Chapter Text
—
“Will— Will?’’ Mike exclaims, snapping Will out of the memory. Will doesn’t turn around, afraid that if he looks at Mike, he might shatter again.
Will shakes his head and picks up the sweatpants he had on earlier. ’’I should go— I can’t do this right now,’’ He whispers with an undeniable shivering in his voice.
’’No, Will— please don’t go.’’
Will pulls on his sweatpants and T-shirt; he needs time to process the repressed memory that has just reappeared. The only way he’d been able to survive the last five years was to shun it all back into a corner, where his consciousness couldn’t reach.
’’I’m not gonna leave you again, Will— I- I promise, please believe me.’’ Mike whimpers, it felt like a knife turning inside Will’s guts. He was fighting the urge to run away as well as the need to stay.
Mike reaches for Will’s hand again and pulls him slowly back towards the bed. ’’Please talk to me, Will— I need you.’’
Will closes his eyes and sits back down on the bed. ’’You hurt me— so much, Mike,’’ He pauses to open his eyes, meeting Mike’s sorrowful gaze. ’’I haven’t been living, for the past five years— Everything stopped, when you left,’’ Will stutters, trying to contain his tears.
Mike furrows his brows, ’’I thought I was doing what was best for you.’’
’’I needed you— and you left,’’ Will sniffles, ’’I had to erase every piece of you, in order to endure and survive— all that pain you caused me, and— and now you’re here, and it’s like— everything is coming back to me, all at once,’’ Will cries.
Mike pulls him into his arms, softly combing through his hair. ’’Shhh— it’s gonna be okay,’’ He comforts.
’’No— it feels like I’m going to die, it feels like when you left.’’ Will hyperventilates, it felt like all the air in the world had been sucked up.
’’You’re not gonna die, I promise.’’ Mike whispers soothingly, ’’I won’t let that happen— I won’t ever leave you again.’’
Will relaxes into Mike’s bare chest, his heart beating into his ear. ’’But you don’t understand— you weren’t there.’’
’’Then help me understand, Will— you can tell me, you can trust me.’’
Will nods, ’’Okay,’’ He whispers. He proceeds to tell him everything he went through, the following months after he had disappeared: all the heartache, the guilt, shame, and fears. The restless night, the endless phone calls, and attempts to get in contact with him. The isolation and self-neglect, all the horrible thoughts he had about himself, and what he might do. How the only way he was able to get over him was to alter and destroy his memory. Will tells him everything, even how, in that moment, he wanted to run away just like Mike had done.
’’I just need some time to think— about everything,’’ Will exhales.
Mike nods slowly, ’’Alright, I get that— how much time you need?’’ Mike knew he had hurt him, but hearing how badly it had affected Will, just how much he had to endure and suffer; it broke his heart. Mike wanted to move past this more than anything in the world, but he understood if that was too hard for Will to do.
Will smiles subtly just with his eyes, ’’You just go to London, and do what you need to do— then we’ll figure it out when you get back.’’
’’Okay— is there anything else I can do— like, to make things easier?’’ Mike mutters.
’’I think– this is something I need to do on my own.’’ Will pulls a hand through Mike’s hair, a silent way of telling him that he still needed him, but at a distance, while he figures things out. ’’I’m gonna go— back to my apartment.’’
’’I’m sorry, Will. Please stay a little while longer.’’ Mike’s voice breaks as Will starts getting up from the bed.
’’I think it’s best we don’t drag this out, it’ll just make things harder.’’ Will sighs.
’’You’re— you’re not gonna end this, are you?’’ Mike asks with quiet desperation lingering in his voice.
Will grabs onto either side of Mike’s face and pulls his forehead to his lips, planting a tender and reassuring kiss onto it. ’’No— I’m doing this so it doesn’t break— so I don’t break, so you don’t break.’’
Mike nods nervously, ’’I’m scared, Will— I don’t wanna lose you.’’ He grabs onto Will’s hand and kisses the inside of his palms.
Will intertwines their fingers, ’’Just keep holding on to me, don’t let go— just give me time, let me do this— Okay?’’
