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/klōs/ adjective
a short distance away or apart in space or time.
Mickey had always made it known that he liked the idea of the beach. Sunshine, the sound of the waves crashing, the smell of the salty air, the knowledge that there was nothing to be worried about.
Ian had never been to a beach before. Sure, he had been to Lake Michigan a few times but that in no way could compare to the beaches he knew Mickey had the pleasure of visiting in Mexico.
Going to the beach was a constant topic for them throughout prison. Late at night when they would huddle against each other in the confined space of their bunk. Getting glimpses of one another only through the streaks of light peeking its way through their cell door. Mickey would lay on Ian’s chest or vice versa as they tried to catch one another up on everything they had missed in their time apart.
One night, in particular, stood out to Ian. It was August, just starting to get chilly, midnight. Or what they figured to be, it was way too dark to make out the hands on the clock. It was August 10th.
“Happy birthday” Ian’s voice was hushed, just above a whisper. He laid on Mickey’s chest feeling as his boyfriend gently ran his hands through Ian’s mostly red hair, the tips still had a little black remaining.
His head tipped back, Mickey straining to meet his lips. “Can’t really celebrate in prison, man” Mickey tried to remind him, as they pulled away.
His hand snaking down to meet Ian’s. Their interlocked fingers rested atop Ian’s shoulder. Ian shook his head, having none of the negative rhetoric.
“Sure we can,” a reassuring hand squeezed. “If we weren’t in here, what would you wanna do?”
Mickey thought it over once. Then another second of consideration before spilling out what secretly was his deepest desire. “Wanna go to the beach”
“Really? Didn’t have enough of it in Mexico?”
Mickey noticeably stiffened but tried his hardest not to bring attention to it. “Didn’t have time to sit around and relax” He chose his words carefully, swallowing hard. “Plus, you weren’t there”
Ian’s head was tipped back once more, barely making out Mickey’s eyes as he reached forward. Hand caressing his boyfriend’s jaw.
The tender moment was cut short by Mickey snorting, squeezing Ian’s hand again. “Wanna see your pasty ass burn like a mo-fo”
They shared a laugh that night, eventually falling asleep. The idea of going to the beach was one that always remained in the back of their heads though. Mickey swore that was the first thing they were going to do when their parole was over and they could leave the state. Find a beach, any beach. That plan fell through, however. The first place they went crossing state lines once probation was up was fucking Milwaukee. Even after a failed attempt.
Still, Ian never forgot about their promise to go to the beach. Their plan was to put some money aside. Go to Mexico for their third anniversary.
That trip was still half a year out when Ian got a sudden, out of the ordinary, call from Fiona.
After he and Mickey got settled into their Westside apartment, Ian fell into a rhythm of calling Fiona every other week. He talked to her the most out of all his siblings and made sure they were in good contact with one another. In all honesty, he had missed his older sister a lot. He felt like he didn’t get a satisfactory last goodbye from her before she moved.
They would usually talk Sunday nights as that was their designated time for catching up. So Ian was a little caught off guard when, in the middle of his Thursday morning workout, he got a phone call with the caller-ID of Fiona.
“Hey, Fi. What’s up?” He pressed his phone to his shoulder, taking the opportunity to stop and catch his breath.
“Sweetface! Are you busy?”
Ian looked around him, there was a park not too far away he figured he could sit there and listen to whatever pressing matter Fiona had to tell him. “No. Everything okay?”
“Everything’s great!” Ian was breathing a little better knowing there was no threat. “I actually got some news for you,” Fiona went on.
She prefaced the conversation by talking about her restaurant. It was a little building on the beach that was foreclosed upon. Fiona had found the place quaint and charming. Something about it spoke to her.
Previous to the find, she had taken odd jobs here and there making a bunch of friends along the way. One night with her new group of friends, they all decided that restaurant was something that had to be there. They drunkenly called the number posted on the front door, the next morning they were signing the leases. The owners were eager to sell, the property was theirs less than forty-eight hours after they decided they needed it to be there.
Fiona was the one to invest the most money into the property. Almost all the money she had received from the sale of her apartment complex. She felt down on her luck again as she put herself in the same stupid situation that ended so horribly before.
Except, that time it didn’t end horribly . As it turned out, her friends knew what they were doing. They fixed the place up nice, found vendors, chefs, the whole nine yards. As it seemed to be, she also found success in her personal life. She was in a committed relationship with the restaurant’s sushi chef.
Their little restaurant was a booming success. Surfers, visiting tourists, college students walking down the beach all frequented the ‘The Southside Sea’. Since Fiona put the most money into it the group figured that she should get the honour of naming it. She felt some type of way about Chicago still. So many rotten memories from her years there. But she also remembered that she couldn’t forget the good ones too. She wanted to pay tribute to all those years, even if the token was small in the grand scheme of things.
