Sorry this took so long, I don't even have an excuse.

When Ian arrived home in the early hours of the morning, slowly easing the door open even though he knew most of his family would still be up, his mind was playing over that night's events for the fifth time. It surprised him how at ease he felt now that he was back being Mickey's. Because, and he'd probably never feed Mickey's ego by telling him, he was owned by Mickey, more than willingly.

As he predicted, Fiona, Jimmy, Lip, Carl and Debbie were all crammed together in the living room; Carl sleeping soundlessly slumped against Jimmy's side. They were watching old Family Guy reruns. Debbie was the first to notice him stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. She jumped to her feet, startling everyone including Ian, and nearly tripped over her slippered feet. Ian couldn't hide his smile once he saw her Spongebob pyjamas that she wore until Fiona forced her out of them. His hand was grabbed and yanked so that he had no choice but to follow his sister to the table.

Slipping down onto one of the seats, she looked up at him and kicked out the chair opposite to her. "So, what happened?" she asked once he sat down, eager for an answer.

Ian only slightly regretted filling Debbie in about everything once she'd figured out why he was so moody. To his surprise, she'd put quite a lot of it together herself so she didn't have too many questions; most of them concerning why he hadn't told her etc. Since then she'd taken a very active interest in his love life - at one point also his sex life, but Ian had stopped her as soon as she started - and he was unable to decide if that was good or bad. "Everything's cool, Debs," he answered with a smile.

She huffed loudly, her chest rising then falling dramatically. "Finally," she exclaimed, standing, "now I can go to bed," she mumbled to herself, walking toward the stairs.

After a minute or two of random thinking - mostly about how awesome his little sister was - and daydreaming - mostly about Mickey and his face and mouth and hands - Ian forced himself to stand and lazily shifted into the living room. He was greeted with two knowing smirks from Fiona and Jimmy and a wink from Lip and fuck, did he feel happy. No, not happy. It was more than that. He felt just like how he had done all those weeks ago when he woke up beside Mickey again after so long - too long. He felt safe and wanted and important. Rarely did he feel all those things together.

He looked down at Carl, his drool creating a damp patch on Jimmy's shirt. "I'll take him up," Ian stated softly and with a helping hand from Jimmy, he picked him up then made for the stairs.

Once Carl was settled in his bed, Ian stripped to his boxers and got comfortable in his own. Falling asleep took no effort at all; he closed his tired eyes and drifted into his dreams.

Lip was an asshole. Scratch that; Lip was a gigantic asshole. Apparently, during the night, Ian had been doing his random sleep talking - which he knew usually consisted of nonsense that made no sense at all - and couldn't shut up about how much he loved Mickey and how soft his skin is and how he's the best fuck Ian's had and the best kisser and a lot more highly embarrassing things that were actually genuinely true. Not that he'd gladly share such explicit details about his sex life with his brother, but his subconscious didn't really seem to care. However, that was enough to set Lip off for the rest of the morning and he was still going on about it even when Kiera turned up in the afternoon. Ian just hoped he would get tired of it because Mickey was due to turn up soon after Kiera.

"I mean, I don't have any personal experience, but Mickey's mouth is, and I quote, "made for sucking dick"," Lip all but shouted to Kiera in the kitchen so that Ian could hear. Then he pulled Kiera onto his lap sideways as he collapsed down onto the couch beside Ian. "Isn't that right?" Lip asked, sarcastically, turning to him.

Just as Ian was about to tell him to fuck off, Kiera straightened up and spoke. "You sounded disappointed when you said you haven't had any personal experience. You want Mickey to blow you?"

"If the next word out of your mouth isn't no, I will fuckin' hit you."

All three of them swung their heads round to see Mickey stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. Ian instantly perked up a little at the sight of him. Fuck, was he whipped.

Lip snorted, his eyes following Mickey as he made his way to the armchair. "I don't know, Mick, you've gotten such high reviews..."