Mike smiles, ’’Okay.’’ Will lets go of his hand, inhales deeply before getting off the bed and walking slowly across the hardwood floor, which creaks underneath his steps. When the door closes, Mike rips into his hair and sobs, listening to Will’s careful steps on the staircase; he is really leaving. If only Mike had been this thoughtful and honest, like Will had been just now, five years ago, maybe none of this would’ve happened.
Mike collapses into the pillow and cries until it feels as if his body has been drained, until his eyes get tired and his surroundings get blurry, and he drifts off to sleep.
—
Will steps inside his apartment, which feels smaller than it did this morning; maybe he’d already gotten used to Mike’s place. His stomach rumbles, he’s actually starving, he should’ve gotten steak instead of lobster; Will thinks to himself as he walks into the kitchen and opens the fridge, takes out a takeout box from a Chinese restaurant he and Mike had eaten from last night. He grabs some chopsticks and sits down against a cabinet, and slurps up the cold noodles with chicken, broccoli, and some other vegetables. The sauce was still good, but the rest had gone kind of mushy; still better than the lobster.
The phone inside the living room starts ringing, and he decides just to let it go to voicemail. After the ringing stops, the message comes through; ’’Hi Will, it’s me–’’ Jane speaks, Will gets up and walks into the living room as the rest of the message continues. ’’I know about you and Mike– we all know, from you know– the magazine. I’ve been trying to reach you…’’ Jane sniffles, ’’I just– I can’t watch you go through all that again, please call me.’’ The voicemail stops.
Will sits down on the couch and exhales regrettably. He hated that she had to find out like that. He felt terrible and guilty again. She was the only one who’d seen the true state Will had been in back then, and she’d stuck by him even though she hadn’t known exactly why. Jane had never demanded an answer, but perhaps some part of her had already known.
He was gonna stop by her shop the next day, but he was too exhausted and overwhelmed to get himself to go to Brooklyn now or even call. He needed to rest, needed to digest all of this.
—
’’Hello?’’ Lucas yawns into the phone.
The morning light peaks in through the drapes in Mike’s office. He’d woken up 2 hours prior and drank enough coffee to take down a horse. ’’Lucas! Hey, it’s me.’’ Mike exclaims.
’’Why are you calling so early?’’ He mumbles, ’’Who is it?’’ Mike hears Max ask in the background. ’’It’s Mike,’’ Lucas groans.
’’Put me on speaker, Max needs to hear this too— so uhm, how would you feel about meeting me for a quick chat and a cup of coffee?’’ Mike fumbles erratically and fast over his words.
’’Mike, are you coked out or something?’’ Max questions.
’’What no? Just wanna catch up with you guys.’’ Mike paces between the small space between his desk and bookshelf; he was too caffeinated to sit still. It was the only thing that had helped clear his mind about Will. Perhaps he seemed a little coked out, but he wasn’t; Mike had tried cocaine once in college, but it hadn’t seemed to work on him; he had just spaced out from it, getting stuck in his own thoughts, while the people he’d done it with were dancing and having fun.
’’Is Will with you?’’ Lucas exhales dreadfully.
’’No uhm, uh, we–we’re taking some time apart… for now, but that’s not why I’m calling, or it is— sort of.’’ Mike chuckles manically.
Max grunts, ’’Jesus Christ, Wheeler— fine, you can just stop by my work— we both have the day off, but they could probably use a few extra hands today.’’
Lucas sighs, ’’But I was gonna—’’
Max cuts him off, ’’I’m sure the PlayStation can wait, Lucas. Mike is clearly having some sort of episode.’’ Lucas groans loudly into the speaker.
Mike curls his brows, ’’I’m not— I’m not having an episode? I’m fine,’’ his voice goes high and squeaky.
’’Right, sure you are,’’ Max exhales, ’’Stop by the youth centre, we’ll meet you there in– what do you say, Lucas?’’ Max pauses.
Lucas breathes in heavily, ’’Two hours, earliest… I need coffee—’’
’’We’ll be there in an hour and a half, be there, Wheeler,’’ Max declares, ’’Do you remember where the youth centre is?’’
Mike nods impatiently. He chugs down another espresso shot, which had gotten cold during the phone call. ’’Yes– yes, I’ll see you there!’’