It had been a full year since that drunk accident bloomed into her beautiful business. Maybe it was because she had never been that successful or really happy before but she was feeling extremely sentimental. She wanted to do something extra special to celebrate her successes.
She harped on it for a while. What she wanted to do to celebrate the milestone. Eventually, it hit her. What better way to honour the Southside Sea than to be with her Southside family. She had enough money now to do something extravagant and fun so instead of heading back to her old town she instead decided to surprise her family with plane tickets to come down to see her.
Everyone she told the news to reacted the same, their conversations following the same beats. Overzealous followed by refusal as that gift was too much. Fiona would eventually convince them that they needed to accept which would then lead to a conversation about scheduling word schedules and lives around the trip.
It took a few weeks of dedicated planning but they eventually all landed on a date.
Ian for sure thought that Mickey would be against the idea of going to visit Fiona for a week but he jumped at the idea. Mickey didn’t give two shits about Fiona’s accomplishments outwardly -internally he was proud of her, he always did like Fiona. Mickey made sure to let Ian know that his excitement stemmed mainly because he wanted to go down and see Floridian beaches.
He was practically jumping in his skin for the date to finally arrive. Ian couldn’t really recall a time he had seen Mickey so actively excited. To be fair the beach was always their thing, their dream. Ian figured Mickey was just so overzealous to see it actually happen.
Eventually, the faithful day came. Ten Gallagher’s all crammed into an airport, buzzing to go to tropical Florida.
It was most of the Gallaghers' first time on a plane. Mickey had apparently been on one before when he was being transferred over from Mexico back to Chicago for his second incarceration. Nonetheless, he still seemed nervous.
Ian tried not to make a big deal of it, not wanting to embarrass him. Even if he did break skin holding Ian’s hand when the plane took off.
Eventually, he calmed down when Carl gave him a Xanax he found in the confiscated contraband back at the station. He was out cold as he drooled all over Ian’s shoulder the whole flight. Ian managed to snap as many photos of his clingy husband. What was originally Debbie’s, pink cat travel pillow around his neck, mouth agape, drolling. He clung tight to his husband’s arm so tight to the point Ian thought they were going to have to make an emergency landing just so Ian could get some feeling back some circulation back in his arm.
At some point Ian was able to get his limb back, pulling it away from Mickey’s death grip and throwing it around his undisturbed sleeping husband. He chose to ignore the wet spot forming under Mickey’s mouth.
He looked over the aisle to see Lip in a similar situation a row over. Tami had also taken a mystery Carl drug as she usually got an upset stomach on planes. She was leaning against the back of her seat, snoring loudly as the vent over her blew directly in her face.
Lip somehow got pawned into having the middle seat squished and seemingly annoyed. On one side he had Tami snoring in his ear. The other Freddie watched his cartoons and Robbie who was a lap baby for the flight.
The rest of their short flight went well other than a little turbulence.
Eventually, Lip and Ian were able to shake their comatose partners awake once they landed on Florida soil.
Their routine with Fiona at the airport was one full of love. They hadn’t seen her in person since Frank’s wake. They pissed pretty much everyone who was on their plane trying to get out of the jet walk and into the airport itself. The poor people got bottlenecked behind the large group of Gallagher’s hugging and saying their hellos.
Fiona pulled them all into a hug, drawing everyone tight against her chest. She complimented Franny’s new pixie cut. Told Carl that he looked like he had gained some muscle. Hugged Debbie and chided on how grown she looked. She caressed the side of Ian’s face and called him sweetface in the way she used to do when they were kids. She pulled Lip into her and Ian’s hug. She went on and on about her nephews and how big they had gotten since she last saw them. Finally, she squeezed Liam. Lamented about how tall he had gotten, wagered bets that he was going to end up being the tallest out of all of them. Her chest was filled to the brim with absolute joy and radiance for her family.
Tami and Mickey- still coming down off of the Xanax, were rolling too much to play into that. They were off to the side, sitting against the window that overlooked the tarmac. they laughed maniacally at the annoyed expressions and people pushing past them.
Eventually, security had to ask them to leave the boarding area as they were causing traffic for everyone trying to get to the correct gate. Mickey and Tami didn’t stop laughing till they were all loaded into the minivan Fiona had rented.
The hotel near Fiona’s where they were supposed to stay was definitely not by any stretch of the imagination a real hotel. It was basically a glorified inn. The staff seemed to be ten people. The space had less room than that. Regardless, all the Gallaghers piled into their own rooms. Liam and Carl went to stay in the spare rooms Fiona’s condo had.
