Ians POV.
"Do you think they're going to like me?" Max asks, holding onto Ian's hand tighter, which makes Ian grin from ear to ear. They are on the plane ride home, holding hands the entire time. He nods at his fiancé, and leans over to kiss his cheek.
"They are going to love you. I promise."
"Okay, what are the names again? Fiona is the eldest….who is engaged to Mike. Then there is Lip who is your older brother and he's engaged to your best friend Mandy."
Ian nods his head.
"Debbie, Carl and Liam are your younger siblings and they are all still in school….And Monica is your mom, but we don't see her, and Frank is the alcoholic narcissist who almost died but got a liver transplant and now is married to Sheila."
Ian claps his hands and leans over to give Max another kiss, this time on the lips.
"Good job. You will do fine. They are going to love you and everything is going to be perfect. There is just…one thing I didn't tell you about that I probably should." Ian licks his lips nervously and Max raises an eyebrow. "My ex…well sort of. His name is Mickey….Mandy's older brother."
"Okay…go on." Max said looking at the redhead with interest.
"Long story short…Mickey is deep…deep in the closet…and we were fuck buddies I guess. And we fell in love, but he never admitted his feeling for me because his dad is a homophobic prick who made this Russian mouth whore rape Mickey in front of me. Then he knocked her up and ended up marrying the skank and that made me runaway to the army."
Max raises an eyebrow, and looks at Ian like he had seen a ghost.
"But we're over. Like way way over. We haven't talked in years. Promise. I just thought you should know because he's most likely going to be around some time or another."
Max laughs and nods. "Alright, I believe you. Thanks for telling me…I guess."
After a few more hours of sleeping, watching movies and chatting, the plane finally starts descending into Chicago. Ian got butterflies in his stomach. He hadn't been home for six years and he didn't know what to expect. Sure he had talked to everyone through skype and the phone, but it's going to be different. He could feel it.
They exited the plane, still holding onto each others hand, and made their way to the gate to collect their luggage. They followed the signs that led towards the exit, rolling their suitcases behind them and through the automatic sliding doors, he can see his family holding up "WELCOME HOME IAN!" signs.
A big smile forms on his face. Fiona, Lip, Mandy, Mike, Carl, Debbie and Liam were all there with even bigger smiles on their faces, running towards the red head. Carl jumps into Ian's arms when he drops his bag to catch him. Debbie is not too far behind him hugging him from behind and Liam has one of his legs.
"Jesus!" Ian laughs, trying to hug all of his younger siblings at once. And when they finally let go of him, Lip was next, pulling him into his arms and hugging him tightly.
"Fuckin' missed ya." Lip muttered into his ears and behind him stood his best friend.
"Come here." Ian opened up one of his arms and she came into join the hug as well.
"You're a prick. Don't leave us again." Mandy laughs into his neck and gives him a quick peck on his cheek.
"I missed you too, Mandy. And Lip. I missed all of you." Ian lets go of the two and grins at his sister who is holding Mike's hand.
"Welcome home, Ian." Mike said. Although the ginger only met him once before, the guy still felt like family too him.
Max stood behind everyone, letting the hugs die down before he walks back up to Ian, nudging his arm lightly. Ian throws one of his arms around the taller boy (surprisingly) grinning. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Max." Everyone grins at him, Debbie running up to hug him as well so he didn't feel left out, and they all introduced themselves.
After a few more minutes of catching up quickly, they decided they would all meet back at the Gallagher house for lunch. Max and Ian would taxi home since there was no room left in the car.