Archive of Our Own

“Fuck sakes,” Mickey grumbled.

He had just gotten comfortable, settling in on the couch, beer in hand, after a long day at work. And now the explosion of barking from his asshole neighbor’s dog meant he had to get up.

Stomping his way across the room to the back door, he slid it open to let his cat in before stepping outside and yelling over the 6-foot fence like he did every time this happened.

“Control your damn dog!”

“Wouldn’t need to control my dog if you would keep your cat inside, asshole!” came the expected response.

Throwing up a middle finger towards the fence that had kept him from ever actually seeing the face of his neighbor, he went back inside, regretting, not for the first time, the sliding door that made it impossible to get a proper slam out of it.

“Dick he may be, Wiggins,” he said, picking up the slightly scruffy tabby cat , “but he’s not wrong. One of these days, I’m gonna figure out how the hell you keep getting out.”

Making his way back to the couch, he couldn’t help but chuckle ruefully over the fact that yelling at some random dude across a fence was one of the highlights of his life these days. Mickey Milkovich, terror of the South Side… living a boring-ass, legally funded life with a cat.

The next morning found him back to his vaguely lonely but also comfortable routine. Wake up, shower, eat breakfast with the cat, and off to his job working mall security.

He’d been at this job for almost two years now, and for the first time in his life, he had enough money to rent a place of his own, even if it was a slightly rundown row house with just a tiny strip of backyard and six-foot-high fences that kept him from seeing anything except that fairly barren bit of ground.

He hadn’t wanted the cat, not really, but Mandy had pestered him endlessly about getting a pet when he first moved into the house. “But Mick, you’ll be lonely! You should get a dog or something.”

He had eventually given in and gone to the shelter just to shut her up, but to his surprise, instead of leaving with a dog, he had found himself drawn to a scrawny cat that they said had been picked up off the streets. Figuring that maybe a rough start to life gave them some common ground, he paid up and brought Wiggins home that day.

And maybe Mandy was right, but he sure as hell wasn’t gonna tell her that. Wiggins filled a void he hadn’t even known was there, giving him some company and someone to talk to. And, for the last few months, a chance to yell at his dickhead neighbor. Things had been quiet and peaceful until he moved in with his stupid dog that was determined to catch Wiggins.

Shaking off his thoughts, he gave the cat one last pat on the head before leaving, telling him (in what was definitely not a sappy voice, fuck you very much), that he would be back after work like always, and to please stay in the house.

He was two hours into his shift, taking a turn in the control room, when something caught his attention on the one monitor that he didn’t spend far too much time watching. Leaning forward for a better look, he forced down the stupid smile that tried to creep onto his face.

Unfortunately, his movement hadn’t gone unnoticed. “Ah, your boy has arrived for the day?”

“Shut up, Luis,” he muttered, slouching back into his chair and jerking his eyes away to another monitor.

“What, you think I haven’t noticed you pining over the hottie in the coffee shop?” Luis was always trying to get Mickey to start dating someone - anyone, really. He fancied himself a bit of a ladies’ man, although from what Mickey could tell, he didn’t actually have that much luck in that area himself.

Luis wasn’t a bad-looking guy, with his dark hair and lightly tan skin, but he wasn’t quite good-looking either. His teeth were a bit crooked, and his nose was just a hair too big to be considered handsome - at least to Mickey. Who knows what women thought. But he was convinced that all of his dating wisdom would someday land Mickey his dream guy.

“‘M not pining over him.”

“Then you’ll go and talk to him, right? Just have a conversation.” Luis was not going to let this go.

“I talk to him every day, man. Literally every day that we are both working.”

“Ah, ordering a coffee from him is not the same thing as talking, cabrón.” Luis always broke out a Mexican accent when he was trying to be clever.

“Knock off the fake Mexican shit. You were born right here in Chicago, same as me,” Mickey told him with an eye roll.

“Just embracing my heritage, like my abuela is always telling me to do!” Luis replied with a laugh.

“Whatever. How is she, anyway?” Maybe he could distract him with talk about his family.

“She’s good, man, sends her love.”

Mickey doubted that the woman had ever said such a thing, seeing as how they had never met. But she did send home-cooked meals for him a couple of times a month, something else he couldn’t wrap his head around. But he sure as hell wasn’t gonna turn down free food, especially when it tasted as good as the shit she sent.

“Right, tell her I said hi.”

Turning his attention back to the monitors, he hoped that was the end of the conversation, as he scanned the whole bank of moving pictures, trying not to be obvious about the number of times his eyes were drawn back to that same one.

“Seriously, man. You should talk to him.”

Dammit. Guess he wasn’t gonna let it go.

“I really do talk to him, Luis. Just… let me figure this out my way, a’ight? I don’t even know if he’s interested.”

“Fine, fine. But you’ve been ogling him for what, six months now? Maybe more? Might be time to shit or get off the pot, is all I’m saying.”

Reminding himself that Luis was the closest thing to a friend he had, he just nodded and pulled out the one subject that he knew would distract him.

“Wiggins got out again.”

“Oh, shit!” Luis was instantly invested. “Did you get into it with the asshole again?”

They spent the next twenty minutes tearing apart the character of his annoying neighbor and his stupid dog, both of them laughing by the time they were done. And then the room lapsed back into comfortable silence as they watched the never-ending shift of people who thought they were anonymous because they were in a crowd. They sometimes called the other’s attention to something, either because it might need a response, or just because people did weird shit sometimes, but otherwise it was quiet, just like Mickey preferred.

“Time to swap, Luis.” Jack was a giant slab of a man, always good to have on shift with you. Most people wouldn’t start shit when he was the person in uniform who showed up.

“Nah, I’m feeling lazy today,” Luis said with a smirk in Mickey’s direction. “Milkovich’ll walk for me, right bud?”

Rolling his eyes, Mickey got up so Jack could take his chair and shrugged on his jacket, sliding his radio into his thigh pocket.

“Sure, whatever. See you in a couple of hours, Jack.”

They traded off watching the monitors and patrolling the mall during their shift, always two in the office and two out walking. Mickey taking this walking shift for Luis meant that Carol would be pissy, she didn’t like it when they screwed up her routine. She was the one person on the team that Mickey was a bit afraid of, but she knew how to handle trouble, so they put up with her bitchiness.

Closing the door behind him, Mickey glanced around, deciding where to start, and knowing that Luis was watching with interest, expecting him to beeline to the coffee shop. Deciding that annoying Luis was worth delaying his own satisfaction for a bit, he turned in the opposite direction and strolled off, humming under his breath.

Taking the most roundabout route he could think of, he wandered the mall, pretending for all he was worth that he wasn’t dying to head to that one specific shop. He ran into Carol about halfway through his first lap and stopped to talk despite the irritation on her face when she saw him instead of Luis.

“Everything quiet?”

“Yep, pretty typical Tuesday morning,” she said with a sigh. “Mommy groups and old ladies getting their exercise.”

“Better than Wednesday mornings - Mommy groups and the yoga club,” Mickey replied.

“Ugh, so true. Hey, you know they have a bet going, right?”

“Who? And about what?”

“Luis and Jack. They’ve been betting for ages on how long it’s gonna take you to ask the redhead out.”

“And let me guess,” he grumbled, rubbing at his eyebrow in irritation. “Luis has today?”

With an evil chuckle, she patted him on the shoulder and moved away. “‘Course he does.”

Shaking his head in irritation, he walked away, changing his planned route. Coffee sounded fucking fantastic right now.

“Hey, Mickey!” Ian’s cheerful voice called out as soon as he walked into the cozy little shop that always smelled so damn good. The smile that lit up his face every time Mickey walked in had to mean something, right? But maybe he was just like that with all the regulars.

“Hey, man,” Mickey replied with a smile of his own. “Haven’t seen you in a few days.”

“Oh, yeah, I traded shifts so I could spend a couple of days with my family. Guess you were off the days I was working. I missed seeing you.” Ian really could charm a guy. What was he even supposed to say to that?

“Yeah, I uh… missed seeing you, too,” he stumbled out. “Luis is being a dick, got anything to make that better?”

“‘Course I do!” Ian laughed. “Do I wanna know what he did this time?”

They knew all of the security crew in here, of course, and telling Ian stories about them was one of his favorite things to do while he waited for his coffee every day.

“Nah, probably not.” No way was Mickey telling him. “Just being a pain in the ass today.”

“Well, hopefully, I can make you feel a bit better.”

That was flirting, right? That had to be flirting. Unless he said shit like that to all of his regulars. God fucking dammit.

“You always do, man.” Fuck, why did he say that? Ian was gonna think he was an idiot. But… it brought that amazing smile back, and something else, maybe, in his eyes? Mickey wasn’t sure what that was. But damn did he want to see it again.

“So how’s the family?” he asked awkwardly, wanting to keep Ian talking to him but being probably the world’s worst conversationalist.

“Oh, you know. Nothing really changes with them. It was my niece’s birthday, though, and I haven’t been back to see them all in a few months. Little girls are really good at guilt trips.”

“My sister ain’t a little girl anymore and she still guilt trips me into all kindsa shit,” Mickey snorted.

Shit, there was that look again. Why did it make him feel so warm? Dammit, Luis was getting all in his head. This was just… talk. Right?

“Drink’s ready, Mick,” Ian said quietly, drawing his attention back from where he had been studying his boots without even realizing it.

“Shit, sorry. Thank you.” Mickey was stumbling over his own words again. He reached out blindly to take the cup and found his fingers wrapping over Ian’s where he was holding the drink out. Eyes flying to Ian’s face, he flushed, ready to apologize again, but stopped when he saw the way Ian was looking at their hands. He looked soft, almost shy.

Gathering up his courage, Mickey squeezed, just slightly. Ian’s eyes darted up to meet his, and another slow smile spread across his face. They stayed there, smiling at each other like a pair of dumbasses until they were interrupted by one of Ian’s coworkers calling for him from the back.

Pulling his hand away, Ian flushed. “So, uh, it’s a White Chocolate Strawberry Mocha with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Guaranteed to sweeten your day.”

“Been practicing that line?” Mickey asked, pushing down the fluttering in his guts.

“Only about twenty times in my head since you walked in,” Ian said with another flash of a smile. “I’ve gotta go see what they want,” he jerked his head towards the back. “But… what time is your lunch break?”

“‘Bout an hour,” Mickey replied after glancing at his watch.

“Cool, want to meet me in the food court? I kinda want to know if the drink made up for Luis.”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Mickey answered, looking at the floor to hide the flush creeping up his face.

“Cool, see you then,” Ian waved as he bounced off toward the door to the back room.

It wasn’t until Ian was out of sight that Mickey realized he hadn’t paid for his drink. Shit. Well, he’d see Ian in an hour, he could give him the money then.

Striding back out of the shop, he resumed his patrol, smiling again when he took his first sip of the frilly drink in his hand. It really was good. Just sweet enough, but still laced with coffee flavor.

An hour later, he was standing nervously at the edge of the food court, wishing they had agreed on somewhere more specific to meet. There were a million people in here, how the hell was he supposed to find Ian?

“Hey, you came,” said a voice from behind him.

Jumping, he spun around to find Ian watching him, hands in his pockets. He took a second to appreciate how good he looked without the silly apron on - tall, somehow seeming taller now that he wasn’t behind that counter, wearing jeans that fit him just right, snug across his ass and hinting at what was hidden in the front, with a white t-shirt under a dark blue button-down.

“Yeah, of course,” he said, flushing a bit when he realized how obvious he was being. “I’m gonna grab a slice of pizza, you want one?”

“Pizza sounds great,” Ian replied with another one of those slow smiles. “I’ll grab a table.”

What the hell was he doing? Mickey wondered as he stood in line. What the hell were they doing? Was this a friendly lunch? Was this a date? What the hell was this?

He was jolted out of his spiralling panic when the bored employee behind the counter asked for his order. Collecting their food, he turned around and was reminded of his earlier problem. Where… and then he spotted a hand waving in his direction, a hand attached to a smile and head of red hair.

“Hey,” he said, dropping the tray onto the table and sliding into the seat across from Ian. “This place is packed.”

“Yeah, I think the high schools are out for the afternoon or something. It’s gonna be crawling with teenagers for the rest of the day.”

“Great,” Mickey groaned. “Now my afternoon is gonna suck. Fuckin’ teenagers, man. Always touching things they shouldn’t, stealing shit, and making the grannies complain because they’re just... existing.”

“Yeah, the coffee shop will be insane too, and they always want the most insane shit. Like that drink I made you this morning? Yeah, they don’t just want that, they want it half-fat, with three shots of some random flavor, extra whip, blah, blah, blah.”

“Yeah, I think you might have it worse,” Mickey laughed. “You have to smile and be nice to them. I’m supposed to look mean and yell at them. Best part of my job.”

Ian snorted a laugh, and the conversation died out as they dug into their food.

After a few minutes, it started feeling kinda awkward though, and it seemed like Ian was feeling it too from the way he kept glancing up, starting to say something, and then looking back down at his food.

So Mickey screwed up his courage again (Where the hell was this coming from today? Definitely not Luis. He would never admit it might be Luis) and broke the silence.

“You, uh, you said you hadn’t been to see your family in a bit. How come?”

“Oh!” Ian smiled at him brightly. “I finally saved up enough once I got moved to full-time at the coffee shop, so I moved out on my own a few months back. I love my family, and I miss them, but it’s been so nice having my own space that I just kinda… didn’t visit. I talk to them all the time, but just hadn’t been home in a while.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Mickey told him. “When I got my own place it was weird at first, but the quiet was real nice. I really only see my sister these days, but I grew up in a house full of people, so having my own space was amazing.”

“Yeah, exactly. There were six of us kids in my house growing up. I shared a bedroom with two and sometimes three brothers, absolutely zero privacy, and definitely never more than five minutes of quiet.”

“But it did get a bit lonely being on my own,” Ian continued. “So I got a dog to keep me company, and that’s been another reason not to go visit. He needed me around while we were getting used to each other.” He hesitated for a second. “Wanna see a picture?”

Smiling, Mickey agreed, cringing a bit at himself for finding Ian’s excitement over his dog cute.

Ian pulled out his phone and flipped quickly through his photos until he found the one he wanted, turning it to face him. “This is Howard.”

Howard was a gorgeous Golden Retriever with a red coat, staring into the camera with a look of dopey excitement.

“Takes after his owner, I see.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ian smiled again. “He’s got my hair, my brothers pointed that out the day I brought him home.”

“Well, that, and he’s awfully cute.” Shit. God dammit. What the hell was wrong with his tongue today? It was just blurting shit out all over the place.

“You think I’m cute, Mick?”

“Mickey!!” he was saved from having to answer by a shout from across the food court.

Groaning, he shut his eyes and rubbed his hand across his forehead. “Shit. Just play along, ok? He’s gonna be a pain in the ass.”

“Play along with what?” Ian asked, puzzled.

Good question, Mickey thought. What exactly was he going to say? “Just… follow my lead.” Yeah, great, Mick. Follow your lead into what? Before he could say anything else though, Luis dropped a chair down beside their table and sat. Shit.

“Hey, Luis,” he said tiredly. “You know Ian, right?”