They all took some time to themselves. The mass majority of the family members forgot how draining it was to be in a stressful situation squabbling as a family. The time to decompress and recuperate in their own separate spaces was good for them.
Fiona said they had a few hours before they needed to meet her at the restaurant for dinner. The mass majority of them just slept off the rest of their jetlag. They all figured Florida would still be there the next day. They could rest for the time being and then go off exploring as they wished.
The Fisher-Balls flew from Kentucky to join the family as well. Fiona would never forget about them, they were as much of her family as her flesh and bone siblings. They had already been in Florida for a few days. They brought the twins to Disney World. Went to Gatorland for Kev. The family had a great time in Florida and seeing Fiona. They also had to leave the day after the rest of the Gallaghers got there. Vee had a midterm election coming up and she didn’t really trust her clients to function very well without her.
So they were already at the restaurant far before anyone else. Kev had stepped behind the bar. Old habits died hard. For what it was worth he also tried to get behind the sushi bar. He honestly didn’t know the difference between that and a normal one and thought that he was supposed to just put pieces of fish in people’s cocktails. It seemed weird to him at the time but he had also seen enough headlines titled ‘Florida Man’ to not question anything that was happening down south.
The Gallagher’s piled into the restaurant. Despite their brief intermission of rest, they were still jet-lagged and starving since the only thing they had to eat that day was aeroplane peanuts and lobby cucumber water. Tami and Mickey were rolling still. Every one brought into question the quality of what Carl gave them. Fiona couldn’t believe that she had to lecture her grown-ass siblings not to take confiscated drugs in the first place, especially not drugs that were supposed to be evidents. At least there was some comfort in knowing that her siblings didn’t change all that much.
All the tension and discomfort they had felt melted away as the appetisers rolled out.
Fiona had a bittersweet smile that painted her expression the entire night. Something about her family consuming the multiple booths at her restaurant, arguing and laughing and chatting was bringing back flashes of her time working at Patsey’s.
On the one hand, she was extremely grateful her family was there. That somehow, some way they all managed to put everything in their life aside and got to be together again. She loved her family. Missed them every day. But at the same time, she felt that always lingering resentment she had for Frank, for Monica for her entire shitty situation coming back to her.
She had to remind herself that this wasn’t the Southside. That her family was going good. That they all had a leg to stand on without her. She didn’t need to worry about food or the water shutting off or any of the concerns that took up the mass majority of her life. She owned that restaurant. Wasn’t at the mercy of anyone else. She for the first time in her life was by herself. That wasn’t a bad thing either. She had been independent since she was thrust into the mothering role of five years old. She always was able to take care of herself, and everyone around her.
The family had a great time together. Fiona managed to close down the restaurant early for all the other guests. Almost none of the Gallaghers had ever had sushi before. Something about not trusting raw fish. They were pleasantly surprised to try it. Except for Carl who was very adamantly against the whole concept and just picked the rice out to eat. He did take a special liking to the cocktail shrimp. He drank his weight in cocktail sauce.
The copious amounts of seafood seemed to finally get the two in-laws to sober up. That was immediately replaced by being sloppily drunk off of margaritas and shots.
Fiona fired up the karaoke machine. They all took turns drunkenly belting out ballads. Tami and Debbie carried out their tradition of singing A Thousand Miles. Ian and Mickey even drunkenly joined in.
Overall it was a great night full of old Gallagher antics that they forgot they missed in the first place. Mickey was still riding that high as whispered in Ian’s ear in the back of the Uber. “Man, I can’t fucking wait to go to the beach tomorrow” followed by the most genuine toothy smile Ian had seen from his husband in a long while.
Mickey had purposefully asked where the beach was in proximity to Fiona’s house. If he was spending the week with a bunch of Gallaghers he needed an escape route planned out. He was beyond thrilled to learn that the beach was only a fifteen-minute walk from Fiona’s. He was so dead set on going to the beach that Ian’s heart swelled a little knowing that his husband’s fantasy, as little in the grand scheme of things it was, was going to happen.
Unfortunately for both of them, Mickey’s grand ambitions all came crashing down when there was a hurricane brewing in the water.
It was 4 A.M when they all got a knock on their room’s door. Only an hour and a half after they all managed to settle in. Everyone was collected into the main lobby of the hotel. They were all still in their pyjamas and robes, rubbing their eyes as the night manager explained a hurricane was projected to hit in a day time.
They had noticed it was raining pretty hard the previous night but didn’t take any worry up about it as Fiona said that was pretty typical weather.
