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All the Gallaghers had gone home by the time it was dark, all but one. The same Gallagher that had been lying in bed for the past two days with barely and motivation to even speak let alone get up. Mickey had tried, relentlessly, even trying to stroke his hair and speak in soft whispers and still Ian told him to go, to leave him alone.
This wasn't the sweet happy Ian Gallagher that he knew, this was something else, something cold and foreign that didn't belong in his body and Mickey was desperate to get it out. He didn't fight so hard to get him back for him to become not even a shadow of himself.
Mickey stood very still in the shower for a long while, long enough for the water to go cold as ice but he didn't care, he was numb to it anyway. Eventually he climbed out, wrapping a towel around his waist and shivering as he went to sit on the couch, doing nothing other than staring ahead and trying to think of a way to fix the boy who meant everything to him.
After a good long while Mandy walked over to him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Jesus Mick you're going to catch your death sitting out here like that... you okay?" She said softly.
Mickey sniffed, unable to hold back the tears that had been welling up all day. "You fuckin' think I'm okay? Who gives a shit about me anyway, what about him? You think he's okay because there's something fuckin' wrong with him and I don't know how the fuck to fix it!" He didn't mean to raise his voice but Mandy didn't flinch.
She could hear the terror in his voice and see it in his teary bloodshot eyes, she'd never seen him this scared, and she'd seen her dad take to him with his fists and other household articles before. Mickey knew how to take physical pain but watching Ian go through this was something he had no idea how to deal with.
"Just go in there and be with him... I don't really know what else there is Mick, unless-"
"We ain't sending him to a fucking nut house, he's staying with me. He's staying here." Mickey said defensively, getting up and shrugging off Mandy hand.
He headed into the bedroom but not without giving Mandy a sympathetic look and a sigh. She understood, he knew she did.
He walked over to the bed and climbed in, he didn't know if Ian was asleep or not until he felt him curl slowly away from him and it made Mickey ache to think that he couldn't bare to be touching him.
"Night Ian," he whispered, he didn't expect anything back but he had to try. "Dont... don't give up on me alright? I -" Mickey sighed and bit his lip as a tear burned as it rolled down his cheek. "I love you." He mumbled.
Come on Ian, say something. he pleaded silently.
"Go away," was the only choked breathless sound that he heard and Mickey bit down until he tasted blood to try and stop from crying himself to sleep.