“Sure, sure, from the coffee shop. How’s it going? Not used to seeing you out from behind that counter.”

“Uh, yeah, hey Luis,” Ian muttered.

“So you took my advice, huh?” Luis turned back to Mickey. “Finally pulled the trigger?”

And yeah, ok, it was stupid as hell, but Mickey’s tongue had said lots of stupid shit today.

“Took your advice about what? To have lunch with my boyfriend?” he said innocently, locking eyes with Ian and silently begging him to play along.

“Your… what?” Luis spluttered.

“Boyfriend. You know, a male person that you are dating, having sex with, etcetera?”

“But… you guys aren’t dating… right?” he turned to Ian pleadingly.

Ian, thankfully, pulled himself together and played along.

“Kinda are. Been seeing each other for a while. Just thought we should keep it quiet at work for a bit, you know?”

“No, but Mick… this morning, we were talking about how you had a thing for him, and you should… talk to him?”

“And what did I say to you, Luis, hmm? I said I talk to him plenty. Although I gotta say, you might be right. Some days we don’t do a lot of talking. But come on, have you seen him? My mouth is just too busy for talking sometimes, you know?”

Flushing, looking between the two of them in stunned disbelief, Luis stood abruptly and walked away, muttering to himself.

Mickey watched him leave, keeping it together until he was out of earshot before dissolving in laughter.

“Fuck,” he eventually got out. “Thanks for playing along. Did you see his face?”

“Yeah, you got him good,” Ian replied with a sad smile.

“What? Ok, no, I really wasn’t planning that, ok? Just… I found out this morning that him and Jack have been making bets on how long it would take for us to go on a date, and Luis had today and he was gonna win if he found out this was our first date.”

“This is our first date?” Ian said softly.

“I mean… I guess I thought so. But it’s cool if that’s not what this is.” Shit, maybe he really had read it wrong.

“Ok,” the smile this time wasn’t sad. “I like that. But what are we gonna do about Luis and Jack, and all the others?”

“I’m sorry, man. Sometimes my mouth just runs and stuff comes out, and then I gotta pay the price. I’ll tell them later.”

“No, wait. We could… pretend. Just here at work. Play it up for them, you know? And outside of work, well, we can just take this slow and see where it goes?”

“You’d do that for me?” Mickey was surprised.

“‘Course I would. You’re my boyfriend.” Ian smirked.

“You’re gonna be a pain in the ass about this, aren’t you?” Mickey sighed.

“Maybe a bit. I’ve been trying to figure out for months if you were interested, so jumping straight to boyfriend sounds like fun. Gimme your phone.”

“What for?” Mickey asked, eyebrows raised.

“Gotta exchange numbers don’t we? Boyfriends have each other’s numbers,” Ian said, holding his hand out. “Besides,” he added softly. “If I’m gonna take you out on a real date, I need to be able to text you or something, right?”

“Uh, yeah. Right. Yeah,” Mickey stuttered as he pulled his phone out and unlocked it, handing it over blindly.

“You back on the monitors after lunch?” Ian asked when he handed Mickey his phone back.

“Yeah, and the rotation is all screwed up so I have no idea whose gonna be in there, except that it’s not Luis.”

“‘Kay, well, I gotta get back soon, so can I walk my boyfriend back to his dungeon?”

“Sure,” Mickey replied with another smile. Man, he was smiling more today than he usually did in a week.

They got up and tossed their garbage, table being claimed before they were even all the way out of their seats, and headed in the direction of the Employees Only hallway where the security office was.

Ian put his arm around Mickey’s shoulders as they walked, and Mickey forced himself to stay calm, not tense up, and not shove him off. Boyfriends did this kinda shit. And once his first reaction wore off, it kinda felt… good.

“Well, this is me,” he sighed when they stopped just before the door. “Lunch was nice, except for the whole Luis thing. We should do it again.”

“We definitely will,” Ian said, sliding his arm down Mickey’s back, hand dropping to grope his ass. “But for now…” he spun Mickey around to face him, pulled him in, and kissed him.

This wasn’t some gentle, first-date kinda kiss, either. This was definitely a boyfriend kiss. Bodies pressed together, lips opening as they slid together, tongues tangling together as one of them moaned… holy fuck.

“Later, Mick,” Ian said as he pulled away, patting Mickey on the cheek before walking away and leaving him standing breathlessly in the hallway.

Stumbling through the door in a daze, he was vaguely aware of being happy to note that it was Carol waiting for him. She wouldn’t say much, and she would pay enough attention to the monitors for both of them while he convinced his body that no, he couldn’t, in fact, go running after Ian and demand more.

“Something you wanna share?” she asked as he slumped into his seat, startling him out of his thoughts.

“Uh…”

She tapped the monitor that showed the hallway right outside their door, watching him with a smirk.

“Oh. That. Yeah, well, we decided it was time, you know? We’ve been seeing each other for a while, figured it was time to stop hiding it at work.”

“Uh huh,” she said suspiciously. “And this decision happened today because?”

“I dunno, you told me about the bet, and then Luis caught us having lunch together and I just kinda blurted it out. Think Ian was a bit surprised if I’m being honest.” He said with a shrug.

She gave him another suspicious look, eyes boring into his face like she could read the thoughts running through his mind before giving a sharp nod and turning back to the monitors. “Fair play. Bet Luis is pissed.”

Mickey threw her a grin before turning his attention to the screens, watching them for a solid few minutes before he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

Ian: Hope that was ok…

Mickey: Damn, if that was only ok, I can’t wait to see what good is like to you

Ian: 😂Not what I meant, but I’ll try to do better next time

Mickey: It was fine, and thanks again for playing along

Ian: Any time, Mick. This is gonna be fun

Mickey: gotta get back to work, Carol’s giving me the evil eye. Have a good afternoon

Pocketing his phone again, he gave Carol another shrug and went back to their silent watching.

Luis had started earlier than him that day, so between changing out shifts and trading off watching for walking, he managed to avoid another conversation with the man, knowing it was probably driving him crazy not being able to grill him about Ian.

Deciding it was something a boyfriend would definitely do, he stopped by the coffee shop when his shift ended for the day to say goodbye. Ian was busy, as he had predicted, with a crowd of teenagers standing around, half of them with drinks in hand, and the other half seemingly waiting for one.

Not wanting to interrupt, Mickey backed out of the store, shaking his head at himself for expecting Ian to be free just because he wanted to see him. Just as he turned to walk away though, he heard his name being called.

“Mick, wait!”

Turning back, he saw Ian dart out from behind the counter and weave his way through the crowd towards him. The teenagers grumbled about him leaving when they still needed their drinks, but the grumbles quickly turned to ‘awwws’ when he came to a stop in front of Mickey and pulled him in for a much more chaste kiss.

“I’ll text you when I get home,” he said with a smile before rushing back to his station, waving the kids off with a smile.

“You aren’t gonna believe the day I had, Wiggins,” he said when he got home and plopped down on the sofa beside the sleeping cat.

“Hey, wake up,” he laughed, giving the furry belly a rub. “I wanna talk, you can’t just sleep all the time!”

Wiggins opened one eye with a sigh, but seemed to accept that Mickey wasn’t going away. Stretching, he opened the other eye and climbed to his feet, taking two huge, stretching steps to place himself on Mickey’s lap where he could at least get some pets if he had to listen to his human babble.

“Yeah, did you have a good day, buddy?” Mickey asked him softly. “Looks like you had a good rest.” He dutifully doled out chin rubs and head scratches before telling the cat about his day.

“You know that guy at the coffee shop? Ian? Well, he kissed me. Twice.” Smiling at the way Wiggins was rubbing against his hand, he chucked. “Yeah, I know. It did feel pretty good. And we’re gonna be pretend boyfriends while we’re at work. I’ll explain how that happened later. But he said he’s gonna text me, and I’m not sure how to do this shit, Wiggins. I want to. I really like him. And I really, really want to kiss him again. I just don’t know how to do this dating shit.”

Wiggins circled around on his lap and lay down, settling in with a huffed purr to go back to sleep.

“Yeah, you’re right. No sense worrying about it.” He let himself relax, flipping on the TV and losing himself in some mindless show while he petted the sleeping feline on his lap.

He was starting to think about how to go about getting the cat off his lap so he could eat when his phone buzzed again.

Ian: hey

Mickey: hey, how was the rest of your shift?

Ian: slowed down again not long after you left. Which was good, ‘cause I was a bit distracted

Mickey: distracted? Something happen?

Ian: yeah, I finally got to kiss this really cute guy I’ve been thinking about

Mickey: oh. Lucky guy. I kissed a cute guy today too

Ian: guess we both had a pretty good day then

Mickey: best day I’ve had in a while

Ian: aww, Mick.

Ian: hey, when’s your next day off?

Mick: Thursday

Ian: cool, I’m off that day too. You wanna meet Howard?

Mick: yeah, man, that sounds awesome

Ian: ok, you know the park on 71st? I usually take him there for walks on my days off if you want to meet us there?

Mick: sure, that’s not far from me

They texted for a bit longer before they both admitted they needed to go, Mickey to eat and Ian to take Howard out for a quick walk. Their conversation wasn’t exciting, and probably wasn’t anything special to most people, but Mickey spent the rest of the evening with a smile on his face. And they had one more brief exchange as he was settling in to sleep that night.

Ian: good night Mickey

Mickey: ‘night. See you tomorrow?

Ian: Of course you will, boyfriend

Mickey: good night then, boyfriend

Mickey: and not-boyfriend. Both of you

Ian: 😂 go to sleep

And he did, eventually… after his brain spent far too much time replaying the day's events, and imagining what the even better kiss he had been promised might feel like.

Mickey was working the late shift the next day, and he knew that Ian was working early, so their days would only overlap by a few hours. So after spending the morning with a distinct itch under his skin, he did something he had never done before and went to the mall early.

The coffee shop was empty when he arrived, with just a bored-looking Ian behind the counter.

“Hey,” he said shyly, feeling a smile spread across his face when Ian looked up and broke into a grin.

“Hey yourself,” Ian said quietly after glancing around to make sure they were alone. “Thought you didn’t work for another hour.”

“Don’t,” Mickey shrugged. “Just thought I’d come and hang out here for a bit.” He stopped on the other side of the counter directly across from Ian and leaned on it, eyes travelling up and down the form of the other man.

“Oh yeah?” Ian leaned forward as well, arms resting on the counter so their faces were only a foot apart. “That sounds like a very boyfriend-y thing to do.”

“Mmmhmmm,” Mickey hummed. “Too bad you’re behind that counter right now, though, ‘cause there’s another boyfriend-y thing I’d like to be doing right now.”

Ian’s eyes dropped to his lips, and his tongue flickered out to wet his own. “Hmmm, that is too bad. I’d definitely like to be doing that right now too.” He leaned in slightly closer, and Mickey’s breathing sped up, wondering if he was going to risk it… when they were interrupted by someone making a slightly strangled noise behind him.

Eyes closing, Ian sighed. “Hey, Luis. Need another coffee?”

Straightening up, Mickey turned to find his friend standing behind him, eyes bulging slightly at what he had walked in on. “Hey, man.”

“Mick,” Luis gasped. “You’re not working for another hour.”

“True,” Mickey agreed, “But…” he gestured behind him.

“Right, well, I’ll uh… I’ll catch you guys later then!” Luis blurted before turning and almost running out of the shop.

Ian laughed, shaking his head as Mickey turned back in his direction. “Third time he’s been in today. Think he was trying to catch me out, asking me questions about you.”

“Dick,” Mickey said with a sigh. “I’ll tell him to knock it off.”

Ian just smiled and leaned on the counter again, the mood quickly shifting back to the tension that had been there before they were interrupted. “Whatever. I told him I’m always happy to talk about my boyfriend.”

“Fuck,” Mickey whispered, body moving on its own to resume his previous position, their arms almost touching, faces now mere inches apart, eyes flickering to each other’s lips and back up to meet.

“Janice!” Ian yelled over his shoulder, breaking the tension again. “I’m going on break. Back in fifteen.”

A muffled yell of assent came from the door behind him, and Ian stood, whipping his apron off and quickly darting around the counter to grab Mickey by the hand and drag him out of the store.

“Where are we going?” Mickey asked him with a laugh as he allowed himself to be towed along.

“Right… here,” Ian said as he ducked around a corner into an empty hallway that led to nothing but a seldom-used set of stairs.

“Oh yeah? You have something in mind that needs privacy?”

“Yeah, I really do,” Ian breathed as they came to a stop. Yanking Mickey towards him, he spun them around until Mickey was pressed against the wall, Ian’s larger body covering his. “Need to properly greet my boyfriend.”

And then, once again before he was really aware of what was happening, Mickey was being kissed. Thoroughly. He moaned against Ian’s mouth as their lips connected, body and mind fully on board with what was happening here. His arms slid up around Ian’s neck, and he pulled him in even closer, tongue darting out, asking for access to the mouth he had been aching to taste for so long.

Ian’s lips parted willingly and their tongues pressed together, slipping around each other as they licked almost frantically into each other’s mouths. They parted briefly, panting for air, and Ian nudged Mickey’s head to the side, lips finding his earlobe and sucking it into his mouth briefly before they moved down, gently sucking at the side of his neck as Mickey cursed softly.

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” Ian whispered against his skin before moving his lips back to Mickey’s, kissing him deeply and frantically as his hands slid down his sides, one hand slipping between his back and the wall, and the other moving down to clutch at his thigh, tugging until Mickey’s leg came up to wrap around his hips.

“Oh fuck,” Mickey moaned as their hips ground together and Ian’s mouth moved again, attaching themselves to his throat as his head tilted back, giving him the access he wanted.

“Ian…” he finally whimpered. “Fuck, Ian, we gotta stop.”

Ian detached himself with a whine. “Fuck. I know. You just feel so good.” He leaned his forehead against Mickey’s shoulder and released his leg with a final squeeze.

“Damn right I feel good,” Mickey chuckled. “And that’s why we need to stop, ‘cause in another minute I won’t be able to. And then one of us is getting fired.”

“Your friends probably just watched that whole thing, huh?” Ian said with a rueful chuckle.

“Uh… yep. No question. Hope they enjoyed the show.”

Ian sighed. “Ok, guess we should go back to the shop. I’ll make you an un-sexy drink, and we’ll… talk. About normal stuff.”

“But…” he whispered in Mickey’s ear, hand coming around to cup his still-hard dick. “Some day soon I’m going to touch this, taste it, and show you just how good I can make you feel.”

“See you back in the shop, Mick!” he said with a cheerful grin as he pulled away and strode off down the hall, leaving Mickey leaning bonelessly against the wall with his eyes closed. Fucking hell, this man was going to be the death of him.

Scrubbing his hand across his face, he pushed himself off the wall, straightened his shirt, and went in search of his… whatever they were.

“So what exactly makes a drink ‘un-sexy’?” he asked in amusement when he got back to the coffee shop and found Ian back in his place behind the counter.

“Well, it’s more about what it doesn’t have than what it does,” Ian replied with a smile. “No straws. Definitely too sexy. No whipped cream. And definitely no flavors that are gonna make you make that sound you make.”

