It had been three months since they had resolved to get Ian help, three months since the first "I love you", three months since Mickey had resolved to love Ian openly come hell or high water. In those three months, there had been good days and bad. There were days the two alternated between feeling defeated, and days the love and joy were so strong it was all they could do to keep breathing.

Time has an effect on soulmates the likes of which have never been seen. The relationship cliché of becoming like one person is wholly fulfilled, and their ability to sense the other's emotions grows with each passing day. As much as that sense is a hindrance, it's also a blessing. On Ian's bad days, Mickey understands a little better each time how he can help, and now that Ian is seeing someone and getting better, things are looking up. The bad days are fewer and farther between, and the good days feel like a dream.

It was on one of those dream-like days that Mickey had decided to adventure out to buy groceries.

He'd woken up and immediately felt Ian's blissful sleep wash over him like a wave. He'd never get used to that level of peace in all his days. He didn't think he deserved it after the life he'd had. It was mornings like this he was so overwhelmed with love for Ian that he didn't know what to do with himself, so before he knew it, he was sneaking quietly downstairs and walking out the Gallaghers' door to buy groceries to surprise Ian. He was a shit cook, so he wasn't quite sure what he planned to surprise Ian with besides disappointment, but he stuck to the idea. It was going to be a good breakfast that was all Mickey knew, mostly because he was probably going to get laid regardless of how bad the breakfast was.

As he walked back up to the house, his arms were filled with groceries. He hadn't known what exactly to get, so he got everything, which was one reason why he usually wasn't allowed to grocery shop.

Whenever he approached the Gallagher house, he found it funny how so much chaos was contained in such a deceptively calm, ordinary house. It was still amazing to him how he'd suddenly been enveloped into the chaos and never even realized it until two months later when he was screaming at Frank to leave while practically throwing Debbie's lunch to her and swinging Liam behind his back to keep him out of one of Frank's schemes. He had gotten a real look of approval that day as she descended the stairs and a commiserating pat on the back before she went to solve the next 100 problems of the day. No one ever said that having a soulmate could mean gaining a family, too, and it was one surprise in his life he was truly thankful for. Though he'd never say that to anyone but Ian... who would probably tell them all anyway if he was being honest with himself.

Mickey was contemplating the talking to he was going to get if Fiona was up and saw the truckload of groceries he was carrying when his arm began to ache. The ache evolved suddenly into a sharp pain that spread up his forearm. It happened so quickly he dropped the bags on his right arm with a yelp that he would deny if ever asked, and when his mind finally caught up to his body, he dropped the other arm of groceries and flew up the outside stairs with only one thing on his mind-Ian.

His head was aching by the time he threw open the door, and his heart felt like it would pound out of his chest. Mickey raced into the kitchen and immediately stopped at the sight of Ian on the floor.

"Ian! Ian?' He fell to the ground next to him and began to look him all over. He was so upset he hardly even noticed that Ian was still awake and fine, just grimacing at the pain.

Ian moved his arm away from its place on his head to motion at Mickey. "Mick, I'm alright. I'm alright! Hey!"

Mickey finally paused to look at Ian's face. Ian laughed at him softly, "I just burned my arm on the stove, and then I tried to get cold water on it, and I slipped and hit the back of my head on the oven."

"For fuck's sake, firecrotch! I was fucking terrified, and then you're in here laying on the floor like a scene out of one of those fucking TV dramas..." he wiped a hand over his face and sighed. "Are you alright?"

"Better," Ian smiled, "now that you're here."

Mickey rolled his eyes. "Okay, apparently, hitting your head makes you real fucking cheesy, huh?" He fought back a smile and reached out to help Ian up. "So, what were you doing anyways?"

"Well, I woke up, and you were gone, so I decided I was going to make breakfast for you for when you came back, but uh..." he gestured vaguely to the now burnt eggs on the stove.

Mickey smirked. "I actually was out getting groceries to make you breakfast."

"Oh, really?" Ian smiled and stepped in closer to the shorter boy, so their bodies were almost flush.

Mickey swallowed thickly, "yeah, really. They're all over the fucking sidewalk now though."

