𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐄 was officially over. Frank was officially home safe. He was also extremely pissed about anything and everything related to Canada, which Adelaide found extremely funny.

And now, Adelaide sat at the kitchen table, sorting through the bills for the first time since her mom left, which was about a week ago. She adjusted her glasses and stared at the papers, wondering how she's gonna pay all of them while still being able to pay for other things.

She had lost track of Allen at least an hour before she sat down to pay the bills, and she had never expected him to walk in the house the way he did.

"Hey, Adie!" He yelled out, slamming the door closed. She called out to him, telling him that she was in the dining room. He popped his head into the room, but hid the rest of his body behind the wall.

She looked up from the mess of bills in front of her and tilted her head at her brother. "What're you hiding, bug?" She asked, putting her pen down. He looked down at the ground and brought the rest of his body out from behind the wall, revealing a small golden retriever puppy.

Adelaide immediately stood up and raced over to her brother and the dog, a dog that was definitely a runt, considering its abnormally small size. "Where did you find it?" She asked, taking the puppy from her younger brother. "He was abandoned underneath the El. Thought I should take him home and make sure he's okay." He answered.

"It doesn't look like he has any injuries. We should still take him to the vet, though, just to make sure." She replied, examining the puppy. "If he's all right, all healthy, can we keep him?"

Adelaide looked between the puppy and her brother, thinking of her response. "Yeah, I don't see why not." She grinned down at her brother. "Since you found him, what do you wanna name him?"

Allen took the puppy from his sister and thought. "Bongo!" He exclaimed.

"Oh. Okay. Well, Bongo is an interesting name."

Adelaide set the puppy, Bongo, on the floor and let him take in his surroundings. His new home. "We'll get him into the vet tomorrow. Just make sure you watch him and take him out back every once in a while." Allen nodded excitedly and sat down on the floor in front of Bongo, letting him climb into his lap.

Adie ruffled her brothers hair and sat back down at the table, pushing her glasses up and looking back at the bills. "Bird?" Adelaide looked over to Allen, who was cuddling with Bongo on the floor. "What're you doing?"

Adelaide took her glasses off and set them on the table before running her hand through her hair. "Bills. Mom left me with a bunch of them without telling me how I'm supposed to pay them, so, we might be a bit screwed."

A knock at the door distracted the Parker siblings. Adelaide walked out of the dining room and to the door before quickly swinging it open to reveal a bloodied up Lip.

"Lip? What the hell happened?" She asked, pulling the Gallagher inside. "Mickey happened." He stated, shrugging.

Adie shook her head and began walking back to the dining room, Lip following in suit. "That stupid dick nozzle!" She exclaimed before sitting back down. "What's a dick nozzle?" Allen asked, looking between Adie and Lip.

"Woah, where'd the dog come from?" Lip asked, squatting down next to Allen to look at the puppy. "He's our new puppy! His name's Bongo." Allen explained with a wide grin on his face.

"He found him under the El." Adelaide added while putting her glasses back on. Lip nodded and stood back up, "Bills?" He asked, sitting down across from the brunette. She nodded and sighed, "I don't know how I'm gonna pay them all."

"We can help you out." Adelaide shook her head at the blonde, "No, you guys also have bills." Lip scoffed and grabbed one of the papers from Adelaide. "C'mon Adie, don't be such a hardass. You've helped us a ton, it's only fair."

She shook her head once again and grabbed the bill back. "I can figure it out, Lip. Trust me." She stated, grabbing the rest of the bills and setting them on the counter.

"Go home, Lip. Fix up your face. I got a puppy I have to take care of." She smiled at him as he stood up and walked out of the dining room.

"If you need any help, Adie, I mean it, just ask." He said before walking out of the house. She smiled again before sitting down on the floor in front of Allen and Bongo.

𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐓 had happened since Adelaide had last seen the Gallaghers last; Frank almost got arrested for cashing somebody elses social security checks (more specifically their aunt Ginger), the Gallaghers found out their aunt had been dead for 12 years, Mandy accused Ian of assulting her, Mandy and Ian started fake dating, and worst of all, Debbie stole a baby.

"We need to get your story straight for the police." Fiona stated, looking over to Debbie from across the table. "Why did you take the boy?" She asked.

"He was crying for his mom and his mom wasn't around."

'Okay.' Adelaide thought. 'Maybe he wandered to her and she thought it was okay.'