“I make a sound?”

“Yep, it’s pretty much the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. All content and satisfied. It’s why I started making you all those fancy drinks, trying to hear that sound.”

“Fuck off, I do not,” Mickey grumbled. “Now you’re just being a dick.”

“Not being a dick, I swear,” Ian said, dropping his goofy smile and meeting Mickey’s eyes with an intense look that had him swallowing hard. “But you do make a sound, and it goes straight to my dick every time. And since we are behaving right now, no Mickey-sound drinks.”

“Fuck,” Mickey broke their gaze and moved quickly to seat himself at one of the two small tables tucked into the back corner. “Fine, bring me something un-sexy. And one of those massive muffins I like.”

“Muffins are sexy though,” Ian said with a perfectly straight face.

“‘Muffins are…’ Jesus fuck. You might actually be insane.”

Ian snorted a laugh and went to grab a muffin from the display case, showing up a minute later to drop it on Mickey’s table along with a cup of… black coffee. Shaking his head, Mickey picked it up and took a small sip, making a face at the lack of sugar.

“Sorry, Mick. See, I hate the taste of black coffee, so this way I won’t want to kiss you.”

They talked idly for the rest of the hour, mostly Ian telling Mickey stories about some of the stranger customers he’d had until Mickey finally stood with a sigh. “Sorry man, my shift starts in five. I’ll swing by later, yeah?”

“‘Course,” Ian said with a smile. “I’m glad you came in. See you later, Mick.”

Mickey hesitated for a long moment, feeling like there was something more he should say or do. Finally he gave an awkward wave, and turned to leave. Shit. That was weird, wasn’t it? Should he go back, say goodbye properly, or would that be even weirder now?

Glancing at his watch, he cursed instead and sped up. Luis would never shut up if he was late because he was hanging out with Ian.

Slipping through the door right on time, he was relieved to see Jack and another guy he didn’t really know sitting behind the monitors. That was good. Meant he had at least an hour before he had to face Luis and answer the barrage of questions that were coming.

The other guy, Mark, he thought his name was, stood and left, leaving Mickey alone with Jack, who gave him a sidelong glance but kept quiet while he got settled. Once he was seated though…

“So you guys planning on giving us shows like that on the regular?”

“Shut up.”

Jack raised his hands in surrender and turned back to the monitors. This was how their shifts together usually went, sitting in silence, and it was definitely how Mickey preferred it.

Unfortunately, his peace and quiet only lasted an hour.

“Fuck,” he muttered when he caught sight of Luis making a beeline for the office on the monitors.

Jack gave a sympathetic chuckle but stood and put his coat on. “Sorry, Mick,” he said wryly. “You’re probably in for a bad hour. But he’s off after this, so you can dodge him for another couple of days.”

Mickey snorted. “Yeah, except he knows where I live, man. And he’s definitely not above showing up at my door if he doesn’t think I’m telling him everything.”

Laughing, Jack opened the door in time for Luis to spill through it, leaving with a wave in Mickey’s direction.

He avoided looking in Luis’ direction, even though he could feel his eyes boring into the side of his head, waiting him out. It had been maybe five minutes when Luis started to speak, only to be interrupted by the phone on the desk between them ringing.

“Security,” Mickey answered, hiding the smile that was creeping over his face at the frustration on his friend's face.

Once he’d dispatched Jack to deal with the situation, he finally turned to Luis, taking pity on the guy.

“Ok, look,” he started, knowing this wasn’t the conversation that Luis desperately wanted to have right now. “You gotta leave Ian alone, man. You and me, we’re friends, and you’re allowed to annoy the shit out of me, right? But you can’t be pestering him. Especially not when he’s working.”

Luis flushed and looked away. “Yeah, ok,” he muttered. “I’m sorry about that.”

“But Mick,” he continued, looking back at him, confusion written all over his face. “Why didn’t you tell me? You know I’m cool with it, right?”

“‘Course I know that,” Mickey replied, voice softening. “And it’s cool that you’re cool, ok? We just…” he paused while he tried to think of a good answer, feeling a bit shitty.

“Look, we weren’t sure. If it would work, you know? And if it had gone bad, we didn’t want people here at work taking sides or getting involved.” He made a note to himself to tell Ian about this conversation later. They needed to keep their stories straight (heh).

Luis studied his face for a long moment before punching him in the shoulder. “Fine. As long as he makes you happy. Are you happy, Mick?”

Smiling softly as he thought back to the night before and the warm feelings he had gotten just from texting with Ian, he nodded. “Yeah, I’m happy.”

“Besides,” he added with a smirk. “Have you seen him? He’s hot as fuck.”

Ignoring the fake gagging sounds from his friend, he turned back to the monitors with a smile.

The end of that hour was a slightly chaotic shift change, with Luis leaving for the day, another guard Mickey didn’t know too well coming in, and Mark arriving to trade spots with Mickey at the same time. He thought he’d made a clean getaway to start his patrol without having to answer any more questions, but sighed when he heard Luis call his name.

“What?” he groused, gesturing for the other man to catch up.

“Listen, my abuela wants you to come for dinner next weekend,” Luis told him as they walked. “Saturday, since we’re both on the early shift. You should bring Ian. I’ll text you the details, ok?”

“Seriously?” Mickey asked him, caught off guard.

“Yeah, she’s been asking to meet you for ages, and I know she’ll love Ian too, so just bring him along.”

“I’ll ask,” he said hesitantly, not sure how Ian would respond to this. This was a whole different thing than just pretending at work.

“That’s all I’m asking!” Luis clapped him on the shoulder and turned away, heading towards the nearest exit.

“Shit,” Mickey muttered. This was going to get complicated.

He stopped by the coffee shop partway through his rounds, but the place was packed, and Ian could only mouth “sorry” in his direction, which Mickey waved off with a smile. By the time he got back around to that section of the mall, Ian was gone, and he had to get his coffee from someone else. Somehow, it just didn’t taste as good, and he spent the rest of his shift contemplating how that could possibly be.

It was after ten when he got home from work that night, and Wiggins was waiting impatiently for his dinner. After apologizing profusely to his cat (who really should be used to this by now since he worked late every third shift), he shucked off his uniform and settled on the sofa in his boxers and a t-shirt, beer in hand.

He flicked on the TV, leaving it on whatever bullshit was playing and picked up his phone, smiling when Wiggins came and curled up on his lap. “I know you hate it when I work late, little man. But we get to sleep in tomorrow.” He stroked the cat for a few minutes before picking up his phone again and firing off a message to Ian.

Mickey: finally home. Sorry about earlier

Ian: sorry about what?

Mickey: being weird when I left this morning. I’m kinda new at this shit, don’t really know how to act sometimes

Ian: you’re good, Mick. The situation is kinda weird. I get it, I don’t know how to act sometimes either

Mickey: ok

Ian: you and Luis good?

Mickey: yeah, we’re good. And he promised to stop bugging you

Ian: I think it’s kinda sweet, actually. He’s just looking out for you

Mickey: nah, he’s just nosy

Ian: could be that too 😂

Mickey: he’s a good guy. Just annoying sometimes

Ian: what are you doing right now?

Mickey hesitated for a second, but….

Mickey: sent a photo

Ian: oh fuck

Mickey: what?

Ian: ok, first, cute cat

Mickey: thanks?

Ian: second, you’ve got really nice legs, Mick

Mickey: fuck off

Ian: no, I mean it. You should definitely show them off more

Dammit, this guy was really gonna be the death of him. How was he even supposed to respond to that?

Mick: sure, I’ll put in a suggestion at work to let us wear booty shorts

Ian: yeah, that might not work, someone will mistake you guys for strippers

They talked about other stupid shit late into the night, and Mickey went to sleep with a smile on his face for the second day in a row.

Having the next day off meant that he could sleep in, at least as much as any cat owner could sleep in. Wiggins eventually woke him up by standing on his chest and staring at him. He still couldn’t believe how hard a cat could stare, piercing into his dreams like a little witch doctor or something.

“Fine, I’m awake,” he grumbled, giving the cat a scratch on his head. “Just… gimme a minute, ok?”

Stretching, he half-smiled when Wiggins huffed and jumped off the bed because of his movement. Happened every morning, and every morning it was cute.

He allowed himself the luxury of a leisurely wake-up, taking his time and letting his brain fully come online. He was reaching for his phone to check for messages when there was a demanding “Mreh!” from the floor. Sighing, he threw the blankets off and sat up, knowing he was out of time before the more annoying methods of ‘wake the human’ would start.

Grabbing his phone, he rolled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen, doing his usual dance of trying to walk while avoiding stepping on the impatient cat trying to rub at his legs. “Jesus, Wigs. This really would go faster if you would just walk normally.”

After getting Wiggins his breakfast, and pouring a bowl of cereal for himself, he finally sat down and got a chance to look at his phone. His heart did a weird little fluttery thing when the first notification he saw was a text from Ian. Shit. He needed to stay cool.

Ian: sent a photo

Ian: goofball doesn’t want to get out of bed this morning.

The picture was of Ian, shirtless and lying in bed, one arm tucked behind his head, with Howard’s head on his stomach. The dog had his eyes firmly shut and one paw thrown over them, looking like a dramatic kid trying to convince his parents to let him sleep for five more minutes.

Snorting a laugh, Mickey checked the time and realized Ian had sent the message almost an hour ago.

Mickey: lucky. Wiggins made me get up this morning

He closed out of their conversation and scrolled randomly through a few other apps before deciding that Ian must have gone back to sleep or something. Shaking his head at himself for the feeling of disappointment at not getting a reply right away, he dropped his bowl in the sink and went to take a shower. If Ian really did want to see him today, he needed to at least look presentable.

It was about an hour later, and he was pacing restlessly, trying to decide if he should start doing something since they’d never set a time for today, when his phone buzzed.

Ian: Hey, sorry, I was in the shower, and then my brother called and he talked forever

Ian: me and Howard are heading to the park now, we’ll be there for a couple of hours

Ian: so come any time, no rush

Breathing deeply as he stared at those messages, it hit Mickey that this was going to be the first time they saw each other outside of work. He looked down at himself, trying to decide if what he was wearing was ok, and then reminded himself that it was just a trip to the dog park. He didn’t need to look ‘nice’.

Mickey: sounds good, I can be there in 20

He didn’t need twenty minutes to get to the park, but he didn’t want to seem too… eager? Desperate? Whatever. The park was only five minutes away, but he could use the time to convince himself that this was all fine anyway.

Ian: awesome, see you then!

It took Mickey almost twenty-five minutes to get to the park. As it turned out, he did need to change his outfit. Twice. But he knew he looked good in his low-riding jeans, with a grey long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves pushed up to show off his forearms, and a blue vest over top to keep the chill at bay.

He spotted Ian first, and spent the time while he was walking in his direction admiring the way his body moved as he repeatedly threw a frisbee for Howard, who he assumed was the dog bouncing around on the ground nearby.

“Hey, Mick!” Ian called out happily when he noticed him approaching.

“Hey yourself,” he said with a smile, coming to a stop a couple of feet away, hands in his pockets as they took in the sight of each other. This time, though, their little staring match was interrupted by a fairly large red-furred beast charging at Mickey and almost knocking him over.

“Shit!” he yelped, holding his hands out to fend off the attack.

“Howard!” Ian yelled, leaping forward to drag the dog back. “I’m so sorry, Mick. He’s trained, I promise, and he wasn’t going to hurt you; he just gets really excited to meet new people. He’s usually only this crazy with people he knows, though.”

Ian knelt in front of the dog and reminded him firmly that he knew he wasn’t supposed to behave that way, especially in front of people that Ian had invited here just to meet him. “You’re going to give him a bad impression, and then he won’t want to spend time with us,” he said finally. “Can you be chill for like one minute?”

Howard sneezed loudly, which made Ian sigh and wipe his face, but he apparently took it for agreement.

“Ok, let’s try this again. I’m sorry about that. Mickey, this is Howard,” he looked pointedly at the dog now sitting semi-calmly beside him, except for the tail that was waving around crazily behind him. “Howard, go say hi to Mickey - nicely!”

Howard had started to lunge forward again, but heaved a sigh and slowed at Ian’s last word. He approached Mickey much more quietly this time, tail wagging and a look of such earnest hope on his face that Mickey couldn’t help but laugh.

Kneeling down, he gave the dog a scratch on the head. “Nice to meet you, Howard. You just caught me off guard. We’re cool.”

Howard stared at him expectantly for a minute before cocking his head to the side in confusion, looking around like there was something more he wanted. “What’s he want?” Mickey asked Ian, not sure what to do.

“I have no idea,” Ian replied with a sigh. “I can’t decide some days if he’s the smartest dog I’ve ever met or the dumbest one.”

Climbing back to his feet, Ian quickly distracted Howard with the frisbee, giving it a good throw that had the dog tearing off at top speed in no time.

“I’m glad you came,” he said softly, eyes darting quickly in Mickey’s direction even while he watched out for Howard. “It’s nice to see you in regular clothes for a change.”

And… huh. It hadn’t actually occurred to him that Ian had never seen him in anything except his uniform.

“Yeah, man. Thanks for inviting me. Having a cat is great, but doesn’t really give me much reason to go outside, you know?”

At Howard’s insistence, they took turns throwing the frisbee for another fifteen minutes before Ian made him settle and walk with them, snapping a leash on him so they could stroll through the park. They had been walking for a few minutes, talking idly, when he felt Ian’s hand nudge against his own, and without thinking, he turned his hand welcomingly and held Ian’s hand as they walked.

It was nice, surprisingly nice, just walking together, laughing at Howard’s antics, once in a while asking each other questions, or pointing out something happening nearby. When they got to the other side of the park, they spotted an ice cream truck, and without hesitation, they both turned in that direction.

“What are you getting?” Ian asked as they stood in line. “My treat.”

“You sure?”

“Yep, I invited you on this date, Mick, so I’m paying.”

Flushing a bit because he hadn’t really been thinking of this as a date, Mickey told him his order and then offered to hold Howard while Ian got their ice cream. Leading the dog who seemed perfectly happy to follow whoever was holding his leash off to the side, Mickey sat down on the ground beside him.

“So I guess this is a date,” he told the dog. “It makes sense, I guess. I just… I don’t really know what a date looks like since I’ve never really done this before.”

Howard looked at him seriously for a second before deciding that the appropriate response to his confession was to lick him from chin to forehead.

“Thanks,” Mickey muttered, wiping his face with his sleeve. “You’re lucky you’re cute. And that your dad is hot. I wouldn’t let just anyone lick me like that, you know.”

“No?” Ian said quietly, having apparently snuck up on them while Mickey was being slobbered on. “What if I wanted to lick you though?”

Eyes widening, he let his gaze slide up Ian’s body, watching as he deliberately licked a long stripe up the side of one of the ice cream cones he was holding. “Guess that depends.”

“On what?” Ian asked, brow wrinkling in confusion.

“Where you were planning on licking me. You’re hot, man, but I think Howard might be the only one that gets to lick me the way he just did.”