They all gave the manager generally grumpy shrugs as to why that mattered or why they should care. Robbie’s cries from being woken seemed to be the choir to the bad news they were about to receive.
The manager gritted her teeth. She very calmly tried to explain that they didn’t have the facilities to accommodate the storm. In non-industry speak, she was basically telling them that they were being kicked out so that the hotel wasn’t liable in case someone got hurt.
They were promptly evacuated and dumped on Fiona’s front porch. They felt bad for the other two couples that were also kicked out as it seemed they didn’t have anywhere to go. They didn’t really dwell on that guilt though as they had their own problems to face.
Their concern for the storm hitting was growing exponentially. Two trees had been knocked down into the main road. The wind was picking up strong enough to sweep away the kids if they weren’t being held onto tight enough.
Debbie angrily pressed the doorbell over and over again. The rest of the family broke out into sleep-fueled grumpy mutters about how annoying she was being. Debbie didn’t relent any, finger repetitively pressed against the small button. Eventually, a half-asleep, very pissed off, Carl opened the door. He rubbed his eyes not seeming to take notice that his entire family was there. He didn’t have to register what was happening as Debbie shoulder checked him, barreling into the house.
She practically knocked down Fiona’s door in her pure furry. Everyone else kinda trailed after her. Lip took the time to explain to Carl and Liam who got swept into all the drama at the doorbell sounding.
“Fiona!” Debbie yelled. She settled at the edge of her older sister’s bed. She shook her leg trying to get Fiona to stir. In the time she was away from the Gallagher’s it seemed that her sleep routine of wearing a mask had also evolved to a pair of earplugs.
“What? What’s going on?” She jerked awake as Debbie’s shaking didn’t stop. “How’d you get into my house?” She pushed the eyemask up onto her forehead. As she looked up she was now met with the entire family staring down at her.
Ian was the one to explain the entire situation this time. Much more calmly than Debbie started to ramble it out.
“Fucking hell” Fiona sat up completely. Her eyebrows were scrunched together, clearly distressed. She had never gone through a storm worse than a tropical depression in her time. Most of the hurricanes that were projected to hit died down in the water before they hit her home. That didn’t seem to be the case as the rain outside started to sound like they were transported directly into a waterfall.
“Turn on the light” Fiona pushed her mask off of her head tossing it aside to get lost in her sheets. “We need to figure out what to do if the storm does hit”
Ian nodded, hand reaching out to click on the light switch beside him. He toggled with it up and down multiple times before shooting a ‘fucking-hell’ look at Fiona. She then realised that her fan was off.
“Fuck!” She immediately hopped out of bed. “Fucking power is out” she moved the dial on her fan back and forth getting no results.
She could hear the groans before they even sounded. She managed to herd them all into her living room with minimal distress.
She would have been lying to say she wasn’t also stressed by the situation. Regardless, she tried her hardest to remain as calm as she could knowing that her displaced siblings were looking to her as a beacon of hope.
She wandered around the house trying to find all the blankets and candles she could. For the first time ever in her life, she was grateful that her friends were such shitty gift-givers. Those twenty or so candles she had collected from them over the years were now the handiest thing in her house with no electricity.
“I’m really sorry about this guys” Fiona reappeared into the living room, Liam trailing behind her carrying the rest of the candles she couldn’t manage to fit in her arms. She dumped what had to be at least fifteen blankets onto the couch. “Weather channels said the storm was going to die down in the waters before it reached us”
“Well that was a fucking lie” Carl snorted with what could have been a very astute observation if not for the tropical storm roaring outside the window.
Liam finally caught up to his older sister. “We’re supposed to get somewhere with no windows” He wasted no time in his delivery, eyeing the large window beside him. He crouched in front of the coffee table, dumping all the candles as carefully as he could. “I watched a bunch of storm watchers on the plane here. Knew it was probably best to be prepared for these types of things” he offered a little shrug. Fiona nodded, scrounging around every drawer in the main space to see if she had any extra lighters. She was coming up short.
“Ok, so can we just go to a basement somewhere?” Carl offered. He was in the middle of the group. The phone in his lap’s shitty flashlight was the only source of light they had. Lip who was standing in front of him was fully illuminated while everyone else had the fanned effect of light.
“No luck there” Fiona gave a little frown. She had found a box of matches in the last drawer under her TV stand. She quickly lit a ‘hibiscus lemon’ candle, trying to get a little more light into the room. “We don’t have basements here” she grabbed another candle from the centre of the table, repeating the motion.
Mickey scoffed at that. “Stupid fucking Florida. If they’re getting hurricanes don’t you think the place underground where the fucking water couldn’t hit would be the best move” he rubbed the space between his brows, clearly annoyed.
