Mickey's life had gotten weird. Or at least weirder than usual. He thought maybe because there was less running and a lot more Chicago. He couldn't explain it, it was just that his entire routine was shifting and it seemed unnatural, but he didn't hate it. He saw a lot more of Mandy now, which wasn't a bad thing, especially since Tegan and her had decided that actually they weren't all that different and they didn't actually have to hate each other.
Mickey supposed he'd loosened up a little as well. Sure, he wasn't an idiot and he knew Derek was still out there somewhere, but he knew Chicago like the back of his hand and he trusted Tegan's instincts enough to be able to let her walk around. He still had to know where she was at all times though, otherwise the anxiety ate him up from the inside. He thought that was fucking pathetic, but he couldn't change it.
Kara was still in a coma, albeit induced which Mickey thought made it a little better than her not being able to wake up for some other reason. She'd stopped breathing once and Tegan hadn't left the apartment for three days, had just sat in her room staring at her wall. And because Mickey was shit at emotions, he'd just sat next to her and passed her a joint now and again. He didn't know how to do the whole parenting shit, but he figured being Tegan's friend and being there was enough. She didn't cry at least, even though he wouldn't have actually blamed her if she had.
The first Gallagher he ran into was Lip, who walked over when he spotted Mickey sitting opposite the high school, lazily sucking on a cigarette. The weather was mellowing out, becoming a little warmer and Mickey already knew it was going to be a fucking hot summer this year. He spat on the ground at the thought, because if there was one thing Mickey hated, it was the heat.
"Classy," Lip said, smirking at him because the guy had a fucking death wish. But then he was probably used to Milkovichs by now given that he was dating Mandy. Mickey almost found it fucking funny that his sister had managed to hold on to a Gallagher and he hadn't. Not that he'd wanted to, but still, out of the both of them, Mickey had thought he was the one more likely to swing towards relationships. And that was saying something. "You do know it's kind of creepy sitting opposite a school right?" he asked, taking Mickey's cigarette and making the ex-con scowl, "You planning on picking up some little school boy or something?"
"Fuck off," Mickey snarled at him through his teeth, cracking his knuckles so that he wouldn't punch the guy in the face. Mandy would be pissed if he did, even if Mickey felt like he was well within his rights to.
Lip smirked and handed him back what remained of his cigarette, settling on the wall beside Mickey. "Just thought I should tell you, you know," he commented and Mickey spat on the floor again, like maybe that would get rid of Gallagher or something. "So what you doing back anyway?" he asked when Mickey didn't say anything, "Thought you were happy in New York?"
"And when the fuck did I say that?" Mickey snapped, because honestly he sort of had been, "And it was just fucking necessary, doesn't matter why I'm here." Although, maybe it sort of did, he just didn't want Lip to find that out. He didn't want anyone around here finding that out, because that meant that Mickey was growing soft, it meant people would try shit they wouldn't normally pull. And Mickey wasn't really one for taking risks anymore.
He also didn't really want to know who the hell had told Lip he was even gay, because he had a feeling it hadn't been his sister.
Lip's mouth twisted into a smirk that Mickey didn't completely understand, but he didn't want to look at it so he just grimace and flicked away the end of his cigarette. "The hell you running from anyways?" Lip asked him, the guy apparently deciding to be a nosey twat.
Mickey scowled down at the pavement, crushing an ant under the toe of his shoe. That was how his life had always used to be, simple. As simple as crushing an ant, except Mickey's life wasn't anything fucking like that anymore. Because he was running. He'd be damned if he let that fact get back to his sister, or even worse, fucking Firecrotch, but his life wasn't simple anymore. It had all been easy the last time he'd been in Chicago, because Mickey hadn't been going anywhere fast, or even slow and that had been fine by him because he knew he was a fuck up.
But now he had people making his life complicated. He had people depending on him and needing him to be more than he wanted to be. And he was changing because they didn't even ask, they didn't expect anything from him so somehow he felt like maybe it was his own decision to change. But he wasn't sure he liked it. He wasn't sure he liked people trusting him, it felt weird.
And yet he wouldn't change that look in Tegan's eyes for the world. He hated that he knew that.
"Nothing that fucking concerns you," he said because if he didn't he was going to ask Lip why the fuck he thought Mickey was running. And Mickey didn't want to seem that weak. But the fact that someone thought he was running, that it might be obvious was worrying. Because Mickey didn't want to look weak to anyone, but especially not to a Gallagher.
He was fucking done with letting them get under his skin and make him ashamed of who he was.
