Chapter Text
“So why are you going to California?”
Twenty-two minutes. It was only twenty-two minutes into the two-day trip and Mickey Milkovich was already annoyed with the Greyhound bus that was carrying him across the country. He had been hoping the journey would go by quickly, quietly and with no interruptions. Mickey should have known that his wish would not come true as soon as he stepped on the bus and was met with a weird stale smell and the sound of a crying child. The trip only got worse each time the man sitting next to him shifted in his seat, which had been a total of thirty-seven times since they left the station. Not that Mickey had been counting.
“Oh come on, talk to me. I’m already bored.” The man huffed.
Mickey continued to stare out the window, refusing to acknowledge his seat companion.
“I’m going to start fresh, you know? I just need a change of pace and a place to reboot my life. I have no idea what I am even going to do out there. No place to live, no job, barely enough cash. I kind of just opened a map, randomly pointed and now here I am.”
Fuck this kid talked fast. Mickey turned his head to glance at the chatterbox next to him and was met with red hair and green eyes. Fuck this kid was hot. The redhead pounced at the eye contact and quickly put his hand out for Mickey to shake.
“Hi, I’m Ian.”
Mickey simply looked at the hand before grumbling out his name in return.
“So Mick, why are you going to California?” Ian asked again, hoping to strike up a conversation.
Twenty-two seconds. Twenty-two seconds into the conversation before Ian was already giving him nicknames and trying to get to know him. Great.
“I hope you realize that I am going to keep talking to you for the next two days even if you don’t talk back. You might as well just talk to me.”
Mickey had a feeling that this kid meant that. “I guess I’m running away too.” He watched as Ian’s face lit up and split into a smile at the fact that Mickey had responded to his question. Mickey was sort of taken aback by how luminous Ian looked at that moment. Damn.
“Running away from what?”
The question snapped Mickey out of his trance. “None of your fucking business.”
Ian simply laughed at him. “Okay. We’re not there yet, that’s fine. I bet by the end of the trip you’ll tell me.”
Mickey turned back to look out the window and a silence fell over the two boys, but Ian wouldn’t let it stay awkward for long. “Do you have any siblings?”
“You really weren’t kidding when you said that you were going to talk the whole time, were you?” Mickey muttered.
“I can stop if you want me to but do you really want to stare out the window the whole time? That’ll make it feel like you might as well be walking to California.”
He had a point there, so Mickey reluctantly turned back to Ian and answered his question. “Four. Three brothers and one sister.” His answer awarded him another smile. This kid really needed to stop doing that… or keep doing it. Mickey wasn’t really sure at this point.
“See, was that so hard? I’m starting to believe that you actually know how to hold a conversation.” Ian smirked at Mickey. “I have three brothers too. Two sisters. Large family, you know how they do it in the Southside.”
“You’re Southside?” Mickey couldn’t help but ask. Ian looked and acted like the last person that would ever be seen around Mickey’s neighborhood.
“Born and raised. Why? You too?” Mickey nodded at Ian in confirmation. “What a small world.”
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For the next couple of hours, the boys fell into the pattern of Ian asking questions, Mickey answering them in as little number of words as possible and then Ian talking Mickey’s ear off about anything and everything. By the end of the third hour, Mickey was finally starting to relax and open up while Ian was ready to spice things up, recommending a game of truth or dare.
“Truth or dare? Really? How fucking old are you, dude?” Mickey questioned.
“19. You scared, Milkovich?”
At this, Mickey’s eyebrows shot up and he glared at Ian in response. “Bring it on, Gallagher. Dare.”
Mickey watched as the wheels turned in Ian’s head turned as he tried to come up with the perfect dare. “I dare you to… I dare you to...” Ian paused before his face lit up. “I dare you to stand up on your seat and yell PENIS for the whole bus to hear.”
Fuck this kid was an actual child, but Ian looked so proud of himself that Mickey didn’t want to disappoint. As he started to stand up on his seat, Mickey noticed that the other passengers on the bus were either preoccupied or asleep. Well they were about to get a show.
“PEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNIS”
As soon as the last “S” left his mouth, Mickey threw himself back down in his seat, hoping that no one noticed that he was the one who had done it. Unfortunately, Ian’s laughter brought the unwanted attention and glares to their row of seats.
“Oh my god, fuck. That was so stupid yet so great. I should have taken a video.” Ian wheezed through his laughter. “You should have seen the old lady about four rows up. I swear she about jumped out of her seat. We should stop now while we’re ahead. You can’t top that.”
“Fuck that. Truth or dare?”
The game went on like that for a while with the dares getting more and more childish and the boys receiving more and more glares. Mickey completed a dare by successfully throwing twenty raisins into the hair of the woman two seats in front of him before turning to Ian. “Truth or dare?”
“Truth.” Ian answered back, marking the first time a “truth” was brought into the game.
“Who’s scared now? Fine. Ummm… Tell the story of when you fucked for the first time.”
Mickey watched as Ian’s eyes got big before he quickly averted them away from the brunette. “Never mind, I choose dare.”
His interest peaked; Mickey couldn’t help but prod further into the truth. “Come on man. You can tell me. I won’t tell anyone.” Mickey mocked.
“Jeez. Now all of a sudden you are all open to talk to me.” Ian snapped back.
“Whoa. Chill out there, Firecrotch. It can’t be that bad.” Ian showed no sign of talking again. “How old were you? What was her name at least?”
“His name.”
Mickey’s eyes shot up to look at Ian, who looked nervous.
“Oh…”
“Fuck.” Ian muttered. “I’m going to go to the bathroom.” He darted out of his seat and ran down the aisle before Mickey could say anything else.
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Fuck.
One day and nineteen hours left.