Lip comforted Karen for a while.
Karen was internally smug that Lip believed her so easily, but on the outside, she continued to cry dramatically.
Naturally, without thinking twice, Lip drove Karen home, even though it would seriously delay his own return.
It took about an hour before Lip finally got back to the Gallagher house.
Fiona wasn't stupid. Karen's house wasn't that far from the Gallaghers', so even walking slowly shouldn't have taken that long. When she also recalled seeing Karen heading back earlier, she quickly figured out what happened.
"Did you run into Karen?" Fiona had been boiling with anger while waiting and forced herself to ask Lip, keeping her temper in check.
"Yeah," Lip replied dismissively, sitting down on the couch, pulling out a cigarette, and lighting up.
Fiona stared at his attitude, her body trembling slightly with fury. She felt an overwhelming coldness and was utterly disappointed. "Explain yourself!"
Lip took a deep drag on his cigarette. "That Dexter guy is trouble. I'm sure of it."
"That's it?" Fiona couldn't believe her ears.
"What else do you want me to say?" Lip countered.
"!!!" Fiona was going crazy.
In that moment, even though Lip was right there, Fiona felt like he was a complete stranger.
"What is with this attitude?" Fiona couldn't hold back anymore and roared. "Even if he is trouble, does that give you the right to use dirty tricks against him? You wanted to ruin him?"
"I told you to stop hanging out with Karen! Haven't you messed up Ian's life enough??"
"Hanging out with Karen wasn't enough, so you got Karen to do that for you??"
"Fine, if Karen wants to be trash, whatever!! But you, as a man, letting a woman sell herself out—what do you even think of women??"
"Are you completely insane??"
Fiona yelled this all out in one breath.
The next second, naturally, Lip—always full of himself and currently at that rebellious age—immediately snapped, yelling right back at Fiona.
"Who I hang out with is my business! You're not my mom! You have no right to tell me what to do!"
"My messing up Ian's life is between me and Ian. Ian hasn't said anything, so why are you losing it?"
"Mind your own business! Your own life is a disaster—what right do you have to lecture me!!"
"And 'dirty'???"
"Ha! What a joke! Since when do the Gallaghers care about stuff like that?"
"You must have forgotten who you are!"
Just like that, the living room of the Gallagher house was deafening with shouts.
The scene, to be honest, was pretty scary.
Ian, Debbie, and Carl watched, a little scared. They wanted to intervene but couldn't get a word in edgewise.
Frank, meanwhile, was happily watching the show with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, perfectly relaxed.
After about ten minutes, the shouting stopped.
Fiona was utterly let down by Lip, even feeling a surge of disgust. She stormed out of the Gallagher house, walking quickly toward Veronica's place.
Veronica truly was a great friend.
Throughout the entire run of Shameless, Veronica barely ever asked Fiona for help with anything, but she was always helping Fiona deal with all sorts of crises... Where else could you find a friend like that?
---
Fiona arrived at Veronica's house and collapsed weakly onto the couch.
She started to cry, first recounting the fight they'd just had, and then talking about dropping out of high school her junior year and everything she'd done since, all the sacrifices she'd made for Lip and the other kids...
The more Fiona spoke, the more wronged she felt, and the harder she cried.
Veronica didn't say a word, just listened quietly, letting Fiona vent.
Just then, Kevin got home from work. He heard Fiona crying and venting from outside, so instead of just breezing in like usual, he quieted his steps, opening the door and slipping in softly.
Once inside, Kevin didn't say anything, just sat silently on the other end of the couch.
Fiona hadn't finished venting, but since Kevin was there, she wiped her tears and stopped crying. "What am I supposed to do?"
Seeing this, Veronica didn't rush to speak. She picked up the hot water on the coffee table and handed it to Fiona. "Drink some water first."
After all the shouting and crying, Fiona's throat was hurting. She took the cup and drank several big sips. "Thanks."
Veronica smiled gently. "You're staying with us tonight. You need to cool down. We can talk properly after you've slept on it."
Hearing that, Fiona immediately thought of Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam and instinctively shook her head. "It's Monday tomorrow. Ian and the others have school. I need to go back."
"No, you don't need to go back. You can go back tomorrow morning to take care of them. It's not too late," Veronica insisted.
"But..." Fiona was worried.
"No buts. I've listened to you for this long. Can't you grant me this one small request?" Veronica asked with a smile.
Fiona paused, looked at Veronica, and shook her head with a bittersweet smile. "Fine, I promise."
"Good. Then let's head upstairs. It's getting late," Veronica didn't waste any time, then turned to Kevin. "Kevin, you're sleeping on the couch tonight."
What could Kevin do? He obediently nodded. "No problem."
Night deepened.
In the small, messy bedroom of the Gallagher house.
Ian thought and thought, hesitating repeatedly, but finally couldn't help but speak to Lip. "Lip, you awake?"
"Yeah," Lip replied concisely from the top bunk.
"You messed up on that thing, and talking to Fiona like that earlier was even worse," Ian said. "Fiona has sacrificed so much to take care of us..."
Lip immediately became annoyed and cut Ian off before he could finish. "That was her choice. I didn't ask her to take care of me, and I've contributed plenty to this family too!"
Was that true?
Pretty much. As the second oldest Gallagher kid, Lip had genuinely been hustling to make money for a long time.
Ian sighed silently. "That's true, but..."
"There are no buts," Lip interrupted again. "She's yelling at me for some outsider—is that okay? We're family, and that Dexter guy is an outsider! How long has she even known Dexter? And she's criticizing me for him, all for some job?"
"Ha. If she wants to chase that money and live the good life, let her! I don't need her!"
With the conversation reaching this point, Ian truly didn't know what else to say. He just swallowed the words he had planned and fell silent.
The bedroom went quiet.
Lip lay on the top bunk, eyes wide open.
Ian, though his eyes were closed, wasn't asleep; he was thinking about a lot of things.
Carl lay alone on his small bed, staring at the ceiling. For the first time, a thought entered his young mind: He wanted to escape this house.
---
In the hotel room.
Dexter leaned back against the headboard, watching TV, completely relaxed.
As for how Fiona would handle this whole situation, or if she would still come work for him...
Honestly, he didn't care much.
Because as long as Fiona was disappointed in Lip again, his goal had been achieved.
Once disappointment piles up to a certain point, once Fiona realizes it's not worth it anymore...
Fiona will start thinking about herself.
And once that consideration happens the first time, there will be a second time, and a third... That's just how people work.
So, things were moving in the right direction. That was enough.