When Mickey called Ian, telling him what he decided, Ian admitted that he'd already found an apartment they could move into, where the old woman who was living there died, so it was partially furnished. He also said he found a factory that was looking for workers, and he would probably be able to get both of them interviews there within the next week.

"A week?" Mickey asked, "You think we could get there in a week?"

"Well, yeah, Mick. All I'd need to do is buy the car."

"Jesus," Mickey muttered. He wouldn't admit it, but he was scared, and the fact that this could all happen in only a week didn't help.

Although, he realized it was probably for the best. Now that he had officially made the plans to leave, there was only so much he could do to prevent Terry from finding out before they were actually gone. And if Svetlana ever found out, she would want all the money he had in exchange for keeping her mouth shut.

Ian did most of the planning. There wasn't much Mickey would be able to do without risking a member of his household finding out. There was no way he'd even be able to pack beforehand, so he could only make a mental list of everything he'd need. He was mostly just worried about remembering everything Sophie needed.

Ian made sure that no one in his family found out about the car he bought, and parked it near the abandoned buildings where he and Mickey used to meet up. He was able to park it in a place where he was sure no one would try to steal it. The car he bought was an old, dark green Volvo Cross Country, with chipped paint, so it already looked like a piece of junk. Then he parked it in a patch of tall grass, so it just looked like an old broken down car.

He knew he was going to have to tell his family that he was leaving sometime. He knew they were still pissed at him for leaving without a word the first time, and he knew that he would be leaving again was horrible, but Mickey needed him more. Plus this time, he was planning on giving proper goodbyes, and even leaving a large chunk of the money he saved up with them.

He decided to tell Lip, before anyone else.

Luckily he was able to catch Lip, by himself, in their room. He checked to make sure Carl, Debbie, or Liam weren't near the hall, and closed the bedroom door.

"Gotta tell you something," Ian said.

Lip looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

"I'm leaving," he said right away.

"What? Again?" He looked confused.

"Uh, yeah."

They were silent for a long moment, just staring at each other.

Lip spoke first, "Well Fiona's gonna be pissed."

"I'm gonna leave some of the money I saved up while I was gone."

Lip nodded a bit. His face was unreadable, as he looked away from Ian.

"I'm leaving with Mickey."

"Figured."

After a moment, he said, "What about his kid?"

"Sophie's coming with us."

"And her mom?"

Ian laughed bitterly, "She won't give a shit. She hates being a mom."

"How do you know?"

Ian shrugged, "Mickey told me."

"So how do you know he's not lying?"

He raised his eyebrows at Lip. "Why would he lie about that?"

"So you wouldn't feel bad about kidnapping her daughter," he offered.

"He wouldn't do that-he wouldn't risk doing something that could get Sophie taken away. Svetlana wouldn't care enough to actually do anything about it."

"So that's it, then?" Lip asked, "You're just going to run away from your family again? This time with your-what?-is he even your boyfriend? Or is he still just some guy you're screwing?"

"Fuck you!" Ian nearly yelled, "Mickey needs me, okay? More than anyone here does. He's never going to leave that house if I don't help him."

Lip sighed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "And what about Fi, huh? Debbie, Carl, Liam?"

"What am I supposed to do-live here for the rest of my life?"

"Yeah- it'd be different if you didn't just come back after leaving three fucking years ago, Ian!"

"I'll leave some money, I'll stay in contact, I'll even send some money when I can! I wasn't just going to up and leave again…"

"Whatever," Lip finally sighed, "You're gonna have to explain that to Fi."

"I was going to."

Lip just nodded.

"You know-how come it's not a big deal when you go and live your own life, but when I do it I'm letting the family down or something?"

Lip smirked, "Because what I'm doing benefits the whole family."

Ian shook his head, "I can't stay here forever."

"Well… we were able to survive without you for three years already, so…"

Ian sighed and sat down. He figured there wasn't much else he could say to Lip, and the fact that he wasn't still yelling at him meant breaking the news had gone better than he thought.

The official plan was to leave in the middle of the night on Friday. Ian would park the car a few blocks away, so there would be no chance of him running into Terry, or anyone who knew Terry.

Mickey had asked Mandy to help that night, if only to help him get a three year old and a few suitcases down the street in the middle of the night, in a neighborhood like theirs. He realized that he might have also just wanted her there for some kind of support.

