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Mickey is a postman. It’s a pretty easy job, if you ask him, but definitely not something he wants to do for the rest of his life. No, Mickey would like to be a writer. When he was little, writing was the only thing that kept him going in his abusive household. It was his coping mechanism but later, Mickey found the beauty in writing not just for comfort but as a form of expression. He loved creating his own characters in his head and writing them down on paper. For Mickey, writing was a form of art.
The problem was that Mickey was shy and he didn’t like sharing his writing with people, which was a big issue if he wanted to become a writer. Oh well, life could be worse, he supposed. He has a stable job and paycheck so...speaking of which, Mickey was holding one last letter to deliver to Mr. ….Ian Gallagher. Mickey mainly delivered mail on the Westside and he knew everybody in the building. Mr. Gallagher’s had to move in just recently because Mickey didn’t know him.
He knocked on the door and nothing could ever prepare him for the sight he was about to see when the door opened. It could be the fact that Mickey imagined Mr. Gallagher to be a man in his 50s, not even knowing why, but no it was the fact that Mr. Ian Gallagher was the most beautiful creature Mickey has ever seen in his life.
He felt like he was supposed to say something, but he couldn’t bring himself to even stutter because how do you even talk to an angel?
“It this for me?” Ian gestured to the letter in Mickey’s hands when the postman didn’t say anything.
Mickey dumbly nodded and handed the man his letter.
Mr. Gallagher smiled at his awkwardness and thanked him for the letter before he wished Mickey a good day and closed the door.
Mickey was doomed.
The next day, when Mickey was delivering in the apartment complex, Ian didn’t have any mail and so Mickey was disappointed that he couldn’t see him again. Day after day Ian had no mail to be delivered so Mickey got desperate to see the handsome man again, he got an idea…
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It’s been a week since Ian moved into his new apartment on the Westside. He needed a change. Not that he didn’t love his family, but he figured that he should try to live on his own at this point. The Westside wasn’t so far away from the Southside anyway and he could visit them anytime. He owned a car now and was transferred into a Westside hospital as an EMT. He loved his job. His love life wasn’t as happy as his work life at the moment since he haven’t met a guy that would be worth it yet. All of them were assholes one way or another and things didn’t end well for Ian. For the longest time, he blamed his bipolar disorder for it, but he figured that if they truly loved him, they would see past Ian’s mental illness and would be able to love him with all his flaws. But it’s not like he loved any of them anyway. The right person just hasn’t entered his life yet and he was at peace with that….at least for now.
Ian’s thoughts have been interrupted by a knock on the door. He opened the door and saw a postman holding an envelope with his name on it. For whatever reason, the guy was nervous, maybe it was his first day on the job or something, Ian found his nervousness endearing.
“Is this for me?” Ian asked him with a smile, breaking the silence.
The other man nodded and Ian thought that he was really cute. It was a letter from his bank, probably making sure that they have the correct address, now that he changed his residence.
“Thank you, have a nice day.” Ian said to the postman and closed his door.
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Ian adjusted to his new apartment and his new working place pretty quickly. He even made friends with his two co-workers. Mason, was a guy not much older than himself and Meghan was about his age also and they shared the same sense of humor. They made him feel welcome on the team and he was really glad for that.
He just got back home from work when he heard somebody at the door. Weird, he wasn’t expecting anybody. He was met with the cute postman, somehow looking even more nervous than last time, but this time he managed to say hello.
“Hello, I-I have a letter for you, M-Mr. Gallagher.” The poor man stuttered out.
“Oh, thank you.” Ian answered and reached for the envelope. “That’s weird, I don’t see the name of the sender.” The man’s eyes got wide at the mention and Ian was quick to assure him. “It’s not your fault, it’s okay, sorry. Thank you for delivering it.” Ian added, seeing the postman relax a little which made him feel strangely fluttery that he’s been able to do that.
“You’re welcome. Have a nice day Mr. Gallagher.” The postman smiled at him and if Ian thought he looked cute nervous, he seriously wasn’t ready for his adorable smile, which was infectious.
