Just a small one to keep the updates coming :) hope you like. And once again - thank you so much to everyone who takes time to review, favourite, and follow! (You're all awesome :D)
"What the hell's with him?" Kev asked, motioning with his thumb over his shoulder, pointing toward a very forlorn looking Ian, slumped gracelessly at the bar with his head in his arms, sighing dramatically at regular intervals.
"He's bored." Lip replied with an amused shrug.
"He not tied to Mickey's side today?" Kev questioned back, voice layered with both humour and concern.
"Nah, started his new job today. He was supposed to finish at nine so Ian told him to come here, was gonna buy him a drink to celebrate or something." Lip smiled as he walked toward his disgruntled brother.
"Oh give me a break…" Kev all but yelled, throwing his hands up in question, "Can you two at least pretend I'm trying to run a legal business here, that doesn't involve, ya know, selling booze to my underage neighbours and their new boy toy…" The bartender stopped midsentence and lifted his eyes in thought… "No, ya know what, Mickey's fine, he would pass for legal… Or beat the shit of the guy who questioned him… But did you two at least bring some decent ID to show me?" He looked between the brothers, Lip with his ever present smirk as he shook his head and reached for his wallet, Ian with his 'you really don't wanna mess with me right now snarl'. Lip showed him his fake ID, at which Kev just frowned because not only did it not look like Lip in any way shape or form, apparently he was also Spanish now, and 33. "Besides," he said, turning his attention back to Ian, after deciding to forego the whole ID debacle in favour of a more stress free shift, "It's what? Two minutes past?" he retorted, voice dripping with sarcasm and a smile plastered across his face.
"It's fucking ten past!" Ian protested, shooting his head up from its resting place and glaring between Kev and Lip again.
"Yeah," Lip said softly, trying to appease his brother by raising his arms in surrender before the battle can even begin. "But he still has to actually get here after he finishes…" He flashed his brother an honest smile before shrugging and laughing to himself. "Or he could have fancied a quick fuck with one of his new, greased up, bad boy work mates before coming home to good old Ian Gallagher…" He added with a devilish smirk.
Ian darted from his spot and propelled himself at his shit head brother, Kev threw his hands up in a half assed protest and shouted to the two boys that they were paying for any breakages. He yelled louder when the first glass crashed to the floor, but by the third he just shook his head and took some money out of the till to put in the 'Replacing Gallagher Breakages Fund' jar placed on the bottom shelf under the bar. The jar was almost full, one of many scattered along the shelf, all with different names printed across the front of them, and all people Kev knew better than to expect any payment from. To be fair, 99% of the Gallagher jars debt was, unapologetically, run up by Frank and the other 1% he really wasn't that bothered by, I mean – what's a few glasses compared to the price of replacing the sink faucet that Kev had managed to break in the Gallagher house by getting drunk and trying to prove he was a real man by doing some good old fashioned DIY. Surprisingly the Gallagher damage list wasn't the longest, the Milkovich's tab was almost double it and unsurprisingly the jar it was attached to was empty. Kev hadn't even let the Milkovich's know they had a jar, preferring not to be the thing they next damaged, and he sure as hell wasn't paying off the debts with the bars takings, the business would go bust in a week. He kept telling himself that one day he would ask one of the saner, if there were any, members of the family for any contribution, or that he'd just subtly overcharge them for their drinks, but he knew those days would probably never come. Besides, the latter wouldn't make a difference because the amount of drinks Terry actually got round to paying for was less than Frank.
"Good old dependable… Nice guy… Boy next door… Kinda a pushover… Ian… Gentle giant… Gallagher!" Lip laughed between dodging Ian's attacks, the red-head had him pinned to the floor with his knees on his arms and his hands battling his older brother's wrists to stay still.
"Yeah, thinking about it, you don't really seem like Mickey's type…" Kev drawled out helpfully, much to Lip's amusement and Ian's chagrin. Kev was smiling from ear to ear as he laughed at his own joke.
"Nice guy my ass… Fucker bit me yesterday 'cause I wouldn't take my damn boots off, actually fucking bit me..." Mickey said with a snort and a smile as he walked into the Alibi lighting a cigarette, uncaring about the public location because the bar was pretty dead and the few patrons in there were transfixed on either their booze or the football match on the TV Kev had once again just replaced, Mickey having stolen it then sold it to the older man without so much as a 'friends of the boy he's fucking (loves) discount. "And you think he's gentle?" He questioned, pocketing the lighter and exhaling a puff of smoke, "You haven't seen him…"
"Alright!" Ian shouted as he got up and jogged towards Mickey, taking the cigarette out of his hands and trying to fight the smile that threatened to encapsulate his face just by being in such close proximity to his favourite thug again.