Breaking into a laugh, Ian stepped between the two of them to shield Mickey’s ice cream as he handed it over before taking Howard’s leash back. “Come on, there’s benches back near the off-leash area, we can sit and eat while he runs around with the other dogs.”

Smiling, Mickey climbed to his feet, a flash of disappointment running through him when he realized that both of Ian’s hands were now busy elsewhere. Jeez, when did he get so needy? Hold a guy’s hand once and apparently now he wanted to do it all the time.

They found a bench a bit away from everyone else after Ian greeted a few of the other dog owners and turned Howard loose, chuckling to themselves as they watched him go nuts chasing around a couple of other regular visitors.

“Looks like he likes having other dogs around,” Mickey said quietly.

“Yeah, he’s super social. Loves other animals, even the ones that don’t love him.”

“He chase squirrels?”

“Them, yeah, and there’s this jackass that lives next to me, lets his cat run free all the time, and the cat hates Howard. Sits on the fence between our places and taunts him. And his owner won’t do anything about it. I don’t know why the guy even has a cat, everyone knows they’re safer inside.”

“Yeah, I hear that. But maybe cut him a break. Wiggins is inside like 90% of the time, but a couple times a week he gets out and I have no idea how he’s doing it. They can be sneaky little bastards.”

Ian smiled at him fondly. “You really love that cat, huh?”

“Yeah,” Mickey looked down at his lap, heat rising in his cheeks as he flushed. He wasn’t used to people looking at him like that.

“I’d love to meet him.”

“I’d like that too,” Mickey said glancing at him shyly. “I think you’ll like him.”

Ian transferred his ice cream to his other hand and reached out to take Mickey’s free hand in his own, and they sat there in companionable silence, happy just to be together, until finally Ian stirred, glancing at his watch.

“Shit,” he said softly. “I’m sorry, Mick, I have to go. When my brother called this morning, he made me promise I’d come over. He’s got a drinking problem, and he’s close to falling off the wagon, I think.”

“‘S rough,” Mickey said quietly. “But you should have just cancelled then, gone to be with him.”

“Nah, he’s good, my sister is there with him for now, but she has to work later, so I’ve gotta go. I’m sorry. And I really wanted to see you.”

“Go,” Mickey told him with a smile. “This has been great, but you need to see him. You and me, we have lots of time.”

They stood and collected Howard, and walked slowly towards the park entrance, hand-in-hand. They stopped and looked at each other a bit awkwardly when they got there, neither one wanting to separate.

“I’ve gotta go,” Ian finally said softly. “But I’m really glad you came.”

“Me too,” Mickey replied just as softly. “Have a good visit with your brother, and I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Ian smiled before leaning in and pressing a soft and tender kiss to his lips. “Bye, Mick.”

He turned and walked away, Howard trotting happily at his side. Mickey watched them go, hand raised to touch his lips. It wasn’t their first kiss, but somehow it felt like it was.

Mickey had the early shift the next day, so he had gone to sleep early, or at least tried to. He spent probably too much time arguing with his own brain, convincing himself that it was fine that he hadn’t heard from Ian for the rest of the day. He was busy, dealing with family shit, and it’s not like they were actually boyfriends. The guy was allowed to not text him for half a day for fucks sake.

He eventually fell asleep, but woke feeling groggy and out-of-sorts. Didn’t help that Wiggins was not a fan of his early shift days, getting grumpy when the alarm went off and refusing to get out of bed to keep him company. “Fine, traitor,” he grumbled. “Guess I’ll eat by myself.”

He had stumbled to the bathroom and back before his brain woke to the fact that he should check his phone, but he found himself dropping to sit on the edge of the bed with a smile when he saw the message that had come in late the night before.

Ian: Hey Mick. Sorry I was out of touch today. Think my brother is going to be fine, but I would have preferred to be talking to you. I’m off tomorrow so I guess I won’t see you, but text me when you get a chance.

Knowing that Ian had been thinking of him too made him feel a bit less like a clingy idiot for having been… not upset, exactly, but… whatever he had been last night. “See that, Wiggins?” he whispered to the still-sleeping cat. “He was thinking about me.”

Mickey: Glad everything’s ok. Have a good day off

Mickey: good morning

Locking his phone, he quickly threw on a clean uniform before heading to the kitchen for a bowl of cereal. Wiggins wandered out about ten minutes later, looking distinctly unimpressed at the lack of food in his dish, but perking up when Mickey obediently got up and fed him before finishing his now-soggy cereal.

Work was luckily pretty uneventful that day since his lack of sleep plus no chance to see Ian had him feeling grumpier than usual. At least Luis was off today too so he didn’t have to listen to him chatter all day.

Ian had texted him back a simple ‘good morning’ with a smiley face, but he didn’t read it until his lunch break, and decided against replying just then. It was only a few hours until he would be home and they could have a proper conversation anyway. And he really didn’t want to subject Ian to his pissy mood. Didn’t need to scare him off already by showing what a dick he could be.

He spent the whole trip home trying to talk himself into a better frame of mind. Why the hell was he in such a bad mood anyway? He was getting soft as hell if one crappy sleep was enough to do this.

When he finally got home, he stripped out of his uniform, throwing on some old sweats and a hoodie. Grabbing a beer and a bag of chips, he threw himself down on the couch with a thud, kicking his feet up and stretching out full-length. His mood lifted a bit when Wiggins sauntered over and hopped up to settle on his chest. There really was something about the weight of a cat and his contented purr that always helped him feel better.

Mickey: hey

Ian: Hey! Home from work?

Mickey: yeah

Ian: everything ok?

Mickey: good, yeah. Just tired today

Ian: early shifts suck. I don’t know how you guys do it every few days

Mickey: yeah, didn’t sleep so good either

Ian: sorry 😢. Anything I can do?

Mickey: I dunno, man. I’m probably not good company.

Ian: we don’t have to talk if you don’t want to

Mickey: it’s not that. I just don’t know what to say

Ian: well what would you say if you were talking to your boyfriend?

Mickey: fuck, I don’t know. Come over? I want to see you, just don’t be mad if I’m bitchy

Ian: And if I was your boyfriend, I would be on my way. We’re good, Mick. I missed you today too

Mickey: shut up

Ian: seriously, I thought about you all day. I had an amazing time yesterday

Mickey: me too. We should do it again

Ian: yeah? Howard would love that

Mickey: Just Howard?

Ian: ‘course not. I would love it too. Kinda want to kiss you again

Mickey: That was a really nice part of the day. I got kisses from two redheads at the park in one day

Ian: 😂 but which one was better?

Mickey: hard to say, really. First one definitely had more tongue

Ian: yeah, you want more tongue next time?

Mickey: want more something. I liked the kiss yesterday though

Ian: I want more ‘something’ too. Want more of everything

Mickey: thought you wanted to take this slow?

Ian: fuck slow (for real, like reaaal slow). But we’ve been doing slow for months

Mickey: so what are you saying?

Ian: I don’t know, I just know I want to be around you all the time

Mickey: I feel the same. Wish I wasn’t so tired tonight

Mickey’s phone rang in his hand.

“Hey”, he said with a smile, dropping the phone on his chest beside where Wiggins was still sleeping and putting it on speaker.

“Hi,” Ian’s voice came through. “Figured this was easier.” Wiggins lifted his head and stared at the phone, a look of confusion on his little face.

“Yeah, definitely easier,” Mickey said. “I put you on speaker so I don’t have to keep holding the phone.”

“Lazy,” Ian laughed. “You really are tired, huh?”

“Don’t know why,” Mickey sighed. “Not like I haven’t gone to work on less sleep before. Already feeling better though.”

“Yeah? Not so grumpy?”

“Definitely not.”

“Good. So… if you weren’t so tired, what would you have had in mind?”

Wiggins suddenly bolted off his chest, digging his back legs in hard enough to make Mickey grunt, and bolted for the back door where he paced back and forth in a way he’d never done before. Weird-ass cat.

“Ugh, sorry, stupid cat just launched himself off my chest at full speed,” he apologized.

“Wish I wasn’t so tired so maybe I could see you,” he continued. “Could have gone out for a burger or something, I dunno.”

“That would have been great. I want to see you too. Maybe give you a nice long kiss goodnight.”

“Fuck,” Mickey whispered, feeling his dick twitch with interest. “So we’re done with the taking it slow thing, right? ‘Cause I really want to say fuck it and take things… all kinds of things… fast.”

“Definitely going to take things faster. I don’t think I can wait, not after the other day at work…” Ian practically moaned. “Haven’t been able to stop thinking about that.”

“Yeah…” Mickey replied. “Been thinking about that too.”

“Yeah? What kind of things have you been thinking?”

“You know what kind of things, man. Don’t think it’s a secret that I want you, Ian.”

“No, definitely not a secret. But it’s still nice to hear it. And the feeling’s mutual, by the way.”

“Oh,” Mickey could feel himself blushing. What the fuck. He knew Ian wanted him. Why the fuck was he being such a dork about all of this?

“Awww, did I embarrass you?” Ian snickered, pulling back from the conversation that was making Mickey uncomfortable.

“Shut up,” Mickey muttered. Suddenly remembering something, he braced himself for a conversation he didn’t want to have.

“Hey, so… Luis wants me to come for dinner with his abuela next weekend.”

“Meeting the family?” Ian laughed. “Didn’t realize you two were that serious.”

“Yeah, yeah. I dunno, guess he talks about me or something, she’s always sending food for me and shit, and he says she wants to meet me. The thing is, though… he wants me to bring you.”

There was a pause that made him check his phone to make sure they were still connected.

“Ian? It’s ok if you don’t want to. I’ll just tell him you have plans that night. It’s a lot to ask since we’re just fake boyfriends. I’m not gonna be mad or anything.”

“No, sorry, it just caught me off guard,” Ian said slowly. “Nobody’s ever invited me to meet their family before. I mean, I know Luis isn’t technically your family, and you’ve never met his abuela either, but… just kinda felt like a big deal for a second.”

Mickey swallowed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Yeah, sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. Shoulda just made up an excuse. It’s fine, really.”

“Didn’t say I don’t want to go.”

“It’s too much to ask. Pretending like that for a whole night outside of work, and in front of not just Luis but a stranger. I like what we’ve got going on and I don’t want to wreck that, ok? So forget I asked.”

“Mick, stop. I want to go with you. We’ll just call it a date. Go somewhere nice for dinner, maybe hang out after. Not like anyone, even Luis, is gonna be expecting a lot of PDA in front of his family, right? It’ll be chill, and might even be fun. And gives us another chance to screw with Luis, right?”

“Fuck, are you sure? ‘Cause you need to be sure. This feels like a big deal.” Dammit, why was he freaking out about this?

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Ian said softly. “Relax, alright? It’ll be fine. We’ve got a week to get ready, just need to spend lots of time together so we can get our stories straight.”

“Don’t mind the sound of that part,” Mickey smiled.

Just then, he could hear the sounds of muffled woofs coming over the phone, and Ian sighed.

“Sorry, Howard is just reminding me that he’s overdue for a walk. Can I call you back in a bit?”

“‘Course. Say hi to Howard for me.”

They hung up, and Mickey heaved himself off the couch in search of food. Huh. His bad mood was gone.

Ian did call him back later that night, and they talked for a couple of hours. Mostly they talked about what they wanted to tell Luis about their ‘relationship’, with more than a bit of flirting thrown in. And when they finally said good night, Mickey found himself going to sleep with a smile on his face again.

“Howard’s been acting weird,” Ian told him in one of their many conversations over the next few days. “Remember that neighbor I told you about with the cat? Haven’t seen the cat lately, but Howard keeps going over and staring at the fence, like he’s trying to figure out how to get to the other side. Weird-ass dog.”

Mickey had laughed and shrugged it off as Howard missing his little friend, which made Ian chuckle. “Man, he hates that cat with a passion. But maybe he’s just bored, I haven’t been taking him for as many walks lately.”

That settled them on their Monday night date. They would meet at the park again, give Howard a good run. They had seen each other at work over the weekend, making sure to ‘accidentally’ give Luis a good show both days, but their schedules had been off and they hadn’t been able to set another date.

But Monday, Mickey was working the early shift, and Ian was on middle shift, so they were both free for the evening. Since Mickey was off earlier, he was bringing food so Ian could just run home and grab Howard before meeting him. He debated for a good hour what to bring, but in the end, he decided something simple was best and headed to a deli he liked a few blocks away.

If he had looked out the front window while he was standing in line, he might have seen a familiar red-headed figure walking by on his way home from work… but alas, Mickey’s attention was firmly on the menu board as he decided which sandwiches to order.

Grabbing the plain paper bag with their food, and a tray for their drinks, he paused on his way out of the store and put everything down for a minute to send Ian a quick text.

Mickey: Got food, on my way to the park. Meet you by the off-leash area

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket about halfway to the park, but couldn’t check it until he arrived and put the food down.

Ian: Great, I’m starving. Leaving now, should be there in a few minutes

Huh. Guess Ian lived close by, too. That was good to know. The idea of being able to walk to each other’s places made him smile. He couldn’t wait to be able to just go over and hang out with Ian whenever he wanted.

True to his word, Ian was only a couple of minutes behind him, Howard trotting happily at his side. Both of them perked up at the sight of Mickey sitting on a bench watching them, and Ian almost had his arm pulled off when Howard decided he wanted to say hello.

“Ok, I get it, you like Mickey,” Ian was saying as they approached. “But you need to learn some chill. He’s not going to want to hang out with us if you’re too eager. Play it cool, dude.”

“Screw playing it cool,” Mickey snorted when they were close enough, standing and stepping into Ian’s space. “Hi,” he mumbled before pulling Ian down for a semi-chaste kiss.

“Hi,” Ian said with a smile when they pulled apart. “Wasn’t expecting… Howard!!!”

Mickey turned in the direction of Ian’s horrified gaze to see Howard with the bag of sandwiches in his mouth. Laughing, he reached over and grabbed the bag, pulling it free and confirming that, other than a bit of drool, it was undamaged.

“All good, the food’s safe.”

“Sorry, guess I got a bit distracted and forgot to hold tightly to his leash,” Ian said sheepishly. “We’re still working on the whole ‘not stealing food’ thing.”

Mickey shrugged. “I grew up on the South Side. A bit of dog drool definitely isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever found in my food.”

“Wait, really?” Ian asked, turning to him in surprise. “I mean, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, you definitely have the attitude. But I’m South Side too. How did we never meet growing up?”

“Actually, wait,” he continued. “Let me turn Howard loose, then we can talk. Can’t believe we never met.”

When Ian got back, they settled in on the bench, and Mickey pulled out the wrapped sandwiches. “Turkey or beef?”

“Turkey,” Ian said with a smile. Unwrapping it carefully, he licked his lips. “Looks amazing. There’s a little deli near my place that makes fantastic sandwiches, but I hardly ever go there.”

“Crazy, right?” Mickey asked. “Growing up, grilled cheese was a fancy sandwich. Now I’m eating roast beef on rye bread with seeded mustard and like… vegetables on it.”

Ian laughed, happy to find another thing they had in common. “Yeah, it’s nuts. We thought we were so lucky when we had peanut butter and jam on a sandwich. Now I eat stuff like this,” he hefted his sandwich, “on the regular.”

