Ian steps into the bitter air, pulling his gloves and hat on, making sure the hat covers his ears. He barely glances at the 00:00:00 tattoo on his right wrist nowadays and today is no exception as he makes sure his gloves cover his wrists. He wraps the scarf around his neck, tucks his scarf into his jacket, zips up the jacket, and takes off down the street, focusing on staying warm in the brutal Chicago winter.

Ian dreads meeting up with Lip for their weekly breakfast. Lip's going to talk all about his soulmate most of time anyway, leaving Ian feeling miserable. He's happy for his brother, he really is. Lip's soulmate is actually working out; unlike Ian's and Fiona's.

He passes by several couples on his way to Patsy's, holding hands and smiling. He can't help but wonder if they were soulmates, the unmatched, or those like Ian whose soulmates left them and decided to live life without them. Ian snorts at the thought of his soulmate and keeps walking, trying his best to ignore the couples and secretly hoping it doesn't work out. He's feeling very cynical lately. He guesses three years without a soulmate does that.

Ian makes it to Patsy's and shakes the snow off, hanging up his jacket and scarf. Lip waves at him at their regular booth and Ian wants to roll his eyes at the site of the infinity tattoo on his brother's right wrist. He walks over, taking his gloves off and stuffing them in his pockets then sits across from Lip, immediately taking a sip of the coffee in front of him, trying to warm his body temperature up.

"God, it's freezing out," he says, setting the coffee down and rubbing his hands together. "And it's not much warmer in the house."

"Did you guys forget to pay the electric bill again? 'Cause if you need the money, I can pitch in," Lip offers, going to pull out his wallet.

Ian shakes his head, stopping him. "We're fine. We paid it. On time too."

"That's a Gallagher first."

Ian laughs, nodding. "Fiona and I think the heater might be going out soon but we just can't swing it right now."

"If it goes out, call me," Lip insists. "I can't have you guys freezing to death."

Ian rolls his eyes. "Yes, Dad." Lip glares at him, hating that Ian just compared him to Frank but Ian loves it. He loves teasing Lip and calling Lip dad whenever Lip tries to take of them.

Lip is a special Gallagher. He's the only one that has gotten out of the South Side. He's currently in school for engineering and already has a job lined up with his internship. He helps Fiona and Ian out when they let him. They are still at the Gallagher house raising their younger siblings, trying to give them a better childhood than they did. Lip sends them a check once a week and promises once he has a full time job, he'll get them out of South Side. Fiona made Lip promise to get Debbie, Carl, and Liam out before her and Ian. She says they're too old to have their brother help them but Lip knows she's just too proud.

Lip met his soulmate, Ella, almost a year ago. He bumped into her in the lobby of his internship that he works at during his summer and winter breaks. His sleeve was pulled down and he didn't realize she was his soulmate. He walked away from her after apologizing for running into her. She ran after him, pulling his sleeve up and showed him the infinity sign that had formed. She asked him to coffee and he agreed. Lip fell in love with her almost instantly. She was funny, smart, kind, and knew what it was like to be poor. They hit it off immediately. It took him months before he got around to bringing her over to meet his siblings and only did so because he got annoyed with Fiona's constant begging. Ella immediately fit right in to his crazy, loud family. He is currently the only Gallagher who's soulmate hasn't left him and it's actually working out.

Lip runs a hand through his hair, his tattoo flickering. Ian glances at it then averts his eyes. He inadvertently pulls down the sleeve of his shirt. The infinity sign was torturing him. Lip notices his brother's reaction and drops his hand quickly.

"You know, you could join a support group for those who lost their soulmates," Lip says. It isn't the first time Lip has brought it up and it definitely won't be the last. He's always mentioned it but he started mentioning it a lot more when he met Ella. He is driving Ian nuts with it.

Ian scoffs at the idea. "Aren't those for people whose soulmates died and not ones whose soulmates thought they were too much to handle?"

Lip shrugs. "You'll never know if you don't try."

"I'm fine, Lip," Ian assures him for the countless time. "I'm in a good place right now. Just a little bitter, that's all."

"It's been three years, Ian, and you have yet to move past this. It's not healthy."

Ian motions one of the waitresses over, putting an end to the conversation. Lip just didn't get it. Lip's soulmate wants to be with him. She doesn't think he's damaged.

Soulmates don't always work out the way Fiona painted it when they were little. Lip and Ian would curl up in Fiona's too small bed and she would tell them all these amazing stories about soulmates. People that would watch the time on their wrist, watching the countdown, waiting to see who that person is when it reaches zero, then watching the time change to an infinity sign. Ian would trace the numbers on Fiona's wrist, imagining the day he would meet his soulmate.

As they grew older, they realized the infinity sign didn't always mean forever. The infinity sign would change back if one of the soulmates leaves. They saw it first hand with Frank and Monica. Monica would leave constantly and their tattoos would change each time she left. Instead of building each other up, they tore each other down. Then they saw it again with Fiona, saw that it almost broke her.

