Ian Gallagher

"Maybe we were meant to be lonely, lonely
Maybe we were meant to be on our own
Loneliness has always been with me, with me
But maybe we don't have to be all alone."
• The Fighter, The Fray @ muserevival

8 YEARS ON: It was eight years since Ian last saw Mickey Milkovich. He had just seen his 27th birthday come and go, but that day, inside he was feeling like the same fucked up 19 year old he had been back then. The kid who had been feeling so numb and empty when the one thing that had a stab at making him happy was thrown in the slammer. He had already been losing his footing with life. Mickey had always been an anchor for him, a way out of the shit life he had been raised into. Then he was gone.

( He had made Mickey an empty promise the last time he saw him... )

• mickey milkovich is andifuckingloveit, time jump is 8 years from end of Season 5

#36 EMPTY @ muserevival

Ian was feeling empty inside. It was feeling like his life was a waste. He didn’t want to say it out loud, but he knew why he was feeling like this. Mickey was gone. It would be fifteen years before he ever saw the outside of a prison wall again. Not eight. He had priors, he wasn’t getting out in eight.

Now, Ian was all alone. He had nothing and no one. He had to try to figure out who he was without Mickey. He was just scared to try to look, only to realise he was nothing without him.

• @ progress table

LINK: Sometimes, you just feel like telling the people you love to shut the fuck up, even just for a little while.

Ten things you love about your relationship @ muserevival

#1. Real love
#2. What we went through to get here
#3. No bullshit
#4. We can be ourselves
#5. Openness to experimentation
#6. Rough sex
#7. It's worth fighting for
#8. No convoluted expectations or needs
#9. He puts up with my shit
#10. He wants to take care of me despite my shit

#38 TONIGHT @ muserevival

Tonight, Ian had volunteered his babysitting services. Mickey’s son was an innocent factor in this whole arrangement. As much as Mickey was fatherly-challenged (probably because his own was a fucking bastard), Ian loved kids and wanted to help Mickey accept it better.

He wanted them to be a family.

There was a genuine smile as Ian nursed Yevgeny in the baby bath, splashing some of the bubbles over his belly as he kicked his feet. Maybe he was naïve thinking this could be a thing, but the baby was part of Mickey which meant he was part of Ian too.

• @ progress table

"Mental illness leaves a huge legacy, not just for the person suffering it but for those around them." - Lysette Anthony @ muserevival

As much as Ian wished he could have gotten a more honest job to earn a more honest and rewarding wage, all attempts at that had failed lately. His deeper desire to join the military had crashed and burned... pretty much literally. After that, he lost his self-respect and he couldn't deny that the job at the club paid well. It was money he needed to keep helping Fiona, especially after her employability had gone down the toilet with the jail time. Sometimes, there were just more important things that fucking self-respect. He was a Gallagher. Self-respect wasn't a language they spoke well.

( It was back to gold spandex shorts that left nothing to the imagination, lap dances, grinding against the desperate and dateless, often twice his age or more, drugs, and booze. Lots and lots of booze. Booze and expectations... )