"Did you try to find his mom?" Fiona questioned. "No, he was crying and nobody cared. So I took him." Adelaide sighed and put her head on Lip's shoulder. "Oh dear god." She muttered.

"You can't say that! What's wrong with you?" Fiona exclaimed.

"Fi, just calm down a bit, we'll figure this out." Adelaide said, placing her hand on top of the older girls. "You know what, Debs, was he inside or outside of the yard when you grabbed him?" Lip asked.

"Inside."

"Wait, so how did you get him out?" Adelaide asked, lifting her head off of Lip's shoulder.

"I waved a snickers bar at him." Debbie answered nonchalantly. It was scary knowing that Debbie, a sweet looking little girl, kidnapped a child in a very stereotypical way. A way that has even worked on Allen.

"Did anybody see you?" Ian questioned. "I don't think so. We just ran." Debbie stated, although she didn't sound all that sure of herself.

"That wasn't suspicious." Fiona said sarcastically. "So you were running down the street-" Ian began before Debbie cut in. "I used a stroller."

"What stroller?" Fiona asked. "Liam's old one." Debbie quickly answered.

"The one I told you to throw out?" Fiona questioned. "I fixed it. For emergencies." Debbie said with a somewhat creepy grin on her face. "Y'know, due to the circumstances, I would totally ask for a beer right now, but I don't drink." Adelaide whispered to Lip. "You want a beer?" He joked, whispering back to her. She shook her head as Lip grinned widely at her.

At that moment, the moment Lip smiled at her, Adelaide felt something that she couldn't quite place. A feeling she didn't entirely understand. All she did understand was that for some reason, this one smile from Lip made her feel something.

Her thoughts were broken by an excessively loud bang at the door. Everyone thought the same thing. Cops. Thankfully, though, a voice came from the other side of the door that wasn't announcing the presence of officers. "Open up! Hurry!" Veronica's voice calmed everyone down just a bit, but not by much considering the panic in her voice.

Lip got up from the table and opened the door to allow Kev and V to walk inside. "What the hell is going on?" V asked. "Is this that missing kid?" Kev yelled, holding a laundry basket that everyone could only assume was carrying the kid. "Debbie stole him." Fiona stated.

"And now we have to figure out how to give him back without getting her 36 months in Juvie." She explained. Veronica stared at Fiona with a shocked expression. "Why in the world would she steal-" V began to ask before Fi hummed to get her to not push the situation.

"There must be a couple hundred cops out there." Kev pointed out while looking out the window. "I know. I'm so sorry. Debs, will you watch him for a second?" Was all Fiona before everyone else went into the living room.

Adelaide sat down beside Lip while Kev made some stupid point about Monica leaving and Frank being an alcoholic. "Hey, look. She obviously planned it." Lip began.

"I mean, she took a stroller out of the garbage and she fixed it." He finished. "Hey, Debbie is still a little kid. Worst thing that happens is she gets help." Steve stated.

"Help?" Lip questioned.

"What kind of help?" Ian asked.

"Do you mean like therapy, or like a psych ward?" Adelaide chimed in, zipping up her jacket. "She stole a baby." Steve said matter-of-factly.

"She's not crazy. She just sort of accidentally took a kid." Fiona explained poorly. "Not if she lured him with a candy bar."

"What're you suggesting?" Fiona asked Steve. "Some kind of professional to-"

"What? Like a shrink?" Lip questioned. "Gallaghers do not do therapy." Fiona stated.

"Okay, guys. Calm down." Adelaide spoke, looking around at the group. "You have to admit, this does sound a bit premeditated, like Lip said."

"She fixed up an old stroller and lured a baby out of a yard with a snickers bar. I mean, if you don't want her getting put in juvie, or sent to a psychiatrist, then we gotta come up with something. And fast." She explained right before the sound of Tony's voice rang through the street.

"Look, like Adie said. We need a plan to get that boy back to his family, or Family Services is gonna have a field day." Fiona explained.

"Family Services?" Steve questioned, looking over to Fiona. "If they find out Frank's moved, they'll take the kids, split them up." She explained.

"Remember what happened last time?" She asked to Lip and Ian. "Mm, yeah, I remember hearing those stories." Adelaide mentioned.

"And since Adie's involved in this now, if Family Services does get called, then they're gonna split her and Allen up." Lip pointed out. "And Allen has separation anxiety, so we know that wouldn't work." He continued.

