"Fuck! Mandy! What the hell is wrong with you?" There was water and broken glass all over the kitchen floor after Mandy had dropped her drink. His sister had visibly flinched at his words and he would have noticed that if he wasn't so busy trying to not cut his hand open as he picked up the pieces. "Seriously, you need to be more careful, I don't need you hurting yourself, ok?" She had flinched again, and this time Mickey had seen it. "Oh c'mon Mands, you know that's not what I meant!" She rolled her eyes and walked past him, making sure to hit him hard in the shoulder as she passed, then made an extra point of slamming her bedroom door shut behind her.
He knew he should have checked on her but she was mad and Mickey was tired. So, instead he got up, wrote a quick note telling Mandy where he would be if she came out of her room, and left the house. The cold air nipped at Mickey's skin making him wish he had grabbed his coat before he left but he was lazy and decided that maybe the cold air would help clear his head. After his parents had died, Mandy shut down, leaving Mickey to take care of her. He wasn't the oldest child but after his Mom and Dad's funeral his bothers had got the fuck out-of-town to fuck knows where. He and his brothers had never been close; it was always Mandy and himself against the world in his house, so he didn't mind that they had fucked off. But, on days like this, he couldn't help but be mad at them for just leaving.
He had always been a big stress-smoker so Mickey headed to the closest convenience store, the Kash'N'Grab, and grabbed what he needed. He didn't have to pay, he had worked at the store since his parents passed, having to pay for bills and shit, so they would just take it out of his pay-check. The owner, Linda, smiled as he walked by showing her the smokes. After wandering the streets for a while Mickey headed back home. He had smoked half his pack of cigarettes and had noticeably calmed down, now he just hoped Mandy had as well. Taking in a deep breath he re-entered their house.
Mickey was always good at hiding emotions. He was good at building walls and not letting anyone in. Mickey was good at pretending. He never showed weakness because it was just too dangerous in this neighbourhood, but at that moment Mickey had never felt so weak before in his life. "Fuck! Mandy!" His knees gave out and he fell to the ground, "What the hell is wrong with you?" His breath caught in his throat as everything started to become a blur, his whole world closing in on him. He passed out, hand stretched out cradling his broken sister's. Who was a lot more broken then he ever thought she could be. He knew he should have checked on her but she was mad and Mickey was tired.
The first time Ian saw it he never thought much of it, had blamed it on smoking too much weed. But the second time he saw the quick flash of ice blue eyes and raven hair he began to worry. Everywhere he went he felt like he was being watched, and some days he would see those blue eyes and black hair and it would send shivers down his spine, but he had never seen it for more than a few seconds. Ian had felt like he was going crazy, and maybe he was. But the fifth time he saw it, things had gone a lot differently.
He had decided to walk home alone from school that day, which had clearly been the red head's first mistake. The all too familiar chill he had become accustomed to travelled up his spine and he knew she was there with him.
"Who are you?" he spoke quietly, scared she would run away at anything higher than a whisper. She just gave him a sad smile, not uttering a word, and then she started to walk away. When he had made no move to start walking, she stopped and stared at him expectantly waiting for him to follow her. So he did.
Ian matched her steps exactly, staying as close as possible, afraid she would disappear like so many times before. Despite the close distance he didn't reach out and touch her, he just followed her until she stopped in front of a grave.
"Mandy Milkovich?" He looked over at the girl for a clue about why she was showing him this grave. And then he saw her nod and a tear escape her eye as she quickly wiped it away. "Are..you..her?" He knew he wasn't going to get a straight answer from the girl but he didn't need one. "I can't believe this, why are you-" But before he could get the question out she was gone and he was alone once again. He stayed at that grave for a while after her disappearance, wishing he had known what had happened to this girl or what she had wanted with him. He stayed there until he could no longer stand it and began to walk home. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he didn't even notice the boy walk past him with ice blue eyes and raven hair, wearing that same sad smile.