—
Dustin hands Jane a turquoise giftbox. Will recognizes the Tiffany & Co. brand even from afar. He watches through the window of the flower shop as Jane opens the box, revealing a silver necklace with a rose pendant. Her whole face lights up as she reaches for Dustin’s face over the checkout counter and pulls him in for a kiss.
Will couldn’t think of a worse time to burst in, but he needed to get this over with, and Dustin being there also just made it easier.
The bell above the door rings as Will steps inside, ’’Hi.’’ He smirks awkwardly.
’’Will— hi,’’ Dustin walks over and wraps his arms around him, but Will’s arms are glued to his own body.
Will’s eyes meet Jane’s, who looks as if she could murder him right then and there, ’’Where’s Mike?’’ Jane asks and plops a few flowers into a vase.
’’Mike?’’ Dustin pulls back and raises his eyebrows.
Will exhales, ’’That’s why I’m here— to explain.’’Jane shakes her head.
’’I’m sorry, Mike is back— I don’t understand, what’s going on?’’ Dustin grins, filled with confusion.
Jane walks out from behind the counter with her arms crossed, ’’Yeah, Will— what is going on exactly.’’ Her eyes pierce through Will; he’d never seen her this furious at him before.
’’Can we please go sit down somewhere? I promise I’ll explain everything—’’ Will stumbles over to Jane and grabs onto her hands, ’’Please, Jane.’’
Her eyes soften, ’’Fine.’’ She exhales, ’’Let’s go out back.’’ Jane walks over and turns the sign on the door from open to closed, then turns the lock.
There’s a small couch: flower-patterned, of course, and a coffee table in Jane's office. Dustin and Jane sit down on the couch as Will pulls the chair from her desk and sits down in front of them.
Dustin sighs as if he’s realized what’s going on, ’’Wait— I know what this is about— you don’t approve of Jane and me.’’
Will shakes his head and chuckles, ’’No— not at all,’’ He chimes softly, ’’I’m very–very happy for you.’’ He pauses and looks at them with warm eyes.
Dustin exhales relieved, ’’Phew— that’s great…’’ But then he notices how Will’s expression has changed into something different, strained and distraught.
’’Do you remember when you called me a few days ago?’’ Will asks.
Dustin nods in response and readjusts his glasses. ’’Well, I was— I was in Mike’s apartment in London, when you called… that’s why I was acting so weird, on the phone. It wasn’t because of you and Jane,’’ Will looks up from his shivering hands and sees the realization flood through Dustin.
’’It was because of you and Mike?’’ Dustin whispers softly.
Jane shifts in her seat, ’’And now he has left again, right? I’m gonna— I swear to god–’’ Dustin grabs onto her hand to calm her down.
’’No— I left, or not left… A lot has happened over the past few days. Mike has told me a lot of stuff— which I’m still trying to process,’’ Will stutters trying to keep up with all the words and memories overpowering his mind.
’’I— I had forgotten how much he hurt me back then, when he left— or I think I made myself forget… somehow, and now everything is just coming back to me. So I left to think things over, and to talk to you, Jane, you’re the only one who truly saw what I went through.’’ Will sniffles.
’’Should I give you guys a moment?’’ Dustin offers.
Will shakes his head, ’’No— no, you can stay, you deserve an explanation too.’’
Jane wipes a single tear off her cheek; she tries to smile through it, but her eyes reject the attempt. ’’I hate him for how he made you feel. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive him for that.’’ Dustin wraps an arm around her shoulder and reaches for a tissue on the coffee table.
’’I understand that— I felt that way too, but that was just to disguise… how much I— I really do love him.’’ Will’s voice crumbles as he tries to explain.
Dustin looks up with big eyes, ’’You love Mike?’’ He exclaims and shakes his head, ’’Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out so—’’ He makes an explosion gesture with his hands.
Will nods, ’’I do— even back then, I’ve always loved him. I was just so afraid to lose him, and then when I did– it was like the whole world collapsed under me.’’
’’Are you afraid that it will happen again?’’ Dustin asks and takes off his glasses, revealing his soft and understanding gaze.
’’No— I guess it’s me, I’m afraid I’ll ruin it.’’ Will goes to wipe his eyes with his sleeve, but Dustin offers him the tissue box instead. ’’Thanks,’’ Will chuckles and rips out a few papers.
