Chapter Text
Ian
When Fiona said they were going somewhere for a week in the summer, this wasn’t really what Ian was expecting. Sure, the countryside was beautiful and it would be a great place to go on his morning runs, but still. A farm? He thought it was a bit weird.
Once they arrived at the house, though, Ian was even more freaked out. It was huge and quite nice. Not a mansion or anything, but it was substantial enough that Ian was confused about how they had afforded it. Apparently, everyone else was thinking the same thing.
‘Damn, Fiona,’ Debbie said in appreciation, eyeing the place with her bag in her arms. ‘How did we get this place?’
‘You know Giovanna, from work?’ When they all nodded, she continued, ‘Well, apparently she used to live in town an’ moved for her job, but her boyfriend still lives here. They live just over that hill — it’s all the same property — an’ they own this place, too. They rent it out for extra money, an’ she said she could get us a good deal on it for the one week that it’s available.’
Ian nodded slowly. ‘Fair enough.’
Before they knew what was happening, Debbie was sprinting to the front door and going inside, yelling out behind her, ‘I call the biggest room!’
Carl immediately chased after her and the others just exchanged a look before heading in too.
*
Ian was in his room for the week unpacking — they got their own rooms, and it was fucking amazing — when he looked out the window and saw a girl striding up to the house. From there, he could see the owner’s house and it was surprisingly smaller than the one they were staying in.
The girl had long, blonde hair and she was wearing denim shorts, cowboy boots, and a tight plaid shirt, which was halfway unbuttoned. Ian could hear Lip’s boner from here. Sighing, he immediately headed downstairs to greet her before his thirsty as fuck brother could. She seemed surprised when he opened the door before she even knocked.
‘Oh, hey!’ she greeted with a grin. ‘I’m Mandy; I live in the house over there. Just came to say hi and introduce myself…’ She eyed him up and down. ‘And maybe invite you to dinner tonight.’
Ian smiled slightly. ‘Oh…Uh, that sounds nice. I’m Ian, by the way.’ Before she could say anything else, he yelled back to his family. ‘Guys! One of the owners has invited us to dinner.’
‘Fuck no,’ a groan came from the stairs and Ian could’ve throttled his younger brother. However, once Carl got to the door, he quickly changed his tune at the sight of Mandy. ‘Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad. Hey, babe, you a cowgirl? Because I can see you riding me.’
Ian immediately smacked Carl across the head and shoved him back into the house. His cheeks burned as he turned back to an amused Mandy. ‘Sorry ’bout that. Don’t be put off by him; he was dropped a lot as a child. Also, I’m pretty sure my mom was on acid when she had him.’
‘Don’t worry about it. I’ve heard worse from my brother,’ she laughed. ‘It sucks to play wingman for him…Anyway, so I’ll see your family and you tonight? Come by around six?’
Ian nodded. ‘Sure, we’ll be there.’
‘Better be.’ Mandy gave him a smirk before spinning around and walking away, purposefully swinging her ass as she did so.
That’s when Lip came up behind him, eyeing her. ‘Who was that?’
‘No, you’re not allowed,’ Ian said, shoving him back in and shutting the door behind him. ‘Owners are off-limits, Lip.’
‘If they have a hot guy, you’ll be singing a different tune.’
Ian scoffed. ‘Apparently he needs Mandy as a wingman to pick up, so I doubt he’s hot.’
*
Ian was wrong. Oh, was he wrong.
When they first turned up, Giovanna’s boyfriend, Iggy, opened the door. Ian took a look at Iggy and suspected that’s what the other brother looked like, which wasn’t really Ian’s type. He preferred brunettes, especially when they’re shorter than him. Iggy was blonde and lanky, so pretty much the opposite of his type.
However, when they reached the dining room, he stepped in to see a stocky brunette and almost dropped to the ground right there. He was fucking hot and Ian immediately knew he was going to be trouble the moment he scowled at them. During the dinner, Ian found out his name was Mickey and quickly realised that he probably had trouble picking up because of his attitude. Ian loved it, though, and just thought it made him more attractive.
