Page 86 of Shameless

But how do we explain this complicated relationship to our parents?

“Lula? Guys?” Tom’s expression darkens with every passing second. “Anyone care to explain what’s going on?”

“Dad, I?—”

I cover Lula’s hand with mine. “We were going to talk to you about this, Tom. I love your daughter with all my heart, I always have since I can remember.”

Stefan nods. “Me too. I told you I’d do anything for Lula. I love her so damn much. I always have and I always will.”

Crew joins in and it doesn’t even annoy me as much as it would have a few days ago. Whether I like it or not, he’s a part of our family.

“I’m in love with Lula too. I haven’t known her my whole life like Stefan and Jules, but I know she’s the one. I’ve never felt this way for anyone else before.”

Tom runs a hand over his face. “So you’re all what? Dating?”

I take the lead. I don’t think Tom should hear about Lula’s champagne fueled nights with Stefan and Crew.

“We’re figuring things out, Tom.”

He levels me with a hard look and I don’t blame him. I would do the same with anyone who wanted to date Jenna.

“I don’t think this is something I can get behind. I’m just looking out for Lula here. She’s here to get clean and stay out of trouble. It is one thing if she was dating Stefan, but all three of you?”

Lula shakes her head. “Dad?—”

“Lula, I’m not trying to judge you,” Tom says. “But you struggled with addiction. I’m worried you might be trading one addiction for another.”

I’m proud of Lula for remaining calm. “Thank you for worrying about me, Dad. But I promise this isn’t what this is about. I’ve loved Stefan and Jules since before I even knew how to talk or walk. And Crew… he’s helped me when things got tough and I was tempted to relapse.”

Tom doesn’t look convinced. “That’s all very fine and dandy, but what happens when one of them hurts you? Are you going to start using again to cope?”

Fuck.

Tom’s question is absolutely warranted and guilt floods me at the realization that I hurt Lula when this thing between us started. Granted, I broke things off with her to protect her from Jasmine’s jealousy, but I hurt her nonetheless.

The only reason why Lula didn’t relapse is that Crew—and Stefan once they made up—were there for her.

Would I be an asshole if one day I asked her to choose? I want to believe that I’d be able to protect Lula’s heart even without my brothers in the picture but that isn’t the only problem. Lula is in love with all of us and by asking her to choose, I would be hurting her in one way.

I’d also be hurting Stefan and Crew.

“Tom, I can’t predict what the future holds. All I know is that I love Lula. We all love your daughter and we would never hurt her. Not intentionally at least. Lula has the power in this relationship. Her happiness is our priority, everything else can be figured out as we go along.”

Tom isn’t totally sold despite our reassurance and I can’t blame him. He wants to protect his daughter. Our jobs will be to show him that we mean what we say with our actions.

“This conversation isn’t over,” he bites out, glaring at me, Stefan and Crew. “We’ll talk seriously about this in private.”

Mom intervenes, covering her husband’s hand with hers in a soothing way. “You’re right that this isn’t the time or place. But I think Lula could have done much worse than our boys. I always knew that she would end up with Stefan or Jules. And Crew is such a wonderful young man too. I’m glad that despite ourmistakes, the guys have found one another and that they care about Lula. I’m confident they’ll find a way to be happy.”

Tilly backs her up. “I agree with Arianna. I can see how happy Crew is since he met Lula and he got to know his brothers better. We should have faith that they’ll figure out a way to be happy, whether it’s what we expected or not.”

I smile at her, grateful for her vote of confidence. I can see why, despite the odd way they met, Mom and Tilly have kept a close friendship rather than being at odds with each other.

If they could be friends despite Eddie’s shitty behavior, you can give Crew a chance.

“Gah,” Tiffany shakes her head, vaguely disgusted. “I don’t get how you two can be friends when you shared the same husband for years without knowing. Wait, is that what you thought would happen between us and Tom, Arianna? There must be something in the water here in California, you people are insane.”

Mom tries to explain. “It wasn’t our fault that Eddie was lying to both of us. As for me and Tom, you know better than me that I had a crush on him the second we met him in college. We would have dated if you hadn’t gotten between us?—”

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