Mandy actually seemed more excited than he was, and probably was. Mickey wouldn't let himself get excited, not when he had to remember everything that could go wrong at any second. He probably wouldn't let himself get excited until they were on the road, maybe not even until they were in the apartment.

On Wednesday, Ian had decided that he wouldn't put off telling the rest of his family any longer. He waited until they were all at the dinner table together. He was lucky that Lip wasn't there, because he wasn't sure that Lip would've been on his side.

He decided to just blurt it out when the table was already full of chatter.

"I'm moving," he said, despite the fact that literally everyone at the table was talking.

Debbie stopped talking almost immediately and turned to him. It caused a domino effect as everyone at the table slowly became quiet and turned to Ian.

Carl looked confused, as he looked from Fi, to Deb, and then to Ian. "What?"

The look on Fiona's face made Ian's stomach hurt. She didn't even look angry, just hurt and confused.

"What do you mean?" She finally asked.

"I'm moving out…" Ian answered slowly, "And I'm moving somewhere that's… pretty far away…"

"But you just got back!" Debbie nearly yelled.

"I know, but… it's not like I was going to live here forever."

They just stared at him.

"And," he continued, "I figured I should actually tell you all this time. Say goodbye, you know?"

"And when are you leaving?" Fiona asked.

"Uh, well, Friday-"

"Friday?" Her eyes were wide, "This Friday?"

"Yeah-"

"What the hell?" Carl interrupted.

"You just got back!" Debbie repeated.

Everyone stared at him. Even Liam, who didn't seem to fully understand what was going on.

"I'm sorry," Ian finally said lamely, with a shrug, "It's something I have to do."

"Why?" Carl yelled.

Ian just looked at all of them, not knowing how to explain.

"This is bullshit!" Carl yelled and stormed upstairs.

Debbie didn't say anything, but gave Ian a disappointed look before following.

Fiona looked at Ian. She had that look that she saved for times when she was especially concerned about something.

They just looked at each other for a long moment, before Fiona finally sighed and said, "I can't try to make you stay."

"I don't mean to be… pulling a Monica." Ian said quietly.

She shrugged, and gave him a sad smile. "You're not. You didn't have this family then abandon it. You needed to go and live your own life sometime."

"Thanks, Fi."

"You told Lip already?"

Ian nodded. "He's pissed at me. He said you'd be pissed too."

Fiona shrugged. "I probably will be after you leave…" She then glanced at the stairs, "I don't know what to say to them, though."

"I don't blame them," Ian admitted, "I'd be mad too."

"They'll understand… maybe."

Carl didn't speak to Ian for the rest of the night, and all through Thursday. When Debbie spoke to him, it was cold and short.

He spent the day in his room, packing, and the rest of the family just avoided him, except for Fiona, who brought him up a basket with some of the clean clothes he needed to pack, and a look of pity.

Later on in the day, he decided to call Mickey.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"So I told my family I'm leaving." Ian said right away.

"Yeah? What'd you tell 'em?"

"I didn't tell them about you." He said, knowing that's what Mickey was really wondering.

"Good… So how'd they take it?"

"Well, they all hate me now." Ian sighed.

There was a long moment of silence.

"You know you don't have to do this…" Mickey finally said quietly.

Ian rolled his eyes, and wished Mickey could see him do that. "I know. I'm not doing this because I have to, though…"

Mickey paused before saying, "Yeah well if there's any chance of you backing out, you better fucking tell me now and not three days after we leave or something."

Ian actually smiled at this. Mickey always seemed to expect, and accept, the worst outcome for things. But Ian just knew this would work out in the end. He figured that with Mickey expecting the worse now, it would be a nice little surprise for him when things worked out.

"If I was gonna back out I would've done it by now." Ian assured him, "Stop worrying about it. Everything's going to work out."

"Yeah, sure, Gallagher." He responded sarcastically.

"Come on," Ian said, "you know everything's going to work out. I mean you have to think it will at least a little or else you wouldn't even be doing this."

"Whatever."

There was another long silence before Ian finally said, "So I'll see you tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, see ya." Mickey then hung up.

The rest of Ian's night was a quiet one. Carl said nothing to him when he finally came in to go to bed.

Mickey had become very jittery since Ian's phone call. It didn't reassure him in the slightest. All he could think about was something going wrong, and him fucking up Sophie's chances of being raised anywhere but here. He couldn't care less about what would happen to himself.

