Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Taking two steps at a time, mickey ventured across the mostly empty basketball court. his sights were set on a particular oak tree hidden away just across the field.

he carried his backpack hanging off one shoulder, his math homework tightly clutched in his hand, running the other through his hair with a sigh.

he sat beneath the tree with his back against it, the large branches spread out far, casting shade from the blazing sun. it was excruciatingly hot out today. well, as warm as it could be in april.

he grabbed the paper beside him, his eyes raking over the questions, trying to make sense of it.

usually, mickey was good at math. great, actually. despite failing most his classes, math was the only class he had decent grades in.

his math teacher was also the only teacher that really liked him all that much.

and by ‘ like’ he meant the only teacher that hasn’t gone total batshit at his expense yet.

sure, his reputation as a milkovich didn’t really do much for him, especially teachers, for that matter. but the students were a whole different story. people practically shook in their fuckin boots when mickey walked by. though, it was more iggy they were scared of. mickey only usually gave beatdowns to kids who owed him something. or if he was bored. mickey was a fucking saint compared to iggy milkovich.

mickey blindly rummaged through his bag, attempting to find a pencil, when someone came up behind him, ruffling his hair and plopping down beside him beneath the tree.

mickey jumped, the interaction, pulling him out of deep thought “fuck was that for?” he  complained, reaching a hand up to smooth down his hair from where it was sticking up.

he turned to look at ian, who had a wide grin on his face, yet his eyes held something heavier.

“wipe that grin off your face, red” mickey muttered, despite having no bite behind the words.

ian was in his rotc uniform. a heavy camo jacket, with a black wifebeater underneath, black steel toed boots, and camo cargo pants. mickey watched as ian shook off his heavy coat to reveal his black tank top.

his eyes briefly ran over his athletic figure, his muscles fully exposed and open. despite Ian being like a twig, he visibly worked out. and god, was it a sight.

he snapped himself out of his gaze and stared at his lap, attempting to focus himself on the problem he was working on.

“whatcha workin on?” he peeked over his shoulder to see the page on his lap, as he tossed his jacket beside him.

Mickey shrugged while working out something on his paper. the pair sat in comfortable silence for a while, as Ian watched intently.

Too intently. Something was wrong.

“you’re quiet today. Whats up, red?” Mickey finally spoke.

“What?”

“Something happen ‘er..whatever?” he said without looking up

When mickey didn’t get a response, he turned to look at Ian, who’s gaze was fixated on the patchy grass in front of them.

Mickeys brows furrowed in confusion, and slight concern

“hey” he spoke slightly louder, placing a hand on Ians bare shoulder

Ians eyes darted to mickeys gaze, the green eyes slightly diluted by something he couldn’t quite place.

“Welcome back to earth” mickey joked “you tired or somethin’?” mickey watched as the awareness sunk back into Ians expression.

“Nah. Just zoned out. What were you sayin?” ian asked

Mickey shook his head, turning back to his math “didn’t see you at school today” he said

Ian huffed a laugh “you miss me?” He teased, fidgeting with his watch on his wrist. “Lip needed help rollin’ joints for the icecream truck gig. Kev picked up an extra day shift at the alibi, so he needed an extra hand.” He explained

Mickey nodded, intentionally ignoring Ians teasing by occupying himself with a problem. It’s weird, he thought. He usually found this kinda stuff easy.

“Hey you wanna come over for mine a bit tonight? Collin stole a copy of fast n’ furious from goodwill. Plus, mandy wants to see you. Somethin bout a kid in her history class?” He said, aggressively erasing something on the paper “dunno. dont really care bout that faggy shit.” He shrugs

Ian narrowed his eyes at that last comment, but didn’t read into it. “Nah. Can’t. I got a shift at the cash n grab at 6, I gotta head home soon. tommorow though? I’ll just call Mandy later.” He looked at mickey

“Whatever, man. Have fun getting felt up by that Indian fuck” he scoffed

Ians brows knit together “Kash is from Baghdad, Mick. M’pretty sure that’s, like.. racist, or some shit”

Mickey only rolled his eyes in response, throwing his work to the side

“can I hang around yours until 6 then? Really don’t feel like talking to Terry.” He sighed slightly

Terry milkovich. Or better known, the devils fucking reincarnate. Terry had gotten out of jail about a week ago, now. After being in the slammer about a year, mickey wasn’t exactly charmed in regards to his release.

