Work Text:
Ian has been single for a few months now. After that second month mark he realized he fucked up hard. A few weeks after breaking up with Mickey he was back on medication and getting his life back on track. Once the fog had cleared, he was able to see the mess he had made.
He knew he had to get Mickey back. The hard part was how he was going to do it. He spoke to Mandy a lot in these couple months that he’s been better and trying to figure out how to win Mickey back. She had told him that he wasn’t going to come crawling back the minute he asked so he really needed to work for it.
Ian’s been meaning to go get his stuff from the Milkovich house, so he might as well try to get a feel for how the Milkovich man is feeling about Ian now, about them now.
Ian knocks on the front door and feels extremely weird doing so, like he’s fifteen again.
Svetlana answers the door and eyes him up and down. She says, “Orange boy.”
Ian’s shocked to say the least, “Hey, when did you move back in?”
“When you broke Mickey’s heart,” She says before muttering in Russian, “тупой идиот.”
Ian sighs. He feels like fucking shit for hurting Mickey. He never intended on doing that. He says, “Can I come in? I just came here for my things.”
Svetlana eyes him again before stepping to the side to let him in. She says once he’s inside, “You look good, healthier.”
“I am,” He says to her turning to face her, “I’m on meds for real now. I’m trying to get better for me, for him.”
Svetlana hums still eyeing him. Ian looks around and says, “Where is he?”
“Bed. He is sick like dog,” Svetlana says before heading to his bedroom door, “I will get your things, they are in box in closet.”
“Wait,” Ian says grabbing her elbow to stop her. He immediately lets go when she gives him a sharp look. He says, “Um, I can go get it. Please.”
“Fine,” She says going in the direction of her own room.
Ian heads to Mickey’s bedroom, which used to be Mickey’s and his bedroom. He creaks the door open and sees a figure curled up under the covers facing away from the door in the dark even though it’s still daylight out. He’s on his side of the bed with what used to be Ian’s pillow not in sight.
He walks into the room fully and can’t help but walk up to the bed. Mickey hears that someone’s in the room with him and sees the light slip into the room. He says all sniffly and congested, “Svet, I don’t need anything, just go away.”
Ian’s heart breaks for the man he loves and for himself for not being able to take care of him. He says willing for his voice not to break, “It’s not Svetlana.”
Mickey doesn’t turn around in bed. All he does is says, “Then go the fuck away.”
“Mickey…” Ian tries.
“Gallagher, get the fuck out of here,” Mickey says, “And take your shit from my closet. It’s in a box.” Ian can’t help but notice how he’s no longer ‘Ian’ but ‘Gallagher’ again to Mickey, it stings.
Ian sees Mickey pulling the covers up higher up if it was possible. Ian takes a chance. He sits on the edge of the bed, on the side he used to call his side of the bed. Mickey tenses when he feels the bed dip.
Mickey sighs, “What do you want?”
“I want you. Mickey, I fucked up. I need you back, I’m so sorry,” Ian says sincerely.
Mickey says, “Don’t. Just leave.”
“Mickey, please,” Ian starts, “Just talk to me. Let me at least take care of you.”
Mickey sits up and looks into Ian’s eyes for the first time in months. There is hurt in those blue eyes that only used to hold so much love for the man before him. He says, “Why the fuck should I, huh? You didn’t let me fucking take care of you when that’s all I wanted to do! I fucking loved you, Ian, and you didn’t give a shit. You left. Not me. So now I’m asking you to.”
Ian’s eyes water and he can’t help a few tears from rolling down his cheek. He nods at the man he loves and gets up. He goes over to the closet to get the box of his things and leaves the house he called home for a while. The man he called home.
Ian walks through his backdoor with the box of his things in his arms. Fiona and Veronica are in the kitchen and see the glum look on his face.
Fiona says, “Didn’t go well, huh?”
Ian shakes his head. He puts the box down on the table and walks over to his sister. She opens her arms and he goes in. He needs the comfort. Not from Fiona but she’ll have to do for now.
“I’m sorry, honey,” V says from where she watches the siblings embrace.
Ian detaches from Fiona and looks to Veronica. He says, “He’s really sick. Can you maybe go over there and see what he has? I don’t know if it’s just a cold or a fever or what. I’m worried about him. I don’t want him to get any worse.”
