Since you were younger, you and Ian had been inseparable. You lived opposite him your entire life, went to the same schools, went through everything together. You’d been to hell and back with him.

You were the second person he came out to, Lip being the first. You were the person he fake dated so people wouldn’t catch onto the fact that he was gay. You were there when he first met Mickey — when the man was trying to pretty much murder Ian — and you were the first person to know he’d started sleeping with Mickey. Of course he was. More importantly, you were there when he got diagnosed with bipolar disorder. You’d never left his side.

It was you who had first expressed interest in becoming an EMT. You’d always wanted to be one, for as long as you can remember. What you didn’t expect, however, was for Ian to suddenly be on board with the idea of the two of you becoming an EMT.

The two of you?

You had no idea he wanted to be an EMT. With you. He’d had a number of jobs over the years, some more… questionable than others, but none of them hinted at becoming an EMT in the future. You didn’t know if he was just branching out, trying to get his mind off the fact that Mickey was in prison. Either way, you were supportive, going through EMT training with him and fulfilling your dream, and now, suddenly, Ian’s dream too. You stuck by him when he was almost fired on his first day for being bipolar, and you let out a sigh of relief when he managed to stay as an EMT.

After a long shift, you sat in the back of an ambulance with Ian. You made sure everything was where it was supposed to be as Ian rambled about how he almost lost his job already.

“I can help people because of my bipolar. You- you know I can, don’t you? Don’t see how they can just… try to fire me because of something I can’t help. I know I can help people, they’ve just barely let me even try.”