Mickey has been spending as much time as possible away from the milkovich house of horrors, not wanting to get dragged into any of Terrys deals, or anything to do with the man, really.

Mickey had crashed on Ians floor a few times this week. The Gallagher estate had served as mickeys second home for majority of his lifetime.

He’d known Ian since the third grade, and despite the milkoviches and the Gallaghers not really having the best track record in terms with each other, him and Ian had still been practically attached to the hip ever since.

And sure, it wasn’t just them. Ian is about equally close to his sister, Mandy also. The two have a bond mickey didn’t think he’d ever understand.

Not that he really wanted to. It was kind of gross, actually. If mickey didn’t know any better, he would’ve guessed that theyd been hooking up, or something.

But, fortunately, that couldn’t be true because,

1. Ian is gay. Like, really fucking gay.

And 2. Mandy has been on and off with lip, Ians brother, for the past year or so.

Lip is pretty close to everyone too. Lip and Ian are probably even closer than he is with Ian, in a way.

mickey is jealous of their relationship, sometimes.

Not that he’d ever admit it. Ever.

Mickey and lip didn’t exactly get along. Still, they were.. civil.

Sure, the man got on his last fucking nerve sometimes, but he was still Ians brother.

Mickey didn’t really know much about the other siblings. not that he really bothered to.

He knew the small girl, Debbie. She had the same fiery red hair as Ians, which was really hard to miss.

Carl, the annoying ass kid who tried to steal from his weed stash constantly.

Liam, the black baby. He didn’t know much at all about Liam. Considering he was an infant and didn’t really have any form of personality, let alone talk in full sentences.

And then Fiona. Fiona was the closest thing to a mother figure he had. She had brought mickey in and treated him as her own. Mickey was thankful for that.

Ian spoke, snapping mickey out of his trance “Yeah, I guess. But I think lip is still a bit pressed about that whole Karen thing, so..” He huffed out a laugh

Mickey chucked In response “he’s pissed because I railed Karen? Jesus, if he’s plannin’ on giving a beatdown to every dude she’s been with, his arms are gonna get fuckin tired” mickey laughed at his own comment, then adding; “m’not scared of lip, red. I can beat his ass to a fuckin pulp in seconds if i wanted to”

“Hey, nobody’s beatin’ anyones ass, okay? It was bad enough last time. I don’t need you two killing each other anytime soon.” Ian spoke in a chastising tone

Mickey rolled his eyes and did a jerking off motion with his hand in response.

He shoved the paper into his backpack and zipped it shut before leaning against the tree to pull himself up.

“Let’s get a move on, huh?” He raised his eyebrows and smirked, holding out a hand to Ian, who was staring up at him from the ground.

Ian chucked, letting mickey haul him up. He grabbed his jacket from the grass, and shook it slightly, getting rid of any dead grass that collected from where he was ripping it from the ground.

“Why the fuck do you even have a jacket on anyway? Its hot as balls, man” he asked as they walked on the sidewalk

Ian shrugged, hauling the jacket over his shoulders as they walked side by side

“s’the fuckin rules. You need your full uniform. shouldve seen me sweating my ass off during warmups earlier ” he chuckled to himself

Mickey huffed a laugh in response, kicking a rock with his foot as he walked.

as much as he’d like to , he thought distantly

They walked in comfortable silence, all the regular loud, aggressive sounds of their neighbourhood filling in the silence. The L roared pass in the distance, and Ian wandered lost in thought.

Mickey watched ians distant, muted gaze to the sidewalk beneath him. It wasn’t usual for him. The usual glimmer of ians eyes was gone, leaving a cold stare.

But, before mickey could comment on it, they arrived in front of the Gallagher house.

Carl and some neighbourhood kid were in the front yard, taking turns shooting each other with a pellet gun.

Mickey sometimes wondered if carl had some odd mental condition, to make up for his weird personality.

or, maybe if he was just hit on the head one too many times as a kid.

He chuckled to himself as he walked behind Ian up the porch steps and into the house.

Chapter Text

As soon as the pair stepped into the house, they were met with Fiona and jimmy, who were lounging on the sofa in front of the tv, watching an old soap opera fiona had recorded earlier that week.