The group then turned to creating a plan. A plan to get little Casey Casden back to his family before the cops find out that Debbie took him.

Carl was told to use a payphone to tell the cops he saw the little boy walking down the street, Fiona and Steve had to get Debbie to give him back, Veronica also told the cops that she saw him, Kev told people at the Alibi that he saw Casey, and Lip broke a payphone (for the little mission, of course).

Adelaide was left to do nothing except go home and make sure her brother was okay. And also to make sure Bongo didn't destroy the house while she was gone. "I'll see you guys later. Just lemme know how it goes, okay?" She said before leaving the house.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓 off without a hitch and it really did have a happy ending. Debbie got a bunch of money, along with a new doll for her good work. Steve and Fiona seemed really happy. Lip and Karen were going strong, somehow. And Veronica and Kev were extremely happy. Like abnormally happy.

So, when the V came knocking on Adelaide's door and dragged her out of her house and to the Gallaghers, Adie didn't protest. She needed to know what was going on.

"What the hell? Champagne?" Fiona asked as she walked downstairs into the kitchen, where Adelaide, Lip, Karen, Ian, Kev, V, and Carol, Veronica's mom, were already standing. Veronica grinned at her best friend, "I'm getting married!" She exclaimed. Fiona immediately embraced V and everyone cheered, causing quite the ruckus in the kitchen.

Music was turned on almost immediately. Everyone was drinking and partying and dancing. Everyone was having fun and enjoying the time. Everyone except for Adelaide, that is.

She was still dwelling on the feeling from earlier. That unknown feeling that she felt when Lip smiled at her. She sat down on the couch with a glass of water in her hand, trying to suppress that feeling, because whatever it might've been, in her eyes, it was wrong.

Other than that, she felt out of place. She wasn't like anyone in that room, other than maybe Steve, but even then, there were still some major differences. Everyone in the kitchen smoked cigarettes and weed, they all drank, they all partied, they were all high energy people. While Adelaide sat back, by herself, with a glass of water and a feeling of displacement.

"Hey, Adie, what're you doing out here?" Lip asked, dropping down right beside Adelaide. "You know i'm not a party person. I don't do fun things." She laughed to herself, trying even harder to suppress those feelings.

"You gotta try. C'mon, you're practically a Gallagher already. Just minus the batshit craziness." He joked. He then stood up and grabbed her by her hand, pulling her up. The two stayed where they were standing, as Adelaide hesitated to go back into the kitchen. "C'mon." Lip pleaded before taking a sip of his beer.

"God, that stuff smells disgusting." She fake gagged and turned her head away. "You should try it." He teased, bringing the bottle closer to her. She examined the bottle and took it from his hands. "Wait, are you actually gonna try it?" He asked, confusion lacing his voice.

She shrugged, "Might as well. I mean, I'm practically a Gallagher already, right?" She smiled at Lip, who quickly yelled to the others. "Hey, guys! Adie's gonna finally try some alcohol!"

Everyone quickly came into the living room and cheered loudly. "Do it!" Ian chanted. Lip wrapped his arm around her shoulder and once again, she got the feeling. The only thing she could do now to subdue it was drink the goddamn beer.

"Fuck it." She exhaled and brought the bottle to her lips, taking a huge swig of the beer. The group began clapping at this illegal achievement and shouting random nothings at the girl. The only comments she actually heard was Fiona saying, "You popped your cherry, Adie, good job." and Lip saying, "Well, you're no longer a vigin!"

She laughed and handed the drink back to Lip, "Well, i'm still technically a virgin, just not an alcohol virgin." He nodded before doing a double take. "Wait, you're still a virgin?"

"Obviously, Philip."

「↠ 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐚- 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 ↞」
⭢⭠

bongo is the best character btw. and yes, you will get more bongo content soon :)

i kinda had to mash in the aunt ginger storyline cause idk how to add adelaide into that, so i did my best.

also, this fic is gonna be quite the slowburn, but i wanted to start the burning and remind you that its gonna be hella slow (hopefully, i might go back on that and do something diff)

lip not knowing that adelaide is a virgin is actually rlly funny to me

anyway, i hope you all enjoyed this <3

𝘶𝘱 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵: 𝟢𝟨. (𝗂𝗇𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗍 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍 𝗍𝗂𝗍𝗅𝖾 𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗂𝗀)...