One drunk night// Gallavich

24

IAN
No new apartments had popped up on my phone, which was annoying. Mickey had been looking and so had I.

Finally, after weeks of waiting, a notification came, but it wasn't for an apartment.

"Mickey! There's a house listing only a block over. It's $15,000 to buy!" I smiled, showing Mickey my phone screen.

"What. You wanna check it out?" Mickey asked, confused.

"Yeah? I mean, it's cheaper than most new houses on the South Side. It looks slightly old, but that's fine." I smirked.

"Sure. Let's check it out." Mickey exhaled.

We got up and headed one block over, seeing a woman with a clipboard in her hand, setting up a sign.

"Hi, uh, we were wondering if we could check out this house?" I asked, the lady smiling.

"Of course, let me take you inside." She smiled, taking us up to the porch. Mickey was clearly having a sense of deja vu.

The moment we entered the house, Mickey didn't speak. It wasn't until the kitchen area that Mickey spoke up.

"Uh, Ian? Does this area look awfully familiar to you?" Mickey looked around, confused.

"Now that you mention, yeah, it does..." I was stating to feel deja my myself.

"Do you happen to know who previously owned the house?" Mickey asked, confused.

"Well, the house was abandoned, so according to our records, the house was previously owned by Terrance Milkovich." The lady looked at her file.

"Holy shit. That's why this house seemed so familiar..." I laughed.

"Oh, did you two know the previous owner?" The lady asked.

"I'm the previous owner's son. This was my childhood home." Mickey spoke up, the lady's eyes widening.

"Well, you'll be happy to know that each and every door and window in this house has been replaced. The walls have been repaired and re-painted. All doors have fresh locks on them." The lady handed us a pamphlet.

"Do you know why this house was abandoned?" Mickey asked, confused.

"Terry Milkovich was sent to prison a few days ago. I'm assuming that whoever was living here abandoned the place. We got professionals to repair the house before it went on the market." The lady explained.

"Shit..." Mickey was shocked.

"So. Are you interested in purchasing this house?" The lady asked, looking between me and Mickey.

"Oh, uh, maybe?" I smiled, hoping that Mickey would at least consider it.

"We'll think about it." Mickey smiled, exiting the house.

Mickey soon left, leaving me to keep looking at the house. Obviously I had seen the house many times before, but I still wanted to have a look around.

"Thank you so much for showing us the house." I smiled, saying goodbye to the lady.

I returned to the Gallagher residence, seeing Mickey on the couch inside the living room, a beer in his hand as he read through the pamphlet that was given to him.

"You alright, Mick?" I sat down beside him, watching as he took a large sip of his beer.

"Bastards. The moment dad gets sent to prison, they split. Motherfuckers." Mickey hissed, closing the pamphlet.

"Are you at all interested in buying the house?" I asked, watching as Mickey exhaled.

"I'm half and half." Mickey admitted.

"Half and half?" I asked, confused.

"Half of my brain says not to buy the house, considering some of my worst fuckin' memories come from the house, but the other half of my brain says to buy the house, because it's my childhood home and I'm probably never going to get another chance." Mickey tried to decide.

"I think we should buy the house. It's a house we both recognise and it's only a block over from here, so Fiona won't get too pissed." I laughed.

"Sure. We can buy it." Mickey gave in, putting his beer down.

I got up and put my jacket back on, heading a block over to the house. The lady was still outside, her eyes glued to the file on the house.

"Ah, welcome back." She smiled, looking up.

"My husband and I want to buy the house." I explained, a smile widening on her face.

"Perfect. Well, for now, we will get this request filed with the realtors office, and in about a month or two, you can fill out the paperwork that will finalise the purchase of this house. Here is the key to the house. The large gold key will open the front and back doors." The lady smiled, handing me the key.