Outside the Juvenile Detention Center, at the bus stop.
After chatting for a short while, Debbie figured out the reason Lip had been arrested, and her feelings were truly a bit complicated for a moment.
There was no helping it; this matter was indeed complicated enough.
Lip, marijuana, Tony, Fiona... it was simply a mess.
Debbie didn't know what to say for a moment, and just then, the bus arrived.
The two got on the bus and sat together. Debbie still didn't know what to say, so she kept her mouth shut and just turned to look out the window.
Seeing that Debbie wasn't talking, Lip thought about it and didn't say anything either. He closed his eyes and continued to ponder about Karen.
The dirty and chaotic bus slowly drove toward the South Side.
Who knows how much time passed, but the bus stopped, and Lip and Debbie got off, walking back.
Lip really wanted to go find Karen directly, but after struggling with it repeatedly, he decided to go home first and see his family.
On the way, Lip tried to find topics to chat with Debbie, but Debbie had truly changed, and changed a lot... More importantly, as they got closer and closer to the Gallagher house, Debbie's mood became increasingly heavy and complicated, and she had no mind for conversation at all.
Lip was still very smart.
Along the way, Lip saw all of Debbie's changes and was truly worried about it, not knowing what would happen to Debbie if this continued.
Just like that, the two walked all the way to the front door of the Gallagher house.
Lip took out his key and opened the door.
It was already past nine in the morning. Ian and Carl had gone to work, and Fiona was sleeping in another house with Liam and Jimmy. The Gallagher house was empty and lifeless, without any movement.
This wasn't what Lip wanted.
Lip thought that returning home would mean a family reunion, everyone happy, talking and laughing. Therefore, facing this coldness, he couldn't help but feel a bit regretful.
Driven by regret, Lip took out a cigarette, lit one, and with his thoughts racing, said to Debbie, "Ian and Carl probably went to work. I'll go wake Fiona up."
Debbie was walking toward the sofa while looking around the house. Hearing this, she turned to look at Lip and nodded. "Okay."
Giving a brief response, Debbie plopped down onto the very dirty and messy sofa that still emitted a strange smell.
She couldn't say why, but this sofa inexplicably gave Debbie a sense of stability.
Lip frowned slightly, looked at Debbie with concern, didn't say much, and went upstairs.
The second floor was the same as before, without any changes, just devoid of any other people.
Lip searched around but didn't find Fiona. He didn't understand, so he had to take out his phone and call Fiona... The reason he hadn't called earlier was that Lip wanted to give Fiona a surprise in person.
Now that he couldn't find anyone, he had to give up on the surprise.
Fiona was sleeping naked under the blowing AC, enjoying herself immensely. After several seconds, she groggily heard the phone ringing. She found it very annoying but still reached out and grabbed the phone.
Looking at the phone, she saw the name 'Lip' displayed on the screen...
Instantly, Fiona's eyes snapped open. She woke up completely, hurriedly pressed answer, and asked in disbelief, "Lip? You're out?"
Sensing the surprise in Fiona's tone, Lip was slightly satisfied and smiled. "Surprise! I just got home, with Debbie. Where are you?"
Hearing these words.
Thump.
Fiona sat up instantly, her eyes wide as saucers, simply unable to believe her ears. "What did you say! You came back with Debbie?"
Lip grinned. "The detention center is overcrowded. We both got released early!"
"Jesus!! Why didn't you call me? I could have picked you up!" Fiona scratched her head and said, "Forget it, just wait at home, I'll be there right away."
After speaking, without waiting for Lip to say anything more, Fiona hung up directly, tossed the phone aside, and scrambled out of bed to put on clothes in a panic.
On the bed.
With Fiona making so much noise, Jimmy was naturally woken up. Seeing Fiona in such a rush, he thought for a moment and asked, "Do you want me to go back with you?"
Fiona was stunned for a moment. After a slight hesitation, she shook her head. "You keep sleeping. I'll take Liam back first, and then, depending on the situation, I'll call you."
Jimmy had no interest in intervening in the Gallagher family's life anyway. Seeing Fiona didn't want him to go back with her, he didn't care. "Okay."
