Chapter Text
It had all started with an intervention, put on by Mandy.
"We're just concerned Mickey.." Mandy had said, trying to be nice.
Mickey hated when she used that tone. That stupid voice meant that she was pitying him.
"'Concerned' my ass." Mickey spat, narrowing his eyes.
Mandy sighed. She knew that the intervention wouldn't go over well with her stubborn brother.
"Remember what your therapist said about that program-" Mandy had started.
"I'm not going to that stupid gay place!" Mickey yelled at her.
"Mickey.." she has said sternly.
Mickey nearly growled at her, challenging his sister.
Mickey's much larger brother, Colin, started to stand up. Mandy held out a hand, motioning him to stop.
The two had discussed the use of physical force prior but Mandy only wanted to use that as a last resort. She was sure it wasn't going to end up pretty.
"It's fine, Colin"
"Mickey.." Mandy begun again, "I know you don't want to do this, I know you think it's stupid and gay and shit, but me and your therapist both agree this might be your last hope."
"Bullshit" said Mickey.
"No Mickey. It's true. You need to face reality."
"Come on. This will be good for you." she had pleaded with him.
"Fuck no, bitch."
Mandy sighed, "I'm sorry Mickey, I didn't think it would have to come to this, but I'm going to have to kick you out if you don't go."
"What? You can't do that"
"Yes I can." she paused, "You're out if you don't go Mickey. This is for your own good.
"You keep breaking shit in the house, you won't get a job, so we have to pay to fix everything, your PTSD is terrible, and you're miserable"
She took a shakey breath.
"You don't leave the house Mick. You never leave the house. You need to have a life. You have potential" Mickey's brothers noded in agreement.
Tears began to well up in her blue eyes.
"Shit's not true" Mickey had grumbled.
"Mickey.. we know you're only saying that because Terry did. Come on. Since he died, you've been so much worse."
She smacked her lips before she spoke again, "You need to get better. We want you to get better."
Mickey just glared at her. As soon as he felt the tears forming in his eyes, he ran off, like he always does, slamming the door behind him.
Tears streamed down his pale face as he smoked a cigarette down to a stump. He smoked cigarette after cigarette down until he was so tired from crying that he fell asleep.
She's right, he doesn't leave the house. Ever since Terry died Mickey's been staying up all night and sleeping all day, never touching the outside world. His face is paler than normal from the lack of sunlight. Truth is, he can't go outside because everything reminds him of his father. Everything. He can't face that, because the truth is, he's a coward.
That brings us to today.
"I said, I'm not going!" Mickey screams at his siblings.
Mandy just brings a hand up to her face. Mickey's older brothers stand motionless behind her, arms crossed and faces blank like bouncers.
"Mickey.." she shakes her head, "we've been over this. You're going, or you're homeless, okay?"
Mickey grumbled to himself, weighing his options. He'll either go to this stupid little place with free food and shit, or be homeless on the streets of Chicago.
He would never admit to this bullshit out loud, but he just stomps over to his closet and pulls out an old, ratty duffel bag.
"Thank you Mickey." Mandy says "I mean it" and she actually sounds insanely grateful.
He huffs at her in response.
His sister hands him a piece of paper, "I wrote down the packing list for you. I'll leave you alone now, but you better not try to run away"
Mickey's brothers move out of the way to let her past before resuming their bouncer positions, except this time they have their backs turned to Mickey, in some attempt of privacy.
"Keep an eye on him" she says as she walks away.
Mickey angrily unfolds the price of paper. His dumb little sister drew him a little picture next to each item on the list, remembering that he can't read.
- Clothing He hastily throws some crumpled shirts, pants, a couple pairs of shorts, socks, and some clean boxers into the bag.
- Toiletries (Toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, ect) He shoves the list in his brothers faces so they'll let him pass to get to the bathroom. He then swipes his forearm across the counter, dumping in whatever he thinks he'll probably need. He doesn't even look to see what that stuff is, but if it's in the bathroom he probably needs it.
- Comfort Item(s) Mickey scoffs at this one. He throws in a couple packs of cigarettes, those are really the only things that bring him comfort anyways.
Food and amenities will be provided. Thank fuck.
He then aggressively zips up the bag, and stomps out to the living room. Mandy is sitting there, waiting on the couch for him.
"You ready?"
He grunts at her, still glaring.
She rolls her eyes.
"Lets go." she says to her brothers.
Mandy leaves the house first, the boys closely follow Mickey, eyes locked on him, almost as if waiting for him to bolt at any moment.
Mickey rolls his eyes now.
Mickey gets into the back seat, throwing his bag next to him.
"I'm busy lil bro, I'm gonna have to say bye here" Iggy says to him from outside of one of the open back seat doors.
Mickey glares at him, scowling.
"Have fun" he says sincerely, smiling awkwardly.
Mandy jumps into the driver's seat, Colin into the passenger seat.
As soon as Iggy closes the door, Mandy locks them, and puts the child lock (ironically) on too so Mickey can't open the door and jump out. She glances back at Mickey, he continues to glare at her.
Iggy waves at them as they pull out of the driveway. Mickey sits in the middle of the backseat with his arms crossed like a child throwing a tantrum, which was basically what was happening.
Recently, Mandy had started converting with Mickey's therapist regarding Mickey. After Terry's death, his obvious PTSD symptoms had gotten worse. Mickey had finally agreed to see a therapist, something he would never have done if Terry was still alive.
Mickey's original therapist was not prepared for his um, needs, so he was transferred to a more skilled therapist. Evelyn Williams. She had requested to speak to one of Mickey's siblings after her work with Mickey hadn't been very productive. She thought that she needed someone to hold him accountable. Mickey had agreed to this when he wasn't really listening, but none the less had agreed to it.
Since then, Mandy had taken a sort of nurturing, parental role for Mickey, as his own mother was dead, and Terry was dead as well, but he was never much of a father in the first place.
Before contacting Mandy, Mickey had been advised to start an anger management group class which didn't end well for him. It instead ended with him throwing a chair into the crowd and getting banned. Evelyn had tried her own anger management one-on-one sessions with Mickey but these didn't seem to be treating the root cause, hence why she recommended the inner child healing program.
This "inner child healing" program is an inpatient residential, mostly covered by insurance. Mandy didn't ever tell Mickey exactly how much it cost because she knew he would never agree to it then, but she understood that it was worth it. This program had excellent patient results, and their methods were proven to be one of the most effective in treating PTSD resulting from childhood trauma, and c-PTSD. This program used "age regression" as their main method of treatment, providing the patients with a loving, nurturing environment that they never had as a child, filling the void that they each held because of never receiving this.
Mickey couldn't get past the embarrassment of it all. What do you mean he had to act like a child and shit? He had barley got over being gay.
Mickey huffed to himself as he thought about all this. He looked out the window, they seemed to be driving for a long time. They were almost out of Chicago by now. He wondered where exactly this place was. He hadn't bothered to look through the brochure Evelyn had given him that thoroughly.