Neither of the brothers seemed to appreciate Lip’s flirting with Mandy, or Mandy’s flirting with Ian. He tried his best to turn her attention back to his brother, but it wasn’t working that well. Mickey glared anytime Mandy touched him, but not for the reason Ian was secretly wishing of.
They were about to leave and Mandy hugged him, humming a little before whispering, ‘You smell good.’
Next thing he knew, Mickey and Iggy were exchanging a glance and Mickey asked, ‘You, Lip, and Carl want to come on a hike tomorrow mornin’?’
And before Ian could even think about it, he was nodding. ‘Yeah, absolutely.’
‘Great.’ Iggy grinned, something in his eyes that Ian couldn’t place. ‘You guys wanna meet us here at, say, nine?’
Lip and Carl complained the whole walk back about Ian agreeing for them to go hiking, but Ian ignored them. Just more time to try and figure out Mickey’s deal. He was looking forward to it.
*
The next morning, Ian was bouncing on his heels the whole walk up to the main house. Lip and Carl were rolling their eyes at him as he made up excuse after excuse about why he wanted to go.
‘It’d be great to get some fresh air, and I haven’t gone walking instead of running for a while…’ Ian jabbered.
‘I called it,’ Lip said.
‘What?’ Ian frowned.
‘As soon as a dude was there that you thought was hot, you’d want to hang around more to try and bang him.’
‘That’s not true!’
‘Ian, we’re going on a fucking hike so you can get some dick, you could at least tell us the truth,’ Carl sighed.
Ian just rolled his eyes and fastened his pace, knocking on the door when he finally reached it. Mickey opened it and Ian’s jaw dropped. He was wearing tight as fuck jeans, a plaid shirt with the sleeves cut off (showing his fucking amazing arm muscles), and a cowboy hat. He even had a fucking toothpick hanging out of his mouth and Ian pretty much melted to the floor the moment he grinned.
‘Aye, Gallagher,’ he greeted before yelling out behind him. ‘Iggy! Gallagher’s are here. Get your fuckin’ ass in gear, man.’
Iggy skipped out of the house, shutting the door behind him and shooting a smile at the boys. ‘Hey. We’re gonna have some fun today, let me tell ya.’
*
Ian was not having fun.
It was silent the whole hike until they reached a clearing. Every time Ian had tried to start up a conversation, Iggy and Mickey had just scowled at him until he shut up. Finally, when they reached the clearing, Iggy spoke up.
‘Mick, you wanna set up the cans?’
Mickey nodded and headed over to a fence, picking up cans off the ground and placing them on the highest beam. Meanwhile, Iggy was heading over to a shed and pulling out two shotguns.
‘Are we doin’ some shooting?’ Carl asked, eyes lighting up at the thought of touching a gun.
Iggy scoffed, throwing Mickey a gun before pointing his at the Gallaghers. ‘You’re not.’
Shocked by this turn of events, the Gallagher boys shuffled back a few steps, hands up. Ian was at the front, while Lip and Carl huddled behind him. Ian almost rolled his eyes at his brother’s treating him as a human shield.
‘What the fuck are you doing?’ Ian asked, eyeing the gun. ‘It’s not safe to point that at us.’
Iggy laughed before spinning around and shooting one of the cans. It skimmed the side, making the can fall to the floor. ‘Of course it isn’t. This is just a warnin’.’
‘Touch our fuckin’ sister, and you’re the fuckin’ cans,’ Mickey said and smirked before shooting at one of the cans.
Once again, it only skimmed the side. Ian eyed Mickey’s stance, thinking that he wasn’t really doing it right and thinking of all the ways he could help him do it better. Lip and Carl seemed to be getting the message, clearly realising that the Milkovich boys were serious about this threat. They backed up a little, muttering agreements under their breath.
Ian rolled his eyes and stepped up. ‘Whatever, man. You’re not that good a shot.’
