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Although Mickey wanted to go all in for his and Ian’s wedding, there is one thing that he would be more than glad to skip and that is having a bachelor party. He’s never the party type of person and even though the majority of the people who know him would agree, there are two who would beg to differ.
“Oh come on, cielo . Don’t you want to spend the night with the boys?”
Mickey curls his lips. “If you grew up here and actually knew how this neighborhood knew me, partying is never my thing,” Sebastian gives him a side look, “and besides, I’m marrying another bachelor. What’s the point?”
The doctor takes a swig of his beer before turning his full attention to Mickey. They have been arguing for almost an hour and the raven haired knows that the people seating near them, including the bartender who looks like he’s having the fucking time of his life, are entertained with how his two friends are trying to convince him into having a stag party. “The point is you’re going to celebrate that you’re getting married! Celebrate your last day of being a Milkovich–” Mickey outwardly cringed at this, “and have fun like what we used to back in Mexico.”
Kevin Ball, the bartender and owner of the Alibi, looked shocked with the revelation. Wiping a beer glass, he walks towards the doctor’s direction and slightly leans closer. “Did you just say that Mickey here, the most antisocial Milkovich, goes to bars and spends his time there to have fun ?” He glances at the raven haired for a quick second before looking at the obviously confused doctor, “Define fun .”
“Aye, sasquatch, mind your own business, will you?” Mickey barks, glaring at Kev. But it seems like the bartender didn’t even hear him because he’s listening to Sebastian’s stories. “Ah, fuck. There goes my reputation.” He downs his beer and focuses his attention on the one dirty spot of the counter.
Raul laughs incredulously. “Holy shit! They don’t know ?” When Mickey doesn't respond, the brunette joins in with the duo’s conversation on his left. “You’ll be surprised once you see him lose it on the dancefloor, sir.”
An arm snakes around his waist, pulling him. Face red with shame, Mickey looks to his other side and meets Ian’s bright green eyes. They’re even twinkling for fuck’s sake. “Whatever they’re telling snoopy over there, it’s true,” he admits, never breaking Ian’s stare. He should feel embarrassed and ready to hide in the nearest bin but his shame dissipates when he sees Ian. Ian might’ve been amused with the new information about him but he’ll never push it unlike those two douchebags. “Assholes,” he mutters, referring to Sebastian and Raul.
Ian smiles as his hold on Mickey tightens. “You never told me about that.”
“Because I don’t have to.”
Ian frowns, confused. “Why not?”
Mickey takes a deep breath before he responds. “That was in Mexico, E. Whatever I did back there, I can’t do it here, okay?”
“Why?”
“Is that the only question you know?” He snaps, but quickly swallows when Ian looks at him with intense curiosity. Fuck Sebastian and Raul for revealing something he doesn’t know how to explain. Everything he did in Mexico was out of the sheer fact that he’s no longer in the South Side. “I was free .” He says as his eyes widened when he realized what he just said.
“Oh,” the redhead responds, as if a light had just been lit up in his head. But his expression quickly turns serious when he asks the raven haired again. “But you said that this, us , is what makes you free. Can you elaborate?”
The buzz of the surroundings was enough to make Mickey feel overwhelmed. Gulping the remains of his glass, he gets off his seat and slams the glass back on the counter. “Come on, I don’t want to have this conversation with a bunch of people who has the tendency to fucking eavesdrop.” He says as he intertwined his fingers with Ian’s.
They got out of the bar and spent the next few minutes in silence. Mickey was gathering his thoughts to make sure that whatever he’s going to tell his fiance wouldn’t be misunderstood. Ian, on the other hand, was just waiting for the smaller man to talk. There were several reasons that his mind was throwing at him, making his head hurt as the time stretches but he kept his mouth shut.
He squeezes Mickey’s hand when they reach the neighborhood park and stands in front of him. “Whatever that reason is, I want you to know that it’s okay, okay? I’m, I’m just curious why your friends know a different version of you.”
Mickey untangles his hand from Ian’s and sits on the nearest bench. “I don’t know what happened but when I was there, I felt like I had this… new identity. I can be whoever I want without thinking about the people around me. Without thinking of my fucking father.”
Ian nods. Well, if he would be given a chance himself, there’s no doubt he’d be doing the same thing so he understands. But there’s still a small part of him smarts when Mickey admitted that he was different when he’s in Mexico. “Will I be able to see that version of you?”
