Gallavich | Shameless: The Continuation

Chapter 3

ANGST/FLUFF

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Morning came soon enough, and Ian's alarm went off at 5:30, just as it always had. He had fallen asleep on his stomach, on top of the blankets. Big mistake. His back was locked up and he cursed to himself. He let one leg slip off of the bed, hoping for some leverage, and eventually after a few minutes was able to sit up. He rubbed his face, wincing when he rubbed over where Mickey had socked him the night before. He was hoping that had all been a nightmare.

Ian turned and his eyes widened when he saw Mickey was asleep next to him, turned the other way. He didn't even hear him come home last night.

He wanted to wake him up, to apologize, but he had to get up and get the girls ready for school. He threw on a t-shirt and headed to the kitchen, sleepily mixing pancake batter and eating a Cliff bar so he could take some Ibuprofen and his bipolar meds. He started the griddle and threw on small spoonfuls onto the sizzling surface. As they cooked he started making the girls' sandwiches and throwing together their lunch boxes. Friday. He thought to himself. They always gave the girls some sort of sweet with their lunches on Friday.

He flipped the pancakes and headed back to the bedroom to where they kept a stash of candy in their dresser drawer. He pulled out a couple pieces of candy and headed back to the kitchen, not even realizing Mickey was awake and had been watching him.

He took the pancakes off and plated them, finished the lunch boxes, and then started upstairs to get the girls out of bed. Freya was already awake and playing on her tablet. "Pancakes." He said when he entered their room and Freya threw her tablet down, running downstairs.

He leaned down and kissed the younger girl on the cheek. "Wake up, baby." She swatted an arm at him and he chuckled. Mickey. "Come on, breakfast."

Downstairs he heard Mickey's voice in the kitchen. He felt some anxiety in his stomach but had to focus on the girls, not him. He scooped Faelyn up and shook her a little, making her laugh. "Ah, there we go! Just need a little shake to wake up." He shook her again and kissed her nose, and she giggled before laying her head on his shoulder, still too sleepy to really wake up. He carried her downstairs and sat her at the island, where she finally woke up when she saw there was food. Mickey leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

"Dad?" Freya asked, confused. Ian was standing across from her, over the island in the kitchen. "What happened to your face?"

Fuck. The bruise.

"Daddy's stupid and got himself hurt." Ian said. It sounded bad, but that was the point. He knew Mickey was mad, but them hitting each other had been off the table since their kids were born. Even though, as Carl loved to point out, their love language had always been violence.

He saw Mickey's shoulders tense up.

"How?" Freya asked.

"My back locked up and I fell out of bed, smacked my face on the nightstand." He said. Believable enough. I made Mommy angry and he punched me in the goddamn head. He thought.

"Ouch." Freya said. "Are you ok?"

Ian smiled, "I'm fine, baby."

She smiled back and went back to eating.

"Can I stay home?" Faelyn whined.

"No." Mickey immediately retorted.

She scoffed and went back to her food. The rest of the morning went normally, and Ian caught up on his family's group text which had ebbed and flowed off the subject of Liam's party. Eventually, Liam, sent out exactly the time and day and where the party would be. Ian laughed audibly. Liam was probably smarter than any of them, common sense wise.