“They would sink actually” Liam was quick to throw in. “Because of all the sand”
Everyone ignored Liam, trusting that he most definitely knew what he was talking about.
A palm tree leaf from outside went flying, violently slamming into the window with enough of a thump to make a few bodies jump.
“Are we gonna die?!” Franny’s voice was shrill as it came quick and hurried. Urgent, like if she didn’t get an answer they were done for. Debbie rubbed her shoulders, trying to calm the growing hysteria.
“No one is going to die!” Fiona’s voice came just as fast as her niece's. She tipped the newly lit candle in Franny’s direction to better see her face. She was frowning. Looked about a second away from producing tears that would rival the storm. “We’re all gonna be alright, okay?” She waited for Franny to nod back a hesitant ‘yes’, offering her the kindest smile she could muster.
Lip rubbed his thumb against the tip of his nose inhaling hard. “We’re not gonna die but what are we supposed to do here?” He looked towards a window behind him. The only window that blinds hadn’t been drawn completely. There was a little sliver towards the sill that could be seen. Outside raged on, the wind carried loose leaves and branches.
“So what are we supposed to do?”
Fiona gave a little shrug, putting the candle back down. Her hand reached up to her mouth. Her index finger dangled from her lips as she bit down on her manicured nail, clearly trying to come up with some plan. “Well, the good news is that the hurricane is probably at a level one maybe two. So it really shouldn’t be too rough?” She tried her hardest to say sound in her deduction. Her tone betrayed her, however.
“Ok, good news means there's bad news too right?” Carl nodded at his older sister, begging her to keep talking.
“Yeah” Fiona huffed in agreement. Her hand extended upward, running through her wild curls. “Like Liam said, have to stay in a space with no windows. I never got the chance to install the hurricane strength window panes. So there's a good chance my windows might break and I don’t want any casualties” She took a deep breath in, puffing out her cheeks before letting all the air out. “Okay hear me out before you start bitching-”
That comment was met with immediate bitching.
Fiona was able to quiet them down again before a proper mob could break out.
As she explained it, there were two viable places for them to camp out in.
She had this room at the back of her house. It was humid, cut off from the rest of the central ac. The room was incredibly small, could only comfortably hold five people max. However, the creepy room had no windows. Lip was quick to comment that it probably didn’t because a full window wouldn’t fit. All the same, it was one of the only rooms where they would be safe.
Fiona’s closet was the only other non-windowed room in the house. The closet was huge. Fiona definitely didn’t have enough clothes to fit in it which seemed to be working to their advantage. The master closet could fit two queen size beds. Albeit the corners were pressed up against the walls and it was crowded and uncomfortable but there was at least a vent in there for air and a little more space than the other room.
There were ten Gallaghers. Four beds. Two rooms to be split up into. Those statistics were all met with grimaces before they auctioned themselves out for where they would be staying.
Liam, Franny and Debbie by proxy were immediately offered into the closet, it was definitely more comfortable than the weird room. One other person could fit in there and Fiona offered up Freddie and Robbie as well. Tami refused the offer, saying she wanted her kids with her. Fiona understood and begrudgingly agreed to stay in her closet.
That left the two couples, Freddie, Robbie and Carl to squish themselves into the other room. It was just slightly more spacious than the closet but about twice as hot.
They were fortunate -if that could even be said in the situation- enough to receive the room after Fiona had hosted a ‘girl’s night’ not too long ago. In the room was still a pull-out couch and an air mattress her friends previously took occupancy in.
“This fucking sucks” Mickey spoke up the second Fiona was done hashing out the room and board situation.
He groaned, head hitting the couch behind him with a meaningful bang. “We should be on the beach right now, ignoring your fucking bullshit family” a scowl as he looked up at Ian.
“Oh thanks, Mickey. We love you too!” Debbie offered an eye-roll.
Mickey forced a fake smile, flipping her off. “ Hey , I was told I was getting a vacation. being stuck in a house with you assholes and no electricity or fucking power is the exact opposite of a fucking vacation”
“Actually the exact option of a vacation for you would be working more”
“What in my fucking life did I do to deserve this?” Mickey ignored Liam’s voice of reason. His head tipped forward, he caught it in his hands. Fingers ran through his hair frustratingly.
“Well, I mean logically…”
“Mickey I could list ten things easy”
“Use your head and think”
“A lot I bet”
The Gallaghers’ voices all came back in a chorus response.
“Yeah, yeah, fucking yeah” Mickey shoved his hand into the air. The whole family instantly went quiet again. “I went to prison. Paid my fucking dues to society. This is just fucking cruel”
“None of us are exactly enjoying this” Fiona reminded. She leaned over the coffee table, blowing out all the candles so she could ration them back out. “At least we got a few hours before the sun comes up” she pulled her phone from her pocket. She cursed to see how low her battery was before her eyes averted back up to the clock. 4:15 AM.
