Middle Child Syndrome- Ian Gallagher

it's athena!

Ian and I were about to go to sleep when I got a call from Mandy.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Are you home right now?"

"Yeah, why?" I said.

"I'm outside."

I raised an eyebrow, "Mandy what-

"Just come downstairs. Please."

She hung up the phone, so we went downstairs, only to find my mom on the couch watching TV, sipping wine. Her eyes were red which meant she'd been crying. She probably got into another fight with my dad. 

I made a beeline for the door and opened it. Mandy was there, one eye swollen shut, a cut on her cheek, and her lip was bloody and bruised.

I gasped, "Oh my god, what happened?"

"Athena? Who's there?" my mom slurred, slowly getting up and walking over. 

The minute she looked at Mandy, she seemed to sober up. 

"Kenyatta," Mandy said with tears in her eyes, "My boyfriend. He found out about Lip."

"Oh, honey. Come in," my mom said, wrapping her arm around her, "Let's go upstairs. You can stay here for the night."

"You're not going back there," Ian said.

We got Mandy cleaned up and let her sleep in my bed while Ian and I sat on the couch, brainstorming ways to help her, but Ian constantly got sidetracked. He'd start talking about playing an instrument, or taking up a video game, or something so out of left field I had no idea what even triggered it.

"Ian! We're talking about Mandy!" I kept on saying to him. 

It was like talking to a brick wall.

The next morning, Ian made pancakes for everyone while I made the coffee.

"Pancakes, sweet!" Persephone said, coming downstairs.

"What's up with the makeup?" my mom said, looking at Persephone's dark eyeshadow and eyeliner.

"It's nothing."

"Is it a boy?" my mom said.

"Ew, no, Mom!" Persephone said, making me laugh. It totally was a boy.

"What's his name?" I said.

"Austin," Persephone said quietly.

"No more Carl?"

Persephone shook her head, "No, he's with some bitch named Bonnie."

"Language!" my mom said, making Troy laugh as Mandy came downstairs.

"Holy shit, Mandy?!" Troy said.

"Troy!" my mom said as my dad came down as well.

"What happened to your face?" Persephone said.

Mandy shook her head, "It's nothing. Athena, can I use your foundation for work?"

"Yeah, sure thing," I said, putting two pancakes on my plate, "So, Persephone, who's Austin? He in your class?"

Before she could answer, Debbie came in.

"Has anyone seen or heard from Fiona?" she asked.

I shook my head, "No, why?"

"She wasn't in bed last night or this morning," Debbie said, "She violated probation."

"Let me call her," Ian said, waiting for a few seconds, "Went to voicemail."

"We'll keep a look out and let you know if we hear anything, Debbie!" my mom said. 

I looked at Ian, "Go help your sister. I'll take care of breakfast."

__________________________________________________________________

Lip found Fiona in Wisconsin. Some town called Sheboygan. Meanwhile, I had no idea where Mandy was, and she was supposed to call me. So, Ian and I walked over to the Milkoviches and ran into Mickey.

"Yo, Mickey!" Ian said.

"Fuck you want?" Mickey said, "Oh, hey, Anna."

"It's Athena!" I growled. 

"Whatever. Can't keep track of all the blonde bitches with A names," Mickey said.

"Is Mandy here?" I said.

"Fuck should I know?" Mickey said, opening the door, and there was Mandy, serving Kenyatta food, "The fuck is this?!"

"You guys hungry?" Mandy said, "That a yes?"

"Mandy, what are you doing here?" I said.

"Having lunch."

She seemed perfectly fine like he didn't beat the shit out of her the other day.

"With this piece of shit?!" Mickey said, "You wanted him dead yesterday."

"Don't be dramatic," Mandy scoffed.

 "Mandy, he hit you in the face," Ian said.

"No, he didn't."

"Are you fuckin' serious?" Mickey said.

"I just said that because I was angry and I was shitfaced, and I fell," Mandy said.

I scoffed, "Yeah, that's exactly why you came to my door last night. Unbelievable."

"Alright then, clumsy feet," Mickey said, "Enjoy your fucking spaghetti."

Mickey went into the other room while Ian and I walked over to her.

"Mandy, we need to get you out of here," Ian said, "I promised I'd get you someplace safe."

Ian tried to touch her, but it turned into this tussle, and then she hit him, and then Kenyatta got involved. Before I could even think, Ian grabbed a knife on the counter and held it up to Kenyatta's throat.

"Ian, stop!" I said, terrified. 

"Easy, easy!" Mickey said, "Ian, we're cool."

"Ian, please," I said, "Let him go. We're ok."

Ian put the knife down, and we walked out.

"Dude!" I said, "What the hell is going on with you? One minute, you're happy as shit, running around, doing all these things at once, cooking up a storm, and now you almost cut someone's throat?! Are you on meth?!"

Ian laughed, "Really, Athena?! Are you of all people gonna ask me that?!"

"The fuck's that supposed to mean?"

"Cut the shit!" he said, pointing at me, "I've smelled the weed on your clothes, and I know you took something at Ryan's. You've relapsed, haven't you?"

"Don't change the subject!" I said, "This isn't about me. This is about you! Tell me what just happened back there, Ian Clayton Gallagher, or I swear-

In the middle of the sentence, Ian pulls out his phone.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" 

Ian looked back up at me, "It's Frank."