Just wanted to say thank you for the reviews so far, you're all lovely!

Like the last time Mandy had gone to pick somebody up from juvie, Ian went with her. This time though, it wasn't to pick up her brother but his new friend - Mandy kept referring to her as Mickey's girlfriend and, though he didn't, Ian wanted to tell her to shut up because just the very idea of Mickey being with someone else filled him with envy, even if it wasn't actually true.

They took Louis' car and Ian was surprised that Mandy could drive, let alone so well. She had been to visit Kiera two days ago just so that she wasn't letting a complete stranger into the house. She told Ian that she seemed sweet, probably not a psycho murderer and that she had called her beautiful so all in all, Mandy liked her.

Ian didn't get the whole situation, even though it had been explained to him twice. It wasn't that it didn't make sense, it made perfect sense - a guy became friends with a girl in juvie, she had nowhere to live when she got out so the guy offered to let her move into his house. But with the knowledge that the guy was Mickey Milkovich, that simple idea became absurd. For one, Mickey didn't exactly have friends and two, even if he did, he'd never let them move into his house - it was a big enough issue letting Ian stay the night. He wanted to know what was so special about her. It annoyed Ian that Mickey clearly liked her a lot, more than he liked him, if you minus the sex, and it annoyed him that he was jealous of a person he'd never even met before.

When they arrived, Mandy parked the car and they walked to meet Kiera. Ian didn't know what to expect, he sort of thought she'd be a badass, dressed in black and covered in tattoos or something. What he definitely didn't expect to see when Mandy said "that's her" was a petite girl wearing a dress and little shoes, carrying a cardigan. It wasn't even a slutty dress, either, it was tight at the top but sort of flared out a little and she wore a belt around her waist.

Ian must have been staring because Mandy clicked her fingers in front of his face. "I thought you were gay," she joked, laughing softly at his expression.

"Just... isn't what I thought she'd look like," he said, still slightly shocked.

Once Kiera was close enough she pulled a fairly startled Mandy into her arms - though because she was shorter than her, it was more like Kiera fell into Mandy's - then she pulled away and walked up to Ian.

She had the prettiest eyes Ian had ever seen and he was having a difficult time looking away from them and it didn't help when she stepped closer to him and reached up to cup his cheek. Ian froze and frowned at her smiling face.

"Ian," she said, as though she was greeting a friend.

"Uh, hi," he said, completely aware that Mandy hadn't mentioned Ian to her. So, what, Mickey had done? Ian thought he probably told her that he was just some kid he worked with because there was no way Mickey would come out to anyone.

Mandy cleared her throat and a couple of seconds later Kiera let go and focussed her attention on the building she had just walked out of.

"Ready to go?" Mandy asked.

Kiera didn't answer verbally, but when she started walking Ian and Mandy figured that was a 'yes' and walked with her.

Ian sat in the backseat when they drove home and didn't say a single word nor was he wasn't listening to a word Kiera and Mandy were saying. He didn't care. Actually, he didn't think it was because he didn't care, it's just that he'd care more if they were talking about Mickey; he'd care more if Kiera was explaining how they became friends.

They didn't go straight back to Mandy's, they had to stop at Kiera's dad's house so she could pick up her stuff. She told them it wouldn't take long because her step-mom would have already packed her clothes and all she needed to do was pack the other things she needed. Ian felt sort of sorry for her for being kicked out of her own house simply because her step-mom didn't like her and her dad didn't have the balls to stand up to her. He started to wonder if he'd ever meet anyone with decent parents.

"So," Mandy turned in her seat to face Ian, "what do you think?"

Ian opened his mouth to speak then closed it again because he didn't really know what to say. "She's cool, I guess," was what he finally landed on because that was vague enough to not be a complete lie.

Mandy smiled a little. "She's kinda weird, huh?"

Ian nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders and then Mandy narrowed her eyes at him.

"You don't like her, do you?"

"What? I didn't say that, I just, I don't even know her," he said quickly.

