"Kash is gay? Gay?"
Mickey rolled his eyes as he took another drink. "No, he's gay."
Ian didn't pay any attention to Mickey's sass. Instead, he sat down on the bed next to him and gawked. "He's got a family and everything- you know what, now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense."
Mickey snorted, "How?"
Ian shrugged. "Picked up a few pointers here and there but I guess I never really thought about it. He's always stared at guys, flirts with me, hates his wife, never spoke once to or about his kids."
"What a prick," Mickey spat. It still hadn't exactly hit him that Kash tried to kill him. There was something off about this. And the only way to find out what that is, is to beat it out of Kash. Mickey stood up and shook himself off, feeling a little uneasy from the amount of alcohol he consumed today but he ignored it, instead he stumbled his way downstairs with Ian hot on his tail.
"Mickey look at you, your drunk off your wits man," Ian was saying, but Mickey didn't listen. "Mickey please, don't do this. At least, not alone."
"My business."
"You're gonna do something that's gonna fuck you up and you know it. So just listen, alright? For once."
Mickey sucked in his bottom lip and gave Ian an impatient look. "So what you want me to do then? Sit on my ass? Let that prick get away? Call one of my brothers to handle another fucking one of my problems? Is that what you want? Cuz that's probably exactly what you would do, right? Let Kev take care of it, or Lip. Or even me, maybe?"
Ian gave Mickey a broken hearted look that went against everything Mickey was saying. His puppy dog eyes almost brought Mickey to tears but Mickey had had enough. He was over it. He didn't let Ian stop him as he continued speaking. "Guess what, Gallagher. You ain't me and I sure as hell ain't you. So next time you want to make a decision for me forget about it, cuz I got a fucking brain of my own and I can use it."
With that, Mickey took one last look at Ian and left the house, hating himself even more than he already did.
Mickey didn't know where he was going. Hell, even if he did know where Kash lived he was almost 100% sure he wouldn't go just because of the guilt it would cause him. Sometimes, when he fights with Ian, he can't control it. Words just come right out of his mouth. He forgets who he's arguing with and he just says some shit off the top of his head that was completely directed for somebody else but it's too late, the damage is done. By then he just ends up hating himself and his big mouth.
He found himself at the Kash 'N Grab, that was currently being rebuilt by the looks of it. There were machines everywhere and debris piled up but nobody was currently at work. Mickey stepped around it and went inside the damaged store. He walked to the counter that had been dragged off to the side of the store. For the most part the counter was a mess, but his eye could only catch Ian's name carved into the side of it. He felt something push against his foot as he walked towards it, and he looked down to see a Snickers bar on the ground, dust covering it. He bent down and picked it up, dusting the dirt off of it.
"Shit, you been through hell and back," he mumbled to himself, unwrapping the candy. He took a bite out of it just as the sound of a gun cocking echoed through the room. He quickly shot up and spun around, eyes widening. Jamie let out a relieved breath and un-cocked the gun, shoving it into his waistband.
"You scared the shit out of me," Jamie snickered as he walked through the destroyed store. Mickey spat the candy out of his mouth and walked towards his brother.
"What the fuck you walking around with a gun for?" He asked Jamie who was looking through a GUNS & AMMO magazine he found on the floor.
"You seen where we live?"
Mickey took that as a reasonable answer. He leaned back against the counter. "Why you here?"
"Was looking for the brown asshole," Jamie replied. "That redhead of yours was right you know, telling the cops he didn't know the guy. Otherwise the cops would be looking for Kash right now and we wouldn't get our way with him."
"I say let the guy rot in jail," Mickey shrugged. Jamie snorted and raised an eyebrow at his younger brother.
"You know Colin wouldn't let that happen."
Mickey fought the urge to roll his eyes. "When did you become Colin's bitch, huh?"
"Fuck off. By the way, we don't have a lot of time before Colin kills Maria, if you want to stop it."
Mickey turned his back to Jamie and took another bite out of the candy. "Eh, whatever. He decided he wants to go back to jail then who the fuck am I to stop him?"
Jamie furrowed his eyebrows and dropped the magazine, walking towards Mickey. He leaned his back against the counter, Mickey watching him from the corner of his eye. "Maybe I'm the only reasonable son of a bitch in this family, but I don't want Colin going to jail. And from what I remember about you, you were just as fucking upset about him killing Maria too."
