Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ian and Mickey spent a lot of time together. Whether it be sleeping or walking down the boardwalk or just sitting in the same room, they were basically attached at that hip. Before they moved their lives to New York, Mandy would make fun of them back in Chicago whenever the three of them hung out. She would sit between them on the couch or stand between them in line and say something like, "Oh no, I'm not causing separation anxiety, am I?" And laughing like the lunatic she was. Mickey would get angry at first when she did it in public, afraid that people around them would catch onto what Mandy meant and do something to express their disapproval.

He eventually accepted that not every one had the same mindset as his father and learned to laugh along.

So, yeah, they spent a lot of time together, not that they couldn't survive without the other. Mickey wasn't some bitch who needed their master around at all times. Work, friends, and traveling reduced their time spent together, sometimes. Being a responsible adult with bills to pay and a fridge to keep full kept them from each other as the years went on. They both accepted it as a fact of life.

Of course, there was the times when they were fighting too. When Ian was giving Mickey the chin along with the infamous Gallagher silent treatment. When one of them would storm out of the apartment and stay with a friend for a few days, depending on the severity of the argument. They would always coming crawling back. They had come this far and an argument about who didn't do the dishes wouldn't be enough to make them sacrifice their time together. They had both had enough of running way from each other, back when Mickey was still accepting himself and Ian still questioned if he meant anything at all to Mickey.

They spent a lot of time together and sometimes it was a problem. Like the mornings when Mickey would wrap Ian in a death grip, tightening his hold every time Ian whined that he had to go jogging before the morning rush of traffic or when Ian would come home from a day at work and plop down on top of Mickey and push away whatever he was doing to demand a massage. Or the time when they were supposed to go to Ian's co-worker Cindy's baby shower but ended up going to the movies together. Mickey wasn't even sorry. He was happily in love with Ian and sometime he just needed him all for himself. He didn't feel complete without Ian by his side, as gay and cliche as that may be.

And, okay, maybe Ian did suffer a little separation anxiety whenever Mickey had to travel for work and he would have to curl around a pillow instead of his boyfriend to get to sleep at night but who cared? They had turned each other soft but that wasn't anyone else's business.

They spent countless time together minus the times work and other obligations kept them from each other, but they were never really alone. Mickey would wear and pack some of Ian's shirts every time he had to be away from home for the night and Ian had their apartment, filled with constant reminders of his man.

Not to mention the time they spent together talking on the phone or skyping on the nights when they were too far away or had forgotten what kind of salad dressing they were supposed to get at the store. They eventually switched to an unlimited phone plan to save them the trouble of going over the minutes on their phone cards.

So fucking what if Mickey liked his annoying ginger at his side and Ian liked his pint sized thug at his? They were making up for lost time.