High School Misfits [Gallavich]

Chapter Three: Under the Rough Exterior

A/N: Next chapter up! Hope you like it :)

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Mickey stormed off angrily, Ian's mouth parted as though he wanted to call back to him to say something but he didn't. He just shoved his hands into his pockets, shaking his head and walking off towards the gymnasium.

He couldn't believe he'd felt guilty about treating Ian like a dick, he was a dick. Maybe he hadn't said any of those things himself but it didn't matter. If that's the kind of crap his friends said about him then he couldn't think much better of him.

He could hear Karen calling out to him but he couldn't stop moving, he was too pissed off, and maybe even a little hurt, not that he'd ever admit it.

He slowed down when he was about a block away from the school and finally Karen had the chance to catch up with him.

"What the fuck happened back there?" she asked, trying to catch her breath. "You know you made me run and I hate running."

"You didn't need to follow me," he growled.

"What did he say to you?"

"Would you just fucking drop it?" he snapped, turning to face her for a moment.

She put her hands up and just nodded at him.

They walked for a few minutes in silence while she let him calm down.

"You know you're only pissed off because you care too much," she said without looking up.

"About him?" he scoffed. "He's just another preppy asshole."

"If you say so."

"Would you stop that?"

"If that's what you want."

"Can't you go and annoy my sister instead?"

Karen smiled. "She's in detention."

"What she do this time?"

"Nothing, Ms Green just hates her because she's an old bitch," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, you and me hardly ever get alone time."

He actually managed to find the smallest of smiles. "Fuck off I see too much of you already."

"Better me than some preppy assholes though," she said and he sighed.

Probably right, he thought, but still he couldn't help but feel the disappointment in him.

He tried not to think of Ian too much after that day, the problem was that even though he didn't want him to cross his mind he would do so anyway. He would think of him outside the school hours, when he didn't have to see him.

Those thoughts were generally shed in kinder light, thinking of how good he looked in the gym, especially when he was getting hot and sweaty, or of his quick witted tongue that Mickey enjoyed hearing from despite how arrogant his words could seem.

When he saw him in his classes the rage would come back and he would remember vividly the words his friends said and thought about how he must think them himself and he refused to look at him beyond that first glance.

On the first day back after the incident Ian tried to say something, an apology maybe, but Mickey refused to listen. He just walked away from him in gym and got up and flat walked out of his English class, not that his teacher cared about that.

Ian seemed to get the point. By the time the week was through he'd given up entirely, back to ignoring Mickey's existence like he didn't even know he existed, which up until a few weeks ago he practically didn't.