They talked as they ate, both content in knowing that the other wouldn’t judge their sloppy eating habits, figuring out that they had grown up surprisingly close to one another, and that they might have even played on the same Little League team at one point. But Mickey was just enough older that they hadn’t been in the same circles, and hadn’t been at school enough once Ian was in high school for them to notice each other.

“Crazy,” Ian said as he balled up his sandwich wrapper and threw it back in the bag. “But it explains why we’re so comfortable around each other, I guess. You kinda feel like home.”

Mickey smiled at him, knowing what he meant. His smile faltered a bit at the thought of home, and the parts he didn’t want to be reminded of, but he put it back on and gave Ian’s hand a squeeze before shoving his own wrapper back in the bag with Ian’s and standing to toss the whole thing in the trash.

“It’s ok, you know,” Ian said when he came back. “You remind me of the good parts of home, not the shit neither of us wants to think about.”

And that was kinda the thing, wasn’t it? Another reason they fit together. They both knew the kinds of shit kids growing up where they did went through. But they both got out, and somehow they found each other. That had to mean something.

“Yeah,” Mickey smiled again. “I know.” He leaned in and captured Ian’s lips in another lingering kiss that was threatening to grow heated when they were interrupted by the barking of dogs.

“Shit, dog park, right,” Ian muttered, pulling away. “Let’s go find my menace and take him for a walk. He’ll be over the moon to have you with us.”

“Sure,” Mickey replied with a smirk, giving Ian’s cheek a pat as he straightened up, grabbing Howard’s leash as he turned to walk away. “I’ll go find my favorite redhead, shall I?”

“Dick,” Ian muttered in his ear when he caught up, slinging an arm around Mickey’s shoulders. “You wouldn’t let a guy’s dog seduce you away, would you?”

Mickey pretended to think about it for a minute before shrugging. “Nah, I guess not. Howard probably won’t suck my dick.”

Ian groaned, squeezing his shoulder tightly. “I’m trying to be good here, Milkovich. You keep saying stuff like that and my poor dog isn’t getting a walk tonight.”

Mickey, of course, took that as a challenge. He took every opportunity for the rest of their time at the park to say things to drive Ian crazy.

“Hey, remember when we came here last time and got ice cream? You looked fucking good with cream running down your face.”

“Never thought about it before, but the teeter-totter’s actually kinda hot. The way it just bounces up and down?”

“Kinda feeling like a snack. Like a little salty snack, maybe?”

It was when he stopped, eyes widening slightly, though, that Ian finally broke.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Just… remembering,” Mickey said hoarsely. “Had a dream the other night. See that picnic table over there?” He pointed towards a shady area near the ice cream truck. “Dreamed that you bent me over that picnic table, right in the middle of the day.”

“Fucking hell,” Ian groaned, grabbing Mickey by the hand and dragging both him and a puzzled but compliant Howard after him until they were deeper in the park where it was quiet, nobody else in sight.

“Might not be a picnic table, but I’m sure as fuck going to do something to that mouth of yours,” Ian growled, shoving Mickey up against a tree and grinding into him.

Mickey grinned up at him, a dare in his eyes. “Yeah? Whatcha got in mind, big guy?”

Ian growled again, pressing himself harder into Mickey’s body and leaning in. “Gonna shut you up for a bit.” And damn, did he deliver. What followed was a kiss so heated that it made anything they had done so far look tame. It left Mickey panting and breathless, so turned on that he would have let Ian bend him over that picnic table right then and there if he’d asked.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “Want you so bad.”

“Yeah,” Ian rumbled in his ear. “Need to touch you, Mick. Can I touch you?”

Nodding frantically, Mickey wormed his hands in between them, frantically working to undo buttons and zippers for both of them, seeing as how Ian was hampered by still holding Howard’s leash. Fuck, he really hoped Howard wasn’t watching them.

Howard was watching them.

“Ian,” he groaned. “Your dog is watching us.”

Ian turned his head, catching Howard’s goofy grin of encouragement. “Dammit,” he sighed. “Kinda forgot he was there.”

Sighing, Mickey zipped Ian’s pants back up for him, giving him a pat on the hip when he was done, signaling him to step back so he could get his own pants back in order. “Looked like he was enjoying that a bit too much.”

Ian snorted a laugh. “He gets super excited about anything that makes me happy. Guess that’s why he likes you so much.”

“Gay,” Mickey replied, rolling his eyes but smiling and reaching out to take Ian’s hand.

They walked quietly for a bit, and Mickey was thinking… “Hey, you wanna… shit, hold that thought.” He was going to invite Ian back to his place, just as soon as he found out who the hell was calling him.

“Mandy? What’s wrong?” he said into the phone, answering it once he saw the name flashing on his screen.

“Ok, slow down, what the fuck?”

“Sorry,” he mouthed in Ian’s direction, taking a few steps away while he talked to his sister.

She was rambling, probably drunk, about some guy, and Mickey was trying to catch up on what the hell she was talking about when Ian stepped into his line of sight, waving a hand slightly to get his attention.

“What’s up?” he said softly, covering the mouthpiece on his phone while Mandy talked.

“I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go,” Ian said quickly. “Got an early shift tomorrow, and I need to get home.”

“Ok, yeah, of course. I’m sorry about this,” Mickey lifted his phone slightly in apology.

“It’s ok, really,” Ian smiled. “Just let me know when you get home safe, ok?”

Mickey rolled his eyes, but smiled. “Sure.”

“Bye Mick,” Ian said as he turned to go, stopping once just before he was out of sight to wave.

Mandy was still talking.

“Mandy,” he interjected, cutting her off when Ian was out of sight. “You wanna get to the point of why you interrupted my date?”

“Oh, shit, Mickey… Sorry, sorry, didn’t know you were seeing someone. Is he cute? You gotta tell me all about him!”

He sighed. This didn’t happen often, but sometimes when Mandy got drunk, she got the urge to call him and tell him everything that was happening in her life. He put up with it because she was the only person in his family he could stand to be around at all, but they weren’t the telling each other about their sex lives kind of close.

“Jesus, Mandy, I’m not having this conversation with you while you’re hammered.”

Or ever.

“Just tell me you’re somewhere safe,” he said before she could start rambling again.

“Yeah, ‘m at home,” she said, starting to sound drowsy.

“Ok, good,” he replied, starting to walk in the direction of his house. At least he didn’t need to go find her. “You know you’re gonna pass out soon. Did you take your shoes off?”

“Uh…” There were sounds of movement. “Yeah.”

“Good. Go to sleep. Text me in the morning and we’ll make plans, ok? Go for dinner or something.”

“Hmmm.” was the only response he got, so he sighed and hung up. She’d probably remember eventually and text him, but it might be a few days.

He knew his sister had it hard growing up, they both did. She had her shit, and he had his, and they both knew some of each others shit, but not all of it. She’d gotten out before him, but she still struggled. And when things got rough, she called him. She’d tell him eventually what set her off tonight, but for now, he couldn’t help the flash of irritation that she decided to do this tonight of all nights.

He got home a few minutes later, texting Ian as he had promised.

Mickey: home

Ian: that was quick

Mickey: yeah, sorry, just a drunk sister. She passed out

Ian: she safe?

Mickey: yeah, she’s at home, she’s fine

Mickey: thanks though

They texted for a few minutes before Ian needed to sleep, leaving Mickey to his thoughts, which quickly turned to how the night could have gone… Fucking hell, he’d been jerking off to thoughts of Ian for months now, but getting so close to getting his hands on him for real tonight was practically torture.

As he lay bonelessly on the couch after indulging in his fantasies, he wondered just how much longer he was going to have to wait. Felt like Ian was a million miles away from him tonight.

Sighing, he got up and cleaned himself up before grabbing a beer and settling in to watch a movie, Wiggins curled up beside him. He had the day off tomorrow, so he could stay up tonight and distract himself with a cheesy action movie. Maybe looking at other hot dudes in spandex would take his mind off his not-boyfriend.

It was frustratingly hard to find time together outside of work for the next couple of days. Mandy had actually remembered to text him on Tuesday and insisted on meeting for dinner that night.

Wednesday, Mickey worked early, and Ian worked late, and he was too tired by the time he got home for more than a quick text conversation.

Sure, they saw each other at work. Mickey went in early on Thursday so he could hang out at the coffee shop. Ian took breaks when Mickey was on lunch so they could see each other. And keeping up the boyfriend pretense was fun, both of them playing it up full throttle when Luis was around. But that was almost making the frustration worse. Pretending to be totally happy with each other, acting like they were in love or whatever, and then not seeing him at all outside of work was bullshit.

Friday, of course, was now Mickey’s turn for a late shift. But this time, at least, Ian was on late too. So they met before work at a little diner near the mall. Wasn’t quite as good as being alone with him, preferably in his bed, but at least it was time when they could just be themselves.

“Hey,” Ian said quietly once the waitress had taken their orders, giving Mickey’s foot a slight kick under the table.

“‘Sup?” Mickey asked, looking up and meeting his eyes with a smile.

“I missed you the last couple of days.”

“Saw me every day.”

“I know, but… it’s not the same when it’s just at work,” Ian said, looking down at the table.

“Ian,” Mickey reached across the table and laid his hand on Ian’s arm. “I missed you, too.”

“Yeah?” Ian looked up with a smile.

“Yeah.” It was getting easier, a bit, to tell Ian how he felt.

“Did I tell you the cat next door is back?” Ian asked, shifting to an easier conversation. “Bold as you please, out there when I got home on Tuesday. Didn’t notice him right away and let Howard out. He went nuts, but kept getting distracted by staring at the fence. He’s been doing that for like a week now, I’m starting to think ‘world’s dumbest dog’ might actually be right.”

“Luckily,” he continued, “his owner wasn’t home, or didn’t hear the racket, ‘cause he didn’t come storming out like he usually does. I brought Howard inside, and by the time I looked again, the cat was gone. Off terrorizing some other dog, probably.”

Mickey shook his head, not bothering to mention the couple of times lately that Wiggins had gotten out again. He hadn’t told Ian about his asshole neighbor yet, and wasn’t sure when he would. He didn’t need to know how much Mickey enjoyed telling his neighbor off. At least Howard was trained and mostly well-behaved, unlike the shitty dog next door.

They talked idly over pancakes, feet tangled together under the table, eyes drinking each other in, until they finally had to leave to be on time for work. Ian grabbed his hand as they walked, and Mickey let himself relax into the contact, enjoying touching Ian because he wanted to, not because Luis might be watching.

It was only a five-minute walk to the mall, but Ian pulled him to a stop when they were about a block away. “Hey,” he said again, turning to face Mickey.

“Hi?” Mickey asked, amused.

“Just wanted another minute to look at you before we go in,” Ian said, eyes scanning over Mickey’s face. Happy with what he saw, he leaned in and gave him one of those soft, gentle kisses, like the one the first time they went to the park. The kind that made Mickey go warm and tingly without it feeling sexual.

“Late night last night, boys?”

Mickey stiffened and pulled away with a sigh. “‘Morning, Luis. Just met for breakfast at Sal’s, Ian’s on late shift today too.”

“Awww, that’s sweet,” he teased, giving Mickey’s shoulder a shove. “Our boy’s been missing you the last couple of days, you know,” he continued, turning to Ian. “He’d never admit it, of course, but he’s been sulky.”

“What the fuck, Luis?”

Ian just chuckled and pulled Mickey into his side. “Yeah, our schedules have been shit lately. But we’re gonna make up for it this weekend.”

“Wait, you’re still coming for dinner tomorrow, right?” Luis was freaking out. “Abuela will never forgive me if you don’t.”

“Yeah, we’re coming, don’t worry,” Ian reassured him. “But there’s lots of other time for us to catch up.” He finished with a ridiculous waggle of his eyebrows that even made Mickey laugh despite his annoyance with Luis.

“Hey, come on, we’re gonna be late,” Mickey reminded both of them. The three of them fell in step and walked the last block to the mall, separating once they were inside, Ian heading to the right to the coffee shop and the other two continuing straight ahead.

“Walking or sitting?” Mickey asked as they went.

“Sitting,” Luis answered immediately. “Just hope Carol’s not in there, and she doesn’t have us switched, or the next few hours are gonna be hell.”

Mickey waved him off with a laugh and headed to the switch-off point where he would meet up with whoever was coming off shift. Luckily for Luis, it was Carol that he found waiting for him, only mildly annoyed that he was almost two minutes late.

“Sorry,” he told her. “Bumped into Luis on my way in, you know how it goes.” She grunted her assent, not being a fan of his friend and his lack of concern for schedules.

She handed off the walkie, giving him a quick rundown of the day and the couple of things going on that he might need to keep an eye on. Usually, that was all she had to say at a switch-off, so when she was done, Mickey gave her a nod and started to walk away.

“Hey, Milkovich,” she called after him.

“Carol?” he turned back, surprised.

“How, uh…” she looked around quickly, “how are things going with the,” she added air-quotes, “‘boyfriend’ going?”

He turned back with a conspiratorial smile. So she had caught on.

“It’s going good. Poor Luis keeps finding us at the most inconvenient times, though,” he said with a wink.

Carol laughed, a hearty laugh he hadn’t heard many times before. “Yeah, poor Luis, must be awful for him.”

“For real though,” he told her quietly. “Me and Ian, we’re trying this thing out, getting to know each other outside of work. I really like him, but this pretending at work thing is weird.”

“I bet,” she said, giving him a small smile. “Well, I’m rooting for you. Maybe you guys can come over for dinner sometime. I think Barb would love you guys, and she thinks the story is hilarious.”

“Uh, yeah, I’ll mention it to Ian. Thanks, Carol.” To say he was stunned was an understatement. Carol didn’t socialize with the other guards, like at all. He didn’t even think she liked him. And he sure as hell didn’t know she had a… girlfriend? Wife? Whatever.

“Sure, kid. Alright, go work. Don’t wanna miss out on the excitement of Thursday afternoon, Seniors Discount day!”

Mickey laughed and waved goodbye as he walked away, waiting until she was well out of sight before pulling out his phone to text Ian.

Mickey: Carole and someone named Barb want us to come over for dinner

Ian: cool. Barb is her wife’s name, btw

Mickey: You know about Barb?

Ian: yeah… you mean you don’t?

Mickey: first time I’ve heard of her. Carol doesn’t really talk to the rest of us much

Ian: huh. She talks to me sometimes when she comes for coffee. I’ll give you the scoop before we meet Barb then

Mickey had to shake his head. How was Ian so damn likeable? Carol talked to him? He didn’t even know she went into his shop for coffee.

Mickey: k, I gotta pay attention and shit now. Later

He pocketed his phone just in time to avoid running over a pack of grandpas who were dawdling their way through the halls, dodging sharply to the left to go around them.

He stopped by the coffee shop on his way to the office to take his turn at the monitors, taking a minute to admire his boyfriend before he was noticed, and then stopping again when he realized what he had just thought. Shit. Ian wasn’t his boyfriend. It was one thing to say it to the others, but he needed to remember inside his own head. He didn’t really know what they were to each other right now, but he was pretty sure it was too soon for that label.