“Sure, but you gotta come with me. No way am I walking into that house alone,” Veronica says pointedly.
Ian says, “Yeah, don’t think he wants me there…”
“Why do you say that?” Fiona asks.
“Cause he said so,” Ian says. “He hates me.”
“No,” The girls both say immediately. Fiona says, “He doesn’t hate you. He’s just hurt. He loves you, Ian, it’s blatantly obvious. He just needs time. Did you tell him how you feel?”
“I told him I want and need him back, and that I fucked up. That I’m sorry,” Ian says. “I wanted to tell him I love him but it wouldn’t have been right…”
“It’s good you didn’t, I don’t think he would have liked that much,” V says.
Ian sighs again. He’s really feeling shitty about this all and it’s seeming more and more impossible to get back the man he loves. He heads up to his room and crawls in under the covers. He lays there with his eyes open, starring up at the ceiling trying to figure out what the fuck to do to fix things.
“How the fuck could you let him in here?” Mickey asks seething. He’s up, finally, and he’s livid. He’s standing in front of Svetlana from where she’s cooking in the kitchen.
“He said he came for his things,” Svetlana says with a shrug.
“So you close the fucking door on him, get his shit, and go back to give it to him,” Mickey says annoyed.
“He is on meds now, he is better,” Svetlana says instead.
“So fucking what?” Mickey says. They both know he doesn’t mean that though. Mickey’s really happy that Ian’s back on the meds and is stable now. Still doesn’t excuse him for fucking breaking his heart and leaving him.
Svetlana rolls her eyes at him. There’s a knock on the door for the second time that day. She says, “Go get door.”
Mickey groans and walks over to the door yanking it open with a, “What!?” before he sees Veronica, Fiona, and Ian behind the two girls. “What the fuck do you want?”
“Heard you were sick, came to be a good nurse. Move,” She says pushing her way into the house with Fiona and Ian behind her.
She goes to stand in front of him before putting her hand on his forehead. He says, “What the fuck?”
Veronica says, “You’ve got a fever for sure. You should not be out of bed.” She then proceeds to start pushing him towards his room with the help of Ian pointing her in the right direction.
He protests at first but there’s no use so he goes along with it and crawls into bed again. She sits on the bed next to him and pulls out a thermometer to take his temperature.
“Okay, open,” She says before shoving it under his tongue.
Fiona’s standing in the bedroom near Veronica but Ian stays in the doorway of the bedroom. Mickey just glaring at him. He can’t help but notice how good Ian looks though, and not in the fuck he’s so sexy kinda good, but the he actually looks like his old self again, like he’s getting better kinda good.
Veronica pulls the thermometer out and says, “You’ve got a fever of 103. You don’t get out of bed unless absolutely necessary like the bathroom, and drink plenty of fluids.”
“I’ll go make you some soup,” Fiona says. She squeezes Ian’s shoulder before passing him to head to the kitchen.
“If you’re in pain or uncomfortable you can take some Advil,” Veronica says standing up before leaving the two men alone.
“You fuckin’ told on me?” Mickey says glaring at Ian some more.
“I was worried about you,” Ian says simply.
Mickey scoffs. He looks away from Ian, pulling the covers up his legs.
Ian steps into the room and goes over to the bed again. He says, “I am sorry for what I put you through. I should have been a better partner. I- I just didn’t want to accept that I had- that I have a problem. Even now that I’m on meds and I’m getting better, I still can barely accept it. Every morning it’s a struggle to take the pills, but I do it, and I know it’s going to help me. Anyway, my point is that I’m really sorry for hurting you. I’m sorry I fucked everything up for you, for us. I never wanted to hurt you, I just wanted you. My disorder was fucking with my mind and I let it. I should have tried harder for you, for us. I want to try harder. I need you, Mickey. Maybe you don’t even want me anymore but if you do, just know that I’ll be waiting for you, for however long that takes. You’re all I need, Mick.”
Mickey closes his eyes because looking at Ian right now is burning them. A few tears slip down his cheek and he knows Ian can see them. He just can’t look at him right now, nor can he say anything. When he opens his eyes again Ian has left. He curls back up into a ball and pulls the covers up to his neck, he lets the tears stream down his face.