His jitteriness lasted all through Friday. His last day had been on Thursday, and he had arranged for his last paycheck to be sent to Mandy, so he wouldn't have to worry about anyone in his house taking it.

He spent that morning packing things like pull-ups, and Sophie's shampoo, and hid it under Sophie's bed. He was afraid to start packing anything that would be too noticeable.

Sophie woke up while Mickey was in her room.

"Mornin', kid," He said, when he noticed her sitting up. He sat down on the bed and brushed Sophie's hair out of her face.

"Why are you in here?" She asked with a yawn.

"Mind your business why," he leaned in and kissed the top of her head, "You want some breakfast?"

"Can I have eggs?"

"Yeah, sure." Mickey picked her up and lifted her over his shoulder, as she squealed with laughter.

Luckily Terry was passed out in his room for the first half of the day, so they were able to spend it just watching TV.

Eventually, he figured he should bring Sophie over to Mandy's, since they'd be leaving that night, and they'd both be upset if they didn't get to spend much time with each other before that. Also, Terry had finally woken up and started yelling about Sophie's cartoons, before just changing the channel.

Mickey had to bring Sophie into her room before she started crying again. Fortunately, she calmed down when he told her they were going to Mandy's, and he was able to get her dressed.

When they got there, Mandy immediately pulled Sophie into her arms, and basically ignored Mickey. He couldn't blame her, though.

Dan was at work, so it was just the three of them. Sophie was sitting on the floor in front of the TV, and Mandy and Mickey talked quietly on the couch. They made sure Sophie was only focused on the TV, and not listening to what they were saying. Luckily she was also distracted by the toys she brought with her.

"So have you actually packed yet?" Mandy asked him.

"Just some pull-ups and shit…"

"That's it?"

"There wasn't much I could do without anyone noticing."

"Okay, but what happens when you're packing tonight and you forget something important?"

"I'm not gonna forget anything," he said, rolling his eyes, "and if I do, you can just mail it to me."

"Well after you and Sophie leave, I'm not going to have any reason to go back inside that house ever again, so, yeah, don't forget anything."

"All I need is my clothes, her clothes, and the stuff I already said I packed."

"Um," Mandy raised an eyebrow, "What about money? And blankets and pillows? And her birth certificate? And her toys? Plus you might as well bring the laptop since I doubt anyone in that house uses it for anything other than porn. And what about little things like alarm clocks and lamps and… plates?"

"Obviously I was gonna remember the money and her birth certificate and shit. But… she's just gonna have to choose whichever toys she can fit in her bag. And yeah, I forgot about the blankets, but that's the whole reason you're helping me, right?"

"And the other stuff?"

Mickey shrugged, "The woman, who lived there before, died, so it has some furniture and shit. It probably has lamps."

Mandy smirked, "That's good… but you better hope they found her before she started rotting, or else the place probably still smells."

"Fuck you," He rolled his eyes, as she just laughed.

"By the way," Mandy said after a minute, "I sort of bought something for Sophie…"

Mickey looked annoyed, "She doesn't need anything."

"I know, but I'm kind of worried about her, you know?" She said, grinning, "Having only you two around to help her pick out her clothes… I thought it'd be a good going away present too…"

She then got up, went into the bedroom, and came out with a shopping bag, handing it to Mickey.

He rifled through it, rolling his eyes, but still smiling. The bag was full of a few pink and yellow shirts, dresses, and pants. He looked back up at Mandy, sighed, and said, "Thanks…"

"Well… I know how much you hate being seen buying three year old girl clothes."

Mickey rolled his eyes, and looked over at his daughter. She was happily playing with one of her dolls, completely unaware of anything either of them were talking about.

Ian sat up on his bed, mostly just staring at the time on his phone.

It was only 11:30 and he knew he should've been spending his last few hours before he left, downstairs with the rest of his family, watching TV, but he was too anxious, he was worried someone might notice.

Carl still hadn't said a word to him since he made his announcement. He'd tried to get him to speak a few times, but he was stubborn.

Eventually Carl came upstairs, climbed up to his bed and turned out the light, without a word.

They both sat there in the dark for a few minutes before Carl finally spoke to him. "I thought you were leaving today?"

"Not until like 1:30," Ian answered.