‘Oh, yeah, tough guy?’ Mickey laughed, handing him his gun. ‘You give it a fuckin’ try, then, Annie Oakley.’
Ian took the gun, eyeing the cans for a moment before realising what would be more impressive. He went over to the cans, placing them an inch apart, before backing up again. He shot Mickey a smirk and Mickey just responded with arched eyebrows. Ian turned back to the cans.
‘Left can,’ he announced before hitting it dead in the centre. ‘Right can.’ Once again, it was a bull’s eye. ‘Middle.’ He hit it again and then spun around, smug as all hell. ‘And, by the way, you don’t have to worry about me with Mandy.’ He took a few more steps toward Mickey and pushed the gun into his chest, letting his fingers brush lightly against his chest as he let go of the gun and whispered, ‘I’d watch out for Lip, though.’
Confident that Mickey was watching him in shock, he strode away and his brothers followed after him. The Milkoviches followed too, and the entire walk back was silent as well. Ian didn’t care, though, because all he wanted to do was think about Mickey and surreptitiously glance at him, thinking about how damn cute this whole farm boy thing was.
*
Ian woke early, not having had a very good sleep, and decided to try and tire himself out today so he had a good sleep that night. Luckily, on his morning jog around the field, he came across Mandy who was hanging out on her porch, smoking.
‘Hey, there, stranger,’ she called out and Ian approached her, smiling. She blew out her smoke and eyed his sweaty, bare chest. ‘You know, it’s a pity you’re gay, because you’re fuckin’ hot.’
Ian tilted his head to the side. ‘I never said I was gay.’
‘You told Mickey he didn’t have to worry about you with me.’
‘Doesn’t mean I’m gay.’
‘Well, aren’t you?’ Mandy shot back.
Ian laughed. ‘Yeah, I am.’
‘Obviously.’ Mandy grinned. ‘Anyway, was wondering if you wanted to hang out at the lake today? Not often I get a friend I can hang out with in a bikini without them trying to have sex with me.’
‘You don’t have any girl friends?’ Ian frowned.
Mandy’s grin turned into a dirty smirk. ‘I do.’
Ian rolled his eyes and laughed before saying, ‘Alright. Yeah, sure. I’ll meet you back here at ten?’
Mandy nodded, getting up and stomping on her cigarette. ‘Alright. Don’t be late.’
*
Turns out Mandy was less interested in doing much at the lake and instead wanted to know everything there was to know about Ian.
‘So, have you got a boyfriend?’ Mandy asked eagerly.
Ian shook his head, leaning back against the rock they were on and enjoying the sun on his wet skin. ‘Nah, not right now. Last guy was really clingy and now I’m just taking a break from dating.’
‘Ugh, clingy guys are the worst!’ Mandy whined. She paused before admitting, ‘Well, I can only imagine, really. I seem to catch all the emotionally distant ones, but Mickey is the one who gets all the clingy ones. His last boyfriend, Quinn, was so fuckin’ clingy, even I was like enough already!’
Ian’s eyebrows arched in shock. ‘Boyfriend?’
Mandy nodded, giving him a confused look. ‘Yeah…Mickey’s gay?’
‘Oh,’ Ian breathed. ‘You don’t say…’
Mandy groaned. ‘Oh my God, you have the hots for my brother, don’t you?’
‘What?! No!’ Ian immediately acted on defence. ‘No way! He’s really…not my type. And, anyway, I’m taking a break from guys and dating. And, no, I mean—how come, like—I mean, just—no.’
Mandy scoffed. ‘Yeah, alright.’
After that, Ian quickly changed the conversation. By the end of the day, when he was dropping Mandy off at home, she asked if he wanted to come around the house to hang out the next day. Ian, thinking about maybe it would be a chance to run into Mickey, quickly agreed.
*
The next day, when Ian approached the house, he was shocked by the silence that surrounds it. Despite pretty much being in the middle of nowhere, the Milkovich house was usually full of ruckus. Today, though, it seemed almost silent. Ian sighed, realising that probably meant that Mandy was home alone. He was a little disappointed, but soldiered on anyway because he did like hanging out with Mandy.