A mixture of embarrassment and amusement swirled inside Ian and he let out a nervous laugh when Mickey looked at him with questioning eyes as if he thought Ian had been raving to his brother about how good he was at giving head. Well, technically he had but not intentionally.

Dispelling the weird tension that had settled in the room, Kiera rose and forced Lip up by the wrist. "I came to swim," she informed him, and when Lip looked behind at Ian and Mickey, she said "oh, tell me all your jokes about it and get it out of your system before dinner." Then they left out the back door.

"Okay, so before you go crazy thinking I talk to my brother about us like that," Ian started, scooching forwards and to the side so he was close enough to Mickey that he could reach out and touch him, "let me tell you that I was talking in my sleep again and happened to mention you," he informed him, speaking so fast he was unsure if he had made any sense.

Mickey's face softened and Ian breathed a sigh of relief, only to tense up again at the sight of Mickey smirking. "Oh really?" he asked, smug as fuck his legs spread wide and his fingers drumming against his thighs. "What else did you say?"

And the way Mickey asked that would've been hot under any other circumstances, but Ian was too embarrassed to be honest. "Fuck off," he scoffed, lightly kicking his calf. "Want a drink?" Mickey nodded and so he stood up and went for the kitchen, only to be followed by Mickey.

Before he even got a couple of beers out for the two of them he was being cornered up against the kitchen counter, his back hitting the dirty dishes that were piled up in the sink. Mickey moved closer, crowding him even more as if that were actually possible, standing between Ian's parted legs. "Y'know," Mickey whispered, his voice low and menacing, as he placed a hand on Ian's waist under his t-shirt, "if I'm the best fuck you've had, just say it." He finished by biting down on Ian's neck and, in that moment, Mickey's hold on him and the hand he had on the counter behind him, was all that was keeping Ian upright. Mickey pulled back and they were so close that Ian could see how blown his pupils were; how turned on he was. And if that didn't tell him, Mickey glancing around and then smashing their mouths together certainly did. Ian's gasp was swallowed down and before he knew it he holding on to Mickey's neck and trying desperately to pull him closer, nearer because nothing felt as good as Mickey; his teeth and lips marking his neck like he was branding him. Ian tugged at his hair and resumed kissing him; devouring him. But it was slow and so, so dirty that Ian couldn't keep himself from moaning and grinding against Mickey's hand that was stuffed down the front of his open jeans. There would be bruises left from Mickey's strong hold on his waist, he knew it, and he couldn't think why he never wanted anyone else to bruise him like Mickey does.

And so he had an excuse for why he didn't hear the back door opening and the sounds of Fiona and Vee walking inside. It may not have been valid or decent, but it was an excuse.

"Please don't tell me you were going to fuck in the kitchen," Fiona said with laughter in her voice.

To Ian's surprise, Mickey didn't actually leap across to the other side of the room and start claiming that nothing was going on, nor did he leave; Ian had heard what Mickey said the night before and he believed him but there was still that feeling of uncertainty when it came to people catching them together, he still didn't know if Mickey wouldn't run. But he wasn't running. All Mickey did was back away, only slightly, took his hand out of Ian's jeans then leaned sideways against the fridge keeping his eyes down on Ian's feet.

Ian rolled his eyes at him then looked at Fiona who was smirking and Vee who looked about five minutes away from getting her sass on and snapping her fingers in a z formation. "Like you haven't," he said as he discreetly zipped his jeans back up.

Fiona simply smiled at him and left once Vee picked her pack of cigarettes. Which Ian took as a sign that he could carry on and so it was his turn to get up in Mickey's space, crowd him against the fridge and kiss him til he couldn't breathe.

There was a snort. "Y'all are some horny motherfuckers," Vee stated.

Ian laughed into Mickey's mouth then turned his head. "And you and Kev are...?" he questioned her because, seriously, those two were the kinkiest, most likely, sex addicts he knew.

Vee winked at him and left with her lighter in hand.