Ian reached a hand out to catch Mickey's belt loop and pull him fully against himself. "Now, that's a shame." Mickey's mind went blank at the feeling of being so close to Ian. He didn't understand how all these months had gone by, and Ian could still have this effect on him. Ian bent down so his lips were a hair away from Mickey's, "Guess I'll just have to go on a run, then."

Mickey furrowed his brows in confusion as Ian released him and began to walk away. "Oh, hell no, firecrotch." He grabbed the other boy's arm, "You wanna get your heart rate up, you're gonna do it with me." Ian laughed as the brunet pulled him into a bruising kiss that left them both breathless.

The joking feeling slipped away the longer they stood in that kitchen kissing. It began to feel much more serious, more soulful, and more profound than either of them had intended. The feeling soon became so strong, Ian had to pull away from Mickey. He looked into his eyes, with overblown pupils and a slightly dazed look. "I love you," he whispered as he held the smaller boy's face. He tried to put as much feeling into those words as he could. He needed him to know that through it all, he loved him more than anything that his love made Ian feel like he could overcome anything, that his love made Ian feel overcome.

Mickey blinked, almost as if with a small realization and smiled. "I know," he whispered back.

Ian drew in a sharp breath and kissed Mickey ferociously once again. He was going to make damn sure he knew and would never forget it. Gently, Ian reached down and swept up Mickey's legs around his waist. Mickey hummed softly against the redhead's lips in approval, wrapping his arms around Ian's neck. He loved when Ian would pick him up and loved it even more when Ian showed off like he currently was as he carried Mickey up the stairs to their bedroom.

Mickey groped absentmindedly for the door as they passed through, swinging it shut. When Ian tossed him onto the bed, Mickey couldn't help but smirk, and at that moment, Ian resolved to wipe that smirk right off.

Ian pulled his shirt over his head and reached down to pull Mickey to the edge of the bed. Mickey raised an eyebrow and smiled, moving quickly to take off his clothes. When they both stood unclothed, Ian took a moment to look in awe at the beauty of Mickey Milkovich and thank his lucky stars this was his soulmate.

Mickey squirmed slightly under his gaze, "So what, you gonna keep starin', or you gonna get on me?"

Ian laughed and dropped to his knees before the other boy. "Oh, I'm gonna get on ya."

Mickey swore he saw stars as Ian wrapped his mouth around his cock and sucked hard. He swallowed every inch of Mickey that he could and worked the rest with his hand. Ian bobbed up and down like his life depended on it with just the right amount of suction that had Mickey breathing hard in seconds. He swallowed around the other boy's cock and pulled his head off slowly with a pop. Licking slowly up the vein that was bulging along the underside, Ian flicked his gaze up to Mickey's face with a feeling of pride. He licked the head of Mickey's cock and blew on it just enough to provoke a shiver down the other boy's spine. He knew exactly what he was doing; soulmates have a bit of an edge when it comes to sex. When you learn to read your soulmate's emotions just right, you're ruined for anyone else. And, that's just what Ian and Mickey wanted to do, ruin each other for anyone else.

Ian pulled off for a moment, and Mickey took the opportunity to kiss him deeply once again. "You keep doing that, and I'm not gonna last very long."

Ian ran a hand up and down Mickey's cock slowly and smirked at the sharp inhale of break he provoked. "Yeah, I know." He surged back up to kiss Mickey, only this time he pushed up off the floor to lay the Milkovich down on the bed. Ian ran his arms down to catch Mickey's and pinned them above his head.

Mickey smirked and drew his legs up to wrap them around Ian's waist. "Fuck me, Gallagher," he said almost challengingly, and Ian did.

When they would look back on their sex life in the years to come, this always remained in the top five. Mickey would have flashes of memory back to Ian hitting that sweet spot inside him on every thrust, to the way that he could barely even whisper after from how hoarse he was from screaming, to the otherworldly ecstasy of experiencing both his and Ian's finish and the swell of love in their chests that followed. It was relentless, and it was perfect.

When the two finally made their way downstairs hours later, they were met with exasperated looks from both Lip and Fiona, not only for the loud fucking but also for the mess they'd left around the kitchen and sidewalk. They both found they didn't much care.

As long as they were together, they were whole, and as long as they were together, they were loved. The fate they'd felt doomed to at the start had become the greatest thing of their lives, and in the end, they were happy.