Casual Sabotage

18 - Nighttime

If Lip was correct, Ian has had two "depressed episodes" within the two years they had spent at the Milkovich house. For Mickey, they had looked like burn-out and seasonal depression, that's all. Ian didn't like to be touched when he was like that, he wasn't hungry and almost had to be force-fed at some point. He didn't shower and barely got out of bed, every step he took seemed to exhaust him.

Mickey and Ian both stayed in bed the entire next day. Every now and then they scooted closer to each other and one was holding the other for about thirty minutes before Ian couldn't take the touching anymore. Fiona was so kind to bring each of them some water and a sandwich (which neither of them touched).

The second day, Mickey had to go to work again. When Mickey woke up, Ian lay a bit further away from him again. Mickey rolled on his side and looked at him. He seemed much calmer now, he wasn't asleep, just lay there, eyes half-closed, breathing steadily.

"Are you awake?", Mickey whispered, although he knew he was.
Ian opened his eyes slowly and looked at Mickey.
"How are you feeling?"
Ian looked down again and pulled his blanket closer around him.

Mickey leaned to him and gently kissed his forehead, "I have to get up and go to work.", he told him slowly and left the bed to go to the bathroom.

Mickey could deal with Depression. He had done it twice already with Ian, he witnessed and taken care of Mandy when she was depressed several times throughout her teenage years and he remembered seeing his mother like this too when he was young and he always brought a bowl with soup to her bed.

It wasn't easy, by all means. He had to take care of his mom, Mandy and Ian like they were children, had to make sure they ate, while they stayed in bed and barely talked or moved. Mickey was worried about them the entire time, definitely, he was going through hell – but he at least knew how to deal with it.

About that manic stuff? He didn't know shit about it. He didn't even know for sure if Ian really was bipolar. Ian was out of control when he was like that, he was spiralling out of control the entire time, endangered everyone and himself and couldn't be serious about anything. Mickey didn't know what to do, how to calm him, how to not freak out. When Ian was depressed, that was awful, but Mickey at least felt like he was able to help him, even if just a little bit.

He took Ian's toothbrush, put some toothpaste on it and brought it to the bedroom. He squatted down in front of the bed, looking at Ian, "Brush your teeth", he mumbled, Ian just looked at the toothbrush, so Mickey took his hand and put it into his hand, "Come on, at least 20%, freckles, hmm? We talked about this, you remember? A bit is better than none."

Ian looked at him for some time, before slowly opening his mouth and putting the toothbrush in. He was sucking the paste from it, rather than brushing, but it was enough. Mickey helped him sit up a bit when he gave him his glass of water and then gently put him down again. He brought the stuff back to the bathroom when he noticed Fiona standing in the door to their bedroom, watching him.

"Hey", Mickey mumbled while rinsing the toothbrush and getting a fresh glass of water for Ian.
"Hey, you made him brush his teeth?"
Mickey nodded and looked at her, "You maybe know better than me what's going on when he's running around buying gifts for everyone, but I still know what to do when my boyfriend's low.", he said to her, went back to the bedroom and closed the door. He put the glass of water on Ian's bedside table, then started to get dressed for work.

Before he left the room, he tucked Ian in under the blanket properly and half-opened the window to get some fresh air into the room.
"I have to go to work, okay? I'll be back in a few hours. Try to eat something today, yeah?", he whispered and kissed his forehead, "Everything will be okay again, hm?"
Ian looked away but reached his hand out to pull on Mickey's shirt. Mickey smiled, reached over the bed and took the old shirt he had discarded before his shower and gave it to Ian, "Here. Sleep some, you'll feel better soon."