The raven haired stares at Ian for a couple of seconds before he smiles. “Of course. But it’d take a while, considering that my father is lurking around for more reasons to fucking murder me,” he breaks their eye contact when Ian frowns at what he’d just said. Why sugarcoat it when they both know how much Terry hates his son for being gay? At this point, Mickey’s convinced that they should be desensitized with his father’s antics. “You know, I wouldn’t be able to act that free without the help of those two,” he admits as he focuses his attention on the cuticles of his fingers.
“Did they force you?”
“No. They…” Mickey trails off as a memory flashes in his mind. This is the conversation that Mickey had been dreading to have with Ian because he doesn’t know how to approach it. What he had with Raul will forever be embedded in his soul and he’d treasure it. And telling this part of his life to the man he’s going to marry is quite terrifying because there are so many ways this story could be interpreted but one look at Ian and Mickey felt like his tongue had come loose. “I met Raul when I was getting shitfaced a month after I got there. He was just supposed to be a random fuck, y’know, but he stuck around. He kept following me around and talking to me like I’m his friend. Guess that’s what happens when people stick around, I get attached. Because a couple of months after I started looking for him and…”
“You fell for him,” Ian finishes the sentence. Mickey nods, looking away.
“I fell for him. Like I said before, it’s not hard to fall for him.” Mickey pauses. He begins to pick on his cuticles when he continues, “Not long after we started hanging around, I met his cousin. I was having bad episodes there because of the hot weather and Art was freaking out so he called Seb and since then, Sebastian has been my doctor.”
“Even in prison?” Ian quips.
Mickey nods again. He winces as he pulls a long strip of dry skin, causing the side of his thumb to bleed. Ian tuts and takes his other hand. “Yeah. He knew someone from the pen and made sure that I got the right doses. One of the reasons why I never had an episode when we were locked up and also why I forgot to tell you.” When he notices that Ian’s lips have thinned, he unconsciously begins to scratch his thumb with his index finger.
Ian listens as Mickey recalls his time in Mexico. He feels his skin crawling as he listens to Mickey talk about his relationship with Raul. He hates it. He hates how he can picture Mickey being intimate with another man and as much as he wants to suppress it, the imagery burns him. The jealousy eats him up and radiates off of him, giving some of it to his fiance’s hand.
“Ian,” Mickey calls. When Ian doesn't hear him, he scoots closer and cups the other man’s jaw, turning it until they look at each other. “Hey. Listen to me. What Art and I had is already in the past. It’s over but I won’t throw him out because what he and I had taught me how much I love you, okay?”
It takes a couple of seconds for the words to sink in Ian’s mind but when it does, his face softens. He takes the hand that was cupping his jaw and squeezes it. Jealousy is still there as there’s no fucking way that it’ll fade because he’s possessive when it comes to Mickey. But listening to Mickey talk about how much he loves him, combined with the things that the latter had done for him over the years, warms his heart.
He gathers the raven haired in his arms and rests his chin on top of Mickey’s head, sniffing the latter’s hair. “I love you too,” he says back. “And thank you for telling me even though you don’t have to.”
Mickey looks up at him, “of course I have to. You’re my fiance, E. Even if I have a bad record of being a husband in the past, I want to do this properly and what better way to start it with spilling the beans?” Telling Ian about his ex-boyfriend is surely a tough bone to pick but Mickey had always known that he’ll share the story to his husband. Besides, Mickey doesn’t think he can keep a secret with the redhead. Because before he had the Bellos in his life, Ian had been his confidant. His best friend and ride or die.
Ian owns his fucking heart. The fucking king of it, if he had to be precise.
The two stayed all cuddled up for a couple more minutes, enjoying the comfort brought by each other’s warmth. In the distant future, Mickey could see themselves doing the same thing but somewhere where they could call home. God, marrying Gallagher is no longer an idea. It’s happening and Mickey couldn’t wait for them to meet at the altar.
He looks at his ring and smiles. “I can’t wait to marry you, Ian.”
Ian detaches himself from Mickey and gives Mickey the brightest grin. “Same here, Mickey. I can’t wait to call you Mr. Gallagher.”