Dustin smiles and puts the box back, inhales quickly, and clears his throat. ’’Do you mind if I ask why Mike left? I mean that has been an unanswered question— for all of us.’’
’’I’m not sure, I think he would prefer to tell you himself.’’ Will shrugs.
Jane scoffs, ’’So you're going back to him?’’
’’Well, it’s very complicated— it’s not like he left to be cruel, he thought he didn’t have any other choice.’’ Will defends, with a strained voice.
Jane’s body tenses up as she purses her lips, ’’He is cruel, what he did was cruel. There isn’t a good enough excuse to do that to another person.’’ Jane yells with a wretched tone.
’’Hey— hey, let’s calm down—’’ Dustin tries.
Jane stands up quickly, dragging a pillow with her from the sudden movement, ’’No— no, I won’t let Mike hurt him again… I can’t go through that again,’’ she cries.
Will looks away, watching Jane break like this was excruciatingly painful. ’’I took care of you back then, I did— even though I lost a friend too, but what hurt me the most was—’’ Jane hyperventilates, ’’Was fearing every day that I was going to lose you too.’’
Will looks back at her with teary eyes. ’’That’s how much he hurt you— and I hope you remember that, because whatever promises he’s made and stories he’s told— won't erase what he did. You may be able to forgive him, but do not expect that from me.’’ Jane storms out of the room, slamming the door behind her. The bell rings as she exits the shop entirely.
Will hides his face in his palms and sobs. ’’Hey— hey, she’ll come around, it’s gonna be okay.’’ Dustin approaches him and crouches down to comfort Will.
’’I’m sorry,’’ Will pants through his tears.
’’Don’t be, man. Love is difficult—’’ Dustin pauses, ’’I’m assuming that— uhm, Mike loves you too… like romantically?’’
Will looks up from his hands and nods. ’’That’s why he disappeared, right? He was afraid to hurt you and thought you were better off by him leaving everything behind, but then he realized that wasn’t true— so he came back?’’ As always, Dustin saw the patterns and connected the dots.
’’Yeah— that’s pretty much what happened,’’ Will whispers.
’’Really? I was just guessing,’’ Dustin jokes to lighten up the atmosphere. ’’I understand why you’re feeling this way, sometimes it’s easier to forget than to forgive— if that even makes sense.’’
’’No— yeah, that makes sense.’’ Will smiles.
’’But that doesn’t mean forgiveness can’t happen… now that you remember and you know why he left— does that seem possible for you?’’ Dustin curls his brows and seemingly examines something in Will’s expression, like an equation.
’’I want to— I believe that he’s changed, but what if I haven’t?’’
’’Well— the human mind does a lot to protect its own sanity; that’s why you repressed those memories, to keep yourself safe.’’ Dustin stands up and walks over to Jane’s desk, leans against it like he’s teaching a class. Will turns around in the chair.
’’So let’s flip it around— now your mind is recovering those memories, to again protect you— from what, that’s up to you to decide. Whatever path you chose for yourself, you’ve still managed to let your mind open up to you again— that shows growth and change, you’ve literally regained trust within yourself.’’ Dustin is deep in thought, as if he’s actively trying to conquer a scientific breakthrough.
’’It may feel like you can’t handle these emotions and memories—’’ Dustin's eyes get big as he looks straight at Will and smiles, ’’But you can, that’s why they came back, the memories want you to remember and decide by using them!’’ He exclaims.
Will chuckles, ’’You’re students must love you.’’
’’Not right now, I just gave them a twenty-page essay on renewable energy due in a week.’’ Dustin grins, ’’So what path will you take? Stay or go—’’ He gasps dramatically.
’’Should I stay or should I go–’’ They both burst out at the same time. Dustin had a gift of combining humor and knowledge, which, in a way, was the perfect combination for giving good advice.
Will laughs, ’’I think I’m gonna need some more time to think about that.’’
’’No— yeah, of course,’’ Dustin snorts, ’’Take your time, there’s no rush. Don’t overwhelm yourself, it’s a lot to take in— and you can always call me, and I’ll help in whichever way I can.’’
