plot: mickeys brother, iggy, is extremely protective over him. after ians latest manic episode, iggy notices how exhausted and run down mickey is, immediately going to blame ian.
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ian was in the bedroom, cleaning up. he had made a bit of a mess from an emotional break down the night before, tearing the room apart as he searched for something, only to remember he had left it in his own home. he of course apologized to mickey profusely straight after and immediately started cleaning up as soon as he woke up the next day.
mickey had left for work in the early hours of the day, so it only left ian and iggy in the house together. iggy was mickeys brother, the two always got along together as kids, growing protective of one another. when mickey and ian first got together, iggy was happy for mickey but when ians bipolar came to light and he refused to get on meds for the first couple of months, iggy started to notice how much it affected mickey and started to resent ian a little bit after that.
iggy had always kept quiet though, until today. after ians recent episode iggy got fed up, tired of him hurting his brother. when he heard ian up and moving around he slowly brought himself inside of the room, watching ian a bit before speaking.
"you think you could do us all a favor and get your shit together?"
ian paused and made a face before he turned around to face him, "what?"
iggy walked further into the room, speaking harshly, "you're destroying my brother ian. you have been for the time you and him have spent together, he's exhausted and hurt."
the gallaghers heart sunk and suddenly, there was a lump in his throat as he listened to iggy speak. "either get your shit together or let him go be with someone less exhausting, someone who won't slowly break him down." iggy got into the gingers face and suddenly ian felt small, backing up a little bit.
"you're here all the time while he works his ass off. you don't put any effort into this, you're either off somewhere or laying in fucking bed all day. nobody wants to be with someone like that, let mickey be happy." he shoved him back a bit before walking out of the room, leaving ian to think and possibly cry.
although iggy was right, it still hurt. it still stung ian and it was enough to send him spiraling for the rest of the day. he sat in the bedroom thinking about what iggy had said, his words repeating in the back of ians head.
ian knew iggy was right and he always knew that mickey deserved someone better than him, someone who wasn't mentally unstable and someone who could give mickey the stable relationship he wanted.
it was then that he heard mickeys feet run across the wooden floor boards as he greeted his brother, talking for a moment before he brought himself to the bedroom to drop his stuff off.
"theres my favorite ginger." mickey murmured as he crawled onto the bed to place a quick but soft kiss to his temple, "see you cleaned up."
ian nodded with a slight smile, he didn't want to ruin mickeys and iggys relationship so he chose to stay quiet. not telling mickey about anything iggy had said to him that day, or about the spiral he had after it.
"yeah, wasn't gonna let you clean up my mess." he shot mickey a smile but he saw mickey reading his face as he met his eyes, he already knew that mickey could tell something was off.
the milkovich brushed it off as one of his moods, crawling back off of the bed. "i'm gonna go shower, i smell like grease and rust." he chuckled softly and took his shirt off before disappearing into the bathroom.
after he had started the shower, ian let out a small breath that he didn't even know he was holding, thankful that mickey ignored it.
he decided to go out to the kitchen and grab himself something to eat while he waited for mickey to come out from his shower, he hadn't eaten all day being too distracted by his own thoughts. of course though, iggy happened to be out there enjoying a beer, watching ian as he walked into the kitchen.
"you think you can walk up in here and eat our food? gallagher you have not helped with a single bill or grocery shopping, if you want food go eat at your own house." iggy walked past ian and purposely bumped into him, "with your actual family."