"Does he know Kash stabbed me?"
"I told him. He doesn't care."
Mickey looked at Jamie for a second before sighing and rubbing his forehead. "Where is he now?"
"My guess is Sebastian's house loading up on guns and ammo."
"Alright we'll fucking talk to him then." Mickey's head was starting to pound again. He needed a fucking drink.
"You alright, man? You look like shit," Jamie put a hand on Mickey's shoulder. Mickey dug his head in his hands, feeling that hole of emptiness in his stomach widen even more.
"Whatever, I'm fine," he coughed to hide the weakness in his voice. Jamie watched him with a concerned look.
"So how's Red?"
Mickey glanced up at his brother with an empty expression and shrugged loosely, eyes darting to the floor. "Fine, good, whatever."
"His leg?"
"Healing."
Jamie waited a second before asking the next question. "How come he went to the station?"
"Beats me," Mickey lied through his teeth, crossing his arms. "He's got a problem where he can't mind his own business."
"You got to be careful with... relationships like yours," Jamie said. Mickey looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You guys clearly fight all the time. You don't give him attention, you better believe he'll find someone else who will."
Mickey scoffed disbelievingly as Jamie walked out of the store. "The fuck do you know about relationships," he mumbled while following his brother outside.
---
"Hey Ian," Fiona greeted as she entered the house with bags of groceries. She set them down on the counter. Ian sat at the table, flipping through job listings in the newspaper. "Whatcha doing?"
"Well, since Mickey and his brothers are about to land themselves back in jail I realized that I might as well start making my own cash instead of sitting on my ass all the time," Ian replied smartly with a sour grin. Fiona raised her eyebrows amusedly while putting groceries away.
"What are they up to now?"
"Kash stabbed Mickey, ya-da-ya-da he's wants revenge blah blah, Mickey won't accept his feelings and his brothers want to help him," Ian went back to circling jobs before speaking again. "Oh, and Mickey hates me. Again."
"Okay, I have seen my fair share of fights living around here but you two are too much," Fiona snorted. "You guys need to just chill out and enjoy each others company for a second."
"Mickey constantly changes his mind, he doesn't know what he wants," Ian muttered, slowly getting more and more hurt the more he thought of Mickey. Fiona sat next to him at the table and smiled sympathetically. She put a hand on top of Ian's.
"Ian, I want you to know that when you get in a fight with someone, especially someone like Mickey, you are going to immediately think he hates you, because of the kind of person he is. But he doesn't and deep inside you know it. Until you know what's going on in Mickey's head right now and how he feels, this can't be blamed on him again and again." Ian knew his sister was right. She always was. Ian nodded and looked back down at the paper.
"I'd talk to him about it, but he's too fucking stubborn."
"So that means you got to wait on him. He'll come around eventually."
Fiona looked down at the newspaper. "Anyway, any jobs open?"
"Few shitty ones here and there," Ian replied. "How's the wedding planner job going?"
"So far so good. My boss is an asshole sometimes but it's nothing I can't handle. I could maybe get you a job in there, if you wanted."
"Thanks, Fi but I'm a shitty planner and you know it."
"Not true. You plan birthday parties like you were born to do it."
"Compare birthday parties and weddings. Plus, I've got my eye on something but I don't really know if it's good for me."
Fiona gave her a brother a warm smile. "What is it? You can tell me, Ian."
Ian put his finger on the ROTC advertisement on the page. Fiona's smile fainted away as she looked at it. "I want to be in the military, Fiona."
"Jesus, Ian," she mumbled. "A-are you sure? You know it isn't easy getting in there."
"I want to try," Ian pushed. "I think I can do it. I want to be an officer, Fiona."
Fiona looked at Ian seriously. "If you do sign up for this, you'll be away from home a lot. For training and if you get enlisted."
Ian nodded. "I know."
"Do you think Mickey would be OK with that?"
Ian bit his lip and nervously looked back at the newspaper. "Well I mean," he sputtered. "He can't hold me back from my ambitions and what I want."
"You're right, he can't."
"But then again I also don't want to-" Ian stopped himself and sighed. "You know what, for now I'll think about it. I'll talk to him."
"Good idea." Fiona stood up and went back to putting the groceries away and starting dinner. Ian took his phone out and dialled Mickey while walking outside.
