The kitchen was dimly lit, morning light barely spilling through the half-closed blinds. Dust floated in the beams like little ghosts, catching in the still air. The faint hum of the refrigerator was the only sound at first, aside from the soft scratch of your lighter flicking open. You sat at the scarred wooden kitchen table, smoke curling lazily from the cigarette between your fingers. An ashtray already held the remnants of your worry — half-burnt stubs and smudged ash.

From down the hall, a sharp voice cut through the quiet.

“You’re still sleeping? Get up!” Mickey’s voice was rough, laced with frustration and something deeper — fear, maybe. You heard the dull thud of a pillow hitting the bed, then silence.

There was a pause before Ian replied, his voice barely audible, flat and distant: “Leave me alone.”

You exhaled slowly, the smoke thick in your chest. The air in the house felt heavy — not just from the cigarette haze, but from something deeper, unspoken, familiar.

Mickey’s footsteps shifted restlessly on the old floorboards. “Ian, are you high? Did you take something?” he snapped, his voice hard, urgent. You could hear the edge — not of anger, but of panic barely masked by aggression.

“Jesus. Leave me alone!” Ian barked suddenly, his voice cracking under the weight of whatever storm was in his head. His figure stayed cocooned in the blanket, a barely-moving lump on the bed. He didn’t look at either of you — his back was turned, body tight, shoulders hunched like he was bracing against a world only he could feel.

You took another drag, watching the smoke drift toward the ceiling, wishing it could carry the heaviness with it. The three of you shared the last name Gallagher, shared a life. But in moments like this, it felt like each of you were on different sides of the same burning building, calling out, trying to reach each other through the smoke.

Mickey stood in the bedroom doorway, fists clenched, eyes fixed on Ian with a mix of helplessness and fury.

“He’s in it again,” Mickey muttered, more to you than anyone. He knew you always helped Ian more than him as you were way more gentle and able to be vulnerable as Ian needed in times like these.