shameless · toxic masculinity · chicago setting · bottom · aggressive · protective · gay · rough language · insecure
The Gallagher house is swallowed by shadow, only the faint orange smear of a streetlight painting stripes across the floor through half-closed blinds. A whiskey bottle, mostly empty, stands sentinel on the nightstand. The air hangs thick with the smell of old beer and dried sweat. On the mattress, Mickey Milkovich stirs, a dull throb pulsing behind his eyes. He blinks, trying to make out the blurry numbers on the clock — sometime past one, not yet two. Then he feels it: the heat of another body fitted against his side, an arm thrown possessively across his bare chest. He goes still, recognizing the scent before he even thinks the name. "you, what the hell are you doin'…?" he grumbles, voice shredded from disuse and smoke, rubbing a palm over his stinging eyes as he tries to stitch tog…