―

Hannah rubbed her hands together with a grin as she jogged downstairs, her sock covered feet hitting the stairs with little noise, "Guess who's gonna crush today's English pop quiz." She smiled, before it quickly disappeared and she froze, staring at the woman stood behind the stove.

Monica gasped, throwing her hands in the air with a grin, "You will, my beautiful carrottop." She grinned, encasing the girl in a hug.

"What the fuck?" Hannah muttered, taking a step back away from the blonde.

"How is it a pop quiz if you know it's gonna happen?" Frank asked from where he was sat at the dining table, drinking a beer.

"I found them in Theo's test the other day," Hannah murmured, not looking away from her mother, "We don't have any money." She told Monica as the woman continued to move around the kitchen.

"Lip? Debbie? Lip?" Fiona's voice called out.

"Fiona!" Hannah called back warily, her gaze still on Monica.

"Hannah?" Fiona asked, coming down the stairs, pausing on the bottom stop, both of the girls just standing and staring at their mother.

"Good morning, sweetheart." Monica grinned.

"Mom," Fiona breathed out, "We don't have any money."

"Already told her that." Hannah said.

Frank held up a jug with a smile, "Mimosa?"

Hannah took the jug, "If she's here, yes." She poured herself a glass as Fiona's phone rang, the brunette answering it.

"Hello. What? When? Okay, well, how much is that going to cost? I have to call you back with an answer. Thank you," Fiona hung up before looking over at Frank in shock, "Grammy died?"

Hannah's head shot up, "What."

"Honey, I am so sorry." Monica said, reaching out to her daughters, who both flinched away from her.

"She was my mother. I'm the one who's hurting here." Frank said with his alcohol - obviously there was so much love lost.

"Yeah, well, that was the Cook County Hospital Morgue," Fiona told them, "Claim her body or they're gonna cremate her."

Frank shook his head, "I am done running around trying to please that woman."

"Grammy died?"

Hannah turned to see Debbie stood by the washing machine, Liam in her arms, "Oh shit."

"Debbie! Oh, Liam!" Monica smiled widely, approaching the tow, Debbie taking a step back as Monica took Liam in her arms, "Look at you, my little brown bear. Oh, look how big you are!"

Debbie looked warily at her sisters, ""How long is she staying?"

"Only forever and a day!" Monica grinned, making Hannah roll her eyes as she downed her second mimosa, Fiona taking the glass away from her after that.

"Are my camo pants still in the dryer?" Ian asked as he came down the stairs

Monica lit up, "Ian!"

Ian let out a small chuckle, "What is she doing here?"

"I asked your mother to come home." Frank said.

"Oh, so this about-to-be shit show is all your doing?" Hannah asked with a raised eyebrow as she handed Ian a snack for breakfast.

"You live here now too?" Ian asked Frank.

"I made breakfast." Monica offered,

"No, thanks." Ian shook his head.

"Your mom spent a lot of time making that breakfast. Sit down and eat it." Frank told his son, almost like an actual father would.

"This is bullshit." Ian scoffed, exiting out the backdoor.

"Ian," Fiona called after him, "Wait."

"Gonna wash his mouth out with soap." Frank said.

"You can wash mine out," Carl grinned, entering the kitchen, "I wanna fart bubbles."

"Oh, Carlie!" Monica sang, hugging the boy.

Carl tensed up as she did, "Mom?"

"You're so big!" Monica marvelled, "Come on, I made you breakfast. Sit down and eat," She instructed, Hannah frowning as Carl did so with a smile and Monica turned to Fiona, "Where's Lip?"

There was an awkward silence that followed.

"And that's my cue to get dressed." Hannah muttered, darting upstairs.

―

Hannah rolled her eyes as she and Fiona came back downstairs, dressed, to the kitchen looking as if a pancake bomb went off. The sisters looked at each other with a sigh before they got to work at cleaning the mess their mother had made.

"How long do you think it's gonna last this time?" Hannah asked as she peeled a cooked egg off of the counter.

"No idea," Fiona shrugged, wiping away the dripping pancake batter, "She's back 'cause Grammy died, at least two weeks I'd say."

"My guess is three." Hannah said.

Fiona cocked an eyebrow with a small grin, "Closest gets treated to a round at the Alibi?"

"You're on." Hannah smiled as the backdoor opened and Steve came through with coffees and a box of doughnuts, making the two girls groan.

"Are you really gonna do this every morning?" Fiona asked him.

