The Better Life

Court Dates

Trigger warning: talks of rape and sexual assault

All good things must come to an end and Shaun and Leah had to go back home. School had to start back.

On the bright side, Mickey nailed his job interview. Now, he was a firefighter at, dun dun dun dun, Firehouse 51. He got transferred out since they were down a firefighter for a few shifts.

Felicity and Jake did break up, but on good terms. Jake was wanting to break up. He saw the looks Felicity and Phoebe gave each other and could not compete with that. Also, there was a really cute guy in his chemistry class who asked for his number.

A lot of people lost money that day. A lot of people got pissed that day.

So Felicity and Phoebe became official. They held hands and carried each others stuff. They borrowed each others hoodies with promises to give them back, knowing damn well that wasn't going to happen.

They now had to keep the door open three inches.

With the good things comes the bad things, though.

"Shit!"

Ian and the kids looked up at Mickey with a confused expression. Mickey took Ian by the arm and dragged him up to their room.

"My father's getting out of prison."

"Shit," Ian repeated. "When?"

"Within the next two days. He has a court date."

"And?"

"They want Mandy and I to come in and speak against him. Ian, I need you there. I can't do this alone. I can't see that motherfucker after how he treated me my whole life, what he did to Mandy, and how he had Svetlana..."

Mickey's voice cracked.

"She's apologized since then and said it would never happen again. But, that's not something that goes away. I-I can't forgive her for that. And I'm never for-forgiving him."

Ian pulled Mickey to his shoulder where Mickey broke down crying. Ian rubbed his husband's hair and told him he would be there. He would be there to support his husband. Mickey grabbed Ian's middle and didn't let go.

"So," Ian started. "How long do you think Felicity's been standing at the door?"

They both heard a whispered "shit" and a body smack the ground.

Mickey let go of Ian and opened the door. Sure enough, Felicity was laying on the ground, defeated and holding her foot.

"What have we told you about eavesdropping on adult conversations?"

"To not to."

"And?"

"Next time I do it, I have to do the dishes for the next week and a half."

"That's right."

Both the grownups reached out a hand to help Felicity up. She grabbed both and they pulled her up.

"We just didn't want you to get involved with the shit I've gone through. You know of my family history. Not in explicit detail but enough to know how much of an asshat my dad is."

They brought her into the room and sat her on the bed.

*Trigger warning starts now.*

"I think you ought to know what happened to Mandy and I. We share this experience and since you're sixteen, I think you're old enough to know."

Felicity stayed quiet and nodded her head.

"My father... it all happened one night when I was out. I can't fucking remember what I was doing, but I was out. My father came home that night, drunk as a skunk, and he..."

Mickey put his face in his hands.

"He raped Mandy. He raped there and I wasn't there to protect her. I'm-I'm her fucking big brother and I couldn't protect her."

"You don't have to continue, Dad. You can stop if you want."

"No," Mickey sniffled. "I want to tell this. I have to tell this."

Ian held Mickey as Mickey went to sit next to Felicity on the bed.

"I was closeted for a very long time because of him," Mickey started again. "It wasn't until this stubborn assbutt that I came out. My dad was why. One time, he was supposed to be out for a week and I called Ian over."

"It was a sleepover," Ian smiled.

"It was not a fucking sleepover. We were hanging out."

"It was one hundred percent a sleepover."

"Fuck you, that's what is was," Mickey concluded the argument.

"Anyways," Mickey continued. "I invited Ian over and we hung out. Did couple-ly things. Watched movies. Anyways, my fuck face of a father shows up back home early. He pistol-whipped us and told us to stay put. He then-"

Mickey swallowed the lump in his throat.

"He got Svetlana to 'rape the gay' me. Those aren't the exact words, but the exact words make me want to break down even more. I isolated myself from everybody for a really long time. I felt so ashamed and dirty. That's when I found out Svetlana was pregnant and my dad was forcing me to marry her. I should've had a shrink at the time, cause at least I wouldn't have been so depressed."

Ian squeezed Mickey tighter.

"I kept up the act. I married Svetlana. She lived with us. I secretly dated Ian. When she had Yev, I wanted nothing to do with him. How could I? I was raped. But I started taking care of Yev, and I fell in love with him. When I saw Ian taking care of him, I knew I was in love with Ian. So yeah, that's the story."

"Can I hug you?" Felicity blurted out.

"Of course, Blue's Clues."

Felicity was hugging Mickey like she wouldn't see him again. Mickey cried and his cry broke Felicity's heart. She started crying herself.

"Why are you crying?" Mickey asked while wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Because nobody should have to go through that. Nobody ever."

She laid on Mickey's chest and hugged him. He held her to him and the three sat in silence.

"Come on in, Olli."

A soft "crap" was heard through the door. "How'd you know it was me?"

"I memorized people's footsteps," Ian announced.

"Yev sent me up here when Felicity didn't come back down."

"So you guys were in cahoots?" Ian asked.

"We weren't playing Kahoot."

Ian facepalmed. "How much did you hear, Oliver?"

"Not a lot. I heard a little bit of Mickey's story and how he was...raped. I know what that is. I had the whole s-e-x talk at eight years old by an overbearing religious foster parent. And I was almost raped myself."

"What?"

Oliver sat down on the edge of the bed. "My fourth set of foster parents. When I was six years old, they had cousins of the family come over to the house. One of them was a teenager. We were all sleeping downstairs in the basement when I heard shuffling near me. He got up and pulled back the sleeping bag. His fingers brushed my chest and I turned over, asking what he was doing. He covered my mouth with his hand and told me 'I was going to feel good'."

Oliver paused. "I screamed and kicked. His hand was right near my private part when one of the kids near us heard the commotion and asked him what he was doing. He freaked out and said he was only saying goodnight. I took the chance to run up the stairs and slept on the couch. I tried to tell, but no one believed me."

Oliver hung his head.

"I believe you," each member of the group said at the same time.

*Trigger Warning Ends*

They pulled Oliver to them and now both kids were laying on Mickey. Yev soon came up the stairs and jumped in on the group hug. They hugged it out and soon weren't so sad anymore.