plot : just by a very slim miracle, ian gallagher escapes an abusive relationship, and after months of trying to get better he starts dating his bestfriend, mickey milkovich.
tw : mentions of abuse.
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the last few months have been a blur for the gallagher. everything happened so fast.
he was once the happiest man, with his older boyfriend caleb. going out on dates, getting small gifts on holidays and anniversaries, everything that ian gallagher could've imagined. then suddenly it took a turn for the worst and he was being beaten, yelled at for every little thing, cheated on constantly.
it took a long time but ian had finally mustered up the courage to leave him, for good, and report him so caleb could never hurt him again.
now its been almost a year, and he was back living at home with his family, thankfully having his own room this time as lip moved in with tami. he managed to get himself a good job as an EMT, and helping veronica and kevin at the alibi when they needed it.
of course, life still wasn't all that easy though, but ian managed to stay steady on his feet. his older sister, fiona, was extremely proud of her brother for getting his life back on track despite dealing with his bipolar, and ptsd from his previous relationship. he even helped pay bills around the house, even though fiona told him she wasn't expecting of it.
with most of the siblings always gone, the house really wasn't all that cramped and loud anymore, making it easy for the gallagher to settle back in. they were all so supportive of ian and was always there when he needed help, ian could never forget the way they came to the rescue when everything happened with caleb.
but of course, they weren't the only people who supported him and had his back. ian also had his bestfriend, mickey milkovich, who almost went to prison for beating caleb half to death, despite ians pleads for him not to get involved. the two had been spending a lot more time together now that ian wasn't so restricted, and the gallagher caught himself falling in love with the older man.
unbeknownst to him, mickey reciprocated those very same feelings, but he wasn't going to bring it up because he wasn't sure how ready ian was for anything like that. mickey knew that ian dealt with ptsd and anxiety, and he wasn't exactly sure the gallagher could handle a relationship quite so soon, even though it had almost been a year.
ian on the other hand, felt he was ready but was unsure of how the milkovich felt towards him, so he never said anything either. it was obvious to everyone around them though, especially fiona and lip. they spent almost everyday together, were extremely touchy with one another and they looked at eachother with that loving gaze. lip even caught mickey staring at ian with a smile once, just admiring the man who had his back turned to him.
no one touched the relationship topic with ian though, being careful not to upset their brother or bring on any new stress.
**
it was a tuesday afternoon. ian and mickey sat in ians bedroom together, talking about their family and ians job, when suddenly mickey just kinda zoned out and stared at ian.
the gallagher noticed this and stopped speaking, trying to read mickeys face, trying to catch wind of what he was thinking about.
"earth to mick." ian laughed and waved his hand infront of the boys face, "you look a little lost right now."
