Reckless Harmony

A Chill

The Milkovich house is as cold and uninviting as it always is, with the stale smell of cigarettes and the faint sound of cars backfiring and sirens in the distance. The siblings are huddled around the dimly lit table, intently counting their cash and weighing the drugs as Terry stands nearby with a cigarette dangling from his lips, watching them like a vigilant hawk.

Mickey isn't unfamiliar with the look on his Dad's face. He's pissed about something, or drunk, high. Probably all of the above. Not unusual. Mickey just wonders why.

The unexpected gunshots firing from outside near the house startles everyone in the room, causing Iggy to fumble with his baggie filled with the coke, and to spill them all over the floor.

Terry turns to Iggy and gives him a hard, sharp slap to the back of his head. Making Iggy hunch forward and grab the back of his head in pain. "Clumsy idiot! Pick it up!"

"Ow! Shit, Dad..." Iggy lets out a sigh and begins to clean up as much as he can, trying to regain his composure. Mickey's frustration is evident in his clenching jaw, even though Iggy does deserve a slap sometimes. None of Mickey's siblings say anything though, they'd probably get a worse beating if they stood up for him. Mickey glances at Terry, he knows better than to argue with his dad when he's in one of these moods.

Terry catches the glance quickly. "The fuck're you lookin' at, huh?" He snaps, crossing his arms.

"Nothin'" He casually tosses out, continuing to count the cash. He's done with it fast.

"Ight', so 200 dollars for three baggies, right? It's all there, pops." Mickey stands up, pointing to the cash. It's the Milkovich way of asking permission to leave. Like at dinner. Only with drugs.

"Yeah, yeah." He waves a hand, and Mickey's dismissed.

He closes the door carefully and crashes into his bed. Mickey thinks about Ian, and what he's doing right now. Fuck, the redhead was buried deep in his brain. And heart. He pulls out his phone to look for any new messages. There are a few, but not from Ian, They're from his bandmates. Max seems to be going crazy, what the hell is he doing?

He checks the messages to see what's happening.

Max

Mick have u seen whats been going viral?

Mickey

What?

Eddie

Someone posted this photo of you!!

Mickey's heart drops to his feet. It's from the other night with Ian. On the L. Where they were sitting beside each other.

Making out.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

He looks at the title of the post: "Grunge drummer Mickey is GAY?!"

This can't be happening... It just can't. Why would this happen? Who the fuck outed him? Why the fuck would someone out him?

His heart speeds up. If this gets to Terry somehow, he WILL kill him, there's no doubt. He'll do something horrendous to him. And to... Fuck, Ian. He'll do something even worse to Ian.

Mickey grabs his jacket and quickly walks out of the house. This can't be happening.