However, when he knocked, no one answered. He knocked louder, and tried texting Mandy, but nothing happened for ten minutes. He frowned, deciding to wander the property a little to find her, because she definitely said she would be there.
There was a large shed not too far away, so he decided to try there first. As he got closer, he heard loud bangs and screeching coming from within. He hesitated before stepping into the shed. There was a huge truck in the middle of the shed, and he could see a pair of really nice legs sticking out from under it. He gulped as he realised he recognised those legs.
‘Uh…Mickey?’
Mickey swore when he bashed his head on the car before rolling out and scowling at Ian. ‘Gallagher, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?’
Ian wanted to respond, but he found he couldn’t speak. Mickey was wearing a pair of overalls with no shirt underneath. He was all oily because of the car, probably, and fuck…overalls had never been so hot. He was about ready to drool, but Mickey snapped him out of it by calling his name again.
Ian shook his head quickly, averting his eyes so he could concentrate on speaking. ‘Uh…I’m here to see Mandy. She invited me over.’
‘She’s at work…Thought she would’ve told you…’ Mickey frowned, standing.
‘Oh.’ Ian frowned too, shifting awkwardly on his feet. ‘Uh, I guess I should go then…’
Not that he really wanted to leave a partly shirtless, oily Mickey Milkovich, but it would be weird of him to stay, right?
‘Nah, man, you, uh, you don’t have to. Wanna come in for a beer or somethin’?’
Ian almost couldn’t contain his grin, but luckily, he was able to force himself to hide his delight. Instead, he just nodded as casually as he could. He could almost hear Lip’s voice in his head: Play it cool, Ian. Play what cool, though? Ian huffed to himself as he followed Mickey into the house. That saying never made sense to him.
Ian’s hands shook as he took the beer from Mickey and they sat at the kitchen table together. He tried desperately to keep his eyes on the condensation running down his beer bottle instead of the drips of sweat running down Mickey’s neck.
‘So, you’re a city boy, huh?’ Mickey asked.
Ian looked up at him and immediately regretted it. He took a sip of beer to soothe his now dry throat and said, ‘Yeah. Southside, Chicago.’
Mickey nodded, grinning a little and Ian lost his breath. ‘Pretty good shot for a fuckin’ city boy.’
Ian blushed red, looking down at his beer again as he sputtered out, ‘Uh—thank-thanks. I’m in ROTC.’
Mickey
Gallagher was fuckin’ endearing as hell, staring at his beer bottle, clearly nervous. All of that bravado from shooting at the clearing was gone, and Mickey, although he loved his nervousness as well, sort of wanted it back. Maybe he just had to get a gun in Ian’s hands again or something. Maybe he was better when he was trying to impress someone.
‘Yeah, alright, Army. Bet you can’t do any other farm things, though.’
At the clear challenge, Ian lifted his head and, yep, there was that same glint in his eye again. ‘Are you fucking kidding me? I could if I tried.’
Mickey smirked, pleased his teasing had paid off. ‘Yeah, sure, kid.’
‘I fucking can,’ Ian said firmly. ‘Go ahead, get me to do any farm thing you want.’
Mickey laughed. ‘Alright, Red. I’ll set you three farm challenges.’
‘Fine, if I can do two of three, I want that weed I saw when I came for dinner that you guys completely failed at hiding, by the way.’
Mickey shrugged. ‘You don’t seem to care much, anyway. And, alright, but if you can’t do them…you have to do something that I choose. No arguments.’
The corner of Ian’s mouth turned up into a crooked smile and he said arrogantly, ‘You’re on. What’s the challenges?’
*
Ian clearly thought that feeding the chickens was going to be an easy job, but Mickey knew he would reconsider that idea when he got in there with them. Those were some vicious motherfuckin’ birds. Mickey handed him the bucket full of bird feed and stepped back, shutting the gate behind him. Ian stepped forward, making tutting noises to try and get the chickens to come out.
