Somehow, about an hour later, Ian ended up at Lip and Reese's place. He hadn't been paying attention to where he was headed, but here he was standing on their street.

The thought crossed his mind that this was what always used to happen. Whenever he was upset, or angry, or needed help, he used to run to wherever Mickey was and now, subconsciously, he'd done the exact same thing.

Maybe it was time to have this discussion with Mickey properly, once and for all, while sober. Get it out of the way and put things right. Or not. Whatever the situation may be.

As he reached the front door, he noticed it already starting to open. He felt momentarily dizzy, until he saw someone who definitely wasn'tMickey opening the front door. He almost dropped with relief where he stood when he saw a woman in the doorway.

Reese smiled at him. "Ian?"

When he nodded at her, she reached her arms out to him, beckoning with her fingers, and he almost fell gratefully into them. She squeezed him as tightly as she could with her baby bump between them, turning her body to the side to try and make it easier.

"Finally!" Reese murmured by Ian's ear and his eyes stung as he blinked back tears. "I thought I was never going to get to meet my baby's uncle."

"I'm sorry…" Ian started.

Reese started to shake her head, her bangs flicking Ian in the face. "No, no. Philip's been pretty stubborn about the whole thing to be honest. I kept asking him to call you and he kept saying he would, but then I guess he just never did. Anyway," she took his hand and started pulling him inside, "let's not do this on the doorstep."

Ian followed her into the house, peering around nervously as he stepped over the threshold.

"He's at work," Reese said, noticing him looking. "He came home from meeting you, grabbed his things and went straight out again without a word," she continued.

"Oh. I…" Ian's voice petered out. Reese didn't realise he was looking for Mickey then. Probably just as well. Althought he wasn't ready to see Lip again just yet either.

Reese looked at him for a long moment, taking him in, and smiled again. A full, beaming smile. Ian felt more than a little vulnerable under her gaze, but he gave her a grin back.

"You want something to drink?" she asked, gesturing over her shoulder at the kitchen.

Glad of the momentary distraction, Ian nodded. "That'd be great thanks."

Reese started to turn towards the kitchen, but then stopped, her hand going to the small of her back. Obviously in pain, she leaned back against her hand, puffing out a breath.

"You okay?" Ian asked, concerned. "You're not having the baby are you?"

Reese laughed, though her forehead was still creased as she concentrated on whatever was hurting. "No, just a twinge. Don't worry."

"Maybe you should sit? I'll get you a drink?" Ian helped her to the couch. "What can I get you?"

"You are wonderful." Reese breathed, lowering herself onto the couch with his help. "I'm having raspberry leaf tea. The bags are by the stove top."

"Okay. I'll be right back. Just. Don't have a baby."

Reese laughed again, but it quickly turned into another gasp of pain. Ian kept glancing over his shoulder as he pushed the swing door to the kitchen.

A quick glance around and he found the kettle. He filled it up enough for one cup, set it boiling and put one of Reese's teabags in a clean mug from the drainer that he recognized as Lip's. It said "Got Wood?" on it. Lip had stolen it from a golf shop years ago because it had made him laugh. Ian was surprised it had survived this long.

He opened the refrigerator and took out a beer. He was about to twist off the cap when he thought better of it. Alcohol hadn't been his friend of late and he still wasn't feeling great from last night. Instead he searched the cupboards until he found a glass and went to fill it with water from the tap.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Ian's stomach lurched and he whirled so fast at the voice behind him that he lost his footing and careened into the countertop next to him. "Fuck!"

Ian hadn't even heard anyone come into the kitchen, and now Mickey was standing, looking at him curiously, one hand on the refrigerator door. He raised his eyebrows at Ian's curse, but the days of Mickey making any sort of innuendo were long gone.

"We have a filter. The water from the tap's like sewage if you don't boil it first." Mickey opened the fridge, took a beer with one hand and a jug of water with the other, which he held out towards Ian.