But then there were the soulmates where the infinity signs never changed. Kevin and Veronica were the one good example of this in Ian's life. Their tattoos never faded, they stayed as clear as ever.

Having a countdown tattoo on your wrist could be very stressful at times. Some people hated it and would end up covering the tattoo, leaving their first meeting up to fate. Most looked forward to watching the time go down and get closer to meeting the one, curious to see who that person is when the countdown reaches zero.

Lip changes the conversation after the waitress takes their order but the new conversation is all about Lip and his soulmate. Ian tries to keep a happy front, he really does. He forces smiles and nods, making comments here and there. When it gets to be too much, he finishes his breakfast and coffee and stands up.

"I gotta go. My shift starts soon," he says, pulling out his wallet.

"I got it, man," Lip stops him and pays like always.

"Thanks, man."

"Hey, wait." Lip pulls a pamphlet out of his back pocket and hands it to Ian.

Ian groans at the title, So you lost your Soulmate?. "Seriously?"

"Just think about it."

"Fuck you," Ian says, flipping Lip off before walking away.

His favorite coworker and partner, Sue, greets him when he walks into the station. He nods at her, heading to his locker. He takes off his big winter jacket and changes into his EMT button down and his EMT jacket, stuffing the stupid pamphlet into the locker, hoping they're get lost with the others. He heads back to the front where Sue is sitting in the ambulance.

"Morning, Gallagher," she greets, handing him a cup of tea. "How was your breakfast with your dick of a brother?"

"He wouldn't shut up about his stupid soulmate and when he wasn't talking about her, he was trying to convince me to go to a stupid support group," Ian grumbles. "Gave me another fucking pamphlet."

Sue laughs, clapping Ian on the shoulder. "He's still in the honeymoon phase. It's been what? A year? I was like that the first year with Jim. I wanted everyone to feel what I was feeling and be happy."

"Yeah, but I did have that. For a little while at least," Ian mumbles, looking down.

"Jesus, sorry, kid. I didn't mean it like that," Sue backtracks, squeezing Ian's shoulder. "But he just wants you to be happy without your soulmate. And you can be."

A call comes in, breaking up the conversation. Ian jumps up, getting the ambulance ready before Sue says anything else. Sue drives quickly to the call and is barely in park when Ian jumps out of the ambulance, his bag over his shoulder.

Ian rushes into Albi, pushing past the regulars. He makes his way to the where Kevin and Veronica are waiting for him.

"Hey, Ian," V greets, smiling at him. They lead him to the back room where Mickey Milkovich is sitting on top of the freezer, his hand wrapped in what Ian is sure use to be a white towel.

"What happened?" Ian asks, pushing past V to get to Mickey.

"I'm fine," Mickey mumbles, trying to push Ian away.

"Yeah, the now red towel attests to that," V snorts. "He cut his hand while pulling a bottle out of a box. Didn't know it was broken until he hissed and pulled out a bloody hand."

"It's just a fucking scratch," Mickey protests when Ian pulls off the towel.

"You got injured on the job. We can't take any chances," Kev says. "We've been in enough trouble. You can help, right?"

Ian hums and nods at the comments, cleaning up Mickey's wounds so he can get a better look at the cut. He knows of Mickey through his sister Mandy. They hung out some when Mandy was Ian's beard but stopped when Mickey dropped out, got married, and had a kid. Ian still keeps up with Mandy but only sees Mickey when he comes to the Albi every once in a while. "It's pretty deep, Mickey, you need stitches."

"I'm not going to a fucking hospital," Mickey snatches his hand away from Ian and applies more pressure on it to try to stop the bleeding himself.

"You're getting stitches, Milkovich," V threatens, giving him at look that Ian knows she uses when the twins aren't behaving.

Ian hums, turning to look at Sue. She shrugs, leaning against the door, her way of letting him know that she doesn't care. Ian turns back to Mickey, taking his hand again and looking at the cut. "I can do them here."

Mickey lets out a breathe then nods. He glares at Kev and V, who take it as a sign to leave.

Ian shifts, grabbing his bag and pulling out all the things he needs. He grabs some alcohol wipes and cleans the wound, causing Mickey to suck in a breath. "Sorry," he mumbles, cleaning up the blood that has dried on Mickey's right hand where Mickey had use to try to stop the bleeding. His eyes flicker to Mickey's 00:00:00 tattoo before getting back to work on his left hand.

Ian quickly stitches him up and wraps his hand up. "You need to change your bandage tomorrow," he tells him, standing up. "And I will know if you don't."

Mickey scoffs. "Yeah, how's that?"

Ian looks down at him, raising his eyebrows, giving him a look to say he will call Mandy.

"Fine. I'll change it. Happy?" Mickey rolls his eyes, standing up.

