Always going to be him//Gallavich

Twenty-Five

IAN
10 months in prison to most is a very long time, and indeed it was. The first few weeks of being able to see Mickey every day was amazing, but after a while, the bickering and the arguments began.

The first few arguments were about toilet times, then about stealing pillows and blankets. But the worst argument came when an officer opened the cell door, a yellow envelope in his hand.

"Heads up, Gallagher. Letter from Santa." The officer let me sign a form before handing me the letter.

"It's from the parole board." The moment my eyes saw the first sentence, my heart dropped.

"Oh, shit. I have a hearing on the 10th." I couldn't help but smile. I looked at Mickey. He didn't make eye contact with me.

"I thought I'd be here at least a year, didn't you? Yo, you hear me?" I asked, Mickey sighing.

"I have a hearing on the 10th." I got closer to him, but he pushed me away.

"I heard you." He looked away, getting onto his bed.

"And?" I glanced at him, confused as to why he wasn't giving me a response.

"What? You got a parole meeting, man. Good for you." He pretended to be happy, but he was clearly being sarcastic.

"That's all you got to say?" I asked, unable to believe that he wasn't as happy or as sad as I expected him to be.

Knowing that he didn't want to talk, we went about our day. We had our meals and for the first time since I was locked away, Mickey wasn't the one who told me to take my meds. I actually remembered, myself. I even talked to some of the other inmates who might have gone through the same situation, and that made me think about my relationship with Mickey.

Checking the time after a long day, I noticed that it was now 7 pm, which meant that in 45 minutes, the entire cell block would be ready for lights out, aka bedtime.

"Hey, you free at the moment?" I asked, picking my fingers. Mickey looked at me.

"What kinda dumb fucking question is that?" He asked, shocked that I asked such a stupid question.

"I think we need to have a talk. About what we're gonna do." I spoke up, Mickey seeming really annoyed by this conversation.

"About?" Mickey looked like he was about to punch something.

"Parole, Mickey. About me getting out and you, well, not. Do we do long distance or no distance, marriage, kids, or or, uh, retirement?" I asked, wondering how Mickey would react.

"What are you talking about?" He glanced at me, his eyes widened.

"I don't fucking know! Apparently we were supposed to have a talk a while ago but just never got the memo." I shrugged my shoulders, regretting even starting this conversation.

"What memo?" He questioned, turning around to face me.

"Well, do you or do you not want to be in a long-distance relationship when I'm out?" I asked, jumping down off my bed. Mickey laughed, before noticing my serious expression.

"No. What is this, a fucking rom-com movie? If you're out there, you're gonna be fucking other people; so will I." He admitted, my heart dropping.

"No long-distance..." I muttered, unsure if I wanted to continue the conversation. I knew I should have just stopped there and not pissed Mickey off more than I had, but I needed to find out more. I needed to know his real feelings about this situation.

"Can't we just, like, wait for each other?" I asked, Mickey scoffing.

"So, great, now we're in a fuckin' horror movie? Look, it would be one thing if you felt differently about leaving, but you don't." He hissed, trying to avoid eye contact with me.

"What does that mean?" I asked, confused by his mixed feelings toward the situation.

"It means if there was a part of you that felt maybe you owed it to me to throw your parole hearing so that you could stay in here because I threw my whole fuckin' life away getting tossed in here to be with you, then we'd at least be having a different conversation." He admitted, my mind racing with confusion.

"I didn't ask you to do that for me." I informed him, watching as he chuckled before turning around.

"I know you didn't, Gallagher. In fact, I didn't just do it because of you. I found Sammi insufferable. I found her to be bat-shit crazy. I attempted to scare her away so that 1. she wouldn't try to fuck up your future more than she already had, and 2. so that I wouldn't have to deal with her annoying fucking personality." Mickey explained, getting into bed.

"So what? You want me to throw my parole hearing so that we can continue to be together? 'Cause that seems a little selfish to me, Mickey." I hissed, Mickey laughing.

"Really, Gallagher? You really want to fucking go there? You basically forced me to come out as gay to everyone I know, especially my homophobic father, and why? Because you weren't happy. We rarely do anything that I like. It's all about you. And when we do something that I like, you make it all about you. So stop trying to act like I am the selfish one, because we both know that you're the fucking selfish one." Mickey angrily hissed at me.

I got onto my bed, feeling overwhelmed by Mickey's admission.

———

FIONA
The Gallagher family, for 10 months, had been trying to convince me that moving away would be a horrible mistake. And to say that some of their reasons were odd, was an understatement. Hearing a knock at the door at 7:30 at night was odd, but I answered the door anyway, finding no one to be there. Looking down, I found a yellow envelope. Taking it inside, everyone looked at me with confusion.

"What's that?" Debbie asked.

"I have no fuckin' idea, Debs." I laughed, opening up the envelope. When I removed the piece of paper, my heart dropped and I couldn't help but cry.

"What's wrong, Fiona?" Lip asked as I mustered up the courage to read what the letter said.

"Dear Fiona Gallagher. We would like to inform you that in a week, Ian Gallagher will have a parole meeting that will decide if Ian is eligible to be released from prison on parole." I read the letter, everyone silent.

"Ian might be coming home?!" Lip got excited.

"Kid has been in prison for what, 10 months? Damn he must be doing something right." Frank smiled, proud of his nephew.

"Hold on, there's more. You will receive a letter 3 days prior to Ian's release if parole has been granted." I smiled, reading the last part of the letter.

"Holy shit! Ian might be coming home!" Everyone started celebrating.