“Try to get some shut-eye, yeah? We’ll regroup in the morning, see if the storm is picking up or slowing down any?” with that she shoved a bunch of candles into everyone’s arms, disbursing.
Carl had gone with Fiona’s group to help move her mattresses. Lip entered the room with a little huff. He lowered Robbie -who was somehow peacefully asleep despite all the noise outside- onto the pullout couch. He shook his sore arms looking over the space.
It was quickly decided that Tami would get the pull-out couch to share with Freddie and Robbie. Ian was convinced he and Mickey could fit on the small air mattress.
Mickey groaned at that, looking down at the barely twin-sized mattress. “This fuckin sucks” He repeated his earlier sentiments.
“C’mon it's way bigger than our cell mattress. We made that work” Ian pulled an arm around his husband, placing a soft kiss on his temple.
Mickey tipped his head up to give his husband a proper kiss. He was sleepy and extremely irritated. At least he felt some of his discontent melt away when their lips touched.
“Yeah, I guess” Mickey mumbled against Ian’s lips.
“You guys are gonna make me puke” Tami gave a dramatic gag at their sappiness. She draped an extra blanket over the couch. “Feels like I’m getting morning sickness all over again”
“Could be worse, could be on the fucking floor” Lip interjected, looking at the very sad pile of blankets that he was meant to call his bed. He then took half of them, remembering Carl was also supposed to be squeezed in with them. Lip squinted at his ‘bed’ once more, it was now drastically sadder.
He dumped the blanket pile in the way corner for Carl, helping Tami settle into bed with the two boys. Robbie, who was two, was securely held against Tami’s stomach, scared to squish him. Freddie on the other hand was pressed against the backrest of the couch, apparently comfortable enough to pass out in a minute flat.
Everyone else settled into their own spaces. An awkwardly thick silence filled the darkroom. “G’night” Ian made out weakly. His feet were sticking out of the blankets, apparently too tall for the air mattress. He didn’t care to vocalise any discomfort.
“Night” Lip and Tami both mumbled back. Everyone closed their eyes with a little sigh. Even if it seemed impossible they were dead set on at least getting some sleep.
Lip was pulling the blanket past his shoulder, ready to doze off when Mickey gave a very audible sniff.
“This mattress smells like a hooker” He rose the blanket up to his nose, giving it another good sniff. Sure enough, the same lingering perfume was present.
Ian cracked a little laugh at that. “Yeah well I mean Fiona’s friend was the last to sleep on it”
“Hey, not all women's perfume smells like a hooker” Tami rolled her eyes. She was immediately met with Ian’s hand reaching up towards her, holding out his pillow.
She grabbed it, gave it a good sniff. “Oh yeah that is definitely hooker-y ”
They were all giving little sniffs, tufts of laughter followed. Lip was not as entertained, instead grew annoyed. He squeezed his eyes shut. “Everyone can we go to fucking sleep please? I feel like I’m at fucking sleep away camp here”
“Oh sleep away camp was so fun!” Tami suddenly gasped, long manicured fingers reached out to pat Lip’s shoulder with a little struggle to property bend over. “Yeah, we um used to freeze each other's bras and prank called-” Tami’s excited speech faltered when she saw Lip’s annoyed half begging expression to get some sleep. She went quiet. The entire room fell into a muted lull.
They could hear the leaves of the palm tree outside the home aggressively hit the window followed by the swishing of the heavy wind roaring angrily but other than that it was quiet.
The room was dark as it was, the flicker of the four candles stationed on the dresser was the only visible light. Everyone was on the brink of sleep. Then suddenly Carl busted into the room, door slamming against the back wall. He mumbled a weak apology breathing heavy. He was still out of breath as he found his makeshift bed in the corner and settled in. they were all silent again, waiting for sleep to consume them.
Lip shifted a little, trying to get comfortable again. The sound of his blanket moving was the only detectable noice. He pushed both of the sheets he was given off of his legs. The room was really fucking hot, especially with no air conditioner and way too many bodies piled into it.
Another reason to fucking hate Florida. Why Fiona chose to move and more importantly stay in the hell state was beyond the family members. Sure they were all a little unhinged and so was the mass majority of the Chicago population but at least they weren’t Floridians.
Lip shifted again. He could feel the carpeted floor beneath him start to burn as he rubbed his legs together trying to get comfortable on the small sheet that separated him and the floor. He cleared his throat again shifting from his side to his back.