“Hey” she nodded to them with a warm smile, not paying them much mind.

mickey had spent more time here the past few years than he had anywhere else. Even when Terry was locked up, he still always found excuses to stay over at the Gallaghers. This place had served more as a home the past 7 years than the milkovich hellhole could in a lifetime. Ian knew that much.

“There’s about 5 cookies left from the batch Debbie made this morning. Shes—“

fiona had barely finished her sentence as the pair fumbled out of the porch, and into the kitchen, shoving each other back and forth in the process.

“hey! Save some for the others!” she yelled into the other room

Mickey latched onto Ian, pulling him into a headlock while using his free arm to mess up his hair.

Ian managed to hit Mickey in the stomach hard enough, causing him to double over in pain as Ian got ahead through the doorway.

The redhead cackled as he made it into the kitchen, panting as he raised himself to sit on the the counter, grabbing a cookie from the tray in the process.

Mickey quickly recovered and followed behind “asshole!” He exclaimed, watching Ian shovel the cookie into his mouth with a grin.

Mickey stepped forward, stepping between Ians legs as he reached behind where Ian was sat on the counter, causing their faces to come close.

Ian felt that very familiar spark run up his spine. The feeling that made his brain go fuzzy, and his palms sweaty.

His skin tingled where mickeys panting breaths roamed against his neck as the blue eyed boy leaned over his shoulder.

Ian felt his heart speed up as his brain wandered.

The moment felt like it could’ve lasted forever, but as soon as the moment started, it had ended.

Mickey grabbed a cookie from the tray and stepped back, a cocky smirk painting his face as he shoved it into his mouth, mocking Ian.

Ian, still  flustered from the minor contact, huffed a small laugh in response

“assface” he rolled his eyes, hopping off the counter.

Ian excused himself and mumbled an excuse to the bathroom, practically flying up the staircase when he was out of eye view.

Ian mentally slapped himself as he shut the creaky door to the bathroom, quietly locking it, then turning to lean against it.

He felt guilt bubble up somewhere deep from inside him, as he glared down at the growing buldge in his jeans.

“Fucker..” The boy muttered to himself as he undid his fly, trying to chase some form of relief.

His feelings for the black haired boy were confusing, and annoying. and Ian wanted nothing more than for them to go away.  But he couldn’t. They wouldn’t. No matter how hard he tried to suppress them, and deny them, they still lingered like the fucking plauge.

His feelings started about a year ago now.

It had started off small. Platonic. Small tingles whenever they touched, his stomach doing small flips whenever someone mentioned his name.

But over time, they began to grow. he would dream about mickey. Imagined small scenarios late at night to sleep, to the point that he couldn’t without them. And then there was this.

lately, Ian started getting boners . Boners even at the thought of mickey. It was pathetic. and disgusting, really. He’d known him for pretty much his entire life. At this point, they’ve been friends for longer than they haven’t. Christ , Ian pretty much thought of the dude as his brother!

And, well, that wasn’t really something he wanted to think about while the jerked off to the guy.

Ian left the bathroom a few minutes later, after finishing up, and fixing his hair from where mickey had messed it up before. When he walked out.

he was met by carl, who was holding a pocketknife, which he recognized as the one mickey gifted ian for his 14th birthday the year before.

Carl eyed Ian suspiciously as he left the room. “Why were you in the bathroom for so long?” He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly with a smirk

Ian felt his face heat up at the straight up question

though, nobody really expected any less from carl.

“None of your buisness. That my pocketknife?” He asked, snatching it from the younger boys grip.

“Hey—wait!” He reached his hands out to try and snatch it back “I need that! Me and max were gonna go get my Nintendo ds back from that snotty kid down the street!”

Ian held the knife up out of his reach “yeah, and you can do that. just not with my pocketknife. I was looking for this!” He examined it in his palm as he walked away. He snapped it shut and slid it in his jean pocket as he trotted back down the steps.

He found mickey in the living room with Fiona and jimmy, sitting on the loveseat opposite of them.

He seemed to be engaging in small talk with the couple, though he didn’t seem all that interested in the topic.

When Ian walked in, his eyes lit up, and a grin formed on his lips. “Jesus, took you long enough” he scoffed as he sat up in his chair, never dropping his gaze. ian just shot him a warning glare in response.

“Hey, E. You mind telling Debbie to come down for a bit?” fiona looked up at the boy from where she was curled up with jimmy on the sofa.