“You too.” He blushed and waved before closing the door.
Ian opened the letter and started reading the words that have been written on the paper.
Dear Ian,
You don’t really know me...and at this point, I can’t really say I know you but I do know that every time I see you my day is a little better and the sun shines a little brighter. Whenever I see you smile my heart beats a little faster and my mouth gets a little drier, so I can’t even tell you this to your face. I know that this letter seems a little strange and please believe that if I could, I would tell you all of this in person, but because you literally take my breath away every time we interact and I can only get it back when I’m alone again...I figured that I had to tell you somehow. I am sorry that I’m not brave enough to tell you in person but for now this is the bravest I can be.
You don’t know me and I don’t really know you...but I would very much like to…
-M
Ian reads through the letter multiple times. He doesn’t know how to feel about it. Nobody has ever told him something like this in his life. He is incredibly touched by his secret admirer, but he thinks that he would think something completely different if he knew Ian, really knew him…wait maybe it’s a she...shit...-M...that doesn’t reduce it much, Ian knows a lot of people who’s names start with M.
He wishes that he could respond somehow to this sweet person, or at least know who it is but, of course, as the person wrote in the letter, they probably wish to be anonymous, at least for now.
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Mickey ran into Ian, in the hall, when heading to the main door of the apartment complex. He was done with his deliveries for today. He noticed that the redhead looked sad and he slowly moved toward his apartment in his uniform.
“A-are you okay, Mr. Gallagher?” Mickey dared to ask him, not wanting to see the sad face on the beautiful man.
“Ehm, hi, um…” Ian considered faking a smile and simply saying that he was fine like he was expected to, but for whatever reason, he didn’t want to lie to the nice postman, who was always so endearingly polite and shy. “No, not really. I-uh, something happened at work today, and...it was my fault.” Ian sighed.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Mickey sighed. “If it makes you feel any better I got slapped today by some lady for delivering her divorce papers from her husband.” Mickey shared and it made Ian snort. He was happy that he made Ian smile even for just a little bit.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you around.” Ian smiled, a genuine smile, and Mickey’s cheeks reddened.
“Okay, Mr. Gallagher.” Mickey answered.
“Oh please, call me Ian, we have to be about the same age.” Ian proposed making Mickey blush even harder.
“Okay, bye….Ian.”
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Ian closed the front door of his apartment and sat on his dining chair, running his hand down his face. He had a tough day today. He made a bad call and if his coworker didn’t step in it probably wouldn’t end well.
He almost gave a patient the wrong type of medication thinking he had the correct one. If it weren’t for Mason who noticed this...Ian didn’t know what would happen. His first instinct was to consider if his bipolar wasn’t acting up and immediately check all of his tells...but no, this wasn’t his disorder, this was just him being human. Making a mistake. He didn’t know if that was supposed to make him feel better or worse.
He needed a distraction. His eyes wandered towards the letter from his secret admirer. He opened it and read it again. It made him feel a little better. He wished that he could reply to this person somehow. He thinks about the cute postman who made him laugh today, even when it seemed like the most unrealistic thing to do for him today. He wished that he would be the one who wrote the letter, but he knew how crazy that thought was. The guy was probably better off without him anyway…
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Since Mickey saw Ian the other day, he couldn’t stop thinking about how sad he looked and how he wanted to make it better, so he started writing another letter.
Dear Ian,
You looked sad today and all I could think about was that I would do anything to make you smile, to comfort you. I wish I could, I wish I did. I know that look all too well and I’m assuming that what I saw were quilt and shame. I know what it’s like to be ashamed and blame yourself, just know that when there are days when you don’t appreciate yourself, that’s okay, I will appreciate you for the both of us...and maybe even a little more.
-M
Mickey really hoped, he didn’t make Ian uncomfortable with his letters and that they would serve their purpose of making the redhead realize, how wonderful he really is.