---
Mickey's phone started to ring just as they pulled into Sebastian's street. He glanced down at Ian's name and looked over at Jamie who was busy driving and munching on his burger. He answered the call. "Yeah?"
"Hey, Mick." Ian sounded nervous and soft. It made Mickey nervous too.
"What's up? Something wrong?" Mickey couldn't help asking, his voice sounding a little urgent. He heard Ian take in a deep breath on the other end.
"Nothing Mick, it's just... look, if I had something that meant a lot to me that I wanted to pursue, you would support me right?"
Mickey snickered a little. "Depends. If you decided you wanted to fucking eat people I wouldn't support you. What you on about anyway?"
"No, no nothing like that," Ian laughed softly. "It's like, should we talk about it when you get home?"
Mickey looked at Jamie who had already pulled into Seb's house and was waiting for Mickey outside the door, looking impatient. Mickey took the chance of being alone in the car to say what he wanted to Ian. "Yeah, we'll sort it out when I get back. I gotta go now, Ian."
"Okay, Mickey," Ian replied, as quiet as a whisper.
Mickey squeezed his eyes shut. "I lo- uh, bye Ian."
Mickey quickly hung up and refrained from shooting himself in the head. Did he almost just fucking tell Ian he loved him? He doesn't even know what love is! He looked up when Jamie started knocking on his window, an annoyed look on his face. Mickey got out of the car. "Fuck was that?" Jamie asked.
"Ian," Mickey replied. He didn't see the point of lying. Jamie didn't seem to give a shit anyway, he just walked to Sebastian's door and pushed it open, not bothering to knock.
"Woah, woah!" Sebastian yelled when the two walked into the basement. Seb was with Colin looking through guns, just like Jamie predicted. He calmed when he noticed it was just two more Milkovich's. "Jesus, warn a guy will ya? I thought you were cops."
"Serves you for not locking your fucking door," Jamie chuckled while fist bumping Sebastian, Mickey doing the same.
"What's up James, Mick?" Seb asked, sitting back down. Colin barely acknowledged his brothers in the room. He was busy cleaning a damn AK47.
"Just another day," Mickey replied, eying Colin. Colin looked up at him with a cigarette between his teeth.
"Light it," he mumbled through it, hands too dirty to do it himself. Mickey refrained from rolling his eyes and took his lighter out, putting the fire to the cigarette. Colin mumbled a thanks and went back to cleaning.
Sebastian stood up. "I'll leave you guys to it. Give me a yell when you pick a gun."
"Thanks Seb," Jamie pat Sebastian's back as he left the room, leaving the three brothers downstairs.
"Iggy's gonna be here soon, he's helping me take the bitch down," Colin informed, still not making eye contact with anyone.
"Makes sense. Since he's the only one who hates Maria as much as you do," Jamie replied.
"And why is that, James?" Colin asked, looking up at Jamie with cold eyes. "She treated all of us like shit but only me and Iggy are smart enough to do something about it."
"Colin," Mickey sighed, sitting on a block of wood and pulling it next to Colin. "I know you think that since you killed Terry you gotta kill Maria too but she hasn't done shit yet. She hasn't said a word or hurt anybody."
Colin looked at Mickey. "She hurt you."
"Nah, she didn't. That was fuckin' Kash 'N Grab."
Colin laughed unbelievably and put the gun down, looking at Mickey as if he was the dumbest person in the world. "Why the fuck would he do that to you?"
Mickey hesitated for a second before remembering that that son of a bitch stabbed him, so why should he keep the secret of his? "I caught him cheating on his wife once. With a dude."
Colin snorted and rolled his eyes. "Does Kash fucking look like he has the balls to come up with the idea of stabbing you?"
"Honestly, no."
"You're right, because it wasn't him. Maria fucking hired him to do it, you idiot."
"God, Colin," Jamie sighed dramatically, rolling his head back. "You're such a fucking nance. Why are you so paranoid? I mean look at you and your goddamn theories."
"It isn't a theory," Colin snapped. "It's a fact."
"Alright, where's your proof?" Mickey asked. He spotted a beer on the table and picked it up, downing it. Colin watched him.
"You want proof? Go fucking ask her yourself."
"Why don't we just go ask Kash?" Jamie suggested. "Probably easier to find than Maria."
"Ask whoever the fuck your heart desires, I know what I know." Colin loaded the gun and cocked it, aiming at the wall ahead of him. "And what I know is right."