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it was a dusty saturday night in the south side of chicago. neighbors were piled up all under the L, burning stuff they didn't need or want in a fire that illuminated an orange glow. people were yelling and laughing, half being intoxicated or high.
while everyone was near the huge bonfire in the center, mickey and ian stood a couple steps back, each with beers in their hand.
"why don't you want to told my hand here? nobody will see, it's dark, and they probably won't remember tomorrow." ian sighed. he wanted to be close to mickey tonight, as it was their one year anniversary in an hour when the clock hit midnight.
mickey tried to push it to the back of his mind, affection, but ian always managed to bring it back up. he was like a love sponge that was always just looking for more to soak in. it's not that mickey didn't love ian, it was that his family was here.
iggy, jamie, and mandy would sure as hell mention it to terry, and mickey would be as good as dead. he wasn't scared of his father, don't get him wrong, he was scared of something happening that caused him and ian to split up, so he didn't want to take that chance.
mickey sighed and brought his beer bottle up to his lips, taking the last final gulp. he tossed the bottle against a brick pillar and looked back to a frowning ian. "it's risky okay?"
"it's just hand holding! we'll stay back here, nobody has to know." ian insisted. mickey shook his head. "not gonna happen gallagher. when my family leaves, we can do all the romance bullshit you'd like, but not when my father is in a thirty foot vicinity. no fuckin' way."
ian knew mickey was right; terry was terrifying, no play on words intended. he's seen what the end results of terry's destruction do, and he didn't want that to happen to him or mickey. he just wanted something cute on a special night.
there's just no way the milkovichs would leave in the next three hours, and mickey would probably be too drunk to do anything anyways. he just couldn't win tonight.
but all he wanted was to be close to his boyfriend. even if just their pinkies were linked, what harm could that do?! if anyone saw them they'd just say their hands were close together, and the lighting was bad. they had excuses, mickey just didn't want to take that chance.
ian took a deep breath and then started walking towards the fire and other people. "hey man, where you going?" mickey called after him. without turning around, ian yelled back. "somewhere where terry won't see me with you!"
"fuck you ian! i'm just bein' smart!"
and that was that. ian didn't turn around and mickey didn't say anything else. of course they both felt bad. nobody should be sad on their anniversary which was coming up sooner with every minute passing. ian thought it was special, since it was his longest relationship without fucking anyone else, and mickey liked it because it said he was committed.
he used to be afraid of commitment, but when he found ian, he truly couldn't see himself with anybody else.
mickey wanted ian to be happy because it was easiest to deal with him then, and it made them both flirty and fun. sad ian was hard headed and a stick in the ass.
whose fault was this really? ian for wanting a little bit of harmless love on a special night, or mickey for protecting them both?
ian saw it as maybe he was asking too much. maybe he was pushing mickey to do something he wasn't comfortable with and mickey was reacting how he should?
both of the boys began to feel bad. both felt guilt for making the other upset.
mickey cursed himself and looked around. ian was nowhere to be found as far as he could see. too many drunk people dancing around to see much of anything really, so he began walking around.
crowds and crowds of people later and now luck. half of everyone seemed like gallaghers because there were so fucking many of them, but none the tall redhead.
the brunette continued to shuffle through mounds of alcoholics until he spotted ian taking to some shorter guy with curly hair. they were against one of the pillars that held the L up on the other side.
mickey's fists clenched. he didn't like how close the two were standing or how much ian seemed to be smiling. ian was his boyfriend and this was their night.
the boy had a playful dancing upon his lips as his finger trailed down ian's arm and to his hand. mickey fumed.
he strutted over to them and got close to ian. "hey firecrotch, can i talk to you for a sec?" he grabbed ian's wrist away from the boy abruptly and was about to walk away when ian shook his grip away and furrowed his brows. "i'm in the middle of a conversation, mick. gimme a minute."
mickey could practically feel the steam blowing from his ears. so first, ian wanted nothing but him, and now he's the last thing on his mind. he couldn't stand the though of ian wth another guy. it made him feel broken and lost, as gay as that sounds.
ian knew this would happen. mickey had a soft spot for him and would eventually come back, he just planned to ignore him to teach him a lesson.
while doing that, he met up with some guy who looked completely out of place there,
so he went and began talking. it turns out that he was just friends with someone else here and decided to tag along.
his name was trevor and he was trans, at least that's what ian took from his necklace. he wasn't ian's type, so mickey didn't have to worry about them flirting, but it made the situation better when mickey did look like he was getting jealous.
"it's kinda important." mickey gritted. the curly hair dude waved his hand. "go ahead ian, i'll be here when you're done." trevor told the two.
without waiting for confirmation from ian,
mickey grabbed his arm again and dragged him off to where they were previously standing just half an hour ago.
"who he hell is he?!" mickey whisper shouted. ian brought his beer up to his lips. "i dunno what you mean." he said. mickey snatched the bottle from his grasp and set it down next to them. "this is our night, you can't go chatting up twinks when our anniversary is in fifteen minutes."
ian saw this as a sign of defeat from mickey. his eyes looked sad and his lips pointed downwards slightly. this was all ian needed; attention. he needed to know he was loved by his boyfriend, and this just spelled it out for him.
ian took a step forward and wrapped his arms around the waist of the shorter. mickey's face flashed with worry, but eventually gave up. he buried his head into ian's neck and hugged him back.
"sorry for bein' a dick. love you.." mickey whispered.
ian froze. this was almost too good! first he got the attention he was seeking, and now he felt like he was getting pampered. he could never get this close to mickey in public and share such words. it only opened in the privacy of their bedrooms when everyone else was asleep.
ian hugged mickey tighter to his chest. "i love you too, mick, only you." that was what mickey needed to hear right now. he had never felt like such a bitch before, yet it felt kinda nice to be loved and warm in his arms on a cold night.
"guys, it's midnight!" someone yelled from the fire. an audience of cheers and bottles clinking overcame them. ian pulled away and set a soft kiss onto mickey's forehead.
mickey wanted to do even better than that. fuck mandy, fuck iggy, fuck jamie, and fuck terry. today was his.
he kissed ian square on the lips. the two wanted to enjoy this moment and kiss
for as long as possible before someone saw. it was a mess of tongue and teeth and lips, but they loved it.
so mickey milkovich was jealous and in love, and nobody but ian could do shit about it.