all in favor | ian gallagher

SWEETS [SIX]

The school bell rang loudly through the halls as Petal slid a mahogany-colored binder out of her locker and adjusted the strap on her messenger bag. Fourth period was next yet she hadn't gone to any of her classes that morning.

Mrs. Keinch, her principal, saw her— perfectly adjacent to where she stood.

"Miss Augustus," she began with an almost taunting grin. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To health. It starts in two minutes," Petal smiled, turning on her heel.

Before she could head toward the upcoming class, Mrs. Keinch stopped her in her tracks. She placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed.

"You've been skipping a lot recently," she explained. "Says here on my attendance chart that you were absent for a three whole weeks. What's that all about?"

How would she tell her that she'd run away from home to stay at a poor family's residence with a felon down the block?

"Right," Petal nodded, embarrassed, a grimace on her face.

The principal removed her hand and flattened out her blouse. "I want you in my office at lunch. We'll discuss your options then."

"Options?!" Petal scoffed to Mrs. Kiench as she waddled down the hall in her clunky heels. "Can you give me more details?"

"Wish I could!" Mrs. Kiench yelled back one final time while vanishing around the opposite side of the building.

Petal shook her head then proceeded her way into a nearby classroom, barely missing the other bell.

-

Magazines were spread over his plain bedsheets like jam on toast. Although his own flesh and blood had seen the contents of the pages, he wasn't ashamed. There's no way he could be ashamed of being attracted to boys.

What he thought Lip didn't know was that he had been collecting these seductive photographs and catalogs for quite some time. He just kept it private so nobody would tattletale on him. Now, it was too late. Lip had already found the magazines below the dresser.

Fortunately, he never told a soul. The brothers had this special code where they didn't rat each other out or expose the other to the point of consequence. Besides, it was silly to care about the significance of those pages. More things were better and important than some shirtless men.

After Ian twisted the lock on the entrance of the Kash 'N Grab, he quickly chased Mickey into the storage room behind the cooler, urging him to undress himself.

"Shit, Gallagher," Mickey cackled. "Still got some left in you?"

"Only for the best," Ian smirked, pressing Mickey's body against a rack and giving himself the chance to get behind him.

-

This couldn't be real. It had to be a dream or a figment of her imagination. But it was real. The cops took Petal from her school and made her ride in the back of one of their cars. She desperately wanted to see Ian, Lip, and Mickey. She didn't understand why Ian had ignored her that whole week.

Maybe she was the problem.

Or maybe Ian had found someone better than her to use as a replacement.

As an officer dragged her through the police department and into a dimly lit room, she blinked over and over again to force the tears away. After all her and Ian had experienced, there was no longer any proof of anything being there.

Mickey came to mind when she thought of who she could contact. They kept in touch despite the planet that went the wrong direction for them. No matter what obstacles they faced, Mickey never left.