Ian nodded, turning towards the direction of the stairs. “DEBBIE!” He shouted.

Fiona flinched at the change of volume “Jesus! I could’ve done that!” She scolded, shaking her head.

Ian shrugged and nodded to the steps, again meeting mickeys unreadable gaze. He nodded and stood up, exchanging pleasantries with Fiona and her lover, then followed Ian up the wooden hill.

When the pair got to the top of the steps, a dull banging rhythm filled the silence between them. mickey turned to the boys room, slamming on the door loudly “alright, lovebirds! Times up!” He kicked the door with his foot once, as if to emphasize his point.

“I got my money on Karen” Ian muttered into Mickeys ear. Ian watched the black haired boys face turn upward

“Nah. Definitely Mandy. She’s been bitchin’ n moanin’ bout the dude for weeks” he scoffed, not matching Ians volume.

They stepped aside as the door opened shortly after, and much to his disgust, Mandy walked out, thankfully fully clothed, this time around.

Ian nodded to Mandy as she scurried down the stairs, as if to say ‘catch up later’.

Ian and Mandy were close. They hung out at school, and talked over the phone when they couldn’t. Ian also came over to the milkovich house a lot, to study and catch up on homework. But most of the time they’d end up lounging in her room, talking, and laughing.

Mandy was one of the few people who knew he was gay. That small group included; Mandy, mickey, lip, and the rest of his family. He’d guessed frank knew, but then again, frank probably doesn’t even remember his own birthday, let alone his sexual preferences.

ian hadn’t hung around the milkovich house as much recently, though. as Terry was fresh out of the slammer, and it wasn’t safe. For obvious reasons.

Mickey rolled his eyes as he followed lip into the boys room, and Ian made a point not to check out Mickey from the back as he made his way to Ians bed.

platonic, right?

“So, how’s it been at the milkovich house of horrors?” Lip settled into the desk char as he lit his joint, then tossed over where him and mickey sat next to each other on his bed

“Wouldn’t know. Haven’t been back at that shithole since pops got out.” Mickey replied, then added “you’ve probably been there more times than I have” he scoffed

“You finally win her over?” Ian chuckled, raising his eyebrows as he popped a joint between his lips

“Lets just hope she keeps me around that long” he sighed

Mickey exhaled smoke as he furrowed his eyebrows “I thought you were bangin’ Karen Jackson? Batty Sheilas kid?”

“Yeah, so were you apparently” he scoffed, and Mickey just flipped him off in response.

The three carried on like that for a while, passive agression and mocking laughter painting the walls of the room like the fucking mona lisa.

But, Ian had to leave for his shift at the Kash n grab eventually, so mickey followed him out back to his house. It was the first time mickey had spent the night there since Terrys release, so Ian made a mental note to keep his ringer on, just to be safe.

“Hey, tell Mandy to call me later, yeah?” He nodded to mickey as they arrived on the sidewalk in front of the milkovich house.

Mickey nodded, shooting him a weak smile as he turned to the house and walked inside. Ian decided not to pay much mind to it as he walked the rest of the way to the Kash n grab.

He fished his flip phone out of his jacket pocket, turning the ringer on before walking inside.

Chapter Text

“Fuck have you been?” Terry spat from his spot on the couch. he coughed out smoke as he stubbed out his cigarette on the arm of the chair.

“Out.” Mickey responded coldly, shaking off his jacket and tossing it over the arm of the sofa, making a beeline to the kitchen.

Iggy came out of his room, rubbing his eyes as he stumbled into the room “what fuckin’ time is it?” He yawned, plopping down onto one of the wobbly dining room chairs.

Mickey scoffed “half past 6.” He opened the fridge, grabbing a beer and popping it open. he took a hearty sip before turning to his brother

“Shit” Iggy huffed out a laugh, leaning back in his chair with a yawn

“You seen mands at all?” mickey asked, his eyes briefly scanning the room

“Dunno. Last I heard of her she was at the gallaghers with that ginger fag” Iggy replied, knowing well of mickeys relationship with the boy.

Ian had hung around the milkovich house from time to time, with Ians house always being ridiculously loud, Ian had spent some nights there. But with Terrys release, it wasn’t exactly a safe haven for the redhead.

or for anyone, really.

Even if nobody in his family other than Iggy and Mandy knew about Ians sexuality, it was still a huge risk,

—considering his fathers passion for fag bashing.

