He didn't know what he was supposed to think when he met that guy from the library, Lip walking out of Mandy's bedroom one morning. He could hear Mandy still snoring in her bed and scowled a little because this guy better not have been trying to sneak out or some shit like that.
"Relax, I just gotta piss," the guy, Lip said, holding up his hands like he could read Mickey's fucking mind or something. No, if he could, he wouldn't be looking at him in that wary sort of way, because he'd be able to realise that Mickey's thoughts had turned away from inflicting pain and to food as soon as he'd offered up a reasonable explanation.
"Whatever," he muttered, "You want a coffee?"
Lip looked surprised he was offering, but said yes anyway. "Just so long as you don't spit in it or something," he added before heading into Mickey's room, which unfortunately was the only way through to the bathroom. That didn't annoy him so much since it was only him and Mandy in the house, but he thought it probably would have annoyed him before.
He made coffee and in the end when his stomach started growled, stuck some bread in the toaster as well. He made three cups of coffee and fixed one up the way he knew Mandy liked it. Lip frowned at him when he took it into Mandy's room and put it on the floor next to her. Of course, this Lip guy wouldn't know that this was a habit that Mickey had sort of developed. It made him feel like he was thanking her for being so nice to him, for looking after him.
It made him feel a little stupid and hurt his pride a bit to think that he needed looking after, but still it was partly true. He'd probably still be stuck in the hospital if it wasn't for Mandy.
"I don't know how you have it," he said, pointing to the coffee on the side and then taking a sip of his own.
He and Mandy practically lived on the stuff.
While Lip fixed up his own coffee, Mickey settled back against the counter and ate his toast, watching the guy. He was trying to work out if he could remember him at all, if he could get any inkling of how they knew each other. Because they obviously did.
"Mandy says you got a job at a construction site," Lip said, sitting on the counter opposite from Mickey, obviously trying to be polite, "She's really proud of you, talks about you all the time now."
He didn't like the look of surprise on Lip's face when he smiled. Wouldn't the old him have smiled at something like that? Wasn't it a good thing to hear that Mandy was proud of him? He thought he was. The more he found out about the old him, the more he thought the guy had a few wires crossed in his head. Maybe the amnesia was simply those wires uncrossing.
"You and my sister a thing then?" he asked, because he didn't know how he was supposed to respond to that and he thought maybe even the old him would have cared about what the hell was going on in his sister's love life.
"Why the hell do you care?" Mandy asked before Lip could reply, wandering in looking as attractive as ever – not – with her hair matted at the back and her make-up smudged under her eyes. She snatched his toast out of his hand and he didn't complain, he'd been expecting that. "Thanks for the coffee," she muttered low enough so that Lip couldn't hear her, raising it to her lips once she'd finished his toast and settling against the counter beside him.
He shrugged at her question, "Want to know who to kill if I find you crying, don't I?"
That sounded like something the old him would maybe say. He thought it probably was judging by Lip didn't look surprised to hear him say that at all. "Dude, she'd kill me before you even got the chance," he said after a minute, taking a gulp of his coffee.
Mickey shrugged again, "I'd still kill you."
Mandy was all he had and he already knew he hated to see her cry.
"You're an idiot," Mandy muttered, bumping against him with her shoulder, but she was smiling and he knew she liked hearing him say shit like that. Just like he kind of liked hearing that she was proud of him.
"When's my soldier boy coming back anyway?" Mandy asked suddenly, like she'd only just realised she hadn't asked that already. She looked a little guilty for a moment that she hadn't remembered sooner, but her features smoothing out in a heartbeat.
Mandy was good at pretending. Just like Mickey. It was all about the pretence it seemed sometimes.
He didn't know why the mention of soldiers made his heart stutter in his chest, but it did.
The guy, Lip grinned, "Oh, so he's still yours then?"
"Course," Mandy said like it was obvious. Mickey didn't know what they were talking about, but he tried to make it look like he did. And when that failed, he just kept his expression perfectly blank.
Lip smirked, but obviously not at Mickey, so that was alright.
"He's back in about a month," Lip said, "That was the deal last time I spoke to him anyway, but he said it could change."
"How long's it going to be for?" Mandy asked, her eyes practically shining and Mickey didn't know if that was because she was about to cry or if that was out of happiness.
He didn't know why this conversation was making him fidget, but it was. He took a large mouthful of coffee and didn't even wince when it scalded his throat.
Lip shrugged, "Not that long, but it'll be just good to see him."
There was a word in Mickey's brain, a name that he couldn't quite grasp. He kept trying to grab a hold of it, but it was like smoke, slipping out of reach every time he got anywhere near. Why was he thinking of fire? Soldiers, soldiers, soldiers, soldiers. . . "Ian," he said aloud and Lip frowned at him.
"No shit," he looked a little disgusted at Mickey for a moment.
But Mickey didn't really have time to give a shit because Mandy was suddenly in front of him, her eyes wide as she stared at him. He offered her a weak smile and she squealed and threw her arms around his neck. He was guessing from that reaction that he'd finally remembered something correctly. And he had remembered, because he hadn't been told that before.
Ian the soldier. Ian, Ian, Ian, Ian, Ian.
He wondered if more things would come if he kept chanting the name to himself in his head. He figured it was worth a try.
Lip was just looking at them like they'd actually lost their ever loving minds, but Mickey didn't give a shit. He was too pleased with himself for having remembered something and he was happy that he'd made Mandy happy, but he couldn't explain the twist in his gut every time he thought that name, Ian.
Who was Ian?
"Do I get ribs tonight then?" he asked when Mandy finally let go of his neck, which he was sort of glad about because she'd been making it difficult for him to breathe. Not that he would have ruined the little happy moment by saying that though.
Mandy just snorted and picked her coffee back up. He pretended he didn't see the tears in her eyes.