Fiona moved very quickly. In no time, holding Liam, she walked briskly out the door and headed toward the Gallagher house.
Walking out of the air-conditioned room into the blazing sun, the difference was too obvious. Fiona couldn't stop feeling particularly uncomfortable.
This was probably "easy to go from frugality to luxury, hard to go from luxury to frugality."
Time flew.
The Gallagher House.
Holding Liam, Fiona walked in through the back door and entered the living room. Seeing Lip and Debbie sitting on the sofa, especially Debbie, she couldn't hold back and laughed until tears came out, rushing over quickly. "Debbie, Lip!"
Before long.
The four of them hugged together.
Then, reasonably enough, Fiona kept talking non-stop and looking at Debbie non-stop.
Debbie's feelings toward Fiona and Lip were quite complicated, but not toward Liam. She had already taken Liam into her arms and was playing with him.
The four Gallaghers reunited like this for a while, and the joy of reunion gradually faded a bit.
Fiona was very happy. Her eyes darted, and she had an idea. She smiled and said, "We have to throw a party to celebrate! I'll call Ian and Carl."
Americans are just like this. Whether there's something or nothing, good thing or bad thing, they like to throw a party to celebrate, not knowing what exactly there is to celebrate.
Lip also liked parties and had no objection.
Living in such a messy home, Debbie's mood was complicated, and she really didn't have the energy to attend any party, so she declined tactfully.
But Fiona was in high spirits, and her desire for control was strong. After hearing what Debbie said, she immediately smiled and made the decision for Debbie. "You two are both home, how can we not throw a party? This party must happen."
Hearing this.
'Your sister Fiona, by controlling you and making decisions for you, gains satisfaction and validation... This is a typical symptom of a control freak. This is not a good thing...'
The psychologist's words about Fiona being a control freak immediately surfaced in Debbie's mind. She couldn't help but frown slightly, her mood becoming even more complicated.
Fiona called Ian first.
By now.
Ian had basically had enough of Lip. Hearing Lip was back, he didn't react much, but hearing Debbie was back, he was indeed quite happy.
Because of this happiness, Ian immediately agreed without hesitation. "Okay, I'll go back at noon. We'll celebrate properly."
"Mm." Fiona was very gratified by Ian's reaction. After saying a few more words, she hung up and called Carl.
Carl was busy as a bee with Mickey at the shooting range.
Tomorrow was August 1st. The concert would be held here, and there were simply too many things to do.
After listening to Fiona, Carl, whose thoughts had always been quite simple, smiled happily. "Okay, I'll try to go back early."
"Mm, you must come back early," Fiona emphasized.
"Okay," Carl responded and hung up.
Mickey was a bit curious. "What happened? Any good news?"
Carl gave a truthful answer.
Hearing Lip was back, Mickey naturally immediately thought of Mandy, who had been like a walking zombie for the past few days and had changed too much.
Thinking of Mandy, Mickey couldn't help but feel a headache and didn't want to talk about this anymore. "Let's work."
Carl was simple-minded. Hearing this, he didn't think much and quickly continued working.
---
The Gallagher House.
Seeing Fiona finish her calls, Lip lit a cigarette and immediately asked Fiona, "How's the family recently? Did anything happen? How's Monica?"
Mentioning Monica, Fiona couldn't help but get a headache. She shook her head. "Monica ran away. Don't know where she is."
Lip wasn't surprised by this. After all, that was Monica. Running away was normal; not running away would be abnormal. "Then, that child..."
Lip couldn't finish his sentence before Debbie was shocked and interrupted, "Wait, Lip, what are you talking about? Monica is pregnant again?"
Lip then realized that because no one visited, Debbie really knew nothing.
Lip was very helpless about this. Thinking about it, it wasn't good to complain about Fiona to her face, so he held back and said to Fiona, "Fiona, tell Debbie the details."
Fiona obediently did so, explaining everything...
Listening, Debbie was stunned, simply unable to believe her ears. Her freckled little face was very quickly filled with shock.
Fiona was still talking. After explaining the complicated situation with Monica's pregnancy, she hesitated slightly, thinking she would have to say it sooner or later and concealing it was meaningless, so she also talked about Frank's illness.
