Chapter 10

(Mandy POV)

When the people in the bar had started counting down, Mandy had actually been nervous. She and Brian had hooked up on Christmas, but nothing more had happened since that night. She supposed the fact that he had let her into the bar with her friends during business hours and kept giving her drinks all night might have been a good sign, but he could have just been doing that out of habit. So when they made eye contact with 30 seconds to spare until midnight and he motioned for her to come join him behind the bar, she actually felt fucking giddy. As the ball dropped, he held her face with both hands, whispered "Happy New Year, Mands," and kissed her tenderly. It wasn't violent or lustful. It was sweet and passionate, and exactly what she needed to make all of her worries from the past week dissipate.

Even when their kiss was over, Brian kept his hands on her face. He leaned his forehead against hers and Mandy wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. She smiled up at him and their moment was only broken when a lemon slice came flying through the air and hit Brian' head. He laughed and turned to look at the source of the projectile.

"Cut that shit out and get me another beer!" Travis shouted at him.

The next thing Mandy noticed was an angry Mickey walking into the bar. She hadn't even seen him leave, but she had admittedly been a little distracted. She watched as her brother walked to Sara and said something into the blonde's ear. Sara smiled at him, reached into her pocket, took out two pills and put one into each of their mouths. Mandy shook her head. Her friend could be a little crazy sometimes.

When Mickey and Sara started dancing together, Mandy walked out from behind the bar, joining them. It was rare to see her brother let loose and she didn't want to miss any of it. Sullivan's was crowded, so she didn't see Ian until he was standing right next to her. He reached out an arm and put it on Mickey's shoulder, but her brother spun around and shoved Ian's arm off.

"Stay away from me, you fucking faggot," Mickey shouted at Ian. He grabbed Sara by her forearm, said something to her that Mandy couldn't hear, and at the girl's happy nod, they walked away together to the storage room.

Confused, Mandy turned to look at Ian. It was only then that she saw his face was covered in blood. He obviously had a broken nose. "The fuck, Ian?" Ian looked at her with an expression that she couldn't quite understand. "What the hell just happened? Did Mickey do this to you?"

"I'm fine. I think I snapped it back into place."

Mandy led Ian over to the edge of the bar and got a wet washcloth from Brian. She started cleaning off his face. "You are going to tell me what happened. Right. Now." She hoped her tone would convey to Ian that she wasn't kidding. Ian flinched as she dabbed the washcloth against his nose, trying her best to get the blood off, some of which was already starting to dry. She could see the swelling was getting bad, so she motioned to Brian and got him to bring bass over a beer for Ian's face.

"Mandy, I'm fine. Please drop it."

Mandy hit him in the back of the head. "You are not fine. Tell me what the hell is going on."

Ian rubbed the back of his head where Mandy had smacked him. It hadn't been hard; she'd just needed to get her point across. He sat on the stool, holding the beer to his nose and not saying anything. Mandy let out an exasperated sigh. Why wasn't he just answering her?

"I thought Mickey said he and Sara weren't together..." he said, looking off in the direction her brother and the blonde had walked away.

That wasn't what she'd been expecting to hear. There was such bitterness in Ian's voice.

Mandy's eyes suddenly widened as the realization dawned on her. Ian wasn't angry... he was jealous.

"You like Mickey!" she shouted.

When Ian's eyes flew to meet hers in panic, she was already grinning. "Why didn't you tell me?" She punched Ian in the arm—hard.

She saw him relax a bit but there was still sadness on his face. "I've liked him for a while now. I thought... maybe... he liked me too. Things seemed normal again," he reasoned. "He left the bar when the ball dropped... so I followed him out... and... I sort of kissed him."

Mandy's jaw dropped. Her mouth was literally open.

"And I thought it was okay and I swear he was kissing me back but then I don't know what happened. He pushed me off... and punched me..."

Mandy had no words. She was utterly speechless. Ian let out a shuttering breath now that he had told her everything and when she looked at his face, she saw a small tear slowly slide down his cheek. She was still holding the damp cloth and she mutely brought it up to his face, wiping the tear away. She put her arms around him and gave him a hug, because that was all she could think to do. He hugged her back and she could feel him shaking as he tried to hold in his emotions.

"Let's go home," she said to him after they had sat like that for a few minutes. The bar was noisy and Ian looked exhausted, physically and emotionally. She said a quick goodbye to Brian, telling him she was going to take Ian home and would call him tomorrow. They walked she short distance to the apartment.

Mandy helped Ian get changed. His T-shirt was absolutely disgusting, covered in blood. "What time's your bus leaving tomorrow?" she asked.

"I should leave here at 9 to get to the station in time."

They got into her bed, laying side by side. A few minutes passed in silence and Mandy wasn't sure if Ian had fallen asleep or not.

"I didn't know Mickey is gay," she said, quietly. She heard him sniffle then.

"I don't think he knows it either," Ian whispered.

Then Ian gave Mandy a kiss on the cheek before putting an arm around her waist and going to sleep. She held him close as her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep too.