Ian didn't fuck Mickey in the kitchen, he fucked him in his room up against the door then went back downstairs to watch tv with him like nothing had happened. Of course Mickey casually threatened to kill Vee or Kevin if they so much as hinted to anyone about he and Ian, and Ian laughed in his face but eventually promised that they wouldn't when Mickey got him in a headlock.

It felt good, it felt easy and normal sitting beside Mickey in his own home watching dumb cartoons and sipping beer. He had a leg slung over one of Mickey's and, after persuasion that bordered on bribery, Mickey let him lift up his arm and put it over his shoulders. The reason behind it wasn't because, as Mickey put it, he was "a total fag", but because he always felt safe with Mickey around him; protected even when there was nothing to be protected from. Though if he said that he knew Mickey would take the piss out of him for it so he didn't. Figured he'd save it for when Mickey had just woken up or was still coming down from an orgasm.

"I swear to fucking God, one more episode of this shit and I'm gonna lose my mind," Mickey complained for the twelfth time - Ian had counted.

"Shut up and watch, Jimmy'll be here with the food soon," was Ian's response, just like it had been the other times.

And as if he heard him, Jimmy came rushing through the door with bags of take out and six packs of beer. He looked down at the two of them with raised eyebrows. "No please, just sit, it's not like I'm having a hard time carrying all of this."

Ian got up and kicked at Mickey's foot until he did the same and helped carry the bags into the kitchen where the rest of his family had already started to gather, most of them still a little wet from being in the pool. He could tell that Mickey was feeling anxious and out-of-place just by the way his face looked so vulnerable. That's how he always looked when he wasn't quite sure about what to do, like a little kid lost. Ian tentatively rested his hand on the small of Mickey's back and thanked God that Lip was coming toward them because he and Mickey were friends of some sort.

Lip eyed the two of them then spoke. "Hey man," he said to Mickey, "help with the plates?" He handed Mickey a couple and the two of them went back into the living room.

The rest of them quickly made their way into the living room with the food and drinks and Ian smiled at the sight of Mickey and Carl talking together, even if Mickey was looking kind of concerned and freaked out.

There were too many people, too many limbs and hungry stomachs but somehow they all managed to fit. Fiona, Jimmy, Kev and Debbie were on the couch, Carl, Kiera and Lip on the floor round the coffee table and Mickey was in the armchair with Ian on the floor between his feet. Ian thought they must have looked so weird to outsiders and wondered if Mickey thought it was strange that they all ate together because he knew Mickey's family never did. Something inside Ian stirred at that thought so he quickly resumed focussing on the film they were watching and the way Mickey occasionally would lean forward and steal some of his fries.

They mostly ate in silence. Every now and then Carl would comment on how realistic the deaths were on the film he had put on which wasn't necessarily a film that should be watched when eating. Ian no longer felt on edge because Mickey didn't which was when Lip asked him to pass the ketchup.

"You don't want to squeeze that too tight," Lip said as he passed it to him, "it'll end up squirting all over you."

Simultaneously, Mickey and Fiona choked on their drinks whilst Vee and Jimmy were very obviously holding back laughter. Yeah, Lip was a gigantic fucking asshole and Ian was so going to get him back.

Once everyone had finished eating - there was only one other interruption from Lip, a subtle, dirty pun regarding Ian's fingers which earned him a slap around the head from Jimmy - Vee left and Jimmy and Fiona went out to the kitchen. Carl was watching he and Mickey, Ian knew it, but what he didn't know was if it was because he was trying to figure out what was going on or if he already knew and simply thought it was weird. Ian didn't know which was worse.

But then he spoke. "Have you ever killed someone?" he asked with wide eyes.

Ian nudged Mickey who didn't know he had been spoken to. "Killed someone? Nah, man. Close though."

Carl smiled a little at that. "Cool. You're not like a fairy, not like Jake at school, but he's not so bad, I kicked this asshole in the nuts for calling him a fag, even though he is."