"What?" Mickey laughed, "Was just gonna say how fucking vicious you can be when we're…"
"Mickey!" Ian protested as both Kev and Lip made pleading 'please stop, no more' faces at the Milkovich boy.
"Fighting!" Mickey shouted back with a smirk, "I was gonna say fighting," he elaborated. "I meant Fucking but I was gonna say fighting."
"Asshole," Ian smiled as Mickey snatched the cigarette back and marched toward the bar. "And…" He called after the ex-con matter-of-factly, "Excuse me for not wanting boots digging into my fucking back while we were fighting." He said fighting, he meant fucking, but he said fighting.
"We were outside, Firecrotch, why the fuck would I take my shoes off." Mickey snorted back, hushed and private, another quiet moment of light heartedness between the two boys. Ian laughed as he sat next to his Milkovich and watched both Kev and Lip assess the situation to see if it was safe for them to approach again.
"Thank god your back man," Lip announced as he sat down next to Ian, "He's been pining all fucking day, like a little lost puppy."
"Ha," Mickey snorted as Ian jabbed his brother in the ribs.
"I was not fucking pining, I was bored shitless and I'm sorry Lip," He turned his attention to his smug looking brother, "But I couldn't sit and listen to another fucking second of you pining over Karen like she's worth a damn, it's just pathetic man." He shook his head mockingly and could tell by the way that Lip continued to smirk that the older boy wasn't insulted.
Lip just lit up his own cigarette and looked up to Kev expectantly. "So, what can I get ya?" The bartender inquired. "I presume you all have valid IDs to show me?" He shouted slightly louder, making a show of looking around the room as if to highlight to everyone present that he was indeed abiding by the law.
Lip got his back out and handed it over with a smile and a head nod. Ian hadn't brought any ID with him so just handed over his library card, Kev made a show of looking over both cards and pretended to add up dates in his head, then he dramatically nodded and handed the cards back. When he looked at Mickey and the ex-con just returned his gaze and smiled a sarcastic smile, Kev just nodded and laughed slightly uneasily. "That's OK Mr Milkovich, I know how old you are, please put your driving licence away."
Mickey rolled his eyes as Ian shook his head and Lip snorted out an amused chuckle, with that, Kev turned and got the boys each a beer and sat down behind the bar opposite them. "You guys will be the death of me," he said, only half joking.
"Well if it isn't my brother from the same mother!" Mandy hollered as she flounced into the bar and sauntered over to Mickey. She flung her arms around his shoulders as she made a grab for his beer, but Mickey shook her off and slapped her hand away as she moved to sit on the bar stool next to him.
"Ahem," Kev fake coughed, now standing in front of her, "ID?" He questioned when she just looked at him with confusion.
"For a coke?" She remarked and the bartender rolled his eyes before turning to get her drink.
"You gotta come now!" Debbie yelled as she ran into the Alibi room and hurled herself towards her brothers.
"What's going on Deb's?" Ian asked immediately, smile transforming into a concerned gaze as he noticed his sisters tear reddened eyes.
"She's back again… Monica." Carl said from the bar's front doorway, the usual elation on the boys features now hidden being a sombre frown.
"Frank's at the house trying to talk to her but she's just locked herself in the downstairs bathroom and Fiona can't get either of them to leave." Debbie was frantically tugging on Lip and Ian's jackets, willing them to stop asking questions and just follow her home. With no hesitation both boys stood and followed, Mickey behind them and Mandy behind him.
"Kate, you got this?" Kev asked, motioning to the bar as he put down the glass he was drying and reached for his coat under the bar. After a faint smile and a confident nod from his employee, Kev turned and made for the door.
"I'm not going anywhere until you get out here and talk to me!" Frank shouted sternly, he was still pounding his fists randomly against the bathroom door and ignoring the frequent wails and cries coming from the woman on the other side of it. "I'm your husband, for better or worse… I gave you everything… I gave you my best years, and all you can do is leave me… Time and time again, and here I am just trying to talk to you and what do I get… A god damn door shut in my face…"
Fiona was now sat in the living room with Liam, trying to distract him from Franks latest rant, making faces and mumbling encouragement at her younger siblings attempts at colouring in between the lines of a picture Debbie had sound for him earlier.
"Calm the fuck down Frank, we can hear you from down the street." Lip exclaimed forcefully as he flung open the door to the kitchen and charged into the house. He walked straight passed his father and into the living room, sat down by his sister as she rested her head in her hands and turned her face to look at him. Lip reached up and rested his hand on her shoulder as he smiled comfortingly, then turned to watch Ian enter the living room and sit in the chair next to them.