“Hey Cinderella, shut the fuck up” he could hear Mickey mutter angrily from a few feet above him. They were uncomfortably close. That fact didn’t settle on Lip until he realised he could see one of Mickey’s blue eyes peaked open staring at the tip of his head through the incredibly dim light. One of Lip’s hands rose in surrender as he finally just decided to settle on the left side
“You mean Sleeping Beauty?” Tami’s small laugh filled the room. She was full-on giggling. Carl in his sleep-induced delirium joined in as if that was the funniest thing he had ever heard. Despite not knowing what was going on.
“Mick,” Tami swallowed down another giggle. “Do I need to teach you the Disney princesses?”
This time Ian was the one to speak up. If it wasn’t the only pillow he had he would have considered throwing his at her. He composed himself “Sleep. Please” he weakly made out.
Silence didn’t even last for a full minute that time. Carl was clearing his throat from across the room now. Trying to hawk up something.
“Shut the fuck up!” Everyone in the room joined in a chorus. Carl abruptly stopped.
“Sorry it's the fuckin humidity if this shit-hole, I’m, right next to the fucking vent, I can feel the humidity seeping into my lungs”
“That's not how that works?” Tami tried to correct but Carl was already back to yacking too loud to be heard.
“Wanna switch?” Lip tried to offer, using his arms to sit up.
“Nah, I think I’m just going to move to the closet” Carl was up on his feet trying to swerve around the various bodies that littered the floor. His blanket was wrapped around his shoulder, pillow dangly from his fingers. He stopped just shy of Lip’s face, the pillow automatically hitting Lip square in the nose.
It felt like the old days when all the Gallagher boys were forced to share a small room together. God how Lip didn’t miss that.
“Sorry man” Carl gave a weak apology. Lip was forced to look at his little brother who beckoned him to move over so he could make it to the very small closet behind him. “Fuckin hell Carl” Lip rolled his eyes, rolling his body over to the left so Carl could move past him.
Carl finally settled behind him a little hum of contentment as he contoured his body drawing the two sliding doors closed. “Much better!” He yelled out, voice muffled from the closet.
“I’m so fucking happy for you” Sarcasm dripped from Mickey’s already irritated voice “Now everyone shut the fuck up and go to sleep” Mickey barked back. Lip agreed full-heartedly. So did everyone else it seemed as everyone quieted again. The only wind sounded.
It was completely silent in the room. Lip actually thought he was going to let himself fall into the delusion of thinking he had a shot at sleeping. His eyes squeezed tight, listening to the wind as white noise slowly lull him off to sleep. His body was sinking more into the floor, finally comfortable enough to start drifting.
Then he heard the mattress beside him creak once. Then twice. He ignored it, buried his head deeper into his pillow trying to block out the small noise and get some shut-eye. The entire half-hour they had stayed in the room was full of interruptions, surly now they would be able to sleep peacefully. He cursed himself for thinking that for even a second.
the squeaking persisted followed by a low hum he figured only Mickey was meant to hear.
“Yeah, baby there you go” Ian’s voice was low and hurried. Mickey gave a little moan of contentment. Another squeak.
Lip had to physically stop himself from getting up and leaving. It was fine. He could block it ou t, wasn’t like that was the first time he had ever accidentally been an adjacent exhibitionist or overhearer to his little brother’s relationship.
“There we go” Ian was the one to groan this time. Then Lip could hear the sound of lips hitting lips.
“The fuck are you doing?” Lip finally snapped eyes shooting open. Both and Mickey halted their movements going completely still, caught in the act.
Lip didn’t know what he was opening his eyes to. Logically he knew nothing was going on but his sleep riddled mind wasn’t lending him much leeway. He could make out both of their bodies. They weren’t in a compromising position other than the fact they were clearly cuddling.
“We’re just trying to get comfortable,” Ian said meekly, almost embarrassed. As Lip’s eyes focused in he realised they had completely switched positions. Mickey’s head was placed firmly against Ian’s chest, arms wrapped around his middle. Ian held him tight too, when he froze his lips were on Mickey’s temple, freehand smoothing over his hair. Their bodies were pressed so close to one another, to assure no one would fall off the tiny mattress.
Lip didn't know what was worse, catching them fucking or just being a grossly domestic couple. He settled on not deciding.
Instead, he pushed his sheets off of him, landing in front of the dresser. In an act fueled by passive-aggressive spite, he blew out all the candles. A move he would regret less than a second later when he had to blindly search for his bed again. He gave a sigh, pitch blackness engulfing the entire room. “Seriously, go to sleep”
Third times a charm was definitely a sham but by the millionth try, everyone had managed to fall asleep. They slept as well as they could given the situation.