Mickey feels his cheeks burn. He never saw himself changing his name before but the idea of becoming a Gallagher started to become probable. Anyone who is unlucky enough to carry the name of his family would be more than willing to change it and fortunately for Mickey, he has the chance to do it. Besides, Mickey Gallagher sounds better and it opens so many opportunities for him. He can get all the fucking privilege he can get from his soon-to-be-husband’s very white last name, regardless of the reputation bounded to it.
“About time to strip Milkovich outta my name,” he says as he closes the gap between him and Ian. “Don’t know if my father would like it though,” because even though Terry had repeatedly told him that he was disowned, there’s still a part in him that hopes he would get his father’s approval.
Ian cups his cheeks and looks straight into Mickey’s electric blue eyes. “Your father’s opinion doesn’t matter. You’re changing your name because you want to , right?” When Mickey nods, Ian continues, “His opinions won’t matter. Not anymore.” Then he plants a kiss on the raven haired’s forehead.
Mickey hums as he melts in his fiance’s embrace. Many years ago, when Mickey was still afraid to come out, he wouldn’t risk being touchy with Ian. If anything, he would do anything to keep the redhead at arm’s length because being close to Ian makes him lose all the defenses he built up for himself. God, he’s fucking happy that he can shamelessly show his love for Gallagher now. Fuck those who give them the stink eye just for being themselves.
Inhaling Mickey’s scent, Ian rests his chin on the raven haired’s head. It’s already getting late and they shouldn’t be spending their time cuddling up in the middle of the park but perhaps they can stay like this for a couple more minutes. Tomorrow marks the final week before they get married. That’s seven days filled with different appointments–with either the tailor, the caterer or the priest because in order to get married, they have to attend seminars. Thinking of the things they have to do for the next few days is already making his head hurt.
Ian was starting to doze off when Mickey moved. He detaches himself from Mickey and stands up, stretching his limbs before offering a hand to his fiance.
“By the way,” he starts, the corners of his lips quirking up as he holds both of Mickey’s hands. “Don’t hate me for this but–”
“Listening to you start off with that sentence is more than enough to ruin my mood.”
The redhead’s eyes widened and suddenly, Mickey felt like his knees weakened. Sometimes, he hates Ian for holding so much power over him. How he can instantly fold with just a stare. The raven haired tightens his hold on Ian, steadying himself. “Fuck, if you’re just going to convince me to let Art and Seb to organize a stag party for us then don’t bother yourself asking because it’s a hard no.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Have you forgotten that we’re both lightweights now? Not to mention how alcohol can pretty give me an awful episode?”
“Going to a bar doesn’t mean that we have to get shitfaced, Mickey. Can’t we just have fun, huh?”
“And how are we going to do that, huh?” When Mickey notices the glint in the redhead’s eyes, his face falls. “Oh, fuck no. I told you, I don’t want to show that side of me yet here .”
“Can’t we just hangout and have fun? We can do those without either getting drunk our dancing our asses off in the middle of a fucking dancefloor.”
“Then why do we still need to have a party? ‘Cause the way I see it, we can do those two in the comfort of our homes. Y’know, somewhere where we can do a little more than just hang out .”
Shaking his head, Ian chuckles at his quip. “I know we can but don’t you want to do it somewhere else? Somewhere that’s important to us?”
“If you’re suggesting to go on either the docks or the dugouts then pass,” when Ian frowns, Mickey sighs. “Look, if you really want, we can go. But I don’t really see the significance of us going out and celebrate ‘cause for me, we were no longer bachelors. We’ve been in each other’s skin for such a long time that we’re basically married. Well, a married couple with a shit ton of issues, at least.”
Ian was about to say something to counter Mickey but he decided to hold his tongue. Because Mickey’s right. Regardless of the times they were apart, he and Mickey have been the constant person in each other’s lives. So many people came into their lives and made them think for a moment they’d end up with each other’s partners but somehow, Ian and Mickey found each other. They’re it for life and fuck those who try to break them apart again.
“Married or not, we better go out. We haven’t had our date yet,” he says as he holds Mickey’s hand and begins to walk. “Didn’t I promise you before that I’ll take you out?”
“Aye, Ian . Fine, fine!” He yanks his arm which then makes Ian lose his hold on him. When the redhead turned around, Mickey continued, “but you gotta promise me that it’ll just be the two of us.”
Ian’s eyes crinkle, “of course.”