"Why?"

"It's a long story…"

"Are you at least coming back for Christmas?" Carl snapped, "We haven't had a Christmas that wasn't completely depressing since you left!"

Ian hesitated, "I don't know."

Carl was quiet for a long time. He rolled over so he was facing away from Ian. He didn't speak again until he heard Ian get up.

He looked over and saw Ian dragging a suitcase out from under his bed. He watched him pack a few things. "At least you told us this time. Instead of just leaving…"

Ian looked up at him. "If I'd told anyone then, they would've stopped me."

"Whatever," Carl said, "enjoy your new life."

Ian sighed and turned to Carl. "I'll come back and visit, okay? I don't know when, but I will." He grabbed his suitcase and headed for the door. "See ya, Carl."

He was at the top of the stairs when he heard Carl say, "See ya," back.

Mickey sat at the end of his bed, staring at the wall, smoking a cigarette. Svetlana wasn't home, but everyone else was. They were all asleep, fortunately, including Terry, who was passed out on the couch.

He stood up and began packing a bag. He was able to pack most of the clothes he owned-which wasn't very many-a blanket and pillow, and the pile of Money he's been hiding in a hole in the wall since he was about 18. He didn't save it all, but there was good amount there from his drug deals, his paychecks from the Kash N Grab, and whatever was left of the paychecks, from his most recent job, that didn't go into paying for bills, food, and stuff for Sophie.

Selling drugs especially helped. He had a little over 50 thousand dollars saved. If anyone in his house had found out he was hording that it'd be gone in a second.

He checked his phone a few more times, until he finally got a text from Mandy saying she was on her way to the house.

Mickey figured he should leave some money for Svetlana and a note. He didn't know how Terry would react, except that it'd be bad and he'd probably target Svetlana first. It was only fair that she got a head start.

He moved quietly from his room to Sophie's with a second suitcase, trying to ignore Terry snoring on the couch.

He bit his lip when he saw Sophie sound asleep in her bed. He quickly packed all her clothes in the second suitcase. He then set the suitcases aside and sat down on her bed.

Mickey gently nudged her back. "Sophie," he whispered, "Hey, wake up."

Sophie rolled over and rubbed her eyes. "Daddy?"

"Hey, come on, get up," he said quietly, as he pulled the blanket off of her. He folded the blanket up and shoved it in the suitcase with her clothes. He then picked her up and set her on his lap.

She yawned and rubbed her eyes sleeping, looking confused.

He held her close for moment and said softly, "We're going on a trip, okay?"

Sophie looked up at him, "We are?"

"Yeah, but we gotta hurry up," he set her down on the floor and held out her back pack, "here, pack all the toys you wanna bring."

Sophie began going around the room, picking up her favorite toys and bringing them back to Mickey. It was mostly McDonald's toys, with a few stuffed animals and dolls. "I wanna bring all of them," she whined.

"We don't have room, okay? I'll buy you new toys later." Mickey said impatiently, "Come on, we need to hurry up. Just one more."

As Sophie brought over another toy, Mickey zipped up her bag. He grabbed her sweater and shoes, and helped her put those on, along with her back pack.

He opened the door, and picked up the bags on the floor, ushering Sophie to go ahead of him.

She stopped when they got into the living room, looking over at Terry.

"Come on," Mickey whispered, trying to lead her to the front door.

Suddenly, there was noise coming from the kitchen, and Mickey froze.

Iggy walked into the living room and stopped when he saw the two of them standing there with packed bags. He paused.

"You leaving?" he finally asked, walking up to them.

"Yeah," Mickey answered hesitantly.

"For good?"

Mickey nodded, looking down at Sophie. She was gazing up at Iggy like she couldn't decide if she should greet her uncle or not.

Iggy glanced over at their dad, then nodded a bit, like he understood. "Probably for the best."

Mickey didn't say anything, as Iggy moved forward and kneeled down in front of Sophie. "Can I have a hug before you go, kid?"

She moved forward and wrapped her arms around Iggy's neck. "I love you, uncle Iggy."

Iggy hugged her back. "Yeah, love ya too." He then stood back up and looked from Mickey to Terry and back. "You know I'm not gonna tell him anything."

Mickey nodded, "Thanks."

"Yep," Iggy turned and walked back into the kitchen.

Mickey took one last look at his father before he finally left the house for the last time.