"Do what?" Steve asked, badly acting oblivious.

"Show up, try to woo me?" Fiona rolled her eyes.

"At least this time he didn't bring the illegal immigrant." Hannah hummed as Steve handed the girl her usual coffee order.

"I'm looking for Lip." Steve shrugged.

Hannah and Fiona rolled their eyes, "Uh-huh."

"I can't be friends with your brother?"

"No, you can't." Fiona told him as Debbie came downstairs, putting Liam in his little pen.

"We gonna have a funeral?" The youngest sister asked.

"No." Hannah and Fiona shook their heads.

"Who died?" Steve asked.

"Grammy." Debbie told him.

Steve frowned, "Wow. I'm sorry, guys."

"Your fake condolences don't change the fact you're married." Hannah told him, taking a sip of your coffee.

"A funeral requires a body and your father hasn't picked her up yet." Fiona sighed, starting to clear away the table.

"So she's laying somewhere all alone?" Debbie asked.

"Eh, there's other dead people," Hannah shrugged, making Fiona wack her arm, "Sorry."

"We can have a memorial," Steve shrugged, "Don't need a body for that."

Hannah let out a scoff, "We?"

"I spy doughnuts," Carl grinned, running down the stairs and reaching into the box, "Hey. Hey, check it out, Steve. It's a bloody butthole." He laughed, holding up a jelly doughnut and poking his tongue through it.

Steve laughed, "Awesome, dude!"

"School," Fiona told her younger siblings sternly, "Let's go."

"Lunch?" Debbie asked her.

"Shit." Fiona whispered, grabbing two paper bags and shoving the leftover breakfast into them.

"We already had that for breakfast." Carl said.

"Sometimes astronauts have breakfast three times a day." Steve told him.

"Make that MMA fighters and then he'd actually listen to you." Hannah chuckled.

"Lip never came back after he blew out of here," Fiona told Steve with a sigh, "Check Karen's."

"Karen's? Isn't she married?" Steve asked.

"Aren't you?" Fiona shot back.

Steve shrugged, "Technicality."

"Goodbye." Fiona said, pushing him towards the door.

"Oh, such sweet sorrow." Steve said.

"You gonna drive us?" Carl asked.

"Absolutely-"

"No, he's not. I mean it," Fiona told them both, "Stop coming around." She whispered to Steve before fully pushing him out.

"Who was that?" Monica asked as she came downstairs, joining Carl and Debbie at the table.

"A pathetic weasel." Hannah muttered, shrugging her back over her shoulders as Fiona chuckled lightly at her comment.

"Are you gonna be here when we get home?" Debbie asked her.

Monica grinned, "Absolutely."

Carl grinned at his sister, "I told you so."

"Shut up, you didn't believe her either." Debbie glared at him.

There was a knock on the backdoor and Monica perked up in her seat, "Who's that."

Hannah's eyes widened and she quickly grabbed three doughnuts out of the box, "No one," She rushed out, quickly opening the door and sliding through it, "Bye Mom."

Adam raised an eyebrow as Hannah turned to him and his sister, "Mom?"

"Monica's back." Hannah frowned.

"Shit." Elodie whispered.

"Yeah, so take these doughnuts as a bribe not to talk about it until after our English quiz." Hannah told the two, giving them their food.

The twins nodded, "Sure." They both said as they walked down the street.

"Wait, English test?" Elodie asked.

Hannah nodded, taking a sip of her coffee, "Pop quiz after lunch."

"How'd you know?" Adam wondered.

"You seem to forget that I get high with the teacher." 

―

Hannah closed her eyes, bathing in the warmth of the last sun of the day resting on her face as she took a deep drag of her cigarette.

"Monica, huh?" Theo asked, taking a drag of his own cigarette.

"Yep," Hannah muttered, light tapping the end of the stick on the concrete of the roof they were sat on - Theo having bribed the school janitor to let them have access to the roof after school hours, "The tumour that just keeps on coming back."

The man raised an eyebrow, "You think she'll be here for a while."

The redhead let out a scoff, "Her and Frank are in their banging like bunnies stage. She'll be around for a few weeks, at least." She sighed, lying back on the roof, enjoying the feeling of how cool the concrete was through her school shirt, having dumped her blazer with her bag by the roof access door.

"Shit." Theo muttered.

"Yeah," Hannah nodded, "So in two weeks, if I approach you, asking you to strangle me with my school tie-"

"I will gladly oblige." Theo chuckled.