’’Thanks, Dustin, that means a lot to me—’’ Will pauses and looks up with pleading eyes, ’’Could you maybe talk to Jane, explain that mind-flip thing?’’
Dustin sighs and shrugs, ’’I don’t know, man— seems like something you guys need to resolve on your own.’’
’’You could, just like— ease her into it, you’re way better at explaining stuff like that than me.’’ Will folds his hands in front of him, begging Dustin to agree.
Dustin throws his hands in the air, ’’Okay, fine, but I’m telling her to call you right after— even if I have to glue her hand and ear to the phone.’’
’’Thank you.’’ Will beams.
—
Mike’s feet scrape over the pavement as he walks through the gate and into the courtyard of the youth center. The sound of a basketball being dribbled into the ground catches his attention.
A kid throws the ball into the basket and cheers by himself. ’’Hey, kid?’’ Mike yells.
The young boy runs after the ball and turns around, ’’Who are you?’’ He shouts back.
Mike approaches him, ’’Uhm— I’m here to see Maxine Mayfield— sorry, I mean, Sinclair–’’ He corrects, ’’Have you seen her?’’
The kid points behind him and shrugs, ’’She’s right there.’’ Mike hears the sound of heels stomping and sneakers scraping the pavement.
Max and Lucas walk up next to him. ’’Caleb, why aren’t you at school?’’ Max questions with firmness in her voice.
’’Cus’ I didn’t wanna go.’’ The boy laughs.
Max folds her arms as the boy dribbles the basketball, moving with it up to them. ’’Well, that’s not a good excuse— why are you here?’’
The boy throws the ball at Lucas, who catches it without even flinching, ’’Good throw,’’ Lucas exclaims, ’’I’m keeping this though, until you answer Max.’’
The boy sighs, ’’That boy, Thomas, is giving me a hard time again— and it’s too loud back at the home, I can’t think there.’’
’’I see, well— you can’t just be out here by yourself, let’s go inside and figure something out, okay?’’ Max offers and wraps an arm around the boy's shoulder, guiding them across the courtyard.
Faint chattering from Max and the boy can be heard as Lucas and Mike follow their steps. ’’She’s good with kids, huh?’’ Mike states.
’’Yeah, she is— especially with Caleb and his younger brother. They come here a lot; they live down the block at the orphanage.’’ Lucas explains with concern and care, brooding through him.
The caffeine in Mike has worn off, leaving a foggy feeling behind, ’’That’s— shit, I don’t know what to say, how old are they?’’ Max and the boy walk inside, while Lucas and Mike stay behind.
’’Caleb is twelve, almost thirteen, and his brother is five. Their parents passed away—’’ Lucas sighs, ’’From an overdose, just after Mateo was born— when Caleb turns thirteen, they’re gonna put him into foster care—’’
Mike cuts in, ’’Well, they can’t do that– they can’t split them up?’’
Lucas opens the door, ’’Unfortunately, yes— they can.’’ He mutters as they walk inside.
Mike’s eye gaze towards Max and the boy, who she’s placed on a couch with a book. He hears her order him to read, while they both giggle. The building is quiet; only a few workers are walking around. Max approaches one of them.
’’Call the principal and say that Caleb’s here, that we’ll take care of him for the day— tell them not to alert the home, he’ll just get in trouble for skipping,’’ Max whispers.
’’Well, they have to call the orphanage?’’ Max’s colleague raises her brows.
’’Then lie, I don’t know— say that we’ve arranged it with the home?’’ Max shrugs and walks away, her heels clicking on the linoleum floor as she struts over to Mike and Lucas.
’’So Wheeler— you ready to sort things out, and by that I mean, we just got a bunch of donated clothes, and we need to organize them by size and age, fold them, and store them. You up for that?’’ Max lists, it wasn’t a request, it was an order.
Mike nods, ’’Uhm— yeah, sure.’’
’’Good, you two— come with me.’’ Max turns on her heels and directs them out back.
Lucas leans in and whispers, ’’She runs this place like the Navy.’’
—
Max cuts open a cardboard box with a breadknife and tosses it over to Mike, across the long table. ’’Just start organizing by gender, then age and size. I’m gonna get the other boxes—’’ Max points her finger at them, ’’Don’t fuck up— talking to you, Wheeler.’’
