Alone Together (Gallavich)

ten

mickey

I didn't know whether to be relieved or angry when I woke up the next morning to see that Ian read my message but didn't respond. The feeling definitely bordered more on angry, but I slowed myself down, understanding that what was important was that he was okay.

When I walked out of my room, Mandy was in the kitchen drinking coffee while leaning against the counter. She looked over at me once she noticed I was walking towards her.

"You're fucking lucky Mickey."

Alrighty then, that's how this was gonna go.
It was too early for her shit so I just rubbed my eyes with my fingers and then flipped her off, continuing to walk towards her. Once I got to the counter, I grabbed an empty mug next to the sink and filled it with coffee. I stood across from Mandy, next to the fridge. The hostility continued as she just kept watching me, a mix of anger and impatience in her eyes.

"The fuck are you looking at Mandy, Jesus!"

"You gonna just stand there? Not tell me anything about what happened with Ian last time he was here?" I could feel her eyes still on me as I looked down at the mug in my hands, not wanting to relive the pain of Ian leaving my bedroom; not wanting to consider that him running away was my fault.

"Nothing happened, ok?"

She scoffed and put her mug down on the counter next to her, coming over to me and giving me a punch on the arm, not a playful one either, causing me to almost choke on the coffee I had just sipped.

"The hell Mandy?!"

"He ran out of here crying Mickey! He didn't talk to me about it or anything for that matter after you fucked up with whatever you did. And now he's missing! You don't see the issue with that?" She was yelling now, clearly upset with me but more so over the disappearance of her best friend.

"Look," I responded in a softer tone, not really wanting to get punched or yelled at again. "I get the problem here, I do. But it's not my problem, ok? I didn't do a fucking thing, so get off my case about this alright?"

Mandy just backed up, keeping her watering eyes on me.

"You were never anything but a prick to him. You threatened to kill him and then treated him like he didn't even exist, so open your fucking eyes and, for once Mickey, make something your problem."

With that she turned out of the kitchen and into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Shit," I whispered to myslef, throwing my mug into the sink and kicking the wall next to me before heading back into my room.
~
The next few days felt like crap. Mandy wasn't talking to me. She wasn't even around much anymore when I was. I would listen to the front door slam shut as I walked out of my bedroom most mornings, it finally opening back up around 1am when I was already back in bed, followed by the slamming of her door as Mandy got home.

Iggy had visited dad in prison on Friday. Word is he's got a shortened sentence now since the person he stabbed woke up from their coma, making it attempted murder, not full on homocide which was just great if you're into getting beat just for breathing every second of the day.

This morning I ran into Lip at the Alibi which was really the icing on the cake. I noticed him as soon as I walked down so I sat down the bar, avoiding him while he talked to Kevin about some ice cream truck for the summer. Of course my luck ran out when Lip was leaving and noticed me sitting with a beer at 11am on a weekend.

"Hey Mickey. Drinking before noon? You taking your dad's place while he's locked up?"
I smirked sarcastically, not amused at all.

"Very fuckin funny," I paused, taking a sip of my beer, "Frank Jr."