"Also, Frank had an accident the day before yesterday and was sent to the hospital. The doctor found out..."
Fiona said it all in one breath.
Lip really didn't care about Frank's life or death. His feelings for Frank were mostly hatred. Hearing Frank was going to die, there was only a tiny, insignificant bit of sadness, and more of it was joy.
Debbie was different. Call it stupid, or call it young.
Anyway, the current Debbie still liked Frank quite a bit and didn't want to lose this dad, Frank.
So, Debbie instantly got anxious. "Then where is Frank now? Still in the hospital?"
Fiona clearly knew Debbie liked Frank. Hearing this, she had to shake her head a bit helplessly. "I don't know. I haven't gone to see him again."
"????" Debbie suspected she heard wrong. Immediately, she shouted unhappily, "You just left him there and ignored him? He is our father!"
The tone of these words was quite heavy.
At this point, the joyous atmosphere of the reunion came to an end.
The atmosphere took a sharp turn for the worse, fitting the Gallagher family style very well.
Fiona didn't like Debbie's tone. Her expression changed, the smile gone, and she immediately replied, "He doesn't care about us at all, why should I care about him?"
Lip didn't want the family to argue right after he got home, so he hurriedly intervened, advising, "Debbie, speak nicely. Frank has never fulfilled his duties as a father to us..."
Debbie really liked Frank quite a bit. Seeing Lip clearly standing on Fiona's side, she didn't let Lip finish and interrupted resolutely, "No matter what, he is dying. We have no reason to leave him there and ignore him!"
As the words left her mouth, Debbie suddenly thought of Peggy and sneered coldly. "But you guys should be very practiced at this kind of thing. When Peggy was dying back then, you all completely ignored her too."
Saying that, Debbie stood up. "I'm going to the hospital to see Frank."
Debbie said she was leaving and moved to leave.
Fiona was originally excited, but in the blink of an eye, Debbie insisted on saying these messy ghost words. Her good mood was gone instantly. Gritting her teeth—fuck it—she didn't stop her, refusing to let herself be wronged!
Lip saw Fiona not stopping Debbie at all and was truly surprised. But now wasn't the time for surprise. He hurriedly stood up and grabbed Debbie. "Debbie, don't rush. Let's talk properly."
"What is there to talk about?" Debbie was angry. "You guys don't care if Frank dies or not, what else is there to say?"
Lip indeed didn't care about Frank, but he cared about Debbie. Seeing Debbie's attitude so firm, insisting on seeing Frank, he hesitated slightly. "Sit down first. I'll accompany you to the hospital later, how about that?"
If it were before, Debbie would definitely have agreed.
But time had passed, and things had changed.
"I'm not a child. I can go to the hospital myself. Let go, Lip. You guys do what you need to do. I'm going to the hospital to see," Debbie said with a serious face.
Lip refused to let go. His mouth moved, wanting to persuade her again.
Unexpectedly, just at this moment, Fiona suddenly spoke up. "Lip, let her go. This is her freedom."
Hearing this, Lip was instantly shocked.
Debbie had changed, and changed a lot; Lip knew that.
Now, Lip knew another thing: Fiona had also changed a lot.
Like this, Lip couldn't help but feel a massive headache, unable to understand what had happened in the past twenty-something days and why Fiona seemed like a different person.
After a slight struggle, Lip let go.
Debbie was still too young after all, her mind too simple. Without delay, she immediately went out the door silently.
Lip watched Debbie leave, then sat back on the sofa, took a fierce drag of his cigarette, and asked Fiona, "What happened to you?"
Fiona smiled. "I moved out. It's on XX Street, very close to here. I usually sleep there at night and basically come over during the day."
Lip: "????"
Things have truly changed?
This is too fucking ridiculous!
Lip was stunned, then instinctively panicked, thinking Fiona was going to completely give up on the Gallagher family. "Why?"
Fiona still smiled. "I realized I have the right to make myself live better. I don't have to pour my whole life into this home."
"It's time I lived for myself."
Hearing this.
Lip was speechless for a moment.
After all, what could he say?
Lip knew in his heart that Fiona was right.
After so many years, Fiona now wanted to live for herself. Was that wrong?