"What happened?" Ian asked his sister with open, but fed up eyes, the three eldest Gallagher siblings sick and tired of the constant cycle of bullshit that surrounded their parents.
"She just turned up…" Fiona announced, holding her arms in the air and shaking her head in dismay, a tear threatening to fall down her porcelain like cheek. "Frank was here when she walked in, they been in there ever since," she continued, pointing irritably at the scene in the kitchen.
"We came and got you the minute she turned up," Debbie offered from her place next to Carl, both children stood in the doorway between the rooms, looking desperate and uneasy.
"Alright, we'll figure this out." Lip offered gently, smiling at his younger siblings before turning to Fiona and rubbing the spot where his hand still lay on her shoulder.
"I am not going anywhere Monica, so you might as well save us all the hassle and come out of the damn toilet!" Frank shouted again suddenly, making Debbie jump and Carl turn around with a frown. "I'm going to count down from five!"
Lip and Ian both stood and ushered their younger siblings further into the living room, Fiona joining the two boys as they strode toward the kitchen.
"Five!" Frank shouted with a thump to the door.
The eldest Gallagher's made their way through the arched doorway and took position by the island counter in the middle of the kitchen.
"Four…" Frank persisted.
Ian shook his head and rolled his eyes, bringing a hand down his face as Lip leaned his elbows on the counter top and rested his head in his hands, eyes filled with disdain as he looked toward the scene in front of him. Fiona stood behind her brothers and crossed her arms over her chest, gearing herself up for another battle to get rid of her unwanted house guests.
"Three!" Frank yelled louder than before, fists clenched angrily at his sides.
"What the fuck you gonna do when you get to one Frank?" Mickey asked scornfully as he swung the door open and entered the kitchen. "Look," he said, turning to Ian, "I know you said wait outside but this shit is ridiculous." He explained, motioning with his hands toward the oldest man in the room and the door he was talking to. "Hey Frank, why don't you do us all a favour and shut the fuck up for a second?"
Frank quickly turned to watch the young Milkovich, obviously trying to figure out if he was in danger, when Mickey didn't move any closer to him Frank just snorted and returned his glare to the wooden door of the bathroom.
"This is between me and my wife!" He yelled with less force than he intended, not looking back to see how Mickey would react.
"Yeah and the rest of the god damn neighbourhood. Giving me a fucking head ache old man." Mickey dead panned, flicking his eyes between the train wreck in front of him and his kids littered between the kitchen and living room, all staring wide eyed and pleading.
"This has nothing to do with you Mickey… Now I'm asking nicely… So would you mind awfully, just backing off while I try talk some sense into the woman to whom I am married?" Frank only briefly turned to face Mickey as he gestured with his hand toward the door, then he turned back around and refocused his efforts on talking to the woman who was trying so hard to block him out.
"Jesus Frank, she doesn't wanna fucking talk to you so just leave and let us figure out why the hell she's back at all." Ian sighed out I frustration, straightening his posture as he spoke, subconsciously maybe, to try and intimidate the man in front of him to avoid another drawn out confrontation.
Frank growled with menace as he spun on his foot and turned to face the bastard child of the woman he loved, he eyed the young man carefully and sneered before moving forward. Anger spilling out of him as he forgot just how strong Ian was now and just remembered the boy who encapsulated, to him, when his wife got bored and started screwing around. The boy who was now trying to stand between him and said wife talking this shit through.
Frank hadn't even made it two steps towards the red head before Mickey had him in an arm-lock, pushed up against the kitchen table with pain shooting down his spine and his mind struggling to keep up.
"Here's what you're gonna do," Mickey snarled ferociously into the older man's ear, "When I let go, you're gonna stand the fuck up, straighten yourself out, turn the hell around and walk straight out of the god damn door. You got that Frank?"
When the Gallagher patriarch didn't respond with words, just tried to struggle out of Mickey's grip, the ex-con pushed harder against him and continued. "Cause if you don't then I'm gonna do something I've been itching to do for… Fuck… The whole time I've fucking known you." Frank squirmed again, eyes pleading with his children for help, but no one moved to pull Mickey off so he just growled again and continued. "See, Gallagher over there," he said, lifting Franks head so he was once again looking at his kids, "That's Ian to you, Firecrotch to me," he smirked. "Well once upon a time he begged me not to hurt you, fucking made me promise not to do anything stupid like kick your ass into next week and get mine thrown back in juvie." He actuated the statement with a sharp tug on the man's trapped arm, eliciting a pained hiss from him as he did so.
