Part Three: The Alliance
After trying and failing for the third time to convince Lip that his brother and Ian could be good together, Iggy saw his brother coming toward the Gallagher house. Iggy grabbed Lip by the collar of his shirt and yanked him down behind the van.
Mickey was dressed in gray button-down and dark jeans, and he was clean. Iggy lightly banged his head against the van and tried to hide the smile that manifested on his face. You're a fucking geek, Mick. He had to admit his brother looked very snazzy.
"What the fuck is he doing?" Lip whispered.
Yeah, Mick, what the fuck are you doing?
Iggy smacked himself in the face. How did he not see it right away? Mickey was holding three long stemmed white roses in his left hand and a box of chocolate in the right. Iggy looked down at Lip who was somewhere between bewilderment and amusement.
"I didn't believe you before," Lip said.
"See. What did I fucking tell you?" Iggy whispered.
"Gallagher," Mickey said to no one, but Lip ducked further down as a reflex. Mickey cleared his throat. "Gallagher, I really, really want to fuck you."
Iggy smacked himself again.
"Yeah, real classy there, Mickey," said Lip. Iggy could nearly hear Lip rolling his eyes.
"Shut the fuck up," Iggy whispered.
"Come on, is he fucking serious?" Lip asked.
"This one is out of my jurisdiction," Iggy said.
Mickey finally gave up and shoved the roses and chocolate in the Gallagher mailbox and bolted. Iggy had never seen him run so fast in his life. He was cursing himself the whole time.
"My brother's a pussy," Iggy stated after making sure Mickey was completely gone.
He and Lip emerged from their hiding place. Lip took the flowers and chocolate out of the mailbox and examined them.
"Why did he go for white rather than red?"
"White roses mean 'I'm worthy of you', but I don't think Mickey took the time to research it."
He may have, douche bag.
"Mickey got dressed up for Ian," Iggy said when the realization hit him. The situation was worse than Iggy had realized. This may be the first time Mickey ever felt something like this for someone.
This is bad. This is really fucking bad.
"Too bad Ian's seeing someone," said Lip casually.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Ian's fucking Kash," Lip said, he was still holding the roses, but he began to dig into the chocolate.
Ian fucking Kash was news to Iggy. He knew the creepy Arab dude at the Kash and Grab was checking Ian out, but he had no idea they were doing it. He had to keep Mickey from finding out. He didn't want to think about how Mickey would react.
"I can't believe it."
"Believe it. So what do we do with these?"
"Give them to Ian," Iggy suggested.
"And say they're from whom exactly?"
"His secret admirer."
"Oh you mean the sad desperate fag who can't so much as start a conversation with Ian without pussying out but really just wants to fuck him."
Lip would be sporting a very well placed black eye at dinner tonight. Iggy needed to remember to apologize to Fiona later about it. Ian came bounding down the stairs and stopped when he saw the Milkovich and his brother. Ian looked between them, then locked eyes on the flowers. He grinned.
"What the fuck?" Ian asked.
"I delivered them," Iggy said quickly hoping Lip would follow his lie.
"Yeah, I was having a fucking smoke and trying to call Karen and I intercepted."
"For Fiona," Ian asked.
"No, you," said Lip.
Ian beamed brighter than the sun. He ran down the steps and took the flowers from Lip. The chocolate was mostly gone. Ian didn't seem to care. He sniffed the roses and then smiled so big Iggy wished Mickey had stayed to see him.
"There isn't a note. Iggy, you delivered them, you must know who they're from?"
"Nope. It was anonymous. Said to tell you that you have a secret admirer."
And that information made Ian happier than Iggy could have imagined. He nudged Lip with his elbow. Lip rolled his eyes and scowled at Iggy.
"I wonder who it is," Ian said giddily.
"What's this?" Steve asked.
He pulled up in the nicest Porsche Iggy had ever seen and he really wanted to steal it.
"Someone gave me flowers," Ian said with a smile.
"Cute," said Steve rubbing Ian's head.
Who's the fuckboy?
Ian took his roses and went into the house with a spring in his step. Iggy shook his head. He took a cigarette from Lip who hadn't really offered.
"Alright, I will help you, but only because I don't like the fucking Arab dude fucking my little brother it's creepy and weird. But if Mickey fucks this up or hurts Ian, I'm going to blame you."
"Fine. Blame me all you want. We'll make it a fair fight," Iggy said. They shook hands. Iggy was officially partnered with Lip Gallagher. He never thought he would see the day when that happened.
