all in favor | ian gallagher

LIAR, LIAR [EIGHT]

In the midst of it all, he still drank. You'd think suffocating yourself with alcohol would have an affect on your brain, but not when it was Mickey Milkovich's.

Stacks of beer cans were piled around the room. By his bed. On top of a dresser. Underneath his nightstand. The place was a pigsty.

Thanks to Ian Gallagher.

Mandy had confronted him on a couple different occasions, questioning his reason for the excessive drinking. Lately, he wasn't able to blame anyone but himself.

It wasn't Ian's fault that he was messed up. What comforted Mickey most during his mental health battle was knowing where the redhead was— home.

Which meant he would be protected by his older siblings and even his younger ones. The Gallaghers may have been an overall disorderly family but they sure as hell knew how to stay together even in the darkest of times.

Ian was a total wreck now that he'd given himself the company of Petal. Since he didn't want to be near Mickey, he resorted to being with a girl. He thought maybe seeing Petal more often would change how he felt about Mickey.

However, he also felt like a terrible person; knowing he'd use Petal for a distraction. If it weren't for her, he'd have to dream of Mickey all over again. They couldn't restart what they had. It would be too tough.

Nothing was tougher than facing the truth.

Sat across from the twins, Petal dug another hole into the yard and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She'd been trying to bury another one of her old memory boxes for hours now and hadn't made much progress. River and London were playing cards while she tirelessly shoveled.

Grunting, Petal flung out one more pile of dirt from the rocky ground. Her arms were aching more than they were a while ago.

"Aren't ya gonna help?" she scoffed at her brother and sister who just waved and continued their game.

Angered, she stormed off to the house. It was a hectic week for the poor girl. She fell asleep later than normal most nights and would wake up before seven or even six. But that wasn't as common. Petal hadn't been doing so great after the kiss with Ian.

Did it mean anything to him the way it meant something to her? All in all, Petal had no regrets.

Should Ian have regrets of his own, she'll get ahold of herself and then keep going forward like it's a piece of cake. That's what she thinks... but Ian won't let her go so easily.

Just like magic, an opportunity revealed itself for Petal. An opportunity in which she could decipher these mixed signals that Ian was sending her. She wasted no time to hurry to the Alibi and wait for him.

She ordered water and apologized to Kevin for the fight that ruined his night at the bar.

"No worries," Kevin said, pouring another glass for Petal. "Shit happens."

He didn't sound very sure. Things did happen at the Alibi, but not between two teenage boys.

"They were fine till we all stopped hanging out."

A comfortable silence hung over them, soon broken by Petal when she asked, "I know it's a weird question but... do you think Ian and Mick have a fling?"

Kevin furrowed his brows and leaned against the counter. "What do you mean?"

"You know," Petal hinted. "Like friends with benefits."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Kevin joked.

He winked at Petal then followed Veronica to the back of the bar. Petal sat on the stool with a look of impatience.