"Well I figure that promise is void now, what with what happened the last time you two were in a fucking room together," Mickey smiled as he felt Frank flinch at the memory of Ian overpowering him in every way. "So you give me one fucking excuse, one god damn reason no matter how small and I promise I will break you into pieces so fucking small that not even god himself could put you back together… You understand me?" He asked sinisterly, pausing between statements to give Frank a chance to take in the honesty of the threat.
Frank nodded frantically and when Mickey shoved himself away from the older man and released his vice like grip on his arm, the Gallagher patriarch wisely decided to forego his rant about kids and respect and instead turned to stare at the still closed bathroom door, willing it to open one last time before glaring at his family and storming out of the house with promises of his imminent return.
"Thank you." It wasn't the words that surprised Mickey, he knew Fiona was trying to make an effort, to show Ian that she could bend if it meant he would stay. It wasn't the fact that she was thanking him for using violence on her father, with 'her' kids in the next room, Mickey was surprised because she meant every damn word. She meant it when she said thank you and for the first time since he marched in there Fiona let out a breath and relaxed, as if finally seeing an end to their current situation. "So what do we do about her?" She asked as she exhaled again, turning to look between Ian and Lip.
"Want me to break down the door?" Mickey asked lightly, only half joking.
"Ha, no, thanks but we're good." Fiona laughed out, no malice or spite. Tone light and sarcastic, almost friendly as she once again found the ability to smile a genuine smile.
Of course Carl bounded into the room at the mention of destruction and the panic almost immediately returned to Fiona's face when she saw Debbie following with wide and panicked eyes. Before she could move, or speak to calm her sibling down though, Mickey stepped forward and flicked Carl on the forehead. Carl frowned at the contact but smiled up at Mickey, a smile that was almost mirrored by a temporarily distracted Debbie.
"What I tell you 'bout breaking shit in the house?" Mickey snapped, with no anger and no hostility.
"Ummm, if it's fun… It must be done?" Carl laughed at his own joke but Mickey just snorted and flicked him again, looking straight into the younger boys eyes. Debbie smiled a slightly bigger smile this time. "Ouch," the young Gallagher yelped, "OK, OK… Not unless Fiona says so… Only if it's mine… OR if it's already broken beyond repair?" He asked with a thoughtful pause between each statement, expectant eyes looking up to Mickey for confirmation.
All the Milkovich boy did was smirk and nod at the youngster but no one in the room could miss the way Carl's eyes lit up as he threw his fist in the air to a scream of 'yes'. Carl jumped and turned on the spot, now facing Fiona with a cocky, wide and self-satisfied grin. Fiona smiled back at her younger brother, whilst Lip smirked toward Fi and Ian beamed brightly and whole heartedly into the eyes of the man he loved. Monica all but forgotten by every Gallagher in the room at that moment, even Debbie.
"The shit under the EL though," Mickey all but shouted with a clap of his hands, that once again made Lip jump out of his skin and turn to face the ex-con with startled eyes, "That stuff's free game so come the fuck on cause I don't got all day." With that Mickey turned and gestured to the back door of the house and started walking towards it. However, Carl bolted passed him at the prospect of causing some destruction with Mickey, and was already out of the door when the ex-con turned around to look at the youngest Gallagher girl. "You coming freckles?"
Debbie smiled her first real smile as she shoved her feet into a pair of shoes she didn't even bother to check were her own, then she was on her feet and out the door as fast as Carl. Mickey turned to Ian and red-head gave him his best grateful expression before smirking and blowing a kiss. Mickey rolled his eyes and turned to join the two Gallagher kids outside with his sister, who was probably waiting not very patiently since Mickey stormed into the house and left her alone while Kev went to find Vee.
"Thank you Mickey," Fiona offered sincerely, "Seriously."
"Wow, two thank yous in a row, gotta be careful there Boss Lady… Else I'm gonna start thinking you don't despise my ass." Mickey retorted with a smirk.
Apparently the response was just what everyone else in the room was expecting as all it elicited from the Gallagher's still in front of him were three sets of eye rolls, Lip's ever present smirk, Ian's famous grin that manages to be both cheeky and prideful all at once, and probably most surprisingly, a warm smile from Fiona directed straight at the Milkovich thug before her. And with one last look to Ian and a quick "You gonna be OK with Momma bitch in the bathroom, or you gonna need me to step in and fucking save you again?" (The bravado failing to mask the genuine concern behind the words) To which Ian just smiled, a smile Mickey loved being able to draw from the boy he loved, and nodded, Mickey nodded his head as well and turned to leave the oldest Gallagher's to it. Thinking as he shut the door and looked to the two kids waiting at the bottom of the steps expectantly, 'how the fuck did I become the babysitter?' Kicking himself further when he almost let himself think about going back in to ask if they wanted him to take Liam out of the way as well.