Perfect Balance
Summary: It became clear that they were just too different. Ian dealt with his anger by becoming sad; Mickey dealt with his sadness by becoming angry. But in some weird way, their differences balanced each other out perfectly. Ian/Mickey gay slash; Written for Gallavich Week Day 2 prompt: Jack Daniels and Orange Juice
Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless.
It's more of a character study than a story. I hope you like it!
Ian Gallagher and Mickey Milkovich were both from the Chicago South Side, but they were very different people and they came from very different families.
The Gallaghers were never the perfect family, most of the time the Gallagher kids didn't even know where either of their parents were, but Fiona did her best to raise her siblings. They all loved each other.
The Milkovich house was void of that kind of love. Their mother was long dead, and their father abused and raped them. They were all constantly yelling and fighting with each other.
Sometimes Mickey envied Ian's relationship with his family. Each Gallagher eventually found out in their own way that Ian was gay, but none of them hated him for it. They all still loved and accepted him.
Mickey knew that if his family ever found out that he was gay, especially his dad, then he would be dead or worse. Ever since he was a child, he'd feared the day that they would find out about him. He learned to bury his feelings inside so that they wouldn't become his undoing.
But that was hard to do once Ian came along. Against his better judgment, Mickey kept going to see Ian. He got too emotionally attached, and just like he'd feared, the booty calls turned into something more: something that Mickey couldn't escape from.
Mickey let his feelings for Ian get the better of him. He became too reckless. Somehow he'd fooled himself into thinking that, as long as he didn't admit his feelings aloud, he would be safe.
He was wrong.
Everything went to hell the day that Terry Milkovich caught them together. Terry beat the shit out of both of them and forced Ian to watch a whore rape Mickey. He even forced Mickey to marry the whore, using some lie about her being pregnant.
After that, Ian and Mickey's relationship almost didn't make it. They were both traumatized, sad and angry. Neither of them handled the situation well.
It became clear that they were just too different.
Ian dealt with his anger by becoming sad. He learned how to control anger in ROTC. He didn't start fights; he followed orders. He always tried his best to stay cool and collected.
His heart filled with rage whenever he thought of what Terry did to them, but he didn't unleash his wrath on Terry: he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere. There was nothing he could do to change Terry's mind.
Instead, all he wanted was to be with Mickey. He begged Mickey to talk to him. He pleaded with him. He needed some sort of sign that Mickey still loved him. But Mickey pushed him away, and Ian fell into depression, all alone.
Mickey, on the other hand, dealt with his sadness by becoming angry. He wasn't a naturally destructive person – his first reaction to danger was to escape, usually to juvie – but if he was backed into a corner, he would lash out. His priority was survival.
He would never admit it, but he was sad that his family would never love him for who he truly is. He didn't know how to react at first when Ian was nice to him, because no one had ever treated him that way before. After he'd seen the love that the Gallaghers had for each other, and he'd seen the love in Ian's eyes for him, he'd almost let himself want that kind of love.
But Mickey didn't admit that type of shit out loud. So he forced those sad feelings away in favor of shooting guns and getting wasted. He wasn't sad, he told himself. He was angry and dangerous, and he would "fuck u-up."
But despite all of their differences, and despite all of the trauma and pain they went through, Ian and Mickey just couldn't stay away from each other.
Sure, Ian and Mickey had fun just hanging out together, and they had great sex, but their relationship was so much more than that. They were perfect for each other.
Ian calmed Mickey's anger. He filled the Milkovich's life with love and normalcy. Mickey used to think that he was just fucked for life, but when he listened to Ian talk about the future, he was inspired. He started to wish for things that he'd never allowed himself to even think of before. Ian made him want to be a better person.
Mickey had a different effect on Ian. He chased away Ian's sadness and brought out the fire and passion in Ian's usually calm exterior. Mickey made him care, made him want. Ian didn't have to keep all of his feelings inside around Mickey. Mickey wasn't fragile: he could take it. He made Ian stick up for himself and loosened him up. He made him do crazy things that were reckless and gave him a rush.
Together they had fun, and they were in love. They balanced each other out.
And that's why, no matter how many problems they faced, they would keep gravitating back to each other each and every time.