Ian nods, grinning slightly. He steps back, leaving Sue to hand Mickey the paperwork. Mickey quickly signs and shoves it back into Sue's hand. Ian shifts his bag on his shoulder, turning to leave.

"Hey."

Mickey's voice stops him, forcing him to look back and raise his eyebrows at him.

"Thanks," Mickey says.

Ian smiles, nodding then turning around.

The rest of Ian's shift is uneventful. He tells Sue goodbye then heads back out into the cold, bundling back up. The living room light of the Gallagher house is still on, telling him that Fiona is waiting up for him. Ian stomps the snow of his boots on the porch then heads inside, engulfed in warmth when he opens the door. He pulls off all the many layers then collapses on the couch next to Fiona.

"Rough shift?" she asks, handing him part of the blanket she is bundled up in.

He shakes his head, curling up in the blanket. "Not really. The most exciting part was giving Mickey Milkovich stitches."

"He willingly let you do that?" Fiona asks, surprised.

Ian shrugs. "Kev and V sort of didn't give him a choice since he was injured on the job." Ian pulls the blanket up to his chin, trying to warm up. "V gave him her mom stare."

Fiona laughs. "It is pretty scary."

Ian hums, looking up at the TV show Fiona is watching. When it doesn't catch his eye, he turns back to Fiona. "Kids in bed?"

"Yeah, finally. Debbie had a book report and was working on it pretty late but she ended up giving up a few minutes ago."

"Good. So Lip gave me a fucking pamphlet today."

"Let me guess. It's the So you lost your Soulmate? one?" Fiona asks.

Ian nods. Fiona burst out laughing, leaning forward to grab something off the coffee table. She leans back, throwing the same pamphlet in his lap.

"That fucker," Ian mumbles, grabbing the pamphlet and opening it up.

"He dropped it off this afternoon when he dropped of Liam. He tried to give me the whole speech and everything but I shoved him out the door," Fiona tells him.

Ian laughs, flinging the pamphlet away when he sees a picture of a smiling couple. "He just can't keep his nose out of our lives, can he?"

"He only wants what's best for us," Fiona says in a mocking tone causing Ian to laugh even harder.

They quiet down after hearing a small squeak up above them. Fiona focuses on her TV show while Ian plays with the blanket.

"Do you think maybe Lip's right?" he asks quietly.

Fiona looks back at him, surprised.

"I mean it's been three years for me. Almost seven for you," Ian continues. "Maybe it's time for us to move on. I mean, they aren't coming back. They made that pretty fucking clear."

Fiona makes a noise, pulling her right hand out of the blanket. She flips it over, looking at her wrist where the 00:00:00 tattoo matches Ian's. Ian traces the numbers with his fingers, like he used to do when they were little and curled up in her bed. He intertwines their fingers, squeezing her hand. Fiona smiles softly, squeezing his hand and leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Ian? Fi?"

The two older siblings turn to find their younger brother at the foot of the stairs. Liam rubs his eyes, one of his pajama pants leg at his knee and only wearing one sock.

"Hey, I thought you were asleep," Fiona says, sitting up and holding her arms out.

Liam immediately goes to her, climbing into her lap. Fiona covers him with a blanket, rubbing his arms to warm him up. Liam shakes her off, holding out his right arm to Ian. Ian gives him a questioning look so Liam pulls up his sleeves, showing his countdown.

"The wrapping came off in the shower. Can you cover it back up?" Liam asks.

"Yeah, bud," Ian leans forward, kissing Liam's head then gets up to go get his backpack.

After Ian's soulmate left three years ago, Debbie took it upon herself to start covering up her countdown. She said she wanted to be surprised when she ran into her soulmate. She didn't want a clock ticking down. Soon after, Carl and Liam also asked to have their countdowns covered. None of them got the sugarcoated version of soulmates like Lip and Ian did when they were younger. They saw quickly and at a very young age how soulmates can ruin another person. Ian's pretty sure they just started covering it up in support of him and Fiona.

"There you go," Ian says once he finishes wrapping up Liam's wrist.

"Thanks," he answers, rubbing his wrist. "The kids at school ask why I cover it up."

"What did you tell them?" Fiona asks.

Liam shrugs. "That I don't want to know when it happens so maybe I won't be disappointed."

Fiona sucks in a breath, looking at Ian. Ian gives her a knowing look and the guilt rushes over him. They are setting a bad example for their younger brother. "Hey," Fiona starts, shifting Liam so he is in-between her and Ian. She wraps her arms around his shoulder, knocking her knee against his. "Soulmates can be wonderful things and sometimes it works out beautifully. Look at V and K. They've been together since they found each other. But you don't need a soulmate to be happy."

"But you and Ian aren't happy," Liam tells her.

"Who says we're not?" Ian asks.

Liam shrugs. "I can tell."