Mickey immediately lifted his phone and started filming. As soon as he pressed record, the chickens came flying out in a cloud of feathers and all that could be heard was Ian’s shrieking as the birds pecked at his ankles, clearly not realising he could just start sprinkling the seed around for the birds to get at. He raced around the coop, shouting in fear as the chickens chased him. Mickey bit his fist to keep from laughing too loud. Finally, when Ian dropped the bucket and raced out of the coop, he let out a loud laugh.
‘What the fuck are those monsters?’ Ian gasped.
‘Chickens,’ Mickey laughed.
‘No, I’ve seen chickens before and they’ve never been pure evil.’
Mickey scratched at the bridge of his nose with his thumb, trying hard to hide his smirk before saying, ‘Alright, Gallagher, time to milk a cow.’
Mickey instructed Ian on how milking a cow worked and then sat back, waiting for Ian to fail this challenge too. Ian started out surprisingly well, but accidentally yanked too hard on a teat, causing the cow to let out a sound of annoyance and throw its hoof back.
Ian quickly jumped backwards, knocking over a full bucket of milk behind him. ‘Ah, fuck. Sorry.’
Mickey waved him off as he tried to clean it up and approached him, touching the side of Ian’s head to check and see if the cow had made contact. ‘Shit, you okay?’
Ian got a goofy look on his face as Mickey stroked the side of his head, and Mickey was a little worried the cow actually had kicked him, but he only breathed out, ‘I’m fine.’
Mickey quickly realised he was petting the damn kid and removed his hand, clearing his throat. ‘Alright. You don’t gotta do that one. If you can ride a horse, though, you can have the fuckin’ weed.’
Ian nodded and unleashed a dazzling grin before following Mickey out to the stables. When they approached the least irritable horse, Mickey guided it out and instructed Ian on how to ride it. He watched worriedly as Ian tried to get on the horse, not really wanting a repeat of The Cow Incident. Luckily, Ian seemed to be unable to even get on the horse to begin with.
Mickey let out a laugh and came towards him. ‘Here, Gallagher,’ he breathed in his ear as he gripped him around the waist, lifting him slightly, guiding one leg over and helping him put his foot in one of the stirrups. ‘Clearly you don’t know how to ride, so let me help you.’
He jumped up on the back of the horse like a pro, sliding up so his chest was against Ian’s back and grabbed a hold of the reigns.
‘You adept at riding, then, Mick?’ Ian said breathily.
Mickey laughed, getting the horse to begin a trot. ‘I’m pretty good, but I’ve had a lot of practice.’
Mickey got the horse to go faster and Ian seemed to be nervous now. Mickey was so busy looking at Ian, he failed to notice that they were rushing toward the woods. Ian shouted out and pulled too hard on the reigns, terrified they would fall once in the woods. Mickey had known they wouldn’t, but should’ve known Ian would freak out. It didn’t matter in the end, because they fell anyway.
Luckily, everyone seemed okay, just in a little pain a few seconds after they had hit the floor and the horse had galloped over the other side of the field. Ian laughed and rolled over to see Mickey laughing a little too. He was clearly over his shock and didn’t seem to mind that he was half on top of Mickey now.
Mickey shoved at his shoulder. ‘You lost, dickhead.’
Ian just grinned and asked, ‘Alright, Mick, what do I gotta do?’
Mickey, without thinking (because it was hard to when staring into those big, green eyes), blurted out, ‘Kiss me.’
He immediately regretted it, especially when all Ian did was gape at him. Mickey shut his eyes for a moment in embarrassment, before opening his eyes and saying, ‘Don’t. Sorry. That was fuckin’ stupid. You don’t have to.’
Ian shook his head, leaning down into Mickey harder. ‘You’re not fucking taking this opportunity away from me, dickhead. Sorry, not happening.’
Next thing he knew, Ian’s lips were on his soft and careful and amazing. Mickey kissed back enthusiastically, both laughing as they pulled away.