You remember?

Being sick sucks

"Hey" he answered "Just stopped by. Wanted to say hello." Need to find out about Mickey, he added in his mind. "Oh, ok. Actually it's not the best time right now" Mandy said "But you're right we haven't seen each other for too long. I'll call you okay?" Ian was about to reply when he noticed something moving behind Mandy.

Someone. He stepped on his toes to glance over his best friend's head and saw him. Even though he only saw him from behind and he was wearing a black sweater and had put its hood over his head, he knew exactly who it was. So it was true. She really had managed to get him out of prison.

He didn't turn around. Just went trough a door and disappeared into the shallows of Mandy's apartment. "Mickey's back?" he asked. Mandy hesitated, then nodded.

"I heard you talking to Fiona in the kitchen."

"Okay."

"You really weren't gonna tell me?"

"No. You're my best friend but he's my brother and I think you should stay away from him." She didn't look at him as she said these words and Ian's heart sunk.

"See, Mandy I just want to talk to him" he tried again but she shook her had. "Just go. I'll call you."

And then she closed the door. Ian went back outside into the darkness of the night. It was winter and freezing cold but he didn't feel it. He felt numb. He needed to see him. Needed to talk to him. Needed to feel him. But he didn't even look at him.

Ian went home, too impatient to wait for the bus. He came through the back door, slammed it hard, not caring about the noise and the people who were asleep already. Lip stood behind the counter in the kitchen and looked at him inquiring. Ian passed him without saying anything and sat down on the couch not bothering to take off his jacket. Lip slowly came into the living room and slumped next to him. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really though."

So they were just sitting there saying nothing until Ian decided he needed to talk to somebody and that his big brother was the one he could fully open up to.

"Being sick sucks."

"Yeah, no shit."

Silence.

"Mickey's out."

"Oh really?"

"You knew."

"No."

"Liar."

Silence.

"Ok. I knew. Fiona told me but she also told me I should wait until you were ready to talk to me."

"Since when do you do what Fiona says?"

"It doesn't happen often but at this point I agreed with her."

Silence.

"I went to Mandy's to check if it's true. If he's really out. I mean I just heard that Mandy was planning to get him out but I didn't know if it worked so I went there."

"And you saw him."

"Yeah."

Silence.

"You talked to him?"

"No. Mandy didn't let me in."

"Sounds like Mandy."

"I mean eventually she has to let me speak with him right?"

Lip shrugged.

Ian looked at the clock above the arch that separated the kitchen from the living room. "Shit."

"What?"

"My meds." Ian jumped off the sofa and went into the kitchen. He grabbed a glass, filled it with water and took the three orange containers off the shelf that was too high for Liam to reach.

He swallowed one pill of each container before he went back to the living room. He sat down next to Lip again who looked at him like he was fighting with himself before he said: "Ian, you know what I would usually say in a situation like this because we've had this conversation kind of often." He paused waiting for a reaction from his brother but got none so he continued "I think this time you should try. Talk to him."

Ian nodded.

"Oh and something else."

"What?"

"Caleb was a douchebag."