Ian looks at Fiona again, her face looking like he felt. "Just because Fiona and I aren't with our soulmates, doesn't mean we aren't happy. It's just-"

"Our soulmates didn't leave us in good places," Fiona finishes. "And it's hard to recover from that but we're working on it. Working on being happy. Okay?"

Liam nods. "Yeah, I know. I just don't want you two to not find anyone because you're too busy worrying about me."

"Shit, he figured us out," Ian teases, grinning at Fiona.

"We've been made," Fiona joins in, tickling Liam.

Liam laughs, shrugging to get out of her grasp.

The next morning, Fiona corners Ian in the kitchen. "Lip's right, we need to move on." She hands him the pamphlet and another one Lip had given them a few weeks ago.

Ian sighs, taking the pamphlets out of her hands.

"They're meeting today at noon," Fiona says. "We should go."

Ian looks down at the pamphlets then looks up, watching Liam eat his cereal with a thick bandage on his wrist. Debbie is standing in front of Carl, wrapping his wrist up in a bandage. Ian could see the edge of a bandage under Debbie's long sleeve shirt. Ian sighs and nods. "Okay, I'll meet you there."

Fiona and Ian both go to support group but it ends up being a bad idea. Most of the people are those whose soulmates died not because they left them. The leader of the group notices Ian struggling during the meeting and tells him about a single's group instead and that it's meeting right after this one. Ian glances over his shoulder to tell Fiona but his sister is walking out the door with a guy on her arm. Ian rolls his eyes and stays for the single group.

The single's group is a little bit better than the support group. There's only one other gay guy and he immediately asks Ian to meet up. That's how Ian finds himself in the Albi that Friday night waiting on the guy to show up.

"Gallagher," Mickey greets when Ian sits down at the bar.

"Mickey," Ian nods, asking for a beer.

"Waiting for your asshole brother?" Mickey asks, handing him a beer.

"Does no one actually like Lip?" Ian asks, confused. "Sue pretty much said the same thing the other day."

"Nope. That dude's a dick to everyone."

Ian rolls his eyes. "I get it but no. I'm waiting for my well, I guess date."

Mickey raises his eyebrows, crossing his arms "You're not sure?"

"He's from my single's group," Ian mumbles. "Hey! It's better than support group!" Ian defends when Mickey starts laughing.

"Why the fuck did you join either one?" Mickey asks, grinning in amusement.

"Fiona and I are worried we're setting a bad example with the kids," Ian answers. When Mickey gives him a questioning look, he continues. "They keep their countdowns covered and Liam doesn't want to be disappointed in his soulmate. He's eight."

Mickey whistles, straighten up. "Jesus, Frank and Monica really fucked you guys up."

Ian shakes his head. "It wasn't them." He flips over his right wrist, showing off his zeros.

Mickey's eyes flicker to them then back to Ian. "So? The whole soulmate concept is stupid. I've seen more cases where they don't work out than the ones that do."

"Yeah, not something you should tell an eight year old," Ian mutters. He takes a sip of his beer and nods at Mickey's left hand. "How's the hand?"

Mickey holds up his still bandage-up hand. "I got the ex to change the bandages like you said. Ready for the stitches to be out."

"I can look at it later and see how's it healing. You need to be careful with it tonight and not tear the stitches out," Ian tells him.

Mickey rolls his eyes at him. "Jesus Christ, you're worse than V."

Ian and Mickey continue to talk while Ian waits on his date. Mickey leaves him every so often to check on other customers and refill their drinks but he always makes his back to Ian. Over two hours later, Mickey looks at the watch. "I think you've been stood up, man."

Ian looks down at his phone and groans. "Probably for the best. Lip isn't going to be happy."

"Not your fault the guy didn't show."

Ian shrugs. "Yeah, well."

"Ian?"

Ian turns in his spot to see the tall, blond man from single's group behind him. Blaine reaches his hand out. "I'm so sorry I'm late. My dog got away from me and I had to find him."

"Oh, it's no problem," Ian shakes his hand then stands up, grabbing his beer. "Want to find a booth?"

"Yeah."

Blaine orders a beer then follows Ian to a corner booth.

Thirty minutes later, Ian is back at the bar with an empty glass. Mickey walks over, taking the empty glass and filling it back up.

"Where's the dude?" he asks. "What's his name?" Mickey snaps his fingers, acting like he's trying to remember Ian's date's name.

"Blaine," Ian says, rolling his eyes. "Fucker ran off."

Mickey raises his eyebrows, silently asking why.

Ian flips his wrist over, rubbing the zero tattoos. "I uh- told him about my bipolar disorder."

"And that scared him off?" He has no reaction to Ian's confession. Ian guesses he knows about his bipolar through Mandy.

Ian nods, drowning the beer. He sets the glass down, rubbing his head. "It's a part of me and I'm not afraid of it anymore. I figured it would be better to be up front about it. I was wrong."