Shaking his head free of ridiculous thoughts, he approached the counter and stood, waiting for Ian to look up from the papers he was making notes on.

“Mick!” Ian said cheerfully, just the way he used to before this all started.

“Hey,” he smiled. “Need something before I go sit on my ass for two hours.”

Ian’s smile immediately turned flirtatious. “Hmm, I’d like to be on your ass for two hours.”

There was a disapproving huff from behind Mickey, and Ian immediately turned red. “Sorry, I’m so sorry,” he apologized to the customer he hadn’t noticed. “He’s my boyfriend. I’m so sorry.”

The customer nodded curtly, and Mickey stepped aside to let Ian serve them first, being his usual charming self, offering a free drink as an apology. The other customer left almost satisfied, and Ian turned back to Mickey with a groan. “Shit, that could be really bad.”

“What, you think that guy’s gonna complain?”

“I hope not,” Ian sighed. “But sometimes people complain about the weirdest shit, and that was totally unprofessional.”

“Shit. Well, he probably won’t complain, right? Most people can’t be bothered. But… should we stop pretending at work? Don’t want to put your job at risk or something.”

Ian sighed, but gave him a smile. “Nah, that wasn’t me pretending. I kinda forget when I’m supposed to be pretending anyway unless Luis is in my line of sight.”

Oh. So what did that mean? Shit. Now he’s not sure what the hell they are again.

“Yeah, it’s weird sometimes,” is what he said instead of asking.

“Alright, lemme get you something fancy to take back with you. You’re one of my best marketing ideas, you know. Every day, at least one of the security people comes in here, saying ‘hey, so the other day Mickey was drinking this thing…’”

“No shit?” Mickey chuckled. “I’ll make sure to let them all get a real good whiff of them from now on, then.”

He collected his fancy drink, some kind of flavored latte, taking an appreciative sip and thanking Ian with a smile before heading to the monitor room for his shift in there. Somehow, Luis was still in there, which made Mickey think of Carol with a half-smile. She hated how easily he convinced the others to let him sit in there for most of his shift. But most of them would rather be out walking, so they didn’t really mind.

Mickey settled into his seat with a groan. “Gettin’ too old for this shit.”

Luis laughed and gave him a shove. “You’re the youngest one on the team, man!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Too many late nights with your boyfriend?” Luis teased, and suddenly Mickey wished he could tell him everything, all about the frustrations of the last week.

But he couldn’t, so… “Shut up,” he said with a roll of his eyes.

“Haven’t even seen him for the last couple of days anyway.” That much he could admit, at least.

“Sucks when that happens,” Luis sympathized. “But it sounds like he plans to make it up to you,” he said, trying to repeat Ian’s eyebrow-waggle, which made them both laugh.

They settled into companionable silence for a bit before Luis, as always, couldn’t stand the quiet and started talking about anything and everything that came into his head. Mickey tuned him out and watched the monitors, eyes flickering to the bottom left bank every few seconds.

The rest of the shift was uneventful, although he and Ian did manage to meet for their late lunch/eary dinner break. The food court was insanely busy so they had both grabbed food and took it to sit outside where it was a bit quieter. Mickey knowing exactly where the cameras covered made it a bit easier too — they could sit outside of camera range and not have the pressure of knowing that his nosy coworkers were watching.

“Want me to wait for you after work?” Ian had asked at one point. “Maybe we can walk part of the way home together?”

“Nah,” Mickey replied. “I mean, yes, I want you to,” he hurried to add when Ian’s face fell slightly. “But we stay later than the rest of you. Gotta do a final sweep of the whole place, make sure everything is locked up, let the cleaning staff in, all that. We never get out of here until at least an hour after everyone else is gone. Don’t want you waiting around that whole time for me.”

Ian’s face cleared, and he nodded in acceptance. “Yeah, ok. Sucks for you guys though. Didn’t know you were here so long.”

Mickey nodded. “Yeah, opening and closing both suck. The place is a bit creepy when it’s just us in there.”

It was weird. Mickey’s lunch breaks had always almost seemed too long before. It was only thirty minutes, but when he was just grabbing food and bolting it down, killing the other twenty got tedious real fast. But now… now it never seemed long enough. It felt like it had only been a few minutes before they were standing, needing to head back inside to their responsibilities.

“Hey, Ian?” Mickey said just before they got back into camera range.

And when Ian paused to look at him, Mickey stepped into his space and kissed him. Hard. Ian’s free hand came up and wrapped around his waist, while Mickey’s free hand moved to the back of Ian’s head.

“Hope the rest of your shift is good,” Mickey said with a smirk when he pulled away.

Ian dropped his hand and gave Mickey’s ass a squeeze. “You too,” he replied. “Just try not to spend it all thinking about sitting this ass on my face for two hours instead, ok?”

Seeing Mickey’s mouth drop open slightly, Ian laughed, gave his ass another firm squeeze and then ran off, ducking into a side door to the mall before Mickey had even formulated a response.

“Fucker,” he muttered to himself. He wasn’t really a fan of having his ass licked, so that shouldn’t have turned him on like this. But fuck if he wasn’t willing to let Ian try it if he wanted to.

So who could blame him when his next break found him back at the coffee shop, ordering an iced drink with lots of whipped cream? Or for carefully stepping back out of sight of the other customers, but where he knew damned well Ian could still see him, and pulling the straw, covered in whipped cream, out of the drink and slowly, carefully, licking it clean? The way Ian’s eyes latched onto his every movement was worth the risk of being seen.

“Later,” he mouthed as he walked away, heading back to finish out his shift watching the monitors.

And yeah, maybe his little performance had gotten him a bit worked up too, but the memory of the look on Ian’s face was enough to keep a smile on his face for the rest of the evening.

They were almost done with the final sweep of the building when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Glancing around quickly to make sure the others were out of sight, he pulled it out to check.

Ian: sent a photo

Expecting a picture of him and Howard, he tapped to open it, and stopped dead in his tracks. Because holy fuck. That was Ian’s dick. Hard and gripped loosely in his fist.

Ian: thinking about you

He locked his screen quickly, shoving the phone back in his pocket and looking around again to make sure nobody had snuck up on him. Holy fucking fuck. Ian’s dick was… perfect.

Mickey took an Uber home that night instead of waiting for the train. His body and brain had been buzzing for hours.

He gave Wiggins a quick pat, filling his bowl to keep him occupied for a few minutes, and made a beeline for his bedroom, quickly tossing aside his uniform before dropping onto the bed in just his boxers.

Opening up the picture Ian had sent and letting his mind play through the images he had been trying to suppress all evening had him quickly stripping his boxers off as well and reaching for the bottle of lube on the table beside his bed.

Before he could think too hard about what he was doing, he had snapped a few pictures, figuring he could check later to see if any of them looked ok. Dropping the phone, he let his imagination take over, picturing Ian’s hands on him, his mouth lapping at his hole, and then enveloping his cock while his fingers slipped inside.

It wasn’t long before he was moaning out Ian’s name, cum spurting out onto his stomach as he finally relieved the itch Ian had put under his skin hours ago. It was as he lay there panting, the room around him slowly coming back into focus, that he had the idea, and fumbled around until he found his phone again.

He snapped a couple more pictures and then sat up to clean himself up before pulling on a clean pair of boxers and a t-shirt for sleeping. Heading back to the living room, he grabbed a beer from the kitchen and went to flop down on the couch, surprised to note that Wiggins was still eating. Fuck, that had been even quicker than he realized. He didn’t think he’d cum that fast from jerking off since he was twelve.

Quickly flipping through the pictures he had taken, he deleted all of the ‘before’ shots. They were ok, but he wanted to really get his message across. Finding an ‘after’ shot he was ok with, he quickly edited so that what he was sending Ian was a picture from slightly below and to one side of his dick, hand still wrapped around it, and streaks of still-wet cum visible on his stomach. The image cut off right above his nipples, showing off the dip between his pecs.

Mickey:

Mickey: same

He smirked to himself. Two could play at this game, fucker.

Wiggins had finished up his dinner and came strolling in, hopping up beside Mickey for his evening cuddles. Mickey indulged him for a few minutes while he finished his beer, but then sighed to himself. Tomorrow should have been his day off, but he’d traded shifts with Jack in an attempt to be a ‘nice guy’ or whatever. Something about his kid's birthday party.

So Mickey needed to try to get to sleep. Working an early shift the day after a late shift sucked even more than usual. Picking up the cat, he carried him into the bedroom and dropped him on the bed, telling him to settle in, he’d be back in a minute. He smiled to himself when he heard his phone buzzing while he brushed his teeth. Guess Ian got the texts.

Climbing into bed, he waited while Wiggins got comfortable, curled against his side, to check his phone again.

Ian: holy fuck

Ian: you sure you can’t come over tonight?

Mickey: you started it

Mickey: and yeah… wish I could, but I work early tomorrow

He spent a minute petting Wiggins, relaxing to the sound and feel of his purrs while he waited for an answer.

Ian: shit, right. Guess you need to sleep soon then

Mickey: yeah, already in bed with my favorite man

Mickey:

Ian: awww

Mickey: So what’s the plan for tomorrow? You’re off at 6?

Ian: yeah, but my sister is gonna come over to feed Howard and take him for a walk. My niece loves him, so I just made sure she was listening when I asked

Mickey: sneaky. Ok, so I can meet you at the mall and we’ll uber over together?

Ian: sure. More boyfriend-y to arrive together anyway

They chatted for a few more minutes, but eventually Ian insisted that Mickey stop talking to him and sleep.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and Mickey, at least, was both excited and nervous for the evening.

Luis was disgustingly cheerful the next morning. Mickey had no idea how he did this. He worked late shift followed by early all the time, and somehow he wasn’t bothered by it at all. At least this time, he had the sense to show up with food. Apparently his abuela was determined to make sure that Mickey ate well that day, so she sent Luis with tamales and instructions to make sure that Mickey ate them. He wasn’t going to say no, the woman made amazing food.

He double-checked the address with Luis, telling him to expect them around six-thirty. It wouldn’t take them that long to get there, but he wanted to give them some wiggle room in case Ian couldn’t leave right away. Plus, it would give them a few minutes alone… something he was always finding excuses for right now.

All of his brief interactions with Ian that day had a heat behind them that hadn’t been there before. Quick flirtations when he went to get coffee, the few minutes they had when Mickey was on his lunch break, but Ian couldn’t take a full break yet since he had only been at work for a couple of hours… There was an intensity that had him practically vibrating.

When his shift was finally over, he swung by the coffee shop quickly to let Ian know he was leaving, and then headed home to shower and change. He was restless and spent the whole trip home debating if he needed to jerk off again before meeting Ian. In the end, he decided not to. If tonight ended the way he was hoping… he didn’t want to waste a load.

But that left him with time to kill. Not enough time to really do much, since he had to be back at the mall by six. But time. He played with the cat. Changed the sheets on his bed, just in case.

He even went out into the back yard for a bit, but that was a waste of time since he didn’t even have a chair out there. Plus the dickhead next door had company over or something, he could hear female voices, far too loud for his current state of mind.

So he went back inside and paced, Wiggins glaring at him from where he was trying to sleep on the back of the couch.

“Sorry, sorry,” he muttered, stopping in front of the cat. “I’m disturbing your nap time, huh? It’s just… tonight is kinda big deal. Why does this feel like such a big deal? It’s not like I’m taking him to meet my family. Not sure if I’ll ever do that, ‘cept for maybe Mandy. You’re the only family he needs to meet.”

He blew out a huge breath, trying to calm himself. “Fuck, maybe I should have jerked off after all, huh? Take the edge off. Maybe I still should.” Glancing at the clock, he cursed. “Nope, not enough time if I’m gonna get there and not look like I just jerked off.”

Wiggins had zero sympathy for his problems.

“Ok, fine, I’ll go into my room and leave you to your nap,” he laughed.

Turned out that going into the bedroom wasn’t better. Because then he was either looking at or sitting on his bed. What the hell was wrong with him? He felt like a nervous virgin getting ready to get fucked for the first time. He’d been with plenty of guys, although he rarely brought anyone here. Maybe that was it. The fact that he was thinking about bringing Ian here, into his space. Would he be less nervous if he suggested going to Ian’s place instead?

A bit of the tension in his shoulders relaxed at that thought. Huh. Guess some of those old instincts were still pretty strong. If he went there instead… he could just leave if shit got weird. And Ian had asked last night if he wanted to come over. So he was probably ok with it.

Shaking his head at his own stupid hang-ups, he checked the time again and decided it was close enough to time to leave. He could walk slow. Giving himself one last look in the mirror, he grabbed his wallet, keys, and phone and headed out.

“Hey,” he heard from beside him, where he was leaning against the wall just outside the coffee shop, looking at his phone.

“Hey,” he said with a smile, looking up to meet Ian’s gaze. “You ready to go?”

“All set.”

He pushed himself off the wall and gave Ian a quick peck on the lips, grabbing his hand as he turned to walk towards the doors.

“We have a bit of time, I told Luis to expect us at six-thirty. So we don’t have to leave for another ten minutes. Anything you want to do quickly before we go?”

“Hmmm, besides you?” Ian leaned in to whisper in his ear.

Ignoring the shiver that ran through him, Mickey shook his head. “Definitely gonna need more than ten minutes for that, big guy.”

“That’s probably true…” Ian said lowly, looking around. “But…” Once again, Mickey found himself being dragged through the mall by his hand.

When he finally spotted what he assumed was Ian’s destination, he quickly caught up, entire body on board with this plan.

Shoving open the door of a ‘family’ restroom, Ian pulled him inside and locked the door behind them. “No cameras in here,” he said with a smirk before shoving Mickey against the wall and connecting their lips.

Mickey moaned into the kiss, barely having time to register that it was happening before Ian’s lips were gone again, reappearing on his jaw, then his throat, before returning to his mouth. Ian’s hands were everywhere, caressing his back, his sides, squeezing at his ass, and running down his thighs before sliding back up so one of them was pressed against his semi-hard dick through his pants.

“Still think I need more than ten minutes?” Ian whispered in his ear as his hand massaged him through the material. “I bet I can make you cum in less than that.”

“Fucking… fuck. Gonna make me cum just doing that,” Mickey admitted.

A look of pure lust flashed across Ian’s face, and he dropped to his knees, making quick work of getting Mickey’s pants out of his way. “Oh fuck, look at you,” he muttered before leaning in to lick a stripe up the side of Mickey’s cock.

Feeling his hips buck at the contact, Mickey stuffed the side of his fist into his mouth to muffle the loud groans that were threatening to burst out.

“Yeah,” Ian whispered before swallowing him down in one stroke. His arm came up to rest across Mickey’s hips, holding him in place against the wall as his other hand and his mouth worked him over. His hot, wet mouth sliding quickly up and down his shaft, fingers lightly tracing a path from his balls, across his perineum, stopping just shy of his hole before sliding back the other way to gently squeeze.

Trying to stay conscious of not messing the other man up too much, Mickey dropped his hand to Ian’s shoulder, caressing and squeezing, giving him a tap barely two minutes in to let him know he was going to blow.