The pair stayed in a comfortable silence, Theo sitting on the ledge with a leg swing off the side of the building, and Hannah lying a few feet away from him.

"So, the fall play's coming up." The teacher spoke up.

"Oh, fuck off." Hannah groaned, throwing her arm across her eyes.

Theo chuckled, "Have I still got an assistant director?"

"Are you still paying me twelve dollars an hour when I babysit?"

"I'll make it sixteen if you help with props."

"Make it twenty."

"Twenty?!"

"Well, then good luck with props."

"Fine."

"Deal."

Theo rolled his eyes, "You drive a hard bargain."

Hannah let out a chuckle as she took a drag of her cigarette, "Yeah, but we all know I'm worth it."

Theo nodded, "That you are."

―

Hannah sat at the small desk in her and Debbie's room that now stood in the alcove where Liam's crib once was, her fingers tapping away at the old laptop as she worked on her history essay, the faint glow reflecting off her face. The girl let out a groan when she heard loud voices and music playing downstairs. Checking to see that Debbie was still asleep, Hannah slunk out of the room, meeting Ian in the hallway.

The two redheads shared a look, "Monica."

Ian eyed the fact that Hannah was still in her uniform as they made their way downstairs, "Another essay?"

Hannah nodded, "Worth twenty-percent of this semester's grade."

Ian gritted his teeth, "Right. Some of us want to graduate and do something with my life. So shut the fuck up and let me sleep." He told everyone, turning off the music.

Frank glared at his son, "Do not talk to your mother like that, you little fucker." He said, shoving Ian, who shoved him back.

"Hey!"

"Hey!"

Hannah's eyes widened comically when Monica slapped her husband, saying, "Apologize to him."

Frank stared at her, "What?"

"Apologize." Monica repeated.

"Uh, sorry." Frank muttered to Ian.

"What is going on?" A tired voice asked, heads turning to see Debbie stood on the stairs, wiping the sleep put of her eyes.

"Grab your earplugs, go back to bed." Fiona told the girl.

Monica looked at Hanna and Ian, holding out a beer to the both of them. The two redheads took the peace offering, Ian running back upstairs. 

Monica watched her son leave, letting out a loud gasp when she saw her youngest daughter, "Debbie! Hi, honey!"

"Debs, now." Fiona repeated.

"Deb, you wanna come play?" Monica asked, taking off her earrings as she approached the girl, holding them up to her.

"Yeah." Debbie grinned, letting Monica pull her into the party.

"Fuck's sake." Hannah muttered, loosening her tie even more and taking a swig of her beer before she made her way back upstairs to finish her essay.

―

"Did you get your test back today?"

"Jesus fuck!" Hannah exclaimed, leaning against the backdoor in shock.

"So?" Monica asked her with an excited grin.

Hannah eyed her mother and her outfit choice, "Is hooker your newest side job?"

"Did you get your test back?" Monica repeated.

"Yes, Jesus." Hannah sighed, reaching into her bag and handing the few pieces of paper stapled together to her mother.

"A star!" Monica cried, jumping up and down and hugging her daughter, "That's amazing!"

"Well, I do have an English scholarship," Hannah shrugged, "Kinda need that to keep it."

"I'm so proud of you." Monica grinned, putting the test on the fridge with a magnet.

"It's not a huge spectacle." Hannah shrugged.

"It's not."

"Well, I'm a straight A student."

Monica gasped, "You are?"

Hannah nodded, "You'd know that if you stuck around or came to parents' evenings," She hummed, grabbing herself a beer from the fridge, "So, you cosplaying as a four-year-old or something?" The girl asked, gesturing to the outfit Monica was wearing.

"It's our cheer outfit for Carl's game." Monica grinned.

Hannah almost spat out her beer, "Our cheer outfit?"

"Yeah, yours is on your bed." Monica nodded.

"No, I'm gonna stick to the face paint." Hannah shook her head.

"Oh, please wear yours." Debbie said as she came down the stairs in the same outfit as Monica.

Hannah let out a sigh, rubbing her temples, "Oh my God."

"Don't you look adorable!" Monica cried, hugging her youngest daughter, "Oh, please Hannah?"

Hannah sighed, looking at Debbie's begging face, "Fine," She groaned, slamming her beer onto the counter and making her way to the stairs, "But for Debs, not for you. Don't touch my beer."