Mike tenses the muscles around his eyes, ’’What, why would I—’’ Mike goes to pick up the box, doing so, all the clothes fall out the bottom, landing on the floor.
Max snorts, ’’Exactly— pick it up, now.’’
Mike picks up the clothes and tosses them onto the table, ’’How was that my fault— obviously some problem, with the box or something,’’ He mumbles embarrassedly.
Lucas chuckles softly as he starts dividing up the clothes, creating a pile for boy and girl clothes. Mike checks a tag inside a shirt and throws it into the boy pile. ’’So— how you doing, Mike?’’
’’Uhm— fine, it’s been an interesting couple of days, got outed in a tabloid… kind of?’’ Mike mumbles.
’’I hear you’ve started without me?’’ Max walks up next to them with another box. Mike pauses and looks at her, ’’Well, keep talking and sorting, Mike— we’ve got five years and five boxes to catch up with.’’
Mike laughs nervously, ’’Yeah— let’s uhm, do that.’’
He starts from the beginning: the weeks leading up to Will’s birthday, the day of, and the days after; that gets them through the first box. They work quite efficiently as a team; it was also nice to have something to do with his hands while he talked; it made it easier, and it didn’t feel as claustrophobic and uncomfortable.
As Max starts cutting open the second box, he starts telling about the psychiatric facility, the debilitating boredom and despair that held him hostage there, how the only way he survived was writing and thinking of Will. Then he moved on to the first two books being published, then his disaster of a marriage, which hadn’t been because of his wife; he made sure to emphasize that, but without telling them about the whole threesome thing. That was way too embarrassing for him to admit; he just told how she’d been understanding and helpful.
Mike finishes his pile of clothes, Max hands him the bread knife, and orders him to cut up the third box. Neither Lucas nor Max commented on the stuff he was saying. They just listened, which was nice; Mike liked that they didn’t interrupt. He’d always have trouble redirecting his thoughts after an interruption. Mike starts telling them about the divorce, then how he moved back to New York for good, his realization about Will, and why Mike was in the hospital. He felt like he was just rambling, hardly making any sense, but they still didn’t cut in to confirm details; they just let him talk in whatever manner he wanted.
’’–Then my dad died,’’ Mike says a little too casually.
Both Max and Lucas turn, ’’Your dad died?’’ Lucas repeats.
’’Yeah, he had a heart attack— in front of the TV.’’ Mike throws a pair of pants into the pile of girls' clothes.
’’Damn, Wheeler— I’m sorry.’’ Max squints her eyes.
’’It’s not a big deal— do you want me to continue, or do you need a sec to mourn my dead father?’’ Mike asks sarcastically.
’’Right— no continue, we’ll talk details after,’’ Max states.
Lucas throws in the last of his pile and waits for the others to follow so they can get started on the rest of the story and the fourth box. They created a system; whoever finished their pile first would open up the next box and divide the clothes into new piles for all of them; that way, they would get done faster. Mike moves on to telling them about London, how nervous, although excited, he was to see Will again. How kissing him felt even better this time, and how smooth his skin had been, ’’Ew, Mike. Gross, we don’t need to know all that— keep that to yourself.’’ Max groans.
’’Sorry, got carried away.’’ Mike’s ears had already turned bright red. He figured by Max’s reaction, he probably shouldn’t tell the rest, or about the other times where things got hot and sweaty; not that he wanted to tell them, he just wanted to be honest. Mike moved on to the karaoke mess and continued with what happened at the art exhibition, minus the situation in the storage room, and then their departure at the airport.
’’That’s when I called you guys,’’ Mike adds.
’’Yeah, you’re on my list for that— I couldn’t fall asleep after that, you asshole.’’ Max punches Mike on the shoulder.
Mike whines, ’’Ow–’’
’’She was up all night worrying about you two,’’ Lucas grins.
Max gasps, ’’I was not— Lucas shut up!’’
’’You were worried about Will and me?’’ Mike beams and wraps his arms around Max’s shoulder and swings her side to side.
Max squirms in his arms, a slight smirk creeping onto her lips. ’’Alright, Wheeler, get off, that’s enough,’’ she protests. Mike gets back to his pile, ’’I might’ve been a little worried.’’ She glances at Mike, their eyes meet as a shared chuckle bursts through them.
