and mickey thinks theyâre too fucking in love to stop themselves from falling off a cliff. (1521 words - ao3)
requested by absolvesammy [âdonât trust me.â]
Mickey goes over the Gallagher house, sometimes, when itâs either too empty or too busy for anyone to notice him, for anyone to pay attention to him and Ian, and thatâs exactly the way he likes it. He sneaks in the back door and finds Ian at the kitchen table, bent over homework or something, probably his fucking calculus bullshit, or whatever the fuck people that actually go to school do.
âGallagher,â Mickey says, and Ian turns around, with a smile around on his fucking face, like hearing Mickeyâs name is all he needs to be happy. Mickey hopes thatâs not true. Heâs in deep shit, either way, because he thinks that sometimes, Ian is all he needs to be happy, and thatâs not the kind of shit he can be thinking about. Not if he wants to survive.
âHey,â Ian calls, grinning stupidly, and he pushes all his papers to the other end of the table and closes his textbook. âWas beginning to wonder if you were ever gonna show up.â
Mickey scowls at that. âNot like itâs a fucking date, Romeo,â and Ian raises his eyebrows a little, because neither of them say it aloud, but they both know that it kinda is. They never do much more than hide out in the backyard and fool around, but there isnât really anything else to call it.
They find a pan of brownies cooling on the kitchen counter, and Ian isnât sure how they got there, but they smell pretty fuckinâ good.
âSweet,â Mickey says, and he grabs a couple for each of them.
He follows Ian into the backyard, and itâs dark enough that Mickey lets Ian sit close, their shoulders steepled against each other, the darkness blanketing them in a way that hides them from the world. The Gallagher house is quiet tonight, the lights dim and the stars bright, and Mickey and Ian sit in silence and eat their brownies.
Mickeyâs halfway through his third one when it hits him.
âShit,â he laughs. âThese are fuckinâ pot brownies, man.â
âOh.â Ian giggles, too. âI think youâre right.â
Mickey looks up, and the stars seem shinier, the way they always do when heâs stoned. He chances a look over at Ian.
Ianâs eyes are the brightest thing heâs ever seen.
âJesus,â Mickey whispers to himself, because this is a terribly, horrible idea, he gets sappy and clingy when heâs high, all his fucking walls come down and he shouldnât be like this around Ian. Not when he wants to touch Ian so fucking bad. His limbs feel light and loose, like he wants to wrap them around Ian and never let go, like Mickey is a moth drawn to the warmth of Ianâs fire, or maybe itâs the other way around. Either way, somethingâs gonna end up in flames.
Mickey moves quickly, like lightning, and he catches the end of Ianâs laugh between his teeth, he pushes Ian to the ground and kisses him hard, because his eyes are bright and thereâs no one around and Ianâs lips on his feel like a lock clicking into place, like the world is suddenly balanced and Mickey canât fight it, never could.
They kiss slowly. Itâs long and dragging and lazy and Mickey could probably do this forever. Ian tastes like chocolate and the stupid watermelon chapstick he borrows from Debbie and the crisp smell of fresh air.
Ian pulls back, for a second, his eyelids fluttering open to gaze up at Mickey.
âHi,â he breathes, into the space that separates them, the gap between their lips that Mickey was always so afraid to fill, because cities would collapse and buildings would ignite if he did, until Mickey realized it was the opposite. Not kissing Ian would bring the true disasters, the kind that would eat and burn and tear away at his heart until there was nothing left.
Mickey takes a deep breath. âHi.â
He takes another breath, his heart spinning in his chest, and keeps going, because of the brownies and the fact that his head is fuzzy and thereâs nothing stopping him anymore.
âI think I might be in love with you,â Mickey whispers, like itâs a fucking secret, the weed making him say things he never would otherwise.
âOh,â is all Ian says.