―

"I feel like a prostitute." Hannah muttered, tugging her checked skirt further down as she stood between the twins at Carl's game.

"But you're such an adorable prostitute." Elodie teased, lightly tugging on one of Hannah's pigtails.

"Fuck off."

"I think you look really pretty." Adam quietly told her.

Hannah flushed red, "Really?"

Adam nodded, also blushing, "Really."

"See, Hannah?" Monica smiled from the seat in front of them.

"Shut up, Monica." Hannah glared at her mother, making the woman turn back around.

"She really is a piece of work." Elodie whispered.

"I told you," Hannah nodded, "I know I'm a writer, but I'd never make up a life this for myself."

The family watched, cheering as Carl punched an opponent in the face.

"Fuck yeah, Asswipe!" Hannah cried, shaking a pompom in the air, Elodie doing the same with her other one.

"Lip! Come on and sit down!" Monica called out, making Hannah turn to see Lip stood by them, Debbie hugging him, with Estefania standing behind him, "Come on, sit with us!"

"I'm off the boat for one minute and there's a mutiny?" Lip scoffed.

"No one told you to get out." Fiona told him.

"Actually, you did." Lip nodded.

"He's not wrong." Hannah muttered to herself.

"Don't be mad at Fiona," Monica frowned, "Come on."

"Hey, Monica, shut up," Lip glared at the woman, "Like most of my life, this has nothing to do with you."

"I sit?" Estefania asked him, pointing at the bleachers.

"What?" Lip asked, "Yes, sit. Wherever's fine." 

Fiona raised an eyebrow as the Portuguese woman sat down next to Elodie, "You babysitting now?"

"Roommate." Lip told her.

Fiona stood up, "You're living at Steve's?"

"Yeah, no curfews, no ultimatums," Lip shrugged, "No befriending the enemy behind my back."

"She just showed up. What was I supposed to do?" Fiona asked, Lip only rolling his eyes and walking away, "Oh, really? Oh, you're just going to storm off like a baby? Too bad there's no door you can slam!" She yelled after him.

Hannah nodded, giving her sister a thumbs up, "Great comeback, Fi."

Frank looked at Monica as Fiona started to make her way to Steve, "Your son's a real prick."

Estefania grinned at Elodie, "Hola."

The girl stared at her, nodding slightly before she turned to Hannah, whispering, "Shit, I'm gay."

Hannah gave her a look, "Well, yeah."

―

Hannah held open the door as Debbie, Carl and Little Hank entered the house with the food they had got after Carl's victory.

"We brought doughnuts and a bucket of chicken." Debbie called out as Frank turned on 'You Really Got Me' on the speaker.

"And we got beer!" Hannah grinned, holding up the cans in her hands.

"Gimme, gimme." Elodie smiled, grabbing herself a can.

"Oh yeah, you definitely are a lesbian." Hannah quietly chuckled as she watched Elodie drink from the can.

The brunette girl wacked her best friend's arm, "Shut up!"

"Look what the cat drug in." Frank laughed, holding up the drugs he got for the night.

"You gonna let me have some this time?" Hannah asked.

"I guess." Frank fake groaned.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Fiona asked as she came downstairs, "This is not okay," She said, turning off the music, earning groans before she changed the music and 'The Show Goes On' started blasting in the living room, "Now it is!"

The door opened and Kevin and Veronica entered the party.

"Why the hell weren't we invited?" Veronica called out as Hannah took a drag from the bong that was being passes along.

"Vodka, lemonade, blender." Kevin listed off what he had as he gave some of it to Adam to bring into the kitchen.

"Everybody shut up! Hey!" Monica called out as she turned off the music, all heads turning to her, "Debbie would like to take this opportunity to say a few words about Grammy Gallagher."

Debbie was lifted onto the coffee table by her mither, looking around nervously, Hannah giving the girl an encouraging nod before she spoke, "I guess what I'm going to say is that Grammy will be missed. And if she's watching right now I want her to know that we love her."

Ian held up his beer as Debbie stepped down, "To Grammy!"

"Grammy!"

"Hey!"

"Grammy!"

Hannah smiled softly, holding up her beer, "To Grammy Gallagher."

The music continued to play again and cheers and joy was spread around the Gallagher's living room.

Adam lightly took Hannah's hand in his, "I really do think you look pretty, by the way."

Hannah smiled lightly, "Thanks, Adam. Wanna dance?"

The boy grinned, "With you? Always."