"Why did you take me here?" Ian asked sitting down on the bench that was in the dug out of the baseball field.

"I like coming here." The thug shrugged, sitting down next to Ian; with much space in between them, and lit up a cigarette. "I come here a lot. To think and shit you know." Ian just nodded. "I use to play baseball here, when I was just a kid though. Got kicked off the team. Mom had a fuckin' fit when she found out. Coach said I was 'too rough.'" Mickey scoffed. "I coulda been a lot worse." He rolled his eyes and took a long drag of his cigarette, thinking back on the memory.

"What happened to your mom?" Ian asked as he took out a joint from his pocket and lit it. "Mandy mentioned that she died but never wants to talk about it."

Mickey exhaled the smoke from his nose and shrugged. "Used drugs a lot. Eventually it just caught up to her." He said with no emotion in his voice. "She was so…together at one point. Took us on trips and shit…bought us toys and CD's, shit she even had a decent job. After my dad got out of prison she just…cracked I guess. They started usin' again. Then one night she OD'd."

Ian just sat there staring at Mickey, letting him talk about his mom. He had the feeling that this was the first time he ever spoke about her since she died. Mickey turned his head and looked at the red head with a raised eyebrow. "The fuck you looking at?"

Ian shook his head and exhaled the smoke from his lungs. "It's just…." He started then thumbed his lip and smiled softly. "That was the most you've ever said to me since we've met." Ian said in a small voice.

"Yeah, well." Mickey said, suddenly embarrassed. "What about you? What are your parents like?" Mickey wanted Ian to talk now.

The Ginger just laughed like the subject was some sort of joke. "Dad's a narcissistic alcoholic. Mom's a raging bipolar using addict." Ian shrugged. "Monica left Frank a few months back. I think he hit her or something and she was just done with him. She ran off with some woman named Bob? I don't know, and Frank doesn't give us shit so we had to move out here so we could afford to live. Frank is still on the North side…but it wouldn't surprise me if he eventually found us." He rested his elbows on his knees and flicked the ashes off the joint. "Frank is not actually my dad though. Monica slept with his brother and said it was Franks. We did DNA testing's for fun one day and surprise…" He trailed off and looked back at Mickey who wasn't looking at him.

"Why are you so…quiet all the time?" Ian asked the dark haired boy.

"I'm not that quiet." Mickey snapped back.

"When you talk, you're always so angry."

"Cause everyone pisses me off."

"Mr. Grumpy pants." Ian grinned at him.

"Shut the fuck up." Mickey smiled a little bit that made Ian's heart skip. "I just can't stand people who stay stupid shit. When they say stupid shit, it pisses me off and I become angry."

"Right." Ian nodded. He did have a point.

Silence fell between the two but it wasn't awkward. To a surprise to the both of them, it was comfortable. Ian passed the joint to Mickey who passed the cigarette to Ian. They both inhaled and Ian watched Mickey tip his head back as the smoke rolled off his tongue.

Ian took out his phone and was surprised to see that it was nearly two in the morning. "I should probably get going." He stood up and stretched his arms above his head.

"Wait." Mickey said not looking up at Ian, but continued to stare at the ground. Ian looked at his with his head cocked to the side.

"Hm?" he said.

"How … when…" Mickey started but failed to get the words to come out. Ian just stood there, patient as Mickey tried to find the right words. "Never mind. I'll see you later." Mickey shook his head but Ian wasn't going to let him off easy.

"No, say it."

"No fuck off." He flicked his third cigarette to the ground.

"Mickey."

"When did you know?" Mickey finally blurted out.

"Know what?" Ian was confused.

"That you…fuck." Mickey rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and refused to look up at Ian. The red head had no idea what Mickey was trying to ask him and was confused why he was getting so upset over it. He kneeled down in front of Mickey so they were eye level.

"Hey…man, just say it. We're friends, yea? You can trust me."

"Gay." Mickey finally said in the smallest voice, Ian hardly heard it.

But Ian was shocked. That was the last thing he expected Mickey to say but understood why he got so worked up about it. He didn't want to make it a big deal. He wanted to show Mickey that it was okay to be gay and that he wasn't going to judge him.

"Middle school I think." He started, trying to think back in his childhood. "I was never really interested in girls that way. I always became their best friend – like Mandy. Then in middle school when guys in my class started going on dates with girls, I realized that was the last thing I wanted to do." Ian put a hand on Mickey's knee but it was soon pushed off.

"Hey, Mick." Ian said quietly, removing Mickey's hands away from his eyes. "Are you gay?"

Mickey looked up at him with his eyebrows raised to his hairline. "No, I'm not fucking gay. Jesus. I was just asking. Now go the fuck home." Mickey said through his teeth.

Ian sighed and nodded. Obviously the kid did not want to be labeled as gay or even talk about the idea of him possibly being gay. But it made sense to Ian now. How Mickey was always so angry and quiet. He wasn't comfortable being who he really is and it made him angry to see people being so happy all the time. "Call me if you wanna talk about it again. Seriously. I won't tell anyone. It will stay between us."

Mickey didn't say anything but light another cigarette.