"No, Carl, he's a homosexual," Debbie explained. "Calling a homosexual a fag or a fairy is derogatory."

Carl pulled a face at her. "Whatever, I'm just saying."

"Yeah, but you can't just say stuff like that, it's offensive."

The rest of them stared at the two of them. Ian didn't know what Mickey or Lip or Kiera were thinking, but he couldn't quite believe what he had heard. Pride erupted in him, he had the best, possibly craziest, little brother and sister a person could hope for. He never thought Carl would exactly be homophobic but he didn't expect to hear that he'd stood up to someone who was bullying a gay kid. And Debbie, well, Debbie was too smart for her own good but it was great.

Debbie and Carl soon scampered into the kitchen with the promise of ice cream and it was Lip who broke the stunned silence. "Wow, well, that was weird," he commented, looking at all three of them in turn.

Paying no attention to Mickey's protests, Ian sat on his lap and looked at him. "You fuckin' Gallaghers," he muttered, "Seriously, so fuckin' weird."

"Well," Kiera began, fiddling with the buttons on her blouse, "at least you know the whole family is more than okay with it. That's awesome, so you can hang out here and Ian won't have to worry that you'll jump out his window and scream if someone walks in on you."

Mickey gave her the finger glared at her. Ian thought she had a point, a very valid one. A point that made him smile a little and lean back against Mickey's chest, enjoying the comfort he felt. He closed his eyes and rested his head against Mickey's prominent collarbone.

"Well kids, keep it PG-13," Lip joked as he and Kiera began to walk to the front door.

"Yeah, oh and here," Kiera handed Ian a condom, "just incase you can't control yourselves." The two of them left, giggling at how funny they thought they were even though they were incredibly unfunny.

As soon as the door was closed, Mickey's hands were up Ian's t-shirt again, gently holding his waist. "Why the fuck is your brother Lip?" he asked.

Ian tilted his head and smiled up at him. "Why is your Kiera Kiera?"

Mickey nodded and shrugged a shoulder because saying touché was too hard for him or something.

"She's right, though, about how good it is that everyone's okay with it, happy about it even. So, you don't have to y'know-"

"I'm not gonna fucking run, alright?" Ian sat up at that and moved so he was sat sideways on him. "Jesus, haven't we already done this?"

Shrugging, Ian played with the hem of Mickey's black t-shirt. "Just making sure," he mumbled, hating how childish he sounded and biting his lip so that he didn't pout.

"Well don't," Mickey said simply and twisted Ian's nipple with a grin.

Ian squirmed, slapping at Mickey's bicep. "Fuck, Mickey, stop. Ow shit, sorry, stop," Ian babbled through laughter, trying to keep his voice down. He took a deep breath when Mickey eventually let go and stared at his boyfriend. Ian had a boyfriend. Mickey was his boyfriend. It felt so strange to even think it. But it was a good kind of strange, the best. And because he didn't know how to word that right, he leaned forward and kissed Mickey softly, one hand cupping his cheek.

Mickey had to leave earlier than Ian would have liked, though if he had it his way Mickey would never leave. They were casually discussing Ian going back to school in a weeks time when Debbie walked up to them by the front door.

She didn't wait for Mickey to finish what he was saying and interrupted him. "Carl has nunchuks and my Japanese friend, Cho, who's a black belt in karate, is teaching him how to use them properly. Just so you know." She smiled sweetly then left them stunned.

Letting out a long sigh, Mickey gave Ian an incredulous look. "Your fuckin' family..." Mickey shook his head, and, if Ian hadn't been looking so closely, he'd have missed the little smile on his face. "Come 'ere," he demanded in a soft whisper, reaching one hand out.

Ian took a step forward and kissed him goodbye. He watched for a moment as Mickey walked down the steps from him house but closed the door with a laugh when Mickey turned around and raised one eyebrow telling him to fuck off. Yeah, that was his boyfriend.