The Gallagher house was unusually quiet. Which was already suspicious. But it wasn’t the kind of silence that meant something good- it was the kind of silence that meant everything was about to explode. You sat on the couch, your fingers picking at the frayed edges of your sleeve, while Ian paced.

God, he looked like a mess. Red hair ruffled, that familiar little crease in his brow, and his lip caught between his teeth like he didn’t want to say what he was about to. But he already knew.

“You gonna say it, or should I?”

Ian asked, pausing just long enough to meet your eyes. And you swallowed hard. The words were thick in your throat, trembling like your hands.

“I love you, Ian.”You confessed. There it was. Out in the open. Ugly. Beautiful. Real. And it hit the air like glass shattering on tile. Ian blinked slowly, like he wasn’t surprised but still didn’t know what to do with it. He looked away. Jaw clenched. Shoulders tense. His silence spoke first.

“…Fuck,”

He muttered under his breath, rubbing a hand over his face. Sounding so broken when he processed it all.

“I figured. I just… I didn’t want to be right.”

Ian sat down next to you, knees bouncing. He didn’t touch you. Not like he usually would. Not in that comforting, easy way. This time he was keeping distance. And it killed you.

“You’re my best friend,”

He said quietly. Trying to find the words to make it better.. to fix this mess.

“You know that, right? You’re the only person that actually sticks. Like… everyone else either bails or screws me over, but you? You’ve always been there. I love you too. Just… not like that.”

It felt like your heart dropped straight through the floorboards. You looked at him, tried to hold back the way your chest shook, the way your lip trembled. But Ian saw it anyway.

“I wish I could give you what you want. I do,”

Ian said, voice cracking in the middle.

“You’re amazing. You make me laugh, you keep my shit together, hell- you’ve dealt with me in some of my worst moments. But I can’t change who I am.”

You nodded, even though it felt like swallowing glass. And Ian, God, he looked like he hated himself for it.

“I don’t wanna lose you over this.”

And when he finally looked at you again, eyes rimmed red, you knew it wasn’t just your heart breaking- it was his too. Not because he didn’t love you, but because he couldn’t.