Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless.

A/N: Thank you to those who have reviewed, alerted, and favorited this story. You guys rock!

Nothing That a Little Maalox Can't Fix-Chapter 2

Ian leans back against the wall of the small bathroom, catching his breath after throwing up the coffee that he drank earlier. He closes his eyes and rubs his hand across his stomach, hoping to alleviate some of the fiery pain that has taken residence there.

"Gallagher, you okay in there?" Mickey calls through the door.

"I'm okay," Ian calls back.

"Is it safe for me to come in? I don't want to see any puking."

"I'm done puking," Ian replies. At least for the time being, he thinks to himself.

The ex-con opens the door and stands in the doorway. "Jesus, Gallagher. You look like shit."

"Fuck you, Mick. You said that to me already," Ian replies with a grumble.

"I would say let's go, if I wasn't afraid that you were gonna puke all over my back," Mickey says with a smirk as he hands the bottle of Gatorade to the redhead.

Ian takes the bottle of Gatorade and takes a sip.

"Seriously, are you okay? I don't want to have to clean up after you."

Ian stops drinking the sports drink. The pain has subsided for the moment. "I think I'm good."

He stands up, and the two of them make their way out of the back of the store. Mickey raises his eyebrows when he sees Gallagher grab a box of crackers off the shelf.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Mickey asks as Ian walks back to the counter and takes a seat. "The sight of me eating a donut just sent you running to the bathroom to puke your guts."

Ian rolls his eyes as he cautiously bites a cracker, waiting to see if it's going to stay down. Eating is the last thing he wants to do but not eating hasn't done the trick either. Over the last two days his diet has mostly consisted of coffee, Advil, and a steady supply of antacids. "I didn't puke when you ate the donut. It was the smell of the redbull that sent me over the edge."

Eager not to have a repeat performance, the ex-con removes the energy drink off the counter and takes a sip. "Yeah, cuz' that's normal."

Satisfied that the cracker he ate is going to actually stay in his stomach, he eats another. "I must be a little hungover, that's all."

Mickey snickers as he grabs a magazine off the shelf, "Bullshit. You weren't even drunk last night. You were high as shit, but definitely not drunk."

"Fuck off," Ian replies.

"We went through this already, firecrotch. We ain't fucking again until I'm sure you're done puking.'

All the bantering is too much for Ian to deal with. He's too fucking tired, and his stomach is still bothering him. Granted it's not like the sharp pain he had earlier, now it's just a dull ache. He remains quiet, reserving his energy for later extracurricular activities, and settles for giving Mickey the finger.

The ex-con just smirks. He's fine with the silence. In fact most of the times he prefers it because firecrotch talks enough for the both of them. He knows that he's not going to be getting any since he believes that corpses have more color than firecrotch does at the moment. So, he settles with looking through the magazine that's in front of him and looking at Gallagher out of the corner of his eye, trying to ignore the pit in his stomach that something's not right. Maybe, firecrotch really is contagious and he's getting whatever bug he has.

XXXXX

"Hey, Mickey." Lip says as he walks into the Kash and Grab. He looks around and doesn't see his brother. "Where's Ian?"

Mickey looks up from a magazine and points towards the back of the store.

"Bathroom?" Lip asks.

The ex-con nods his head. "What do you need?"

"I'm here to full up the truck. Kev and I are going to the park for the day. He's pulling it up around back."

"What do you guys need?" Mickey asks.

Lip grabs a couple of boxes of popsicles and walks them to the back of the store. "Grab eight cases of beer." Lip looks to the bathroom door. "I'll grab the soda."

As Mickey heads back to the beer, Lip stops him. "How's he doing?"Lip asks as he points with his thumb to the bathroom.

"He looks like shit. Been in the bathroom all morning. Is it some kind of bug?"

Lip shakes his head, "Nah, I don't think so. I think it's stress, everything hitting him at once."

"You think stress is doing this?" Mickey asks as he grabs a couple of cases of beer. "In this neighborhood everything is stressful. Hell, we have to sneak out late at night so no one fucking sees us." Mickey hisses.

It sounds strange talking to Ian's brother about him being with his brother, that he's gay. He has never told anyone that, but Lip knows because Ian has a hell of a better relationship with his older brother than he does with his.

At first, Mickey was pissed when Ian told him that Lip knew about them. When Mickey got out of juvie the second time and wanted to start things up again with Ian, the redhead had certain conditions. He knew he kind of owed it to him since he did tell him that he was nothing but a warm mouth and was going to kill his father. So, he gave in. Mickey may not have graduated high school, but he's not a complete dumbass, He knows better than to give up the best sex he ever had. So, he gave in to firecrotch's fucking condiitons.

The two of them talked. Well, Ian mostly talked, and Mickey listened. He didn't interrupt him and waited until he was done talking before he made any comments. Ian told him that Lip knew about him and Mickey, but that he knew for awhile and won't say anything. Even if he is fucking Mandy. Ian told him that he slept with Lloyd when Mickey was away, but that it was only a couple of times. And that when he found out who he really was he ended it.

Mickey was initially pissed that Ian slept with someone else. Someone who was so much older than him. Damn! He thought that he had daddy issues. His are nothing compared to Ian's. He told himself that after what he said to Ian, it was only fair and he couldn't expect him to wait around for him to get out. But, what really got him over the fact that Ian was with someone else, someone other than him, was the marathon sex he and Ian had that night. The teeth marks on Ian's collarbone made it clear that he's Mickey's again.

"That and all the other shit," Lip says as he brings Mickey back to the present. "I think it's school and the shit with Lloyd."

Mickey scowls, "Did something else happen?"

Lip instantly shakes his head no, "He hasn't seen him. But, I think always seeing Jimmy around the house is probably fucking with his head. It must be a bitch knowing that you fucked your sister's boyfriend's closeted gay father. He hasn't said anything to Fiona or Jimmy. Doesn't want to fuck up Jimmy's life."

"Yeah, well I think that he needs to take care of himself right now." Mickey retorts as he places the beer by the backdoor.

"Yeah, I know. Do me a favor. Just keep an eye on him. Stress can really fuck up the body. He has a habit of not saying how sick he is until things spin way out of control."

"Will do."

"Will do what?" Ian asks as he walks out of the bathroom.

"Help me with the stuff," Lip answers as Mickey opens the back door and the three of them start to load the ice-cream truck. Lip throws Mickey a concerned glance when Ian begins to walk hunched over, subconsciously holding his stomach with one arm. The ex-con nods his head and an unspoken understanding forms between the two of them.