"Babe?" Veronica's voice as she opened the door got Desna's attention. She was frying a couple of eggs. "Coupons?"
Desna nodded her head, "Pretended to jog, got the one ones on 53rd Street; they are on the table," she said, gesturing towards the sheets of paper.
"How did it go?" She asked, amused as V let out a laugh.
"That's always so much fun," Veronica said, sitting on the chair with a big smile. Sometimes, they did that, and both of them were with the Gallaghers. V would usually go with either Ian or Lip, and she flirted with the guy who delivered food in shops so that the guys could steal some goods. Desna would leave the house early in the morning with Debs to steal the sheets of coupons from the front house.
The Gallaghers needed help arriving at the end of the month. V and Kev, on the other hand, didn't have problems, so Veronica would always do things to help the family, like helping them steal or letting them borrow their things. That made Desna like Veronica even more.
"What about Kev?" The woman asked, taking the newspaper and turning the pages.
"Still asleep," Desna said with a snort, "Butt in the air," V laughed again. Just then, Ian opened their back door to put a bottle of juice next to V.
"Thanks, handsome," she said, giving him the coupons. Desna waved at the boy as he went out.
"I'm sorry about Kev and me," Veronica said, making Desna giggle as she put the eggs on two plates.
"About what?" She asked, walking towards the table.
"We are loud," V took a breath, "And not subtle at all."
"That's no problem," Desna assured, "You are in love," Desna said, starting to eat her breakfast, "Sex is part of it, and with the chemistry that you have, it's just inevitable."
She knew well what it meant to have someone close with whom she felt a connection and attraction so great that it was almost impossible to stop her from touching him, holding him, and kissing him. She envied what V and Kev had on some level, knowing that she'd never have it with Lip.
"I don't want to give you the wrong impression about this kind of stuff," V said, but Desna shook her head.
"Nothing you do could give me a wrong impression," she said honestly, squeezing V's hand. "If anything, I'd like to be like you."
V leaned forward to give her a sweet kiss on the hair, "Thank you, babe."
Desna loved her relationship with both Kev and V. They knew how to be over the top, but that was just their character. Desna could not have asked for better guardians.
Her day went on. Desna went to school, took an English test, and sat with Ian for lunch.
"So, will you ever make one?" Ian asked from next to her as she was finishing the sketch of a shirt on the pages of a notebook.
"I can't see," she reminded him before shrugging her shoulder. "This is just a hobby."
"You fix my ripped shirt, alright," he said encouragingly, and a smile appeared on her face.
"I don't know," she said, "And what should I do then?"
"Sell them?" Ian answered.
"Where?" Desna asked, and Ian shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't know. But wherever it is, can I get a share?" Ian said with a smile, making her laugh.
"Hey, I'd do all the work!" She complained.
"But I gave you the idea," he said back. She looked at him fondly before leaning her head against his shoulder.
"Only because you're sweet," this made him chuckle. Then, they stood in silence for some moments.
"How are you?" Ian asked suddenly, "Yesterday you were pretty shaken up…"
Ian had told her that Frank had attached him because Mr. Jackson had hit him after what happened at Karen's house. Desna was sure he had questions, like everyone else in that house who was not V or Lip, after the way she behaved.
"I'm good, Ian," she answered, "I'm so sorry I wasn't of any help."
But he shook his head, "Don't worry, really…" he said, "Lip wanted to go to talk to you, has he?"
Desna nodded her head, thinking back at how happy and relieved she had been as she had seen him in her room.
"Then Karen came to look for him," Ian chuckled bitterly at her words, and she moved to look at him when she felt him shake his head.
"What?" She asked.
Ian took a breath. "Karen is a whore-"
"Ian!" Desna exclaimed, surprised.
"And I do not understand why he'd let you go and keep her," his words made her look down. Lip was, in fact, acting with Karen as if she were his girlfriend. Bringing her home, cuddling before everyone—he had never done that with her…
"Because he likes her more," she muttered, feeling her mouth going dry, "Probably he just thinks I'm good for fuck," Ian turned to look at her, observing her expression that probably was giving away the awful feelings that she had inside of her.