After a few minutes or so, Mickey doesn’t really know how long it’s been, but someone walks into his room again. He opens his eyes and he knows their all red and puffy. Fiona’s placing a bowl of soup and a glass of orange juice that are on a tray onto his bedside table.
She gives him a sad smile and says, “You should eat and drink this, Mickey,” picking the tray back up.
He sighs and sits back up, wiping at his eyes. She places the tray over his lap and he mumbles a ‘thanks’. She says, “Anytime.”
She walks to the door before turning her head to him. She says, “You know, Ian is really doing better. I know he hurt you and shouldn’t have done what he did but to him at the time he had no other option. I had asked him why he broke up with you when it happened and he told me he had to so he would stop hurting you. He’s always had you in the forefront of his mind. Just consider that and don’t rule him out just yet.”
“Didn’t want to hurt me,” Mickey scoffs looking into his bowl of soup. “He still did.”
“I know,” Fiona says, “He didn’t know it at the time though, he thought he was doing you a favour.”
Mickey stays silent just looking into the bowl of soup. She says, “Eat. I didn’t just cook Mickey Milkovich some chicken noodle soup for nothing.”
He looks up at her and she gives him a soft smile before leaving. He eats most of the soup and drinks the glass of orange juice before falling asleep, with Ian Gallagher on his mind (like usual).
Mickey got better a few days later. All he ate was the soup Fiona made him. She actually made so much to last him until he was better, and then some.
Within the few days that Mickey was stuck in bed or on the sofa, all he thought about was Ian, and what he had said to him before leaving. As well as Fiona’s words to him.
Mickey grabs his jacket, scarf, and hat (he was just sick, doesn’t want to be sick again) before going outside in the December chill of Chicago.
He knocks on the front door as he bounces lightly up and down trying to stay warm in the cold. The door opens to Ian in sweat pants and a superman t-shirt on. He looks surprised. He says, “Hey.”
“You gonna let me in or what? I’m freezing my balls off out here,” Mickey says. Ian moves out of the way and Mickey walks in. He removes his winter attire and drapes it over the back of the sofa.
Ian says once Mickey’s facing him again, “How are you feeling?”
“Better, your sisters soup helped,” Mickey says with a shrug.
Ian smiles, “Good. I’m glad you’re better.”
“Me too,” Mickey says. They both know he meant he’s glad Ian’s better as well.
“What are you doing here? Not that I don’t want you here, I do, I really do,” Ian says before sighing and chuckling lowly.
Mickey can’t help but smile at him. He says, “Jesus, stop talking.”
“Sorry,” Ian says with a smile. Mickey’s smile.
“I thought about what you said, and I didn’t come here to get back together,” Mickey says and he sees the disappointment in Ian’s eyes. He continues, “I figure we start off as friends or some shit first. I can’t just jump back into what we had before.”
Ian nods in understanding. He says, “I’m good with being your friend until you’re ready to take me back.”
“Cocky little shit,” Mickey laughs, “What makes you think I’m going to want your ass back.”
Ian grins his shit eating grin that Mickey loves, and missed so much. He says, “Well for one, my ass is really great, and you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want us back at some point.”
Mickey can’t help but smile at this adorably, ridiculous ginger. He shakes his head at him and says, “Whatever, man.”
Ian says, “You wanna play Mario cart?”
“Yeah, why not,” Mickey says going over to sit on the sofa. Ian sets it up and hands Mickey a controller before sitting next to him. Not as close as he wants to but still close enough that if he moves his arm too wide he’s touching him.
The two of them play Mario cart for hours, until Fiona calls out that it’s dinner time.
Ian pushes Mickey to the side and Mickey says, “You’re such a cheater! What the fuck, Ian?!” before pushing Ian with one hand and trying to get back in the lead.
Ultimately Ian wins and shouts out in victory. Mickey grunts and says, “You’re the fucking worst.”
“Awww, Mick, don’t be a sore loser,” Ian says poking him in the side. “You won the last game.”
Mickey smiles at that, “I creamed your ass, what are you even saying?”
Ian says with a waggle of his eyebrows, “I believe I’m the one who would cream your ass.”
Mickey laughs out loud. He says, “Oh my God.”
Ian laughs and Fiona comes into the room. She says, “Guys, it’s ready. Mickey, you staying?”