"Fuck him, man." Mickey places a bowl of mixed nuts in front of him and a glass of water, knowing Ian had his limit.

"Thanks," he mumbles, taking a sip of water.

Ian wants to quit single's group after the disaster of the blind date. Fiona tries to talk him out of it and Lip gives him another damn pamphlet. He rips the pamphlet up and quits the stupid single's group. He doesn't tell any of his siblings even though he knows Fiona would be supportive of his decision no matter what. Instead he spends those times at the Albi at the bar with Mickey.

Mickey and him develop a weird friendship over the weeks of Ian lying to his family. Ian even makes sure Mickey keeps his cut clean and takes the stitches out for him. Sometimes Ian thinks Mickey is flirting with him but then he remembers he was married to a woman and he must be seeing things.

One night, Ian is keeping Mickey company during his long shift at the Albi. He is sitting at his regular spot at the bar with a beer in hand, telling Mickey Debbie and Carl's crazy antics this week when a small blur runs up.

"Daddy!" The blur squeaks and a small, blonde boy climbs up on the barstool, grinning up at Mickey. "Daddy, Mommy says I get to stay with you this weekend!"

Mickey raises his eyebrows, glancing at the front door where his ex-wife is walking in. "Yeah, you do. What's our plans?"

"Stay up all night, watch movies, read, and eat candy!" The boy grins.

"Yevgeny, don't run off like that again," Svetlana scolds when she makes her way over to the bar.

"Sorry, Mommy." The boy pouts, his eyes wide.

"I told you to drop him off after my shift. What's he going to do for two hours?" Mickey asks, crossing his arms.

"You figure it out. I must work," Svetlana retorts. She kisses Yevgeny's head then is out of the door before Mickey can open his mouth.

"Shit," Mickey curses under his breath.

Yevgeny gasps. "Daddy, no cursing!"

"Sorry, bud," Mickey says as Ian laughs. Mickey glares at him. "Hey, Yev, why don't you go upstairs and watch TV until I get off?"

"But Mommy said I can't be left alone," Yevgeny pouts.

"Then she should of thought of that before bringing you in the middle of my shift."

"I can watch him," Ian speaks up.

Mickey looks at him. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, I'm not doing anything and I kept my brothers and sister all the time. Liam was basically raised by Fiona, Lip and I," Ian says. He turns to the young boy and leans down. "Hey, Yevgeny. I'm your dad's friend, Ian. Want to hang out with me while your daddy works? We can watch any movie you want."

"Yeah!" Yevgeny shouts then turns to Mickey. "Can I, Daddy? Please?"

Mickey sighs. "Yeah, go."

Yevgeny jumps off the barstool and runs up the stairs before Ian is off the stool. Ian laughs, shaking his head.

"Hey," Mickey stops him before he heads up, handing him a water to replace his beer. "He'll probably crash in like thirty minutes."

Ian nods, taking the water and heading upstairs to join the boy.

Mickey is right, Yevgeny crashes within thirty minutes. Ian turns down the TV and watches it until Mickey comes stumbling upstairs around one in the morning. He thanks Ian, picks up the young boy, and both of them head out.

Ian's barely at home and asleep when his phone starts ringing. He feels around for it, groaning when he sees the time is a little after three in the morning. "Hello?"

"He's burning up and I don't know what to do!"

Ian groans, sitting up and looking around his dark room. "Mickey?"

"I can't take him to the hospital and I don't know what to do."

Ian groans, rubbing his hand down his face. "Mickey, calm down. And slow down. What's wrong?"

"It's Yevgeny. He's burning up."

"I'm on my way." Ian stumbles out of bed, throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt then is out the door with his bag in hand. He makes his way to Mickey's apartment in record time; Mickey's waiting at the door with Yevgeny in his arms. Ian immediately takes the boy in his arms and lays him on the couch. He takes his temperature and cringes at the results.

"Mickey, he has a 102 fever. He needs to go to the emergency room," Ian says.

Mickey crosses his arms and shakes his head. "No. He's staying here, okay. You can help him."

Ian sighs but doesn't argue with him. He gives Yevgeny fever reducer and helps Mickey change him into some light clothes. Mickey takes him back to his bed and sits down beside the bed.

"Now what?" he asks, running his hands through Yevgeny's hair.

"We wait, watch him to make sure he doesn't get any worse, take his temperature again in a few hours, and make sure he stays hydrated," Ian says.

"Fuck," Mickey whispers, putting his head in his hands.

"I'll be in the living room," Ian tries to back out of the room but Mickey stops him, begging him to stay in case something happens. Ian argues with him but eventually gives up, pulling up a chair and sitting by the bed.

"Liam use to get fevers a lot," Ian says after a few minutes. "He would get really fussy and we could never get him to sleep when he had one. We would take shifts, trying to get him to sleep but we would just end up on the couch with him watching late night TV."

"Why did he get them so much?"

