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Ian was exhausted. It'd been a long night and it was all he could do to change into his street clothes and stumble out of the door. He'd wash the make-up off later or maybe he'd just deal with it in the shower tomorrow. Eyeliner was always a bitch to get off.
Working at the club had been a hell of a lot easier before he'd gone on the meds. Dancing for hours was tiring enough without dealing with the fatigue that was a side effect of his medication. And unlike before he couldn't even perk himself up with the occasional line of cocaine without risking everything he'd worked for.
Mickey was waiting for him outside of the changing room like he had been every night since Ian had gone back to work. Ian wasn't sure when Mickey had time to do his own job since he was always at Ian's.
"You look like shit."
"Thanks," Ian replied sarcastically.
"Well you do." Mickey took Ian's bag from him and slung it over his own shoulder. "Come on."
Ian followed Mickey out of the club and down the street to the nearest L station. As much as it sometimes irritated him that Mickey treated him like he needed babysitting, on nights like this he was grateful that Mickey insisted on coming with him to work. He could just turn off his brain and let Mickey handle everything.
"I need a new job," Ian said as they waited for the train. "Something during daylight hours would be nice."
"You could go back to school," Mickey suggested.
"Not you too," Ian groaned. Fiona and Lip had been harassing him about going back to school for weeks. Apparently he could re-enroll in the fall and only be one semester behind, but he couldn't even imagine going back to that life. Too much had happened since he'd been the idealistic kid dreaming of a career in the army.
"You could graduate next summer and get a real job," Mickey said.
"As opposed to my fake job?" Ian asked. "Maybe I should liberate some prostitutes and set up business."
Mickey flipped him off. "I'm being serious, Ian."
"No, you're being a hypocrite," Ian said. "But okay, being serious, I can't afford to go back to school. We need my income."
The train pulled up and Ian collapsed into the closest seat, resting his head against the window. Mickey took the seat next to him. "We'll figure something out."
Ian sighed. "I'm too tired for this."
"Okay," Mickey said. "We'll talk about it later."
"Thank you," Ian said. At least Mickey knew when to give him space, unlike Fiona and Lip.
Ian moved away from the window and leaned against Mickey instead. It still gave him a thrill to know that he could do this now and Mickey wouldn't push him away. In fact, Mickey did the opposite and rested his hand on Ian's thigh, squeezing gently.
"Go to sleep," Mickey said. "I'll wake you when we get to our stop."
Ian didn't have to be told twice. He closed his eyes and let the motion of the train lull him to sleep. Mickey would make sure he got home safely.