Ian turns to look at Mickey and says, “Yeah, stay.”
Mickey hesitates but knows it’s futile. He says, “Okay, sure.”
It’s been a couple of months of being friends. It’s weird to say the least. They’ve never really done this before. They do all the same things they used to, yeah, but they’re not fucking, which makes them real friends, and not boyfriends and best friends.
After that first day of hanging out, they hang out almost every day. The only other difference than how they used to be is that they say goodbye before the other leaves to go back home. There’s no sex, no cuddling, no sleeping together, none of that. Just video games, movies, and shameless flirting.
During a Gallagher movie night (they started having those again once Ian was starting to feel better), Mickey is over and so is Kev and V. The only Gallagher’s who were actually there were Fiona and Ian. Lip is at school because he has midterms, Carl is still in juvie for trying to break out of said juvie, and Debbie was upstairs in her room because she didn’t want to watch Ian’s choice of ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’.
Kev and V occupied the recliner, all cuddled up together, and Ian sat on the sofa in between Mickey and Fiona.
At some point during the film Debbie came downstairs and wedged herself in between Ian and Fiona causing Ian move closer to Mickey to make room for his little sister. Debbie had gone through so much in the last few months (getting pregnant, being happy and freaked the fuck out, deciding she was going to keep it only to find out she lost it).
Mickey and Ian could feel the heat between them. Mickey’s whole left side was plastered to Ian’s right side and he was tingling. His fingers twitched where they lay on his thighs.
Mickey looked over at Ian and saw his hands doing the same thing. It’s like they were itching to touch each other. All the lights were off in the house and Ian decided ‘fuck it’. He lifted his right arm up and placed it on the back of the sofa behind Mickey’s head, and moved a little closer to him.
Mickey looked into his eyes and saw the challenge in Ian’s. Ian smirked at him before leaning into Ian’s body. He rested his head against Ian’s inner arm and chest, and he could feel Ian’s arm slip over his shoulder and squeezing it. Ian idly rubbed his thumb over Mickey’s arm in slow movements.
Once the movie ended and Fiona turned the lamp back on, the two men broke away from each other. Kev and V said their goodbyes and Mickey was about to leave also.
“I’ll walk you out,” Ian said following Mickey to the front door. They both had on lighter jackets as they exited the house. Now that it was March, they didn’t need their big winter coats.
Ian walked down the stairs with Mickey, they stood at the bottom of the steps and just looked at one another.
One moment their starring at each other, both challenging, waiting for the other to do something, and the next their fingers are in each others hair as their pulling each other closer, deepening their kiss.
They moan into the kiss and Mickey slips his tongue into Ian’s mouth, licking and tasting that sweet taste he’s missed so much.
Mickey’s hands travel down to Ian’s chest before he’s pushing himself back a bit, hands still firmly planted on his chest. Ian looks into Mickey’s eyes before pecking him on the lips once more, and moving his hands to place them on Mickey’s hips.
“I’ve missed you so much, Mick,” Ian says.
“You see me like every day,” Mickey says looking up into those green eyes.
“You know what I mean,” Ian says as he brings his hands underneath Mickey’s coat. He rubs his thumbs lightly on Mickey’s hips.
Skin burning under Ian’s touch he says, “Yeah, I know, so do I.”
“Yeah?” Ian says stepping closer to Mickey causing him to slide his hands back up his chest.
Mickey wraps his arms around Ian’s neck and hums, “Mhmm.”
“Mickey, I want you back. Please, I need you,” Ian says, “I need us back.”
Mickey takes that final step and kisses Ian soft and lovingly. Ian sighs contently wrapping Mickey up into his arms as he kisses the man he will never stop loving.
Mickey stops and rests his forehead against Ian’s. He says, “Okay.”
“Okay?” Ian says pulling back to look into Mickey’s bright, blue eyes.
“Yeah, I haven’t stopped loving you, Ian. I won’t ever stop,” Mickey says putting himself out there once and for all. If he gets another slap in the face then he doesn’t think he could do this ever again. He can’t go through that pain ever again.
It never comes though. Instead Ian grins at him and says, “I love you so much, Mickey. So much,” before he’s kissing him again.
They finally have each other back, the one they fell for and will never stop falling for, and nothing could be sweeter.