"Does if it affects Mandy," Lip said seriously and Mickey understood what he was getting at. The guy didn't give a shit that Mickey was back and he gave even less of a shit about Mickey himself. But he cared for Mandy. That much was written all over his face and Mickey sort of respected him for that even though it pissed him off at the same time. He couldn't explain why.
"It ain't nothing that's gonna concern her," Mickey said, because he'd run through the streets of Chicago announcing he was gay before he'd put his sister in Derek's path of fucking destruction. His sister had done enough for him that he didn't need to be dragging her into this.
Mickey was a lot of things, most of them not exactly good, but didn't lie about family and he'd never deny that he loved Mandy. And only Mandy could really say that.
"Good," Lip said, the answer short and sweet, to the point, "Otherwise I'll kill you myself."
"If what I'm running from hurts Mandy, you won't have the chance," Mickey said, not looking at Lip because he didn't want to know what was in Lip's eyes, "I'd already be fucking dead." And he meant that, he honestly did. He wasn't going to let anything touch his little sister, he'd let Derek shoot him in the head before that happened.
Lucky for them, Derek didn't actually know his fucking name. There wasn't really anything that could connect Kara and Tegan to his sister other than him and he hoped it remained that way.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lip nod subtly, but his attention was already diverted by the people flooding out of the front doors of the school. He could spot Tegan's blonde head instantly, like he had a radar for her now or something, but a scowl settled on his face when he saw she was walking closely with none other than a fucking Gallagher. And to top it off, it wasn't even one of the remotely sane ones, it was Carl.
Tegan grinned when she saw him, no doubt at the expression on her face and he guessed the way she slid her arm through Carl's was deliberate. Sometimes he thought Tegan lived to piss him off. But on the bright side he supposed he did know the Gallaghers at least, he knew who to kill and begrudgingly he did sort of trust them.
"Whatcha doing here?" she asked, tugging down the hem of her skirt a little bit when she got close. He could see the goosebumps on her legs, but he knew there was no point saying anything, because she wouldn't listen to him. Just like Mandy hadn't when he'd always yelled at her to put some fucking clothes on.
"Got bored," Mickey replied, which they both knew translated into, "I was paranoid," but Tegan didn't call him out on it. She just smiled.
"You need some friends or something," she said, taking the cigarette he offered her and taking a deep drag from it.
Mickey snorted, "Fuck off." He'd never had them before and he didn't need to start now. He'd only ever had acquaintances, not actual friends. Family didn't count and the one person who he'd maybe been a little bit friends with hadn't counted either because they'd been fucking and Mickey had pretended too much that he didn't care.
Tegan's lips stretched into a wide grin and she handed back the cigarette after another pull from it, blowing smoke in his face because she was a little bitch like that and her sense of humour was fucked. "We going home then?" she asked after a minute or so of silence, impatient as always, "Or is this wall our new fun place or some shit?"
"Teag, we don't even have a fucking fun place so shut up," Mickey muttered, but he stood anyway and took the opportunity to glare at Carl. Thankfully, the guy wasn't actually taller than him, they were about the same height. He glared at the sociopath and seriously wondered what the fuck was wrong with Tegan's taste in men, but then the Gallaghers weren't the worse choice in the world he had to admit. Even if this one did have a screw loose. She could always do worse. "Bear in mind I know where you fucking live," Mickey reminded him through bared teeth, impressed when Carl didn't do anything more than blink and nod.
As they walked away, Tegan bumped him with her hip. "Was that really fucking necessary?" she asked, glancing at him through her lashes.
"Yes," he replied bluntly, because Mickey had never been one for beating around the bush – in more ways than one – "Because you fucking like him."
He could tell by the way she'd actually let Carl close to her, in the way she'd willingly linked their arms and in the way she'd glanced at him when he wasn't looking. Tegan liked him, he just hoped Carl was sane enough to understand threats.
"Fuck you," Tegan replied, but there was a blush creeping across her cheekbones that detracted from the venom in her voice, "That a problem?"
He stared at her for a minute, amazed that she actually seemed to care for his opinion. Even Mandy hadn't given a shit about whether or not he'd liked who she'd dated – (read 'fucked') – but here Tegan was staring at him with those wide eyes and asking for approval. He had to resist the urge to swear under his breath. He wasn't used to this, hell he wasn't fucked wired for this either.
"Like I said, least I know where he fucking lives," he replied, simply because he didn't know what else to say, "And the Gallaghers aren't complete assholes." Which was actually a compliment coming from Mickey and Tegan knew it.
She raised an eyebrow at him and he flipped her off. Laughing, she nudged him with her shoulder and he pretended that he didn't see the way that she visibly relaxed now that he'd given his approval. He pretended that didn't make him feel anything at all. Mickey was good at pretending by now.