Things I’ll never write because I lack the time to devote to it:
Corroded Coffin makes it big in the early 90s, and sure they get mistaken as a “grunge” band occasionally, but if it puts them in arenas then they’ll be grunge sometimes
Steve, of course, goes on tour with them because why wouldn’t he follow Eddie across the country (eventually the world)?
They have groupies falling all over them after every show and Steve just laughs about it because Eddie is so ridiculously in love with him he doesn’t even notice the women half naked in front of him in the autograph line
But he does notice that Gareth is just as avoidant, blushing when any attention is on him, but never does anything beyond a polite smile and autograph
Eddie tells him it’s because he’s never even kissed someone before, that he’s always been a romantic at heart who thinks the first time should be “special” (insert fond eye roll here) and Steve actually feels bad for him
Because how will he find that on the road? He has women coming up to him every night, but none of them would be “special”
Steve thinks for weeks, and Eddie knows something’s up but doesn’t ask. He knows Steve will come to him when he’s ready
And then after witnessing an especially awkward encounter between Gareth and two fans, he finally pulls Eddie aside and asks “what if we could make it special for him? Get it out of the way?”
It’s a hard sell at first, and Steve knew it would be
That’s one of Eddie’s best friends, they’ve been best friends for nearly a decade
And he’s so protective of his relationship with Steve, of their dynamic, possessive in a way that would probably be unhealthy if they hadn’t literally almost died together
But he realizes that Steve’s right, Gareth will never make a move on someone until he’s sure they’re right for him and that won’t happen on tour
And Steve was perfect for their first time. He’s patient and gentle, even now, even when they’re in a rush on the bus before everyone gets back
Eddie offers and Gareth just laughs, but it dies out when he realizes he’s serious
He asks a lot of questions, and he takes days to decide, avoids them both so he can make the right decision for him
But he knows they’re right. They’d be perfect for his first time. He knows it’s stupid to put so much weight into something like sex, but it’s just that he wants it to mean more than rough fucking on the couch of a bar’s back room
So he agrees
He agrees as long as they’re both involved and it doesn’t just turn into one of them fucking him or getting fucked by him. He can’t deal with either of them getting jealous or being mad at him
So they agree
And the next time they get to stay in a hotel, Gareth skips getting his own room so he can have the first time he’s always pictured, even though it’s definitely not who he pictured it with
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I have the mental image of Mick coming in to the Gallagher house one day and then realising that there's a picture of himself doing something or other nestled in among the family photos over the fireplace and then having to go off somewhere to have an emotion.
“Told ya you should have had somethin’ to eat with that coffee this morning!” He yells up the stairs, shaking his head when he hears the bathroom door slam shut.
Ten years in and Ian’s still annoying about remembering to eat something when he takes his meds.
“It’s not a lot of coffee, Mick, I’ll be fine, Mick,” Mickey mimics to himself. “I’m not that hungry, Mick. Yeah and look at you now, shittin’ your brains out.”
He wanders around the living room, poking at random stuff while he waits. The Gallagher house is largely unchanged since Debbie and Carl, and now Sandy, back for good he thinks, had moved in and taken it over. They’d brought in the last of Sandy’s stuff today, Debbie and her taking one more swing around her old place to make sure nothing was forgotten before officially declaring her moved in.
The living room is pretty much the same, couch still shitty as ever, although the tv is much newer and there’s a fresh coat of paint on the walls.
He glances absentmindedly at the pictures staggered around the top of the fireplace mantle, about to go wander into the kitchen when a newer image catches his eye. It’s nestled between a framed photo of Franny as a baby, and a shot of several Gallaghers flipping off the camera at a party somewhere.
It’s a photo of him and Ian, with Ian’s arms wrapped around him from behind. Ian’s got his head up against his ear, smiling and whispering something to him while Mickey’s grinning widely, so big his eyes are almost slits, hands holding onto Ian’s arm. Neither one of them seem to have noticed their picture being taken, or if they did there’s no evidence in their frozen expressions, just ones of pure joy and happiness.
He’s not sure when it was taken, can’t quite place where they are but it looks to be summer and they’re young, maybe 17 or 18. So young.
He stares at it, unsure of the reason why there’s tears threatening to prick at the corners of his eyes while he looks, and he’s not sure whether it’s from being happy or sad. Maybe a bit of both. He gauges it has to have been from when he was living here, or Ian with him, that whole time period a confusing mess if he thinks about it too much.
The door opens behind him and Debbie comes in carrying a cardboard box. She calls a greeting to Mickey but it’s almost like she’s far away, his senses barely able to focus on anything but the picture in front of him. She’s just about to head up the stairs when he comes back to himself a bit and he calls out to her.
“Ey, where’d you get this picture from?”
He gestures in the direction of the mantle, turning to look at her.
She steps off the bottom stair and comes closer, squinting a bit before realizing what she’s looking at and smiles.
“Oh, I found a bunch of disposable cameras when we were cleaning out one of the rooms upstairs. I had them developed to see if there was anything good on them - most of them were blurry shots and Carl doing weird shit but that one was mixed in. I thought it was cute so stuck it in a frame.” She starts heading up the steps but turns down to call, “You guys can take it home if you want, I made a few copies.”
“Yeah, thanks,” he says softly, belatedly, realizing she’s already disappeared up the steps by the time he answers.
He grabs the frame to look at it closer, swallowing hard as he stares at the images of their younger selfs, practically kids.
He’d never had a lot of pictures of himself growing up, mostly baby pictures stashed in boxes and pretty much nothing from his teenage years, save a few out of focus and blurry shots that Mandy may have taken on her small camera, when she was still here.
They have tons of pictures of them now, some framed around their place and others taking up most of the space on their phones, silly selfies and candids, cute shots of them together smiling at the camera.
But this, this feels different. Heavier. But also not. They look happy here, so it must have been a good day, he thinks. Hopes.
He startles at the feel of a hand on his shoulder, relaxing when he realizes it’s Ian, finally finished in the bathroom.
“Hey,” he says quietly, leaning back against his chest.
“Hey. What ya lookin’ at?” Ian asks, sliding his arm around his waist and hooking his chin over Mickey’s shoulder, pressing a quick kiss against his cheek before looking down.
Mickey doesn’t reply, just shakes the frame slightly to direct his attention, his heart rabbit kicking slightly in his chest.
He feels Ian still behind him, the grip on his stomach tightening for a moment before relaxing.
“Wow,” he finally says. “Where did that come from?”
“Debbie,” Mickey murmurs back.
Neither of them say anything for a minute until Ian speaks at last, voice a rumble in his ear.
“You look cute as fuck.”
Mickey laughs, the sound bursting from him suddenly, unexpectedly, and he aims an elbow backwards at his stomach that Ian dodges with a grin.
“Fuck you! I wasn’t fuckin’ cute.”
The statement dislodges something in his stomach though, and he feels like he can breathe a little easier somehow.
They settle back down, both of them lost in their own heads a bit as they continue looking at the picture. Ian wraps his other arm around his waist and holds him, the two of them swaying slightly together in the middle of the living room.
“You wanna take it home?” He asks finally.
He feels Ian nod against his shoulder.
“We can put it up next to our wedding pictures.”
Mickey smiles at that.
“Yeah, that’d be good.”
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