The Gallagher House, Living Room.
Deep in the night.
Fiona was screaming.
Seeing Fiona try to dump the blame on him, Lip naturally exploded. The rage in his chest erupted again, and he started screaming right back.
"I didn't ask you to raise me!"
"I've been making money too! I've been taking responsibility for this house! You aren't the only one trying!"
"You turned this family into this mess, and you're blaming me?"
"Why don't you look in the mirror!"
"What have you actually done?"
"..."
Lip roared out everything in one breath.
Seeing Lip like this up close—red-faced and screaming at her—Fiona was genuinely terrified. She was scared and angry all at once, and huge tears started streaming down her face.
But even then, Fiona screamed back.
For a moment, the siblings looked like mortal enemies.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
It was hard to say how long it lasted. Fiona was crying her eyes out, her body shaking uncontrollably from the heartbreak. She couldn't stop.
Lip's face was beet red, veins bulging on his forehead. He took one last look at Fiona, then stood up abruptly. Grabbing his crutches, he gritted his teeth and stormed toward the door.
Through her blurry, tear-filled eyes, Fiona saw him leaving. Purely out of instinct and worry, she cried out, "Where are you going?"
In a way, Fiona really did see herself as the mother to Lip and the others. No matter what happened, she couldn't bear to let them go.
Unfortunately, kids like Lip were too stupid to understand that.
"None of your fcking business!" Lip roared without looking back.
Hearing that, watching Lip's determined back as he walked away, Fiona's teeth started chattering. Click-clack-click-clack. She wanted to speak, but nothing came out.
Lip walked out of the Gallagher house.
SLAM.
Lip slammed the front door shut with all his might.
Fiona flinched at the sound. Then, the dam broke, and she wailed uncontrollably.
---
Lip marched out of the front yard in one breath. Gritting his teeth, he started walking toward Karen's house while dialing her number.
It was past 3:00 AM. Most people were asleep, and Karen was no exception.
Lip had to call several times before he finally got through.
Karen was dragged out of sleep, answering groggily, "What's wrong?"
Lip took a deep breath and tried to sound as calm as possible. "I left home. Interested in moving in together?"
Hearing this, Karen jolted. She was instantly wide awake. "What happened?"
Lip wasn't in the mood to explain. "I'll tell you later. You coming out?"
At this hour, sleeping in a warm bed felt amazing. Karen really didn't want to go out. But... money makes the world go round. For the sake of profit, sleep could be put aside for a moment.
"Okay. Where are you? I'll come find you," Karen said sweetly.
"I'm walking toward your place. You'll see me if you drive over," Lip felt a flicker of joy.
"Okay, be there soon," Karen replied crisply.
The call ended.
Lip let out a long sigh of relief.
In this moment, Lip's love for Karen deepened significantly.
He even felt that Karen was truly good. Even when the whole world abandoned him, Karen was still by his side...
Thinking this, Lip pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and smiled. For the first time, he admitted to himself that he was in love with Karen.
---
The Gallagher House.
Fiona cried for a long, long time, until she was hoarse and collapsed.
Before long.
Fiona fell into a nightmare.
In the dream, the Gallagher house—poor but always lively—started to shatter piece by piece. At the same time, Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam waved goodbye to her one by one, drifting further and further away.
She lowered her head in agony and clearly saw her own life force draining away, chunk by chunk.
Time flew.
The five kids disappeared completely. The Gallagher house had only her left.
She found herself slumped on the floor, realizing her life was almost gone.
Am I dying?
She asked herself. Then, she let out a bitter laugh and closed her eyes.
Good. It's a release, she said.
She waited for death, feeling very calm.
But death never came.
Confused, she opened her eyes. To her surprise, not only had her life force returned, but it was stronger and more vibrant than before.
Then, she realized the surroundings had changed drastically.
She wasn't in the Gallagher house anymore. She was in a different, beautiful house.
She looked down and saw that she had changed too. She was wearing luxurious new clothes without a single hole or stain.
Everything was incredibly perfect.
The nightmare had turned into a sweet dream.
She felt happy. She smiled.
Just then, she saw Jimmy walk up to her with a smile. He spoke, "See? Forget about those brats. Look how good your life can be when you live for yourself."
Fiona heard him clearly. Subconsciously, she nodded.
---
A new day. The sun rose, spilling light everywhere.
Dexter's House.
Business as usual.
Bianca, who was perfect in every way except for her somewhat "petite" assets, got up early as always to go downstairs and prep breakfast.
Dexter woke up a bit later, yawned, got out of bed, and checked his phone.
And there it was.
A text from Karen sent at 4:00 AM entered his view.
[Because of the Jimmy situation, Lip and Fiona had a massive fight. He moved out in the middle of the night and said he's not going back...]
Reading this, Dexter instantly felt more awake. He was amused.
"Truly a beautiful day," Dexter muttered with a grin.
Debbie was in juvie. Carl was with Peg. Ian was bipolar. And now Lip, the idiot, had fallen out with Fiona and pulled a runaway act...
The Gallagher house was left with just Fiona and Liam. And Liam only knew how to eat, sleep, and poop...
Ignoring Liam, the Gallagher family was effectively disbanded... at least for now.
So, Fiona must have had a breakdown, right?
Dexter figured she must have.
Fiona was never that tough to begin with. Deep down, she was fragile. It would be weirder if she didn't break down after this.
Thinking this, Dexter walked quickly downstairs and found Little Crow, sending him to fly over to the Gallagher house for a look.
Little Crow was efficient. In the blink of an eye, he flew through the open kitchen window of the Gallagher house and into the living room.
There, Fiona was curled up in a ball on the armchair. She looked... truly desolate. Lonely and wretched, as if the entire world had tossed her aside.
Dexter stood on his back porch, a cigarette dangling from his lips, staring at the Gallagher house. Sensing the image fed back by Little Crow, he couldn't help but sigh with a bit of emotion.
"That is tragic."
Dexter actually felt a twinge of pity.
Fiona... the woman had plenty of flaws. She was selfish and self-righteous. But she had some good points too. Ending up like this... strictly speaking, was a bit harsh.
So.
"She's hit rock bottom. Will she start climbing out now?" Dexter asked himself.