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It’s well known that your soulmates name appears on your skin on your seventeenth birthday, or it doesn’t appear at all.
What no one tells you, is that those aren’t the only two options. There’s one more.
One so rare, that most people don’t believe it’s even true.
But Ian Gallagher knows it is.
He knows it is true, because he is nine years old when the name Mickey appears on his body.
He doesn’t completely understand what’s happening, just feels the burning against his skin and a powerful urge to throw up that has his him rushing to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
He heaves into the toilet, one hand supporting him as he expels the contents of his dinner, while the other clutches at the fire against his side.
Lip had followed him of course, the older boy rubbing at Ian’s back, trying to soothe him as he collapses on the floor.
Ian whimpers quietly, hand still pressed into his side, when Lip decides to take a look.
Neither of them are prepared for the sight of ink on Ian’s body, but the words are stark against his pale skin and all they can do is stare.
Lip decides to keep it silent, says they should figure out what to do first; But the younger boy already knows what he should do.
It’s why he’s headed towards the Milkovich house the next morning, Mickey Milkovich, his brother's classmate being the only one he knows with that first name.
The ten year old boy is on the front steps when Ian walks over and plops himself down with a whisper of ‘i’m sorry’
Mickey stares at him blankly, but nods after a moment, the two of them just sitting there in silence.
No one had been in the Milkovich house except for Mickey, And Ian hadn't asked what was wrong. They actually hadn’t spoken a word.
It's Lip that corners him when he walks home later that evening and tells him Terry had killed his wife.
Later, Ian will find out that Mandy had been at her aunt's house, and the older Milkovich brothers had all been away from home as well, Mickey had been the only one to see his father do it.
But that day, all he knows is, a name appeared on his skin, and it was because his soul mate had suffered so much trauma, that he had needed his other half just to survive.
*
Ian is sixteen now, and Lip is still the only one that knows about the ink he always makes an effort to hide.
His best friend is Mickey Milkovich, the two of them having been joined at the hip since that day seven years ago.
And right now, the dark haired boy next to him is flicking pieces of torn up paper in Ian’s general direction with a scowl on his face.
Ian knows Mickey is worried about next week, not that he’d admit it or anything, but it’s his seventeenth that’s around the corner.
What Ian doesn’t know is, Mickey isn’t just worried he won’t get a name, he’s worried he won’t get the name he wants.
He’s not an idiot, he knows he’s in love with the ginger fuck sitting in the room with him, and he knows he can never love another person the way he does Ian.
Sure, he also knows that the love you feel before, doesn’t compare to what you will for your soulmate, once you realise who they are.
He’s seen it happen with Lip who had been so sure Karen Jackson was the one for him, until a few months ago when he’d turned seventeen and got Mandy’s name imprinted on him.
The older Gallagher brother didn’t look twice at his blond girlfriend of two years once he discovered Mandy Milkovich.
But it’s not the same thing with Mickey. He knows Ian is everything to him.
And next week better confirm that or he’s taking a sharpie to his skin.
*
There’s two hours to Mickey’s birthday and Ian is practically giddy with excitement.
He’s been waiting for this moment for seven years now.
Seven years, three of which came with a frustratingly limiting sex life, where even when they fucked, they didn’t kiss and Ian didn’t ever dare take off his shirt.
But those self imposed rules wouldn’t be gone after today. All he needed was his name on Mickey’s skin and they could finally be free.
Lip had been nice enough to trade his room for the night, knowing how long Ian had been waiting for this, and Mickey had locked himself in his house, refusing to see Ian until this ‘stupid faggy bullshit’ was over with.
Ian glared at the clock again, the thing for some strange reason telling him he still had ten minutes to wait for the past - well what felt like forever really.
Sighing, he falls back into bed and closes his eyes, doing what he does best and simply waiting for Mickey.
*
The Milkovich didn’t bother to knock, just barged his way into the room and yanked Ian forward, pressing their lips together in an urgent kiss.
Ian grinned bright, hand already slipping under Mickey’s shirt, tugging for the fabric to be taken off.
It took Mickey a couple of minutes, but he finally obliged, Ian’s eyes zeroing in almost immediately on his own name against his lover’s skin.
“It’s you” Mickey breathes, exhilarated “It’s you”
“Did you ever think it wouldn’t be?” Ian teases, smug, and the older boy laughs, the relief still overwhelming him.
“I don’t know man, shit happens” Mickey shrugs, but the smile stays plastered on his face and Ian can’t help mirror it.
“You never had to worry Mick” He whispers softly, hand reaching up to card through dark hair “I was always yours”
“Yeah, whatever firecrotch. Still good to have this stupid shit on me” Mickey admits, one finger running against the name almost reverently.
“I know” Ian smiles “I’ve waited forever to see that on you”
“Well it’s there and we’re good, so how about we stop with the chit chat and you get on me?” Mickey offered with a smirk.
“Actually - there’s one more thing” The younger boy admits, seriousness finally seeping into his tone.
Mickey simply raises an eyebrow and waits as Ian summons up the courage and finally yanks his shirt up to share his secret.
“What the fuck?” Mickey demands, backing away a step in disbelief.
“I wanted to tell you Mick but I - i’ve had this for a long time. Long before you came out to me and we started hooking up. By then i’d already been keeping the secret so long, I just settled for waiting till today” Ian admits, the words soft and barely audible.
Mickey stares at his own name for a long time before his brow finally furrows.
“How long?” He asks, attempting to understand this.
“About a month after I turned nine” The redhead confesses.
“You’re fucking kidding” Mickey exhales, still stunned.
“It was the day your mother - you needed me Mick” Ian reminds gently, eyes set on his soulmate and waiting patiently for him to process it.
“I - you showed up out of fucking nowhere” The seventeen year old says, one hand wiping along the length of his face as realisation filters in.
“I showed up because of this” Ian confirms.
Mickey thinks back to his ten year old self that hadn’t known he was gay, to the twelve year old that did everything to deny it, to the fourteen year old that couldn’t resist wide green eyes in a freckled face and can admit, that yeah, he hadn’t been ready to know.
But Ian always had. He had known for most of his life that Mickey was his, and he’d stayed by his side with unwavering loyalty and without complain through a burden that was never his.
And fuck if Mickey wasn’t grateful to whatever force that brought people together for giving him Ian fucking Gallagher.