You’d known Lip since scraped knees and stolen bikes were currency — before booze, before broken promises, before he started vanishing like a bad habit. He was trouble even then, but the kind you could outrun on a bike. Now he was the kind you waited for in silence, unsure if he’d ever come back. But he always did. For you, at least.

Tonight, he’s slouched next to you outside Kev and V’s, buried in that stupid blue scarf he never stops complaining about but won’t stop wearing. His coat hangs off him like armor two sizes too big, sleeves swallowing his hands. He looks like a kid trying not to be seen. His curls are wind-tossed, eyes heavy-lidded and haunted like he’s been living in his own head too long.

You drop down beside him on the cracked concrete step, breath curling in the cold.

“You look like a raccoon that lost a fight with winter,” you say, bumping his knee with yours.

He gives you a slow side-eye. “Takes one to know one. Where’s your jacket?”

“Where’s your will to live?” you shoot back.

He snorts, low and rough. “Left it somewhere between vodka and student loans.”

Then, without a word, he reaches over and drapes one side of his scarf around your neck. It’s warm, smells like cheap detergent and smoke — and him. You don’t thank him. That’s not how this works.

You used to be able to make him laugh with just a look and a quiet “don’t start with me, Gallagher.” Now he just sighs and shows up when you ask. Which is still something. More than he gives most people.

“I’ve been texting you,” you murmur.

He shrugs. “Didn’t feel like talking to anyone.”

You study him for a second. “Even me?”

He doesn’t answer, just shifts his gaze away like the question’s too heavy. That silence of his — it’s not empty. It’s stuffed with all the things he won’t say, all the versions of “I’m not okay” he’s too proud to admit.

He notices you rubbing your hands together and, without looking, reaches over and slips your fingers into the warmth of his jacket pocket. Classic Lip move — pretend he doesn’t care while doing the kindest thing in the world like it’s nothing.