I'm used to it."
Shane paused.
He had been so focused on being angry and then "relieving stress" that he hadn't actually thought about how to handle the fallout with Kevin.
He quickly ran through his schedule. He could easily skip classes tomorrow, and he didn't have any filming planned...
"Yeah, that works. We can't just let you lose your van."
Seeing Shane hesitate before agreeing, Kevin thought he was reluctant and quickly added, "I mean... well, you don't have to go. If you're busy tomorrow, I can just have Fiona or Lip go with me... and they'll help cover the fine."
"Them?" Shane rejected the idea instantly.
"Having them go is just etching their faces into the minds of the city workers, basically announcing 'Hey, we're the accomplices.' Forget it. I'll go with you tomorrow. Those two need to stay out of sight. We'll figure out the process tomorrow and get the van back."
Kevin breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Great, great. That's perfect. You're the reliable one."
He chatted with Shane for a few more minutes about his training, then turned and headed home.
Shane shook his head as he watched Kevin walk away. Reliable? It just meant he was the one who had to personally fill in yet another hole they had dug.
He parked his scooter, pulled out his keys, and unlocked the front door.
At the dining table, the rest of the Gallaghers had already started eating dinner.
Fiona was feeding Liam. Hearing the door open, her shoulders visibly tensed.
Shane hung his jacket on the hook behind the door and glanced at the table. "Where's Lip?"