Beep, beep, beep...
In a mont of panic, Fiona hung up the phone.
Jimmy exhaled a cloud of smoke, chuckled to himself, and drove around to the back alley.
It was already dark. The alley behind the Gallagher house had no streetlights, leaving it pitch black.
Jimmy arrived in seconds. He parked, killed the engine, looked up at the house, and waited silently.
He believed Fiona would show up.
Gallagher House, Second Floor Bathroom.
Fiona stared at her phone, completely zoned out.
It took a good while for her to snap back to reality. She dropped the phone like it was a branding iron.
She took a deep breath, shook her head to force Jimmy out of her mind, stepped into the tub, and started showering.
As the warm water sprayed over her, Fiona didn't even realize she was rushing through it.
Within minutes, she was done. She threw her clothes on, walked out of the bathroom, and involuntarily stopped at the top of the stairs.
Go right, and she goes downstairs for dinner.
Go left, and she goes out the back to see Jimmy.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Fiona sighed and turned left.
She walked out of the house. By the moonlight, she imdiately spotted the car parked outside the back fence and the blurry silhouette of Jimmy sitting inside.
At the sa ti, Jimmy saw Fiona and smiled.
Their eyes locked from a distance.
A mont later.
Fiona bit her lip, turned around, and practically fled back into the house, running all the way down to the dining room.
Jimmy gave a faint smile, looked away, leaned his seat back, and continued to wait.
Gallagher House, Dining Room.
Seeing Fiona rush in like she was running from the cops, Lip was confused. "What's wrong?"
Fiona shook her head decisively. "Nothing. Just hungry."
Lying ca as naturally as breathing. She imdiately changed the subject. "Ian's not back yet?"
"I just called him. He said he's on the bus. Needs another half hour. Said not to wait for him, just eat," Lip replied. He could tell Fiona was lying about sothing, but he didn't call her out on it.
Fiona nodded and sat at the table. "Did he say how it went with Monica?"
Lip shook his head. "He didn't give a chance to ask... I've got a bad feeling about this. Knowing Monica, she probably fed Ian so bullshit theories."
Ding-dong.
Lip was right.
On a dirty, disgusting bus filled with various funky slls.
Ian sat by the window, staring out with a cold expression. Monica's words were replaying on a loop in his brain.
"Neither of us is bipolar!"
"We're just different."
"Ian, don't listen to what they say. Do whatever you want to do. As long as you're happy."
"Don't worry about how other people look at you."
"When I get out, I'll take you clubbing. The world is huge, and you're gorgeous. You can definitely find soone better."
"..."
Thinking about n, Ian smiled slightly.
Unlike Monica, while he agreed he wasn't bipolar, Ian did acknowledge he had a problem.
For example, wasting ti and feelings on Mickey.
Ian realized he needed to move on. He felt that once he moved on, he would be fine.
That was his mindset.
---
The Gallagher House.
Dinner was finished. Fiona checked the ti.
Actually, she had plenty of ti to get to work. But if she added in ti to see Jimmy, things got tight...
Fiona weighed her options. She knew she shouldn't go see Jimmy. I an, putting everything else aside, the guy was married. He had a wife...
But old habits die hard.
The craving for chaos and excitent quickly overpowered her reason.
Fiona stood up. "I can't wait for Ian. I have to get to work. It's my first day. If I'm late, I might lose the gig."
"Text when Ian gets back."
Lip's brow twitched. He looked at Fiona. "Work hard. Don't fck the manager."
Fiona paused for a second, then habitually adopted her playful, cynical attitude. She grinned. "No promises. One day at a ti."
Lip was speechless. He knew exactly who Fiona was, so he didn't say anything else.
"See you in the morning." Dropping that line, Fiona walked briskly toward the back door.
Lip didn't notice anything amiss. He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and called Karen to co over for a hookup.
Fiona walked fast, but the mont she stepped out of the house, she slowed down to a normal pace, putting her hands in her pockets as she strolled.
Jimmy, lying in the car, heard the noise. He sat up, saw Fiona, and grinned. He pushed the door open, got out, and smiled at her.
Seeing Jimmy, Fiona imdiately put on a stern face.
One step, two steps, three steps...
Fiona stopped in front of Jimmy, glared at him, and spoke fiercely. "After what you did to Lip, you have the face to show up in front of ?"
Jimmy knew exactly how domineering Fiona was—and how much she liked being domineering. He didn't argue at all. He just smiled slightly. "The past is in the past. Let drive you to work."
The whole thing with Lip and Jimmy... Fiona wasn't completely unreasonable. She knew Lip was in the wrong first, but what Jimmy did was excessive. Lip still couldn't walk properly...
In this mont, looking at Jimmy, Fiona was incredibly conflicted.
On one hand, thinking of Lip, she genuinely wanted to beat the hell out of Jimmy, maybe even break his legs so he could see how it felt!
On the other hand, she had the urge to tackle him and go at it for three hundred rounds.
Fiona didn't know what to do. So, following her usual pattern, she chose avoidance. She didn't say a word, turned around, and started walking away.
Seeing this.
Jimmy imdiately smiled and followed her. "I can ride the L with you. That works too."
"..." Fiona choked on her breath. She panicked, got frustrated, stopped again, widened her eyes, and demanded, "What the hell do you want?!"
"I love you," Jimmy replied instantly, looking her dead in the eye.
Hearing this.
Fiona froze.
The next second.
It was like lightning striking dry tinder. Fiona abandoned all her internal conflict and smashed her lips against Jimmy's.
Jimmy, of course, responded in kind.
Monts later.
They stumbled, locked in a passionate embrace, into a dark corner nearby.
Then.
The battle began.
Fiona missed this feeling intensely. She lost herself in it, wishing it would never end.
A long while later.
The battle ended. Sanity returned.
Fiona was filled with regret again. She shoved Jimmy away hard and scrambled to fix her clothes. "You are married! Stay away from ! Fck off!"
Jimmy was used to Fiona's mood swings. He didn't care in the slightest. He chuckled. "I don't love her, and she doesn't love . I married her purely because I had no choice. I had to do it."
"Fiona, the one I love is you."
Fiona didn't want to hear it. She couldn't hear it. "Shut up!"
She practically scread the words, then stomped forward, running away from him.
Jimmy didn't hesitate. He followed imdiately.
The two of them walked down the street, one leading, one following.
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