"Then he'd be an idiot," Ian said before kissing her cheek, to which she gave a small, sad smile.
"Or maybe, I am…" she said, scoffing, leaning back on her chair, "I mean, he told me from the start what he wanted. He wanted to fuck, not string attached, none of this shit," she ranted, "What was I expecting from him?"
"So now is your fault?" Ian protested before shaking his head, "Listen, Lip knows very well how to be an asshole."
"Don't tell me about it…" she muttered just before her cell phone went off. Desna frowned as she went through her bag. Her ability to never find her phone was like a superpower.
As she finally found it, her brows frowned, reading the name that had appeared on the scream.
"It's Steve," she said, looking up at Ian.
"Steve?" Desna was quick to press the green button, "Hello?"
"Des, hey," Fiona's voice came from the other side.
"Fiona, what's up?" She asked, looking up at Ian.
Fiona took a breath, "Did you, by any chance, have seen Frank somewhere?"
"Frank?" she asked, making Ian frown. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't leave the house yesterday. Why? What's happening?" Desna said as Ian moved closer to try to listen.
"I can't find him," she admitted, her worry was evident in her tone.
"I… I'm sure he is alright," Desna tried to say. Frank could be anywhere by now since he usually drank until he couldn't even find his ass with his own hands, "At the Alibi?"
"I tried," she answered nervously, "Kev said that he drank and went away. I'm very worried, Des,"
"He is probably sleeping somewhere," which happened other times. Then, he'd probably appear out of nowhere looking for beer.
"No, this is strange," Fiona said through the phone.
"Why?"
"It's last Friday," at her words, Desna's eyes widened. The Disability-check, Frank Gallagher would never miss fresh money. It never mattered where he was, he would always show up for his disability-check.
"Oh, shit…" Desna muttered, looking at Ian, who, by the face, must have listened to his sister, "Alright, Ian is here with me; we'll find Lip and come back home."
"Thank you, Des," Fiona said, letting out a heavy breath.
"We'll find him," Desna assured her before ending the phone call and standing up alongside Ian.
"Let's find your brother," Desna said.
"Okay, I go right, you go left," he said, pointing in the direction he was talking about.
"Alright," she nodded before starting to run through the corridor, hoping to find Lip as soon as possible and not find him busy in any activities she really didn't need to know anything about.
As she passed by, someone grabbed her by the arm, making her stop to meet Iggy Milkovich's face. "Hey, where are you running to?" he asked with a smirk, his eyes traveling towards her chest.
"I gotta go," she said, trying to pull her arm back from his grip, "Can you let me go?"
"Would you blow me again if I do?" Desna's eyes widened at his words, "That mouth works magic, and you're gorgeous as you're at it. Did you know that?" She didn't like the way he was looking at her. The way he was smirking made her uneasy, "I'd like to see it in person again," but she was finally able to free herself from his grip, shoving him away from her.
"Stay the fuck away!" She exclaimed, making him let out a low chuckle; as he got close again,
"Be very careful," he said, "We don't want the school to know," Desna's breath got stuck in her throat.
"To know what?" she whispered, but then Mikey Milkovich's voice echoed in the alley.
"Iggy, leave Sweetcheeks alone," he yelled, "We have to fucking go!"
Iggy chuckled again as he passed by her to walk towards his cousin.
"To know what?" she asked again, but he only smirked before disappearing into the crowd. What did he mean? Desna hadn't liked those words at all, especially the way his eyes looked at her. She felt nervous all of a sudden, and her heart was beating loudly in her chest as she kept asking herself what he meant by those words.
"Des!" Ian's voice made her turn. "Found him!" Ian and Lip were making their way toward her, avoiding other students. Desna took a breath and put her hair behind her ears to try to calm herself down. Once she felt ready, she made her way toward the Gallagher brothers.
"I've already explained everything," Ian said, stopping in front of her.
Lip frowned, "You alright?" Desna turned to look at him, nodding her head.
"Yeah," she said, her throat feeling very dry. "Let's go find Frank."