Ian shrugged. "He was sick a lot after Fiona's soulmate left and the accident. It was also around the time of my diagnosis so a lot of it fell on Lip's plate."

"Accident?"

Ian glances up at Mickey's question, raising his eyebrows. "You don't know? I thought it was all over the neighborhood when it happened. Liam got into some cocaine Fiona left lying around. He was in the hospital for three days."

"Shit," Mickey whispers. "But he's okay?"

Ian nods. "Yeah, perfectly healthy. Almost as smart as Lip. That whole time was a fucking disaster. I-uh," Ian stops, looking down at his hands. "I don't remember a lot of it. That just sticks out the most."

Mickey is silent and Ian's sure he wants to ask him more questions but Ian avoids looking up. That part of his life seems too heavy for a guy he hangs out with when he lies to his family.

But Mickey doesn't ask anymore questions. He stays silent. Ian finally breaks the silence and asks him a question. "Why didn't you hear about it? Debbie said people talked about it for months especially when Fiona was arrested and almost lost guardianship of us."

Mickey nods to Yevgeny. "This guy took up a lot of my time. Terry had just died and Svet forced me into getting a job over the table. Didn't want to risk anything with this one."

"I remember when Terry died," Ian mumbles. "Mandy came to find me and we stayed up all night, drinking and smoking. Fiona and Lip got so mad at me when they found out I drank on my meds."

Mickey was quiet, staring down at his son. "Thanks for being there for Mandy. I-uh-wasn't there for her when she needed me. I'm glad she had someone."

Ian bowed his head. "I disappointed her. Left her when she needed me the most. I don't deserve to have her as a best friend."

"Hey, man, don't do that to yourself," Mickey shook his head. "Mandy loves you. More than me that's for sure."

Ian disagrees. "You're her brother. She loves you."

Mickey shrugs, running his hand through Yevgeny's hair. "She told me what happened. She doesn't blame you. If she did, she would know."

Ian figures he was right. Mandy never holds back and always lets people know what she's thinking. Ian leans back in the chair, crossing his arms and trying to get comfortable, knowing it was going to be a long night. The next few hours, neither Mickey nor Ian sleep, instead they watch Yevgeny. The boy tosses and turns and wakes up two hours later, crying.

Ian takes his temperature and forces Yevgeny to drink water. Yevgeny whines and protests, reaching for Mickey. Mickey rubs his back and talks him into drinking a few sips of water. Yevgeny eventually obeys and takes a few sips. Ian tells him that he needs to drink the whole glass. After more protesting and crying, Yevgeny finishes the water and falls back to sleep.

"Shit, this is going to be a long night," Mickey mumbles, tucking the boy back in.

Ian nods off in the chair, his shifts and late nights out catching up with him. He jerks awake when Yevgeny starts crying.

"He's sweating," Mickey tells him, holding the boy in his arms.

Ian groans, standing up. He walks over to Mickey and the boy, placing his hand on Yevgeny's forehead. "His fever's breaking." He kneels down, moving his hand to Yevgeny's neck. "Hey, bud, can I check your temperature again?"

Yevgeny whimpers but nods. He willingly lets Ian take him from Mickey. Ian adjusts Yevgeny in his arms and takes his temperature. He sighs in relief when the thermometer says 99 degrees.

"It's almost back to normal," he tells Mickey. "He should take another fever reducer in a few hours and he needs to drink more water but he's going to be okay."

Mickey sighs in relief and takes Yevgeny back in his arms. "Here that, buddy, you're going to be fine." Yevgeny sniffles and snuggles up against Mickey's neck. Mickey kisses the side of his head and looks at Ian. "Thanks, man."

"Yeah," Ian nods, crossing his arms. His phone starts ringing and Ian curses as he pulls the phone out to see his sister's name flashing across the screen. "Shit, it's Fiona. She's probably freaking out."

"Go. I think I got this."

"Are you sure? I can tell Fiona and stay until he's temperature's back to normal."

Mickey shakes his head, adjusting Yevgeny in his arms. "I can handle him."

"Okay," Ian hesitates. "Call me if he gets any worse. I'll be over later to check on him. If I can get away from Fiona that is."

"Yeah, okay," Mickey says. "Thanks again."

Ian smiles and nods. He pats Yevgeny on the back before grabbing his jacket and heading back to his house. Fiona is pacing around the living room when he walks in the door.

"Ian! Holy fuck, where have you been?" she cries.

Ian ignores her, hanging up his coat and placing his bag down. He walks past her and into the kitchen, grabbing a mug and filling it up full of coffee. He takes a long sip before turning back to her.

"I was worried sick," Fiona says, crossing her arms. "Where were you? Did you even come home last night?"

"Yes, I came home for a few hours but Mickey called around three. Yevgeny was running a fever and didn't want to take him to the ER. I stayed at his house the rest of the night," Ian explains, leaning against the counter.