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Ian reads another letter from M. He always feels warm inside and the smile he gets after doesn’t leave his face for the rest of the day. It sucks that he doesn’t know who writes them. Shit, he hoped it wasn’t Meghan from work. He really likes her, she is a great friend but he just isn't straight and he couldn’t reciprocate her feelings even if he tried. Then there is Mason. Mason is a great guy but Ian doesn’t know if he could like him romantically even if he found out those letters were from him. He really needed to find out, this was killing him.
Throughout the week Ian’s gotten a few more letters. Some were sweet and vulnerable, some were comforting and some were just silly and corny and made Ian giddy.
His favorite one had to be the one where M wrote:
Dear Ian,
As much as I would like to, I don’t always find the right words to express my feelings so I hope you won’t mind if I borrow them this time:
I’ve always loved this song but lately, I’ve been able to relate to it on a whole other level and so as the
“wise men say, only fools rush in
but I can’t help falling in love with you”
you could also…
“take my hand and take my whole life too
‘cause I can’t help falling in love with you…”
-M
It was soo corny and soo sweet. Ian felt like he was going crazy because he too felt like he was falling in love and he didn’t even know who the person was!
Later that day, when he was taking out the trash, he heard a familiar tune being hummed by someone outside an apartment. When Ian walked around the corner, he noticed that it was the postman. He was counting and shuffling letters in his hands, probably to the order of the apartments he would deliver them to.
“Hey.” Ian greeted smiling.
“Oh, hi.” Mickey responded when he saw Ian, mirroring his smile.
“Not at work today?” Mickey asked, surprised to see Ian there at this time.
“Yeah, we had this family thing earlier today and I thought I could take the rest of today off.” Ian explained he and the Gallaghers all had breakfast together today and he just needed some time off after what happened not so long ago.
“They from around here?” Mickey asked him.
“No, no we are all from Southside, grew up there.” Ian explained.
“Oh, really? I grew up down there too.” Mickey shared, not believing that they could’ve met before and not even know it.
“No way,” Ian exclaimed, surprised. If he really thought about it now, he didn’t even know the guy’s name, huh. “I just realized I don’t even know your name, we could’ve met before…” Ian blushed.
“Mickey.” The postman said. “Milkovich.” He added a little more carefully, knowing how some people reacted to the name, but Ian didn’t seem affected by it at all. Maybe he was one of the lucky ones who haven’t had the pleasure...
“Well Mickey, we sure have to catch up sometime.” Ian blurted out, not even realizing that he basically asked Mickey out.
Mickey blushed again. “Yeah, I-I would like that.” He stuttered out, getting nervous.
“Cool, I guess we could exchange numbers or something.” Ian suggested awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with his fingers.
“Yeah, hold on I’ve got pen and paper, I could write mine down for you.” Mickey said and did just that, before handing the piece of paper to Ian.
“Thanks, I’ll text you.” Ian smiled feeling excited that he could have a date with the cute postman he admired for weeks now. With Mickey.
They said their goodbyes shortly after that and Ian headed upstairs to his apartment. He got his phone so he could save Mickey’s number in his contacts. Mickey’s handwriting seemed weirdly familiar. After he saved it, Mickey’s name automatically placed itself just under Mason and Meghan...alphabetically.
Wait...Mickey Milkovich has not one but two M’s in it. The handwriting! Ian quickly found one of the letters and started comparing them with the number Mickey wrote down for him. The fucking song Mickey was humming…..of course it was Elvis’ Can't Help Falling In Love. God Ian was so fucking stupid.
He ran out of the apartment hoping he would still catch up with Mickey, who was already leaving the building and was now standing outside. Ian quickly opened the door and now stood breathless before his secret admirer.
“It’s you isn’t it?” Ian said still catching his breath.
Mickey looked down embarrassed, but then he felt warm fingers lifting up his chin and saw kind green eyes looking into his, with the softest expression he’s ever seen. Mickey managed only to nod which was enough for Ian to attack his lips with his own.
Mickey couldn’t believe this. This was all he wanted and yet so much more. Ian pulled away after a while still holding Mickey’s cheeks.
“Thank god.” Ian breathed out, making Mickey chuckle.
None of them knew how long they stood there, kissing each other. But one thing was sure, this was only the beginning for both of them.