Ian looked up at him with a smirk in his eyes and went back to his ministrations, bobbing his head even faster, pulling back to just the tip when he felt the shift in tension in Mickey’s body, rapidly flickering his tongue across his slit as he sucked gently, almost coaxing Mickey’s orgasm out of him.

“Fuck, Ian,” he choked out as he came, feeling Ian continue to lick and suck at the head of his cock until he was done.

Ian chuckled softly as he tucked him back into his pants, straightening his clothes for him. “Told ya I didn’t need ten minutes.”

“Fuck off,” Mickey replied. “That was a one-time thing.”

Eyeing Ian as he rose from the floor, Mickey’s eyes caught on the bulge in the front of his pants. “Think you can hold out longer?” he asked, running a single finger up the front of Ian’s pants.

“Fuck, probably not,” Ian whimpered. “You’re so fucking hot.”

Grabbing Ian by the arm, Mickey spun them around until their positions were reversed. “Then I want you to think real hard about not only how good this is gonna feel, but how good it’s gonna feel when you finally fuck me,” he told him lowly. “Buried deep inside me, fucking me until I come from your cock alone.”

With that, he repeated Ian’s earlier motion and dropped to his knees, shoving Ian’s pants out of his way, and took him - as much of him as he could, into his mouth. Fuck he was big.

In the end, since they hadn’t actually been timing anything, they didn’t know which of them blew their load faster, but it was pretty damn close. Ian was practically a babbling mess above him as Mickey sucked him down, hand wrapped around his base to provide more coverage, and pulled out every trick he knew. He changed speeds unexpectedly, licked, sucked, and moaned around his hard cock. And in what seemed like no time flat, he felt the tap on his shoulder.

Taking Ian as deep as he could, he left the work to his hand now, pumping as quickly as he could until he felt him jerk, filling his throat with cum. Giving him a few more gentle strokes, he pulled off and licked the tip to make sure he was clean.

He tucked Ian away, straightened his shirt, and stood, returning the smirk he had received earlier.

“Mickey,” Ian moaned, straightening up from where he was slumped and kissing him firmly.

“Alright, we gotta go,” Mickey finally said, pulling away. “You’ve had your appetizer, let’s go have dinner. And if you’re good, maybe later you can have your dessert.” Patting Ian on the cheek, he unlocked the door and poked his head out into the hall. Confirming that nobody was watching, he pulled the door open all the way and stepped out, knowing that Ian would follow.

“Let’s go,” he said, pulling out his phone to call an Uber.

They held hands in the back seat of the Uber on the way, not saying much, but throwing each other smiles that ranged from soft to flirty, to filthy. And Mickey, at least, was already feeling the stirrings of lust again by the time they arrived, knowing that once they got through this dinner he was going to head to Ian’s place, and he was going to let this man fuck him any way and any where that he pleased.

“Mickey!” Luis exclaimed when he opened the door. “Right on time. Glad you made it.”

He gave Ian a nod, but pulled Mickey excitedly into the house. “Abuela!” he called out to the tiny woman standing by the stove. “Mickey’s here!”

“Oh!” she said in a thick Mexican accent, spinning to face them. “Mickey, I’m so happy to meet you at last.”

She stepped forward and squeezed his arm. “Luis has told me so much about you, I feel like I know you already.”

Mickey chuckled a bit uncomfortably. “He talks about you all the time, too. Thank you so much for all of the wonderful food.”

“Oh, the food is not a problem,” she assured him. “I still cook like my whole family is here, not just me and my Luis. He complains that I am going to make him fat.”

It was then that she noticed Ian, standing slightly awkwardly behind them. “Oh! I’m so sorry. And who is this?”

“Mrs. Ortega,” Mickey started, but she interrupted him.

“No, no, you call me Abuela!”

“Abuela, then,” he said with a smile. “Abuela, this is my… this is my Ian.” He stuttered a bit partway through, not quite sure how to introduce him.

“Ah, Abuela, Ian es su Novio,” Luis explained. “His boyfriend.”

“Oh!” she exclaimed, pushing Luis to the side and gesturing for Ian to step forward. “You are most welcome here, Ian. You are a lucky man to have met our Mickey.”

Ian swooped forward, charmer that he was, and wrapped his arms around her tiny form. “I am very happy to meet you, Abuela. And yes, I am very lucky. Mickey is very special.”

Meeting Luis’ gaze over their heads, Mickey rolled his eyes with a chuckle, getting a matching eye roll in return.

“Alright,” he said, pulling Ian away. “You two can sing my praises some other time.”

He was happy several times that evening that Ian was with him. He was shitty at socializing, and he especially wasn’t used to doing it with cheerful old women. But Ian kept the conversation going and seemed to know when he needed to be rescued.

Luis pulled him aside at one point while Ian and Abuela were engrossed in conversation about the care of small girls, Ian having brought up the subject of his young niece. “She adores him,” Luis said. “I’m glad I suggested you bring him along.”

“Yeah, I think he’s halfway in love with her too,” Mickey laughed, eyes locked on the pair where they stood by the stove.

Dinner was full of lively conversation. Mickey was busily teasing Luis for his lazy habits at work (stories that made his abuela scold him mercilessly) when he felt Ian’s hand on his thigh under the table. Throwing him a look out of the corner of his eye, he continued his conversation, somehow managing not to shudder or stop talking when the hand found its way further up, coming to rest directly on his crotch.

“What about you, Ian?” Abuela asked when Mickey’s latest story was done. “How do you know these two?”

“Oh, I work a the mall,” Ian told her calmly while his hand started flexing, softly rubbing against the growing bulge it was looking for. “I work at the coffee shop they always come into on their rounds.”

That led to the story of Luis and Jack and the bet, and exaggerated stories from Luis of Mickey’s apparent infatuation with the man behind the counter at the coffee shop.

Apparently satisfied with the result he had produced, Ian gave his crotch one last firm rub and pulled his hand away, ignoring the way Mickey was biting his lip. Luckily, Luis took his expression as a reaction to his story.

“Ok, ok, maybe he wasn’t quite as bad as all that,” he laughed. “But he was drooling over you pretty hard,” he said with a smile in Ian’s direction.

“Oh, that’s so sweet,” Abuela told him with a smile. “You seem like such a gruff young man, but falling for a gentleman like Ian is just adorable.”

Gentleman? What the fuck. He wondered what she would think if she knew that that ‘gentleman’ had just been doing under her table.

“Ian? When did you first notice Mickey?” she asked.

And Mickey tried to pay attention to the answer, he really did, because he had never actually heard this story. But his mind was elsewhere now. Mostly on revenge.

So his hand strayed too. And he was fairly sure that Ian was expecting to receive the exact same treatment, because he leaned forward and put both elbows on the table as he talked, giving Mickey free access.

What he definitely wasn’t expecting was to feel his zipper pulled down slowly. Or the fingers that found their way in through the opening, and with a bit of searching, through the slit in his boxers. He did well, disguising his shock with a cough when Mickey’s fingers started playing with him, and warning him when it was too much by leaning back and throwing an arm around his shoulders, squeezing a bit too hard.

Mickey gave him one last stroke before slowly extracting his hand. He left him unzipped though - fucker started this, let him figure out how to get his pants done back up without the others noticing.

His chance came when Abuela and Luis got up to clear the remains of dinner from the table, instructing them to stay put. She wouldn’t hear of them helping, not as guests in her home.

Ian quickly zipped himself back up, throwing Mickey an amused smile. “Yeah, ok, you win. No more teasing.” He leaned in closer to whisper in his ear, “But I am so going to wreck you later. You’ll be begging for it by the time I’m done with you.”

Shivering slightly at his words, Mickey closed his eyes. Fuck, he was halfway to begging for it now.

“We’ll see about that,” was what he said just as quietly, instead of admitting it, though. “Maybe I’ll be making a drooling mess out of you, huh? Make you ask me nicely before I let you slide that dick inside me?”

He was a bit surprised that Ian hadn’t noticed anything when they were in that bathroom at the mall, but he had one last thing up his sleeve that he knew would drive him crazy. Leaning in even closer, and dropping his voice to a bare thread of sound, he continued. “Show you how good I can take it when I fuck myself with the plug I’m wearing.”

Ian’s gasp was all the reward he needed in that moment. Giving his cheek a pat, he turned away just in time for Abuela to appear with dessert, Luis following with a stack of plates.

“I hope you like Tres Leches!” she said with a smile as she placed it on the table. “It’s Luis’ favorite.”

When they both assured her that they loved it, but were sure hers would be the best they had ever tasted, she blushed and scolded them for being silly boys.

Ian behaved himself for the rest of the visit, except for a few overly heated looks thrown in Mickey’s direction, and they had a good time hearing stories from Abuela of her time growing up in Mexico.

Eventually though, they made their excuses, with both of them working the next day, and Ian needing to get home to walk Howard (who of course he then had to show off pictures of, prompting Luis to insist that Mickey show off pictures of Wiggins as well).

“Well, it was wonderful to finally meet you, Mickey, and Ian, I am so happy to get to know you as well,” she told them as they prepared to leave. “You must promise me that you will come visit us again.”

With reassurances that they would definitely be back, and many thanks for her hospitality and the wonderful meal, they finally escaped out the front door, containers of leftovers in their hands.

“My place?” Ian said shortly as they walked down the front steps.

“Fuck yes,” Mickey answered, taking his container to free Ian’s hands so he could call an Uber.

They stood on the sidewalk, Ian pulling Mickey to his side as he tapped into the app. Mickey watched him navigate around, and then froze, pulling away suddenly.

“What the fuck? You said your place. And how the fuck do you know my address?”

“What?” Ian asked, confused. “I don’t know your address. And we are going to my place. See?”

He showed him the phone again, with the destination address clearly displayed. 7120 S Talman Ave.

“That’s my fucking address.”

“But…” Ian seemed just as confused. He pulled out his wallet, fishing out his ID. “Look, Mickey. I swear, this is my address.”

Mickey eyed him suspiciously, but took a step back toward him. Sure enough, that was what it said. 7120 S Talman… unit C.

Eyes widening in horror, Mickey stared at him. “Oh shit.” Handing Ian the containers, he pulled out his own wallet, and similarly holding out his ID. 7120 S Talman, unit B.

“Wait, Mickey… but that would mean…”

“You’re the asshole with the dog that tries to eat Wiggins.”

“He’s not… fuck, he’s just trying to play!” Ian replied. “You’ve met him! And what the fuck, you’re the jackass that won’t keep his cat inside?”

Just then, the Uber pulled up, stopping in front of them.

“Um, guess we can continue this conversation when we get there?” Ian said quietly.

“Yeah, ok.” Mickey took his container from Ian’s hands and climbed into the car. The ride was silent, except for the occasional comment from the driver that Ian usually responded to. Mickey was too busy trying to reconcile Ian and Howard with the asshole and his evil dog.

He stared straight ahead for most of the ride, eyes straying from time to time towards the man sitting beside him. And every time, Ian’s eyes were on him, soft and pleading.

They got out of the car and stood in front of their homes, staring at each other uncertainly.

“Look, just… come in, please,” Ian finally said. “We obviously need to talk.”

Nodding shortly, Mickey gestured for him to lead the way.

“Uh, he’s gonna be super excited,” Ian warned just before opening the door. “Keep a good hold on the food, and brace yourself.”

There was the sound of claws scrabbling against the floor when he opened the door, and Howard came barreling into sight, tail wagging so fast it was a blur. He barreled into Ian’s legs, who was clearly expecting it and had braced. “Hey buddy!” he said in excitement. “I know, I know, I was gone forever. Did you have a good visit with Debbie and Frannie? I know you did, Frannie always spoils you like crazy.”

Pushing the dog further into the house, Ian nodded for Mickey to follow. He stepped in and shut the door behind him, the sound making Howard suddenly notice that his owner wasn’t alone. Peering around Ian’s legs, he stopped in his tracks for a second, and then let out a crazy bark, lunging towards Mickey.

Ian had been ready, though, and had ahold of his collar. “Oh my god, Howard. Yes, Mickey is here. I know. But we’ve talked about this. So many times. I told you he was going to come visit, and what did I say?”

Looking at him with a whine, Howard finally remembered. Sighing, he sat down, turning to look at Mickey with his tongue hanging out.

“Jesus christ, he’s gonna take flight if that tail goes any faster,” Mickey said with a laugh.

“Hey, Howard,” he said, crouching down in front of the dog and passing his container to Ian when they were sure he was going to stay put. “Why do you like me so much, huh?” He reached over and started scratching the dog's head, causing him to flop over on the floor.

Mickey laughed and obligingly rubbed his belly. “Seems you’ve maybe known this whole time, huh? That I live next door? Your daddy says you aren’t actually trying to kill Wiggins, is that true? ‘Cause if that’s true, then maybe I can introduce you. If you promise to stay calm.”

His only answer was the continued thumping of Howard’s tail against the floor.

Chuckling, he stood and faced Ian, who was watching them with a soft smile on his face.

“So…” he drawled. “I don’t know about you, but I think that conversation can wait until later. I’ve got a plug in my ass that just made petting your dog into far too sexual of an experience.”

“Howard, couch,” Ian said firmly, waiting for a few seconds as the dog obeyed him amazingly well, jumping to his feet and making a beeline for the couch. Almost as quick of a beeline as Ian made for Mickey, shoving him back against the door and attaching his lips to Mickey’s throat with a growl.

His right hand came around behind Mickey, groping at his ass, frantically trying to feel for the end of the plug.

“Fuck, just get the fuck on me, man. I promise it’s there.” Mickey hissed in his ear.

“Patience,” Ian growled. “Told you I’m gonna make you beg.”

His left hand quickly popped the button on Mickey’s pants, giving his right enough space to dive into the back, where it slid under the waistband of his boxers as well, fingers pressing into his crack until they found the hooked end of the plug.

Attaching their lips in a searing kiss, he gave the plug a tiny tug, swallowing the whimper that came out of Mickey’s throat. Smiling into the kiss, he played with it, tugging, pushing, and twisting. Tiny movements each time, just enough to provide a hint of stimulation.

“Describe it to me,” he growled in Mickey’s ear when he pulled away from the kiss. “I want to know what you’ve had up your ass all night, what you’ve been using to keep yourself ready for me.”

And fuck if that wasn’t making him even harder. He loved a guy who would make demands. Mickey didn’t mind taking the lead in bed, but there was something about a guy who wasn’t afraid to take control that turned him into a quivering mess.

“Black,” he said hoarsely before clearing his throat. “It’s black, six inches long, ribbed. Has a ridge near the tip that sits just at the edge of my prostate. Can feel it rubbing if I move right.”

“Six inches?” Ian scoffed. “Oh, I am so going to wreck you. You’re gonna feel me so deep inside you.”

“Got a longer one at home,” Mickey gasped. “But I didn’t want that tonight. I saw how big you are. Just wanted to be open, wanted your cock to be the only thing that splits me open.”

With another low growl, Ian pushed on the plug a bit harder before pulling his hand free and scooping both hands under Mickey’s thighs to lift him. Fuck, he could feel how hard Ian was. This was gonna be a fantastic fuck.