"Jesus, is the kid okay?" Fiona calms down, leaning against the fridge.

"Yeah, his fever was down to 99 when you called. I'm going to get some sleep then go back by there later today."

Fiona nods, looking down at the floor. She swings her foot a bit then crosses it over the other foot. She looks back up, sighing. "I'm sorry for freaking out. It's just-"

"I get it, Fi," he stops her, giving her a smile.

Fiona nods again, pushing herself off the fridge. "I have the dinner shift. Can you handle dinner?"

"Yeah, I'll be fully awake by then."

Fiona laughs, shaking her head as she walks away.

Ian finishes his cup of coffee, washes his mug, and heads upstairs to get some sleep. A few hours later, Debbie is shaking him awake. He groans, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "I'm up," he mumbles.

"Mickey Milkovich is here to see you," Debbie says, raising her eyebrows at him.

"What?"

"And you're supposed to be handling dinner."

Ian's forehead furrows in confusion. "What?"

Debbie rolls her eyes, throwing her hands up in annoyance. "Jesus Christ," she mumbles as she turns around and leaves.

Ian groans, rubbing his head. He stands up, grabbing a sweatshirt and throwing it on before heading downstairs. Debbie is right. Mickey is standing in their kitchen. Carl is sitting at the barstool, watching him very intently.

"Hey," Ian greets, walking over to the fridge and pulling out things he needed for supper. "How's Yevgeny?"

"He's better. Svetlana freaked out when I told her and picked him up." Ian can feel his eyes on him as he looks through the fridge.

He shuts the fridge door, spinning around to face Mickey. "Shit, sorry, man. There goes your weekend with him."

Mickey shrugs. "Depending on how he feels, she'll probably drop him off Monday."

"That's good," Ian turns to Carl. "Go get Liam and you two need to gather all your dirty clothes and start washing them."

Carl turns up his nose. "Do we have to?"

"Yes, and Debbie too."

Carl groans, not moving from his spot.

"Carl, go," Ian raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms.

Carl sighs and gets up, running up the stairs and yelling for Liam and Debbie.

Ian rolls his eyes at the noise, turning the oven on to preheat. "Sorry about that. Fiona's working tonight so I'm on kid duty."

"Yeah, I get that," Mickey mumbles, chewing on his thumbnail. "Hey, um, thanks for everything. Svet and I can't really afford the emergency room and neither one of us has insurance."

"I get it," Ian answers, gesturing to the house and all the work that needs to be done to it. "We only got insurance maybe five years ago."

"But anyway, thanks. It means a lot that you came over to help," Mickey continues chewing his thumbnail. "I -uh don't really know how to repay you."

Ian stops what he's doing and turns to Mickey. "Repay me? Mickey, I'm just helping out a friend. It's no big deal."

"Yeah, but I feel like I owe you, man. I mean, you helped my kid."

Ian leans against the counter, crossing his arms and cocking his head. There it was again. He still can't tell if Mickey is flirting with him so Ian takes matters into his own hands. "How about a drink then? With you not behind a bar?"

"Uh, yeah, okay."

The corner of Ian's mouth turns up in a smile when he sees Mickey blush. "Great. Fiona gets off at ten. Meet you at the Albi at 10:30?"

"Yeah," Mickey nods. "Yeah, see you then." He nods at Ian one more time then walks out.

Ian grins, watching him walk out.

"What's wrong with your face?"

Ian jerks out of his thoughts to find Debbie, Carl, and Liam staring at him with their arms full of laundry. "What?"

"You have this dopey look on your face," Carl says, arching his eyebrows. "You look high. Are you?"

"What? No!"

"Do you like Mickey Milkovich?" Debbie asks, raising her eyebrows.

"What? We're just friends," Ian turns around and continues cooking supper, trying to ignore his younger siblings.

"Since when?" He hears Debbie ask.

"Just start a load of laundry and can someone help with the dirty dishes?"

Ian makes it through dinner and the rest of the night without the kids bothering him. When Fiona gets home, Ian bundles up and heads out to meet Mickey at the Albi. He spots Mickey in a corner booth, already nursing a beer.

"Hey," Ian greets, shedding off a few layers. "Jesus, it's freezing out. Going outside nowadays takes a lot of effort."

"Yeah, dressing the kid has been a pain lately," Mickey agrees. "I had to come in for a little bit to help Kev out so I didn't order you anything."

"That's okay. I'll flag him down." Ian gets Kev's attention and gestures for two beers. Kev nods and a few minutes later, he squeezes his way over with two beers.

"Hey, man," Kev slaps Ian across the back after setting the beers down. "Lip said you joined a single's group. Good for you, man."

Mickey snorts into his beer.

"Yeah, about that," Ian starts. "I quit going. It was all straight people anyway."

"Well, I'm sure Lip can find you a LG- whatever the fuck it is now, group," Kev responds.