Ian simply stared at it, so Mickey set it down on the counter next to him. He nudged the fridge closed with his hip and twisted the cap off his bottle.

"Hey. It's your bowels, man," Mickey shrugged when Ian still made no move toward the water jug. He took a swig of his beer.

"So. Is this what we've been reduced to then?" Ian murmured, slowly raising his eyes to Mickey's face. Mickey lowered his bottle a fraction, eyes questioning Ian's.

"Meaningless small talk?" Ian continued.

Mickey wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he leaned back against the fridge, looking away. "Fucked if I know. I think you said pretty much everything last night."

Ian's eyes widened a fraction. "I don't really remember what I said last night."

Mickey turned his head to face Ian now as he spoke, "Yeah, well you were pretty wordy. But hey. I'm not sure your wife would've been happy with me saying my piece in front of her."

Ian huffed out a humourless laugh. "You said your piece a long time ago, Mickey. You were very clear about how you felt."

Mickey stood up straight then, turning his full body towards Ian and squaring his shoulders. He looked so determined, Ian actually tried to take a step back, but he couldn't so he just gripped the counter on either side, his knuckles whitening with the effort.

"For fuck's sake, Gall…. Ian," Mickey ground out Ian's name through clenched teeth. "For someone smart, you can be so fuckin' dumb sometimes."

They were interrupted then by Reese calling, "Everything alright?"

Ian shook himself out of his open-mouthed stupor and turned to the kettle. He poured the water into the mug, the scent of the fruit tea bringing him back to his senses, and he turned back to speak again, but Mickey had gone, as silently as he'd arrived.

Ian should his head in disbelief. He was almost starting to think he was imagining Mickey being around. He never seemed to be in the same place as anyone else. If it weren't for Vicki saying she'd seen him – and even she'd never actually met him before so maybe she'd got it wrong too.

Maybe he was having a nervous breakdown, he thought to himself as he pushed the door back through to the living room.

"You find everything okay?" Reese asked, smiling up at him from where she was now reclining on the couch.

Ian nodded, taking a furtive glance around him in case Mickey was lingering. When there was no obvious sign. He put the mug of tea down on the coffee table in front of Reese. A bit like a turtle on its back, she started to rock herself forward trying to reach it.

"Oh god! Sorry!" Ian moved to pass it to her.

Laughing, Reese took the mug from him with both hands. "Don't apologize! It's just hard to get any momentum at the moment."

Ian smiled. It was hard not to around her, but as he did so, he noticed Reese was becoming more serious.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Are you?" she replied. "You seem so sad. What exactly did your brother do? You need me to kick his ass? 'Cause I will!"

Ian gave her a small grin, before he took a deep breath and let it out slowly through puffed cheeks. "It's a long story."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Reese said, serious again.

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. He wasn't really sure where to start, but it felt like he could tell Reese everything and he would get an honest opinion and no judgement.

Almost as if she'd heard his thoughts, he heard her say, "You can trust me, Ian." And he started to talk.

Once the floodgates opened though, it all came spilling out. Literally all of it. Ian wasn't sure how much Lip would have told her about his own crap, so he made sure to keep the details purely about himself, so Reese listened as Ian told her about Kash. About Mickey and everything that went down before Mickey went to juvie – the second time. About Vicki and about everything that had suddenly started happening now. And finally, about having his world tipped upside down finding Mickey at their house when he came to talk to his brother.

Reese sucked in air through her teeth, "Oh boy. That must have felt so shitty. I'm so sorry."

Ian blinked and looked up at her, "Why are you apologizing?"

"Because you're hurting and until right now, I didn't know that I'd been a part of the reason why."

"What are you saying?" Ian was sitting up straight now, looking at her, his face all confusion.

With some effort, Reese heaved herself across the couch so she was sitting at the end nearest to Ian. "Didn't Lip explain anything to you?"

Swallowing, his throat dry, Ian answered, "He told me that Mickey is working for him?"

Reese shook her head. "No. I mean, didn't he tell you why Mickey is living here?"