âIsnât that fucked up,â Mickey continues, more to himself than anything, and he untangles himself from Ian and sinks down onto the ground next to him. âIan, you canât -â
Mickeyâs breath catches in his throat, because Ian turns to look at him, their faces half-smushed against the dead grass of the backyard, their noses practically brushing, and he swipes a gentle thumb down Mickeyâs face, touching Mickey like heâs something strong and fragile, all at the same time.
He usually breathes better when Ianâs around, he forgets his fear and just sinks into the peaceful quiet that Ian brings with him, he forgets how to twitch nervously, he forgets that his life is a train sliding off the rails, he forgets how to run away. Then Ian touches him, and itâs not like he canât breathe, exactly, but itâs like all his breath bottles itself up and tries to escape, all at once. Thereâs a difference, Mickey thinks.
âYou canât trust me. Donât. Donât trust me. I think I love you, but I donât know what to do with that.â
Mickey doesnât even trust himself not to break both of their hearts. He doesnât know how Ian ever could. Then again, Ian always saw the bright side, was ever the fucking optimist. And thatâs where Mickey screwed up, he fell in love with Ian, and the way he always fucking believed things could get better, and Mickey doesnât want to be the one to erase that.
(Mickeyâs already been to juvie twice, heâs already fucked up too many times to count, and he wants to point that out to Ian now, that heâs already left twice and itâll inevitably happen again. Ian canât possibly trust him to stay.
Except, Mickey doesnât say that. Because he knows what Ian will say back, has already planned out the whole fucking conversation in his head. Ian will argue that even though Mickey got himself locked up, he came back both times. If they got through that, Ian would say, why canât they get through the next fucking challenge that their shitty lives throw at them.
And thatâs where theyâre different. An optimist and a boy whoâs screwed for life, too fucking in love to stop themselves from falling off a cliff.
Mickey thinks itâs almost funny.)
âOkay,â Ian says, his hand still warm against Mickeyâs skin. âOkay.â
âI donât want you tangled up with this. With me.â
Ian laughs. âI think itâs too late. Weâre stuck with each other.â
Mickey doesnât respond, he just rolls back on top of Ian and takes his face between his hands, kissing the taste of brownies out of his mouth.
They rock back and forth against the grass for a while, until Ian unbuttons his pants and undoes Mickeyâs too, and the grass feels nice against their skin.
âWill you fuck me?â Ian asks, quietly.
âOkay, yeah,â Mickey bites out against his neck, and he fishes the small bottle of lube and a condom from the pocket of Ianâs discarded pants, and he gets to work.
He fucks Ian slow and sweet, the way Ian likes it, and he catches Ianâs small noises with his mouth, sliding his hands up and down Ianâs cock to draw them out. The weed makes him lazy, makes him take his time, makes him do stupid shit like whimper and smile and kiss the gentle slope of Ianâs collarbone.
âMickey,â Ian whines softly, over and over.
Mickey is so overwhelmed, so wrapped up in everything Ian Gallagher, surrounded by this boy who taught Mickey that heâs not actually a coward, and fuck, he knows heâs in love.
âIan,â he gasps out, as he comes, and Ian spills out over his hand, and they fall together into the grass, the good kind of falling, not the kind that Mickeyâs afraid of.
âI think I kinda love you too,â Ian says thoughtfully, into the planes of Mickeyâs chest. âGot it?â
He doesnât know what else to say, he doesnât know how to convince Ian that this isnât a good thing, because Ian just isnât wired that way. He doesnât see that this is just the eye of the storm.
Ian presses a soft kiss into Mickeyâs skin, and it makes something flicker inside his hollow chest. Mickey wonders if maybe the Ian he argues with inside his head has a point. They do have a knack for finding their way back to each other.
He knows love isnât magic, he knows it doesnât fix everything.
It doesnât stop him from hoping that the other shoe never drops, that he never gives Ian another reason not to trust him, that everything works out okay.
Mickeyâs never gonna be the optimist Ian is, but it doesnât mean that he never has hope.