Mickey narrowed his eyes at his brother, silently motioning to he man lounging on the couch 8 feet away from them. terry had no clue—and they’d like to keep it that way.

Iggy rolled his eyes, flipping him off in response “let me know when you get ahold of Mandy, yeah?” Iggy hummed

Mickey nodded, taking his beer from off the counter and made his way to his bedroom.

He shut his door behind him, locking it.

He plopped down onto his bed with a sigh.

He hadn’t slept in his own room for a while, and the familiar scenery soothed him. About the only thing that really did in this household. Mickey pulled his phone out of his pocket, simultaneously kicking off his shoes onto the floor beneath him.

Missed call (1) - Ian 🥕

He dialled the number eagerly, and held the flip phone to his ear.

Ian picked up on the 6th ring.

“—hello?” A breathless voice called from the other line

“Hey” mickey said quietly

“Mick?—hold on” a hand was held over the speaker, as muffled whispers and clutter filled the line.

Mickey chuckled to himself as he waited.

He listened intently, struggling to make out what the two were saying.

”'Yeah- just gimme 5 minutes-“ mickey heard as Ian brought the phone back to his ear

“Hey. Sorry, kinda bad timing” Ian muttered

“Thought so. Picked up mid thrust or something?” He teased

Ian scoffed “ fuck you. Atleast im getting action” Ian teased back

“I get laid more than you do, trust me” Mickey said mockingly, but the smirk was evident in his tone.

“Yeah, your hand doesn’t really count, Mick”

“Neither does your 40 year old fuck buddy, carrots.”

Ian rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath before speaking again.

“Mandy home yet? You said she wanted to talk to me bout’ something?”

Mickey sighed “yeah. Something about a kid at school? Dunno. didn’t really pay much attention”

Ian hummed in response “Terry home yet?”

He scoffed “He’s been out for barely a week, and he’s already back with the cartel. Won’t be long until they throw his ass back into the slammer.”

“How’s Mandy taking it?”

“Don’t think she’s been home much this week. And Iggy is always in and out anyways, so it’d pretty much be her alone with Terry, which isn’t very fuckin ideal.”

Mickey felt nauseous at the idea. after last time, he had sworn to himself he’d protect m andy from terry .

Terry had come home hammered, and Mandy was the only one home at the time.

And he “mistakenly” ended up stumbling his way into Mandys bed while she was asleep.

Long story short? Mandy had ended up with a trip to the clinic, and deadbolts on her bedroom door.

“I’ll call her when I get off. Make sure she’s alright.” Ian spoke knowingly

“Thanks, man.”

A comfortable silence fell over the line, both lost in thought about two very different things.

“Ill let you get back to your date, then” mickey broke the silence

Ian smiled at the attempt to lighten the mood “I’ll see you tomorrow, kay?”

Mickey hummed in response, before hanging up the phone.

He tossed his phone on the mattress beside him, bringing a hand through his hair with a long sigh

Fucking kash.

An odd feeling fell over mickey, though he couldn’t quite place it.

One half of him, wanted to tear the sick fuck apart, limb by limb. The one emotion he could recognize was anger.

white, hot blinding rage, for the man that was getting fucked by his best friend.

The other half of him?

Jealousy .

that feeling, he couldn’t quite dissect. He obviously wasn’t gay. Right?

He wasn’t a fag.

He loved women.

But the bitter thoughts in his mind that painted the picture of Ian and Kash together, made him want to rip his hair out.

Sure, he found Ian attractive.

Ian was an attractive guy.

He had big, muscular arms that flexed slightly when he moved,

and his stomach was slim, and toned, with a rock-hard 6 pack that you could see through his t-shirts.

But that was normal. Ian was attractive. We knew that.

He just didn’t want to see Ian get hurt. Thats why he’s so wound up about this.

Problem solved.

But something still poked at the back of his mind,

thoughts he wouldn’t dare bring to the light.

Mickey opened his bedside drawer, feeling around blindly. He pulled out a lighter and a joint, snapping the drawer back shut.

He brought the joint to his lips, lighting the end of it, before throwing the lighter beside him on his pillow.

He laid on his back against the headboard. He took a deep drag, exhaling slowly as his eyes fell shut.

He needed to get this out of his mind.

He wasn’t a fag. End of story.