Ian spun around and carried him the few steps down the hall to the bedroom before tossing him on the bed, where he landed with a slight bounce, gasping at the jostle of the plug inside him, relieved to finally be able to let those noises out after a whole evening of keeping them quiet.

Ian was soon shirtless and hovering over him on the bed, and holy fuck was he built. Mickey reached up to touch, fingers exploring the planes of muscle on his arms and chest, fingers grazing over the hard nubs of his nipples.

“God, you’re so hot,” he whispered just as Ian moved again, making quick work of stripping Mickey of his shoes, pants, and boxers.

“Shirt off,” Ian demanded, sitting back to watch as Mickey lifted enough to pull his shirt over his head.

“Fuck,” Ian muttered, moving to hover above him again before leaning in for a kiss, this one almost gentle, searching. “Now stay still for me.”

And he proceeded to do exactly what he had promised. He absolutely wrecked Mickey. His mouth was everywhere, licking, sucking, and nipping as he went back to toying with the plug. He had more freedom to move it now, but stayed with small movements, gentle pushes and pulls while he sucked at every bit of skin on Mickey’s torso.

Mickey was just getting used to the combination when Ian’s lips locked onto his nipple, sucking it into his mouth. Apparently enjoying his moaning response to that, Ian repeated it. And then he upped the game. He bit down on the nipple in his mouth at the same time that he pulled the plug out the furthest he had done yet before slamming it home as hard as he could.

“Jesus Fuck!” Mickey yelped, fingers curling into the blankets.

And the plug was moving a little harder now, that ridge he loved so much stopping just shy of his prostate, but his body twitching with anticipation of contact every time. Ian’s mouth had disappeared, but he barely noticed, focused on the need for that feeling, desperate for that touch inside him.

He felt the pressure of Ian’s hand pushing his leg further up and out of the way and obeyed, pulling them both up and away, holding them with his hands to give Ian the access he wanted. And he lay there and listened to the sounds of praise and admiration coming from Ian as he fucked him on the plug, still avoiding his prostate on most strokes, but either by accident or design giving it the slightest nudge once in awhile.

“Fuck you’re gorgeous,” Ian was murmuring, plug still moving steadily. “But you’re not quite ready to beg for it yet, are you?”

And that’s when he swallowed Mickey’s cock down. And holy fuck. Ian was sucking his dick while fucking him with the plug, and the sensations were going to send his brain into overload. And he continued, drool running down Mickey’s dick, listening to the whimpers and moans coming from the man above him, until Mickey was on the verge of cumming.

“Not yet,” he said softly as he pulled off. “I’m not done with you yet.”

The plug slowed for a minute, easing the pressure and pulling him back from the brink, just enough to nod, letting Ian know he was there, and not going to blow.

“Good boy,” Ian told him. “Now stay exactly how you are, ok?”

Suddenly, swiftly, the plug was pulled free, and Mickey moaned at the loss before gasping as Ian’s tongue was suddenly there.

And holy fuck, he’d never had his ass eaten like this before. He’d never done this just after having a plug removed, so maybe that was the difference. Or maybe the two others he’d let do this to him just had no idea what they were doing. Because Ian was doing things with his tongue that sent jolts of electricity through his whole body.

And then, jesus fucking christ, just like in his fantasy last night, Ian’s mouth was back on his cock, and his fingers were buried inside him. He was slowly sucking his cock while his fingers pounded into him before they stopped, unerringly finding his prostate.

“Fuck!” he gasped. “Fucking hell, fuck me. Ian please. Fuck me. Need to feel you inside me.”

Ian growled again, the vibrations around his cock making him moan again. “Please!”

“Yeah,” Ian finally said when he popped off. “Yeah, we’re gonna do that. Get on your knees for me.”

And then he was gone, and Mickey could hear the sound of fabric sliding over skin as Ian finally stripped off his pants, and the crinkle of a wrapper as he opened a condom, and Mickey was scrambling, dropping his legs and flipping over, ass up and leaning on his elbows.

And Ian was back, kneeling between his legs, hands spreading his cheeks apart. “Ready?” he whispered.

“Fucking do it.”

And it was everything he had ever wanted in bed. Ian lined himself up, gripped Mickey’s hips, and slammed himself home, burying himself to the hilt. Holy fucking shit. He was perfect. So deep inside, filling him so nicely, he had felt every inch slide across his prostate, and his dick was leaking all over the comforter beneath him.

“Fuck me, Ian. I’m not gonna last long, so take what you need.”

Ian moaned and did exactly that. He set a hard pace, the sounds of flesh on flesh filling the room as he moved, his perfect cock hitting Mickey’s prostate with every stroke. And as he let himself go, let himself relax into letting Ian take what he needed, Mickey’s body was flooded with warmth, and he felt himself drift as his orgasm hit, almost softly.

“Ian,” he whispered as it happened, mind and body still consumed by the feeling of Ian, Ian filling him, Ian here with him, and Ian starting to slow as he realized what had happened.

“Don’t stop,” he whispered again, clinging to this drifting sensation as he felt his body relax in a way he had never felt before. He should be feeling overstimulated right now, antsy and wanting Ian off of him, but instead, he felt calm. He wanted this, and he knew Ian wanted more.

Ian seemed to understand, and he didn’t stop. And as Mickey drifted, letting his body take the immense pleasure Ian was giving to him, he felt it building again, the soft intensity. He felt the walls of his well-used hole clench, bringing Ian closer and closer to his own climax, and let out a soft whine.

“I’ve got you,” Ian whispered. “I’ve got you,” and his hand came around, carefully grasping at Mickey’s cock where it still hung heavy between his legs, and starting a slow, steady stroke.

Ian’s hand disappeared for a minute, and Mickey felt the pounding inside him grow harder, more frantic, until Ian stilled, hips pressed against him, moaning his name. And then the hand was back, stroking him surely and firmly until Mickey came with a gasp.

They collapsed on the bed, Mickey falling to the side to avoid the wet spot, and Ian curling up behind him, his arm coming up to wrap around Mickey. “You ok?” he asked quietly.

“Mmmm,” Mickey mumbled, brain not quite reconnected yet.

“Ok,” Ian said softly, pulling him closer. “You’re good. Did so good. Just rest for a bit.”

When Mickey stiffened and started to pull away, he dropped a kiss on the back of his shoulder and sat up. “Be right back.”

Mickey was sitting up when he got back, leaning against the headboard. Ian sat beside him and handed over one of the damp washcloths he was carrying. “You ok?”

“Fine,” Mickey said shortly.

“That happen a lot?”

“What?”

“I think you dropped. Just wondering if it happens often.”

“Never happened before,” Mickey muttered, fiddling with the washcloth.

“Oh. Ok. You know what it is, though?”

“No idea, man. Felt good, but I feel super weird now. And uh… not sure how this part is supposed to go.”

“We’ll talk more later about what it was,” Ian said softly, moving closer until their shoulders were touching. “But for now, let me take care of you, ok?”

Mickey nodded, still feeling a bit odd, embarrassed, even. He’d been looking forward to being with Ian, and what the fuck was that? He turned into some kind of freak. He’d probably ruined everything.

Ian took the washcloth back from him and carefully cleaned the parts of him that he could reach, tossing it aside when he was done and pulling Mickey into his arms. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you know. I don’t think any less of you.”

“Fuckin’ weird, man.”

They stayed where they were for a bit longer, doing some kind of cuddling or shit until Mickey was feeling a bit more like himself.

“So,” he finally said. “Asshole and his fucking dog, huh?”

Chuckling, Ian shoved him lightly. “Dickhead and his cat. Come on, put some clothes on, let's dig into those leftovers, I’m starving for some reason.”

They pulled their boxers and shirts on and headed out in search of food. Howard was sitting on the couch, head resting on the back as he stared wistfully down the hallway, and immediately perked up when he saw them, the sound of his tail thumping on the couch filling the space.

“Dork,” Ian said to him affectionately, giving his head a rub on the way by. “Come on, you can get down now.”

Howard almost fell in his rush to get down, scrambling to join them in whatever exciting thing they were doing next. Mickey entertained the dog while Ian reheated some of the food, and they took the food to the living room, settling in side-by-side on the couch.

“It’s kind of funny, actually,” Ian said after bolting his first few mouthfuls. “All this time, we’ve been living next door to each other and never realized it. I spent months hating the jerk next door and lusting after the cute security guard at work. And now… they’re the same person.”

“Fuck, I know,” Mickey sighed. “I’m kinda gonna miss yelling at the asshole over the fence. It was the most exciting part of my life. Until you,” he smiled shyly.

“Awww,” Ian said, pulling a cheesy face. “But you can give that up? Just… forget about that guy, and just… date me?”

“Ian,” Mickey said, turning slightly to face him. “I’ve been fantasizing about having you in my life for months. And giving up that stupid feud is easy. I would have apologized ages ago if I’d had anything better going on in my life.”

“Same, honestly,” Ian chuckled. “I know Howard gets a bit nuts, but you were just so stubborn about letting the cat out…” he trailed off for a second. “Of course, now I know you weren’t actually letting him out, were you?”

“No,” Mickey sighed. “I seriously have no idea how the little shithead gets out. I just come home from work, and he’s outside.”

“Seriously, though,” Ian marveled. “How have we never walked out the front door at the same time? And if the fences were like, two inches lower, I’d be able to see over them, and I’d have known it was you.”

“Can I… come over and meet Wiggins?”

“Now?” Mickey laughed.

“Well, maybe after we put some pants on.”

They laughed, shoved each other, and made stupid jokes for a bit before heading into Ian’s room to find pants. Mickey was walking ahead of him, and was startled to find himself tackled onto the bed when they arrived.

“I think I wanna take these off of you instead,” Ian whispered in his ear, tugging at his boxers.

“Hmmm, you gonna ask nicely?”

“Please, Mick, may I fuck you again?”

“What the fuck are you waiting for? Get on me.”

This time, Mickey stayed in control of his head, and they rolled around, wrestling for dominance, laughter turning to moans, turning to yelps, and back to laughter. They would talk about what happened earlier, but not until Mickey was ready. For now, this was what they wanted.

An hour later, they were ready to get back out of bed and found Howard lying on the floor of the bedroom, sound asleep.

“Shhh,” Ian said. “Don’t wake him, he’ll decide he needs a walk or something.”

Mickey pulled his clothes on slowly and quietly and leaned back over Ian, who was still lying in bed. “You want to meet Wiggins tonight still? Or you can just come over tomorrow.”

Ian hesitated, clearly torn. “I don’t want to be apart,” he finally whispered. “But I also kinda don’t want to put pants on.”

Giggling, Mickey dropped his head to Ian’s shoulder. “Stay here then, lazy ass. You can meet Wiggins tomorrow. We both need to sleep anyway. And if you come over… we’re gonna be christening my bed tonight too.”

Ian groaned softly, pulling him up for a kiss. “I’ll miss you.”

Mickey kissed him again, and then a third time for good luck. “I’ll be right next door. Good night, Ian.”

He tiptoed out of the room, slipping out the front door and crossing the lawn to his own door, shaking his head at the thought that he could have been doing this for months. Wiggins was, as always, waiting for him.

“Hey buddy,” he whispered before remembering that Howard was next door and he didn’t need to whisper.

“Think you can be friends with the dog next door?” he asked him at a more normal volume, if still a bit quiet. “‘Cause I think me and his daddy are way more than friends now.”

He took a quick shower and realized he’d left his food in Ian’s fridge. He’d collect it tomorrow.

Mickey: made it home safe. Had a shower even.

Mickey: thanks for tonight

Ian: feel like I should be thanking you. I’m exhausted

Mickey: aw, did I wear you out?

Mickey: same, though. Gonna crash hard here soon

Ian: so can I ask you something before you go to sleep?

Mickey: sure

Ian: Mickey, will you be my boyfriend?

Did that mean… was that a joke, or was he being serious? How was he supposed to answer that?

Ian: it’s ok if it’s too soon

Ian: oh. That’s probably confusing. I’m 100% serious. I really like you Mick

Mickey: ok, chill. Yes, Ian, I will be your boyfriend

Tossing the phone aside, he buried his face in his arms, blushing like an idiot. Fuck, why did this guy make him feel like such a dork?

Taking a deep breath, he picked the phone back up.

Ian: oh thank god. I’ve been wanting to ask you that for like a week

Mickey: I would have said yes

Ian: so now it’s official. You’re my boyfriend

Mickey: you’re gonna be annoying about this, aren’t you?

He smiled, remembering saying almost exactly that to Ian not so long ago.

Ian: oh, absolutely. So annoying

Mickey: good

Ian: and now that it’s official, I can sleep. Have an amazing night, Mick.

Mickey: good night. See you tomorrow

Ian: good night

Mickey fell into a deep, dreamless sleep soon after.

The next morning, he was awake and out of bed thanks to Wiggins, but still in just his boxers and ratty t-shirt when there was a knock at the door. Confused, because nobody ever knocked on his door, especially on a Sunday morning, he yanked it open to find his two favorite redheads on the other side.

“Oh,” he said in quiet surprise.

“Good morning,” Ian said cheerfully. “Howard and I were out for his morning walk, and we stopped at the bakery down the street. Thought you might like some donuts.”

“I’ll never say no to pastry,” he said with a smile, stepping aside. “But you’ve got a good grip on him, right? Wiggins is just in the living room.”

Ian stepped inside, pushing the door shut behind him with his ass as he handed over the box.

“Yep, he’s good.”

“Oh, and good morning,” Mickey smiled, leaning in to give Ian a quick kiss. “And hello, Howard, welcome to my house. Don’t eat my cat.”

Ian chuckled and returned the favor with another kiss. “Come on, let’s go meet the famous Wiggins.”

They walked into the living room, Howard looking around in confusion at the identical layout to his own house, but with different furniture. Until he spotted Wiggins, where he was lying on the back of the couch. Then he stopped, and gave a surprised little woof, tail wagging as he looked from Ian to Wiggins and back.

“Yes,” Ian told him. “That’s Wiggins. This is where he lives, with Mickey.”

Wiggins, meanwhile, had woken at the sound of the bark and was gazing in their direction. Standing up, he yawned, stretched, and hopped onto the floor before wandering towards them.

Both men held their breath, Ian ready to yank Howard away, Mickey ready to drop the donuts and scoop his cat to safety as they watched. But Wiggins wandered over, calm as can be, and sat down in front of Howard, who promptly lay down on the floor to be at his level. They sniffed each other, Wiggins rubbed his head on Howard’s jaw, and that was it. The cat walked away, the dog lost interest, and looked up at his owner to ask what was next.

“Huh,” was all Mickey could manage.

“Uh… I guess… can I let him off his leash?”

Mickey shrugged, so Ian bent down and unclipped Howard, who trotted into the living room and made himself at home.

“I don’t get it. But I’m gonna take the win.” Mickey sighed.

“Guess the good news is this means I can visit my boyfriend whenever I want,” Ian grinned.

“Annoying,” Mickey told him with a stern face before cracking a smile. “Come on, let’s go eat donuts. Away from your dog.”

And maybe they christened Mickey’s bed that morning before work. And many, many times after that. Because maybe, just maybe, this was meant to be.