They all began to wake slowly. Carl barreling his way out of the closet to stretch his stiff muscles was the final push in reuniting everyone in consciousness.
Mickey woke up with his nose firmly pressed against Ian’s neck. He hummed in contentment nuzzling impossibly closer to Ian. Then Carls’s hacking started up again and he was reminded he was in hell.
He managed to raise his head off of Ian, despite all the energy it took, shooting a malicious look aimed at Carl.
Carl snorted at the sight. He gripped his hands in the same type of hello he would give to his young nephews. “You comfortable there?” He snarked.
“Shut the fuck up” Mickey raised an angry finger at Carl. Lip had joined in stifling back his own laughter by the time Mickey rubbed his tired eyes.
His hand then immediately went back to holding Ian’s tightly. Carl’s laughter came once again. Mickey was able to pick up on whatever snarky remark Carl was going to make before he could formulate a sentence.
“Don’t take it out on our relationship because you’re not getting your dick wet” Mickey grumbled point perhaps getting muted by the fact that his face was stuck hidden in the valley of Ian’s shoulder again.
Carl ignored his brother-in-law’s protest. His nose crinkled up. “Is this what you do in the privacy of your own home?”
“No shit fuckhead we’ve been married for almost three years” Mickey rolled his eyes, and Ian laughed from behind him at how defensive he was getting. He knew that Mickey had no qualms when it came to showing Ian affection in their own home. He was definitely more needy and touchy than Ian would have pinned him for in the early years of their relationship. He loved to be spooned at night, lay on the couch with his legs in Ian’s lap or hold Ian’s head rested securely in his own lap.
Ian looked up to meet Carl’s eye line. He purposefully nuzzled into his husband, grabbing his head to secure him in place before placing over-dramatic kisses along his jawline.
“I think I would rather walk in on you too having sex” Carl grimaced.
“No, you definitely don’t” Lip immediately spoke up.
“Leave them alone” Tami finally chimed in. there was a moment of silence where Ian thought her point genuinely landed. Then she smirked up her own smile. “The lovebugs can’t be away from one another! They’ll die if they separate, you know” she was giggling.
Luckily for all the Gallaghers, Fiona was about to step in before Mickey bitched to all hell.
“Hey guys, I think the storm has died down some” Fiona’s voice bellowed from down the hall. her voice was closer and closer till suddenly the doorknob jiggled and she was in the room with an optimistic smile. She looked around to see everyone’s stunned expressions then down at Ian and Mickey who didn’t move.
“God it’s like Ian is seventeen again” Fiona gave a playful little smile. “When his -air quotes- friend would have a sleepover with us every night”
Ian was the one to hide his head this time, cheeks flushed a little pink.
She gave another little chuckle before collecting herself. “Get up and regroup in five. Maybe we can scavenge some breakfast or something, yeah?”
A few hours past the morning interruption, the storm completely passed. Turns out it wasn’t even big enough to be considered a hurricane. Fiona didn’t have the heart to tell her family that though so played it off like it was a bigger deal than it was just so she didn’t have to explain that they spent a night crammed together for nothing.
The storm wasn’t as bad as everyone was expecting it to be. It turned out the hurricane slowed down a lot more by the time it reached Fiona’s neck of the woods. It was basically a tropical storm at that point. The only real damage done was that her awning got knocked off, and the front rails of her porch slightly skewed. Nothing a little bit of arm grease couldn’t fix in an afternoon.
That following afternoon they stayed indoors in close proximities as they scrounged around for food. They found refuge in books and board games till the power went back on. While most of them did have to still share the rooms they were at least a lot more spread out.
The next day was sunshine and a cool breeze. The fallen trees and branches were the only remaining sign that a storm had even hit in the first place.
The family packed everything up and went to the beach first thing when the weather was cleared.
From sunrise to sunset they hung out at the beach and the various shops along the beach town.
Mickey was just happy to finally get his toes in the sand.
He was quite fond of his niece and nephews and didn’t mind playing with them in the sand but at the same time, he wanted time alone with his husband.
They managed to sneak off for the majority of the day. Found a part of the beach pretty secluded. Spent the day close together under the shade of an umbrella. Mickey had even managed to score some chairs off of a leaving family.
Mickey gave Ian so much shit about getting a sunburn that in turn, he had forgotten to apply sunscreen himself. He was almost as red as Ian’s hair. Ian snickered as he applied aloe to his husband’s back. He happily returned the mean teasing at Mickey’s expense.
Other than the whole sunburn situation, Mickey’s day at the beach alone with Ian as they huddled close under the shade of an umbrella was all that he had dreamed of and more.