"God, no," Ian cringes. "Those things are too fucking depressing."

"Fiona seemed to have luck."

Ian rolls his eyes. "Fiona can have luck with anything that walks."

Kev gasps as Mickey almost falls over in laughter. "That's your sister!" Kev yells like it's the biggest scandal he's heard.

"Exactly why I can say it," Ian shrugs. "She would have said the same about me a few years ago."

"Does Lip know you quit?" Kev asks, changing the subject.

Ian shakes his head. "Neither does Fiona. And you cannot tell, Kev, I mean it. If I get another pamphlet, I swear to God, I will burn them and then kill Lip."

Kev throws his hands up in surrender, backing slowly away from the table. Ian rolls his eyes and turns back to Mickey who is still laughing.

"Jesus, Gallagher. I thought the pills were supposed to help the crazy."

Ian laughs. "They're family." It's a simple explanation that Mickey seems to get.

"Ever hear from that Blaine guy again?" Mickey asks, changing the subject.

Ian snorts. "Fuck that dude. Fuck all of them. Fuck dating."

"Wow, someone hasn't had any luck," Mickey grins.

"I've been on maybe a total of five dates in the last three years and they have all ended very badly. One fucker cried over his dead soulmate the whole time."

Mickey sucks in a breathe. "Yikes."

Ian takes a long sip of his beer then nods at Mickey's right wrist. "What about you?"

Mickey shrugs. "With Yev, I didn't get a lot of opportunities to date. Svet set me up with this one guy that called me by his soulmate's name when we fucked."

"Holy fuck." Ian's mind starts racing. Mickey is gay and he was probably flirting with him.

"Yeah, that didn't end well."

Ian shudders at the thought. "Yeah, well I guess you take what you can get when your soulmate abandoned you."

"That's for sure," he says. "But you had time with your soulmate, right?"

Ian shrugs. "Some. He didn't want anything to do with me."

"Fuck," Mickey whispers. "This got real depressing. Want a shot?"

"God, yes."

Mickey motions for Kev to bring them shots. Two shots and two beers later, the lights of the Albi are starting to get to Ian. The noise is too much and he can barely focus on Mickey. He keeps staring at the man causing him to look away.

"I need to head out," Ian says, slowly standing up. "Fiona's going to freak."

"Let me give you a ride," Mickey says, standing up as well and walking beside him.

The cold air hits hard when Ian opens up the door. He shivers and pulls his coat tighter. "Fuck, it's cold."

"Looks like it might snow again," Mickey says, looking up at the overcast sky. He nods over to the left. "I parked over here."

The walk to his car is silent. Ian struggles trying to open the passenger door before he gives up and lets Mickey open it for him. When Mickey gets in, he cranks the heat up for him then tosses him a bag of goldfish that he had in his dashboard.

"Sober up, man, so your sister doesn't kill me or you."

Ian takes the goldfish and eats them quietly on the way to his house. Ian knows Mickey has an apartment that is out of the way from his house but doesn't say anything about it.

Mickey pulls up in front of the house and turns the car off. The house is dark and quiet for once and Ian just stares up at it.

"Walk me up and make sure I don't fall?" Ian immediately regrets the question as soon as it's out of his mouth. But when Mickey nods, there's no turning back now.

He trips over all the stairs up to the house and Mickey catches his elbow each time.

"Shit, man, can you make it up the stairs to your room?" Mickey asks, watching Ian stumble to unlock the door.

Ian makes a low humming noise and finally opens the door. Mickey follows him inside, softly closing the door. Ian catches Mickey's eyes and suddenly they are staring at each other, not sure what to do. Ian's eyes flicker to Mickey's lips and that seems to give Mickey the confidence to step forward. Ian's head is buzzing and not sure what to make of it until their lips meet. He finds himself pushed up against the door and gasps when the doorknob digs into his back but he pulls Mickey closer.

They make out in front of the door for what seems like hours until Ian leads Mickey up to his room. Ian trips on the stairs but he doesn't let go of Mickey until Mickey falls back on Ian's too small of a bed.

They stare at each other for a long time then Ian is pulling off his shirt and pressing his mouth back to Mickey's. It's been so long since he's been held like this, kissed like this. He never wants it to end.

"Fuck, how old is this mattress?" Mickey groans, sitting up and grabbing his back.

Ian sits up slightly, watching Mickey move around. "I think we found it on the street before Liam was born."

"Fuck, no. Next time, we go to my place. I have a fucking king size that's only a year old," Mickey says, throwing his shirt on. "And Jesus, does your heat not work?"

"Next time?" Ian's face breaks out in a huge grin and he scoots to the edge of the bed, trying to find his own shirt.

Mickey clears his throat and doesn't say anything until he zips up his pants and turns to face Ian. "If that's okay?"

Ian tugs on Mickey's belt loops, pulling him to meet his lips. "Yeah, that's okay."