"So, that's Aunt Ginger?" Lip said as he and Desna walked down the stairs. V had the idea to go to the retirement home where she was working with Fiona and Debbie to find an old lady suffering from Alzheimer's that they could pass off as the real Aunt Ginger.
"She seems very nice," Desna said as the woman turned toward her, her lips turned in a sweet smile.
"You too, dear," she spoke gently before Debbie took her hand and dragged her towards the kitchen.
"We have to make it look like she has been here before," Fiona said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Maybe some pictures?" Lip suggested, "To hang around the house."
Fiona nodded her head. "Yeah, we can do that." Fiona's eyes went from Lip to Desna. "You two alright?" They shared a look, and then Lip shrugged his shoulders.
"Of course," he said, "Desna took care of me while you were out," Desna did her best not to roll her eyes at his statement.
"Shouldn't you put on something more fitting for a family photo?" she teased him. He smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm gonna go," he said, then jogged up the stairs.
"Tell Ian as well," Fiona said.
"I'm gonna get the camera," Veronica said before leaving the house.
Debbie was with "Aunt Ginger." Apparently, they were cooking something together. Desna smiled at the little girl's face. She spent the entire evening with the woman. They made dinner, cleaned the house, took pictures, and Debbie seemed to have a lot of fun.
"Debbie seems to be very happy about this 'Aunt Ginger' thing," Desna said as she sat on Lip's bunk bed while he sat on the chair rolling a cigar. He gave her an amused glance.
"Does she?" he said.
"Do you have any grandparents?" Desna asked, crossing her legs. Lip stopped what he was doing to think.
"One that I know of," he said, "Frank's mother, she is in jail. " That did not surprise her.
"What for?" she asked, and he shrugged his shoulder with a laugh.
"I'm not sure," he said, then looked up at her. "You?" Desna shook her head, lowering her gaze.
"My mother ran away from home when she was about my age," Desna told him. "She had never mentioned her parents." Lip stood up, putting his hand on her legs as she talked.
"Did you ever miss her?" he asked softly.
"My drunk of a mother that didn't do anything to protect me?" she asked before taking a breath, "I hate myself for it, but yeah... sometimes."
V and Kev were amazing, the best people who could take care of her, but they felt really more like her older siblings. She missed her mother sometimes, remembering that for some time, she had indeed cared for her before everything went down.
"Do you think I'm stupid for that?" she asked, but he shook his head as he was moving his thumb on her leg in a smoothing way.
"No," he whispered, "I know what it means."
Monica was the Gallaghers' mother. From what they had told her, she was diagnosed bipolar and had left them one day and never got back.
Looking at his expression, she passed a hand in his hair, and he let out a relaxed breath.
"Do you know where she is?" Lip asked after a moment of silence, "Your mother?" Desna shook her head.
"I have no idea," she said before tilting his head up, "I didn't want to upset you," he chuckled.
"We've got shitty parents," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "What can we do about it?"
"Maybe a kiss to feel better?" she asked innocently, making him answer with a smirk before they both started to lean in. But Ian opened the room, making them pull away.
"Dude, what the fuck," Lip said as Ian apologized again entering the room, closing the door behind him.
"I'm sorry," he said, then he turned to Desna, "For before too."
Desna waved her hand to make him apologize, "Let's say we are even," Ian smiled at her before looking between the two of them.
"So? You are back at it?" he asked, leaning his back next to where Desna's legs were hanging. Lip and Desna shared a look before smirking at each other. They were back at it, and now Desna knew that Lip cared for her and wanted her to be with him in a sense, and that was fine with her. She just loved spending time with him, and not having him talk to her had been really tough.
"Alright," Ian said, "But stop using my bed," the three of them burst laughing.
"Hey! You, yeah, you! Have you seen Ian in there?" a voice said from outside.
"Is that Mikey Milkovich?" Desna whispered before jumping down the bed and following the guys towards the window. And there was Mickey Milkovich, with his cousins, talking with Steve.
"Not home," he answered.
"Do you know when he is coming back?" Mickey asked, but Steve shook his head.
"No, man, not a clue."
"Alright, fuck it," Mickey was saying, and as he turned around, Lip grabbed Desna's arm to pull her away from the window, and Ian made some steps back. They all stood silent, hoping that Mikey hadn't seen them.
"Hey, Lip," Mikey yelled from outside, "How's your lip?"
"What an asshole," Desna muttered.
"Yeah, I saw you up there," Mikey kept saying, "Tell your shithead brother we're waiting for him."
Lip took a breath, touching Desna's arm, before taking the sigarette and putting it in his mouth.
"Sorry your face got busted up," Ian said. Lip observed him for a moment; then he sat down.
"It's okay," he said, lighting his cigarette. Ian crossed his arm over his chest.
"I didn't do anything to Mandy," he said. "I've already told you, Des." Desna nodded her head.
"I know that Ian, but her brothers think you did," Lip answered.
"After what they did to your face only for being Ian's brother, what are they going to do to him?" Desna asked.
"But she tried to rape me, and I pushed her off, and now she is mad," Ian explained, moving towards the desk to take two cans of beers, giving one to Lip.
"You're probably the first guy in her life who hasn't tried to jump her," Lip said, owning a smack behind his head by Desna.
"Remember where your comments brought you," she said as she sat next to him.
"Remember that I won't stop saying them," he said with a little smirk, "And I thought we agreed that was Ian's fault," Ian glared at him, but Desna ignored him.
"You said she cried, right?" she asked, turning her attention to Ian.
"She started screaming and crying," he answered saddly, and the girl took a breath. Going around making stories about a guy that didn't want to bone her, knowing perfectly well what would have happened, that was truly fucked up.
"Maybe," Lip started saying, giving the can to Desna to drink. "You should throw it in her, you know?" To make it even clearer, he gestured it.
"I swear you are the smartest person that I know," Desna said, "But sometimes I seriously doubt that."
"What? It is smart," he argued, "She'll call her brothers off," and he put the cigarette in his mouth with a cocky look, like he had made some kind of point.
"Yeah," Ian said, his sarcasm already made Desna smile. "And maybe you should throw it in Kash, right?" Lip observed him in silence.
"Why? Is he asking about me?" Lip asked, amused.
"Yeah," Ian nodded his head. "He's trying to go through all the Gallagher brothers," and then he smirked.
"Cool," Lip said before Ian chuckled. Desna looked sweetly at the boy; he had truly no way out; Lip's idea was a joke, but that was an answer, and another was to be beaten up by the Milkovichs.
"Eventually, you're gonna have to take beatdown for this, you know..." Lip said with a serious expression. And Ian seemed to agree.
"Let me know if you need anything," Desna said as Lip was taking her home, "Either for you or Ian."
"Thanks," he said.
"How bad do you think it's going to be?" she asked nervously, turning to him, who took a heavy breath.
"I don't know," he said honestly before she stopped him by the arm, making him turn.
"Truly, Lip," she said, looking into his eyes, "Whatever you need, I'm here."
He observed her face for a moment before his lips turned up in a sweet smile, "I know," he whispered before leaning forward to kiss her. She kissed him back, closing her eyes, savoring the moment.
"Is it really okay for you?" he asked, putting his forehead against her head. She smiled. "You know it's not just about sex, right?" he asked her seriously, "It's just... I can't be close to you if I can't have you; it's really too much, and at the same time, I can't think not having you with me-"
Desna caressed his cheek, making him stop ranting, before leaning forward and kissing his lips again. He pulled her closer to his body, and they kissed in the silence of the night.