[With Needy, Cassel is coming more and more to realize, he had an advantage. He understood how she felt. He knows what it's like to have the world betray you, to feel like everything and everyone is out to get you. He knows what it's like to want revenge for that, and to go after it with both hands, to come away bloody. He understood her.]
[There are things he will never understand about Mickey. One of those is what it's like to love Ian Gallagher. Cassel thinks he understands love - that he knows the ins and outs of it, what it means in every situation, what it can do to you, how it can harm you or help you, how it can trap you or set you free.]
[But he can't imagine what it's like to love somebody sick. Not like Ian. Not like that.]
[So when Mickey crumbles, he doesn't really understand what's going on. He doesn't know. But he doesn't have to. All he has to do is love and listen and be here. Which is good, because sometimes, that's all he can do, too.]
[There's a moment when he lets it happen - lets Mickey cry, lets him feel the full brunt of what he's feeling - and then he's scooting over right next to him, wrapping one arm around his shoulder, plucking the paper gently out of his hand and pulling him close.]
Hey. It's okay.
[No don't cry. No what's wrong. Just this: light pressure and presence, the space to be.]
no subject
[There are things he will never understand about Mickey. One of those is what it's like to love Ian Gallagher. Cassel thinks he understands love - that he knows the ins and outs of it, what it means in every situation, what it can do to you, how it can harm you or help you, how it can trap you or set you free.]
[But he can't imagine what it's like to love somebody sick. Not like Ian. Not like that.]
[So when Mickey crumbles, he doesn't really understand what's going on. He doesn't know. But he doesn't have to. All he has to do is love and listen and be here. Which is good, because sometimes, that's all he can do, too.]
[There's a moment when he lets it happen - lets Mickey cry, lets him feel the full brunt of what he's feeling - and then he's scooting over right next to him, wrapping one arm around his shoulder, plucking the paper gently out of his hand and pulling him close.]
Hey. It's okay.
[No don't cry. No what's wrong. Just this: light pressure and presence, the space to be.]