First Day of My Life

High

Mandy made her way over to her bedroom window and cracked it open, knowing that if the smell of weed permeated out of the room, Svetlana would have her ass. She handed her weed and papers to Ian to roll.

"Your hands are so much smaller than mine," He mused as he got to work, "You'd think you wouldn't suck so bad at rolling joints."

"Fuck off," Mandy laughed watching over his shoulder as he carefully manipulated the paper. He handed her the joint and rolled one for himself.

They sat on her queen size bed, against the headboard and lit up, "Yev had fun today," Ian said taking a deep inhale. He sputtered a cough from the intensity of Mandy's stash, "Fuck this shit is strong."

"Amateur," Mandy teased with a smirk, "Got it from Cassie at work. Her boyfriend deals. I think he may cut it with something. It always fucks me up majorly."

"Would've been nice to know," Ian huffed taking another hit.

"Like it would've stopped you," Mandy retorted raising her eyebrows. Ian shrugged and laughed lightly, "He did have fun," She confirmed, "He reminds me so much of Mick, it's crazy."

He nodded his agreement. The three year old had spent the afternoon, excitedly leading them around the aquarium, pointing at the the different fish and making up stories about them. It never ceased to amaze Ian how vibrant and creative Yev was. When they were in the gift shop, he had taken to a stuffed fish and a lego shark. Ian bought him the items as soon as he showed interest and added another stuffed fish to the mix for good measure, He was pretty sure that Svetlana was going to give him shit about spoiling the kid, but he couldn't imagine denying him of anything he wanted, especially when he had the money for it. He wanted him to have the type of childhood that he and Mickey had never been afforded.He didn't think it was possible to love Yevgeny any more than he did, but as the days passed, his mannerisms and attitude became more like Mickey's and Ian fell even more head over heels. He wanted to be with them both for the rest of his life, "I love him."

"You love both of them," Mandy stated plainly licking her lips and bringing the joint back to her lips.

"Don't deserve either," Ian sighed, "Left them both."

"Don't start," Mandy warned, leaning her head on his shoulder, "Give it time." It was her perpetual advice to Ian. Deep down she knew that the two idiots were meant to be together, but when it came down to it, she didn't blame Mickey for protecting himself. They'd been fucked over and abandoned enough times in their lives to know how important it was to watch out for their hearts. Her brother wasn't weak, but when it came to Ian, he pulled him in even when he should have been pushing him away. She'd never taken sides, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to see her best friend treat her brother better. She knew when it came down to it that Ian wasn't the same person he had been when she and Mickey first grew close to him. He was less confident and second-guessed himself rather than acting like the stubborn, driven redhead they both had become smitten with. Mandy liked seeing Ian fight for Mickey. His passion and persistence reminded her of the Ian he was before his whole world shifted on his axis. It was as if after all this time, it wasn't just Mickey that had come home.

"It's just... I can't get him outta my head," Ian said running his fingers through his hair.

"You're obsessed." Mandy stated the obvious.

"I am," Ian confirmed not even trying to deny it, "He go out a lot?" He asked trying to sound casual but failing miserably. Mickey had been at work when he arrived at the Milkovich house to pick up Mandy and Yev for the aquarium and hadn't been home for dinner.

"A fair amount," Mandy replied, "He's with Zev a lot and the rest of the time he's probably just fucking random guys. I don't think he's looking for anything serious."