The conversation ended there as they saw Kiera come charging out of the house wheeling two suitcases behind her with a blue duffle bag over one shoulder. Instinctively, Ian got out to help, taking one of the suitcases from her then lifting them both into the trunk of the car along with her duffle bag. She smiled a 'thank you' at him and he couldn't help but smile back.

When they got back to Mandy's, Lip and a topless Louis were sat on the couch playing Halo because as old as it was, they still loved it and the two of them had become friends despite how they different they were.

"You gonna sit on your asses or are you gonna help?" Mandy asked expectantly, pointing to Kiera's baggage.

Louis paused the game and jumped up taking the suitcase and duffle bag from Ian and following Kiera and Mandy who were going to Kiera's new room, which was Iggy's old one. Mandy, Louis and Ian had spent a whole day tidying and cleaning it because it had been left in a truly disgusting state.

Ian sat down next to Lip, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

"So, that's Kiera?" Lip asked, looking across at his brother.

Ian nodded.

"You doin' okay?"

Sighing, Ian turned to face him. "Don't you think it's a little weird that Mickey is letting some girl move in? When we-"

Just then, Louis came walking back in and Ian had to stop himself from staring too much because Mandy hadn't exaggerated how hot he was. Louis was uncommonly kind and was always helping Mandy out with stuff and if Lip or Kev or even Jimmy needed a hand with something he'd be the first to volunteer. He wasn't the brightest guy Ian had ever met and he said 'bro' a little too much but everyone, including Ian, liked him and couldn't deny that he made Mandy happy.

He wriggled inbetween Lip and Ian. "We got another if you wanna join in, bro," he said to Ian, lifting up his controller.

Ian smiled politely. "I'm good, I'll probably head home now, but thanks," he said standing up and heading for the door.

He was at the bottom of the steps that lead up the house when he felt a hand on his arm. He spun round to see Kiera looking up at him. She sat down on one of the steps and patted the space beside her. Hesitantly, Ian sat down beside her.

She tucked a bit of her long, dark hair behind her ear and faced him. "He misses you," she said softly.

Ian frowned down at his feet then looked at her.

"He doesn't think you'll forgive him."

"He told you about us?" Ian asked and he couldn't work out if he was more surprised or confused.

"Yes. Reluctantly at first but I could tell that you were more than some guy he worked with because he gets this face when he talks about you," she breathed out a laugh, "but I got him to explain everything in the end. I slapped him once. I thought you would like to know that."

Ian laughed and was secretly quite glad that she had done that. He was glad that she was telling him things Mickey would probably never tell him.

"You sir, are gorgeous, I can see why he misses you so much," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Ian laughed again and looked down at his hands. "I miss him, too," he said softly and he didn't know why, but he felt at ease. This girl who was basically a stranger, quite an odd one at that, made him feel okay about missing Mickey and Ian had never felt that before - always thought he should hate him more, try to forget about him, regardless of the fact that it didn't work. Even Lip had told him to at least try and move on. But right then, sitting beside Kiera, he felt like his feeling were being, not only accepted, but understood.

The two of them must have stayed sat like that, Kiera telling him about the anger management class and Mickey and Ian telling her about what it was like before Mickey got put in juvie, for at least an hour until they parted ways after Ian promised he'd come back the next day to help paint Kiera's new room.

Now Ian understood how Mickey had grown close to Kiera; he understood why he'd actually want her around. Ian knew Mickey well, hence how he knew that, deep down, he just wanted to be accepted and not for being gay but for being Mickey. Ian knew he'd never say it but it was obvious to him and sometimes it made Ian laugh because if Mickey only showed people his caring side, they'd find it far easier to accept him. And other times it made Ian somewhat sad because he knew that the main reason Mickey had that tough exterior was because of the one person who would never accept him, no matter what; it made him feel bad because he knew Mickey craved his dad's acceptance far more than he wanted to. He wondered if that had changed now. He wondered if now that he'd been wholly accepted by another person and his dad was in jail he'd realise that he didn't need his approval. Ian hoped so.