lip.

               “Eh, you fuckin’ wish, Anderson.” Lip threw back with a grin, just as quickly as Blaine could dish it out. He may have been high, but he wasn’t slow. “That shit-eating grin—

yeah, that’s the one.” The spark in Blaine’s eye was inherently a sign Lip had recognized from a very early age. Mischief.  Lip’s cover lasted for now, but he vowed to swear off the fruity drinks for the rest of the night, just in case it was somehow affecting his thought process

—  which in itself was a really stupid fucking thought.  Blaine’s laughter was the metaphorical finger pointed in a ‘Haha!’, which drove an “Alright, Alright

—  enough of these. Let’s get outta here.” No resistance would be accepted when Lip grabbed Blaine’s (empty) glass out of his hand, and took his own to set on the side of someone’s booth, indifferent to the eight people that sat, yelling over the music and enjoying the vibe.  Though they looked obviously confused and offended when he offered a wave accompanied by his own South Side Smirk and ducked the fuck out of there, his arm hooking under Blaine’s elbow and dragging him through the crowd to continue their conversation outside as if there had been no interruption, though it didn’t take Lip long to pull out his pack of cigarettes to steal one for the walk. 

            “Well,” Lip shrugged, throwing back the same looseness and teasing Blaine offered, “I’m still glad I got two then.” Win win, either way. “We magically cut Chad off, so that’s another win for the good guys. Oh no? What are you then?” He chided back, laughter falling from his lips. “We talkin’ like, a solid 7? Or?” Lip hadn’t really thought of the bar, after all risking running into Frank would easily set them up for a third wheel, and instead of having a good birthday, Blaine and Lip would end up spun out on an eight ball on the train yard at Frank’s insistence.  But… Blaine had just walked himself into a very big warm welcome from the gang without even realizing. Smirking profusely, Lip tugged out his cellphone and started typing away, listening to Blaine. “Yeah no, smelt like douchebags. Axe and American Eagle, for sure.” A smell he could recognize from being an RA until he too sent that shattering down around him. 

           “Your, uh, nose hairs good now, bud?” Lip laughed, pocketing his phone and puffing out a huge cloud of smoke in the process, causing him to cough on his laughter a little. “Yeah,” Lip directed, pointing the red embers down the sidewalk, off into the distance, “We’re just gonna take a little break in there, but uh, just know you’re gonna have fun. Let me guide you. Oh

—  shit, almost forgot. Debbie made these. Said happy birthday.” Lip reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic baggie full of gummies. “She wants to know what you think ASAP, bein’ laid up has her doin’ all sorts of weird shit, but hey, I thought these were pretty fuckin’ great.” 

          “Yeah, them. Kev really likes ya, but … might be under the impression you’re, uh, kinda maybe a porn star?” 

           “It’s a long story.”

Geez, Debbie knew how to make some candy!  Blaine scooped a second handful from the bag before tucking it back into his coat pocket and plucking them up two at a time from his palm to pop them in his mouth.  Humming appreciatively as he smirked in an afterthought that seemed to come out of nowhere.  “You know what gets me about bars like that?  Other than the fact that they’re either amazing..cause I’ve been in a couple that were awesome..or they’re so gross that you feel like washing your hands doesn’t even cut the full body scrub down you should get after leaving one?  That they call them meat markets.  Which one is it?  Is it meet as in m-e-e-t or meat as in m-e-a-t?”  An arm slung itself around Lip’s shoulders and the hand that hung limply near Lip’s chest smelled suspiciously like sugar and gelatin.

“Cause it really could go either way given the types of meatheads that frequent the ones like that one.”  Welp!  What a topic to think on.  Blaine’s goofy, lopsided grin said he might’ve just left that topic up for Lip to get philosophical about because Blaine might not be all together the best person to finish that trail of thought.  Or any.  Given the fact that he just pulled a more than half empty bag of gummy bears out of his pocket that were handcrafted so very lovingly by Debbie Gallagher from his pocket with his free hand.  It fell open as he held it towards Lip for him to take some.  “You’re right.  Debbie might’ve just found her calling in life.  Want some?  They mixed great with your Sex On The Beaches.”  A telltale playful side-eye said he still wasn’t over being made to walk up to the bar and order those from Axe-Smelling-Tramp-Stamp Chad.  Nor was he going to let Lip off the hook for it any time soon.

He walked like that.  Half leaning on Lip for support and trusting him to keep them on the sidewalk as he let his head fall back and looked up at the sky.  It was nowhere near as clear as Westerville, Ohio.  But at night, when the traffic died out as much as it would ever die out at any time, through the clouds there were stars waiting for him to gaze at.  He sighed happily.  Even with the lack of stars and fresh air, he couldn’t imagine himself being anywhere else.  Especially on his birthday.  Especially nowhere else when he was with who he was with heading towards a place where they only wanted him to be himself.  “I’m so glad I picked Chicago..  Wasn’t sure I was going to, you know?  This almost didn’t happen.  Here we are, though.  Best birthday ever in a city I love more than I thought I ever would.”  He squeezed himself tight to Lip’s side in a hug that had his arm holding Lip’s chest a bit tighter before he loosened it again and glanced back at him.  Cheeks pink with their walk, the chilly air, and maybe for another unmentioned reason.

“You’re just..”  Dead silence as words sank in followed by being completely dumbfounded.  Eeeer?!  HUH?!  Hello, what did he just say?  “….Wait.  Did..you just say he thinks I’m a porn star?  Okay.  The next logical question would be…how?”