Big Red Bow
Mickey flipped his cell phone open, stared at the screen for a minute, and then snapped it shut. Again. For the tenth time.
He looked over at the mess he'd made on his bed: the shredded ribbons and scraps of wrapping paper were all over his blanket, along with whole sheets he'd had to crumple up because he'd accidentally torn them while attempting to wrap the gift he'd gotten Ian.
He scowled at his cell phone one more time, as if it had offended him somehow, before tossing it down onto his bed. It landed next to the stupid DVD he'd finally managed to wrap—the DVD he'd stolen from Best Buy earlier this morning.
Picking up the rest of the silver wrapping paper that remained on the roll, he went into his sister's room.
"Where d'ya want this?" he asked her, waving the roll at her.
Mandy pulled an earbud out in annoyance. "Jesus, can't you fucking knock?"
"What, like you do every time you come through my room?" he shot back.
She actually stuck her tongue out at him in reply. His sister was such a twat.
He dropped the wrapping paper at her feet and turned to go, but then hesitated before leaving the room. When he turned back she'd already put her headphones back in.
He cleared his throat and Mandy turned the volume down on her iPod. "What?" she said, when he just stared at her.
"You... uh..." he rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb, then continued, "are you goin' out tonight?"
Mandy cocked her head to the side and laughed. "Is that your way of asking me if you can have the house to yourself tonight?"
"What?" Mickey said, freaked out that she had figured him out so easily. "No... what makes you think that?" Now he was regretting even asking her.
"Dad took Iggy and Tommy on that run with him and Jamie's been staying at his girlfriend's place since last week. Figured you'd wanna bring a girl over..." she was still laughing to herself. He looked at the door, trying to think of a way to escape the awkwardness. "Relax! I'll stay at Lip's so you can bring over whatever fat chick you want to," she teased.
"Fuck you," he said and flipped her off simultaneously.
He went back to his room, picked up his phone and called Ian.
The younger boy answered after barely two rings. "Hello?"
"Hey. What time does your shift end?"
"I'm here 'til closing. Why?"
"Come over after. I got the house tonight."
"Is this another sleepover?" Ian was laughing.
Mickey wanted to tell him to fuck off again but he held it back. "Bring some beer."
"'Kay, Mick. See ya."
Mickey hung up without saying goodbye. The call had gone a lot better than he'd anticipated. He huffed out a sigh of relief. Looking at his watch, he saw that he had a good six hours before Gallagher would be by. He carefully put the gift under his pillow, then picked up his blanket by its corners and carried it outside, dumping the wrapping paper scraps all over their backyard.
There was a knock on the front door at around half past nine. Mickey opened it and let Gallagher in, the carefully locked the door behind him.
Ian had a huge grin on his face that was infectious. Mickey had to work hard to keep himself in check. "Did you forget the beer?" he accused, since the younger boy's hands were empty.
Ian shook his head and took a six-pack out of his backpack before sitting down on the couch.
"That's it?" Mickey asked, laughing. He could down a six-pack all alone, without any help from Ian. That much beer wouldn't last them an hour.
"Well, I brought something else too," Ian responded defensively. Mickey could have sworn he saw the redhead blush.
"Oh?" Mickey lifted an eyebrow in question. He half sat on the armrest of the sofa with one leg propped up on the cushion.
"Yeah... Here," Ian said, taking a brown paper bag out of the backpack. He shoved it into Mickey's hand.
"What's this?" It was a stupid question, made obvious when he looked inside the bag. There was a bottle of Jack inside, with a big red bow tied around its neck.
Mickey looked up and noticed that Ian was keeping his eyes trained on the floor.
"Christmas was like a week ago, Gallagher..."
Ian shrugged and finally looked up at Mickey. "I know... but I still wanted to give you something. It's not a big deal, and I don't expect anything in return..."
Mickey started laughing and Ian's embarrassment changed to confusion. "What's so funny?"
"Nah... Nothing, man. I'll be right back."
Mickey put the bottle of Jack on the coffee table and went to his room to get Ian his gift. He was smiling because now he didn't feel like such a fucking idiot. He'd spent all day worried about looking like a big faggot for getting Ian something...
He tossed the box in Ian's direction and wasn't surprised that the redhead caught it without a problem.
"You got me something?" The corner of Ian's lips twisted into a little smile. Mickey couldn't help but stare at that smile...
"Did you wrap it too?" Ian pressed, smile growing.
"No," Mickey answered abruptly. "Got Mandy to do it for me," he explained, but he knew that Ian knew it was total bullshit. Ian could always call Mickey on his lies.
Ian rolled his eyes at Mickey and then gave him another quick smile before tearing the wrapping paper off the gift.
"This is the End?"
"Yeah, man. It's got James Franco in it." Mickey knew Ian had a thing for the actor, and he'd heard from his brothers that the movie was hilarious.
"We should watch it," Ian said, getting up. He opened the box and popped the DVD into the Xbox while Mickey sat opened two of the beers. He handed one of the bottles to Ian as the redhead returned and sat beside him.
Mickey relaxed into the couch. This was what Mickey loved about Gallagher: no bullshit, no pretending. He could totally be himself.
Ian was still laughing his ass off when the credits started to roll.
"That was hilarious!" he said to Mickey, putting down his Jack and Coke. They'd opened the bottle and started drinking them halfway through the movie. "Did you see Channing Tatum? I still can't believe it!" He shook his head in disbelief.
"Thanks, Mick..."
Mickey turned his head to the side and looked at Ian appreciatively. He took in the redhead, from the way his biceps stretched his shirt to the way the light from the TV reflected off his eyes. "You're welcome," he said, downing what was left of his drink. Then he grinned as an idea suddenly came to him. He grabbed the bow off of the alcohol bottle and stuck it onto his sweatpants, right on his crotch. "But I can think of a better way for you to thank me," he said suggestively.