’’All that worrying just for you two to end up in some magazine?’’ Max shakes her head.
’’Yeah, that was kind of dumb, but my manager is taking care of that,’’ Mike mutters. He was getting to the even more complicated part of the story.
’’Is that why you’re taking some space from each other— so that doesn’t happen again?’’ Lucas asks, peeking his head over the table to look at Mike.
’’Uhhh— no, not exactly. To be honest, I don’t really care about that anymore, I just want Will— but uhm, he’s having trouble with trusting me again, and like processing everything. He says he needs time to do that, so here I am folding clothes— and boring you guys.’’ Mike explains. That was basically the last of what he needed to tell.
’’Why doesn’t he trust you? What made him reveal that?’’ Max questions.
’’Well, I have to go back to London tomorrow, which I told him after we had—’’ Mike shakes his head, ’’Never mind— he just thinks, I’m gonna leave him again.’’
’’You’re an odd man, no really— you told Will you were leaving again after cumming all over each other?’’ Max blurts out, and she makes a disgusted face after realizing what she just said.
’’Well, he didn’t—’’ Mike stops both his words and sorting.
Lucas bends his knees and falls to the ground from laughter, ’’Maybe that’s why he gotta think things over?’’
Max giggles, ’’Lucas get up.’’
’’You’re such assholes— no, that’s not why, all the times before that— he did.’’ Mike smugs and returns to sorting the clothes.
Lucas gets up, ’’How many times?’’ He asks curiously.
’’Why does that matter?’’ Mike grins, too proud of himself.
Max nods and shuts her eyes, ’’It matters.’’
’’How so?’’ Mike was actually not sure how and why it mattered; it didn’t seem to have any correlation.
’’Okay, think about your,’’ Max inhales and slowly, ’’First time— did you feel a sense of ‘wow this is it’ because of how good it was?’’ It sounds like she’s almost forcing the words out of her mouth.
Mike nods and reminisces about that night in Will’s apartment after their three dates, ’’Yeah.’’
’’So let's add the other times and assume Will felt that way too. If it really was that good, that man will come back— trust me.’’ Max assures. Mike furrows his brows and tenses the muscles around his mouth as he sees Lucas smiling proudly while nodding repeatedly, as if Max were speaking from experience about her feelings towards Lucas.
Max notices, ’’Lucas— stop,’’ She groans, ’’I swear to god, I’m gonna divorce him— pass over the divorce lawyer, Wheeler.’’
Lucas mouths silently to Mike, ’’She won't.’’ Mike smirks and shakes his head.
’’So how many times was it?’’ Max repeats the question and returns to sorting through the last of her pile. She was probably gonna be the one to open the next box.
Mike rubs the back of his neck, ’’Maybe like twelve times— or something?’’ Mike hesitates with the answer; he wasn’t sure if that was a lot or not enough.
’’I’m divorcing Lucas— what the fuck do you mean twelve times over the span of what, a week?’’ Max exclaims and throws a shirt down dramatically. Lucas throws his hands up in bewilderment.
’’Poor Will—’’ Lucas mumbles in the background.
Max chuckles, ’’Let’s not assume here, Lucas— maybe Mike’s the one—’’
Mike cuts her off with a painful groan travelling through his mouth and into his hands, ’’Please stop, I’m begging you to stop.’’
’’That’s probably what he tells Will—’’ Lucas whispers into Max’s ear.
Mike throws a shirt at Lucas, ’’You’re— yeah, evil, both of you. I didn’t miss you one bit,’’ Mike grunts.
’’Yes, you did.’’ Lucas nods.
’’No, not at all,’’ Mike emphasizes, but they all knew he had.
’’Sorry, Wheeler, let’s change the subject, shall we?’’ Max requests, ’’I’m sure Will will come around—’’
’’No pun intended,’’ Lucas interrupts.
Max snorts, ’’Anyways— ignore him, he’s gotten very childish… You just give him the time he needs, like he did with you.’’
Mike nods, ’’Yeah— right, I hope so.’’
’’Me too, cus’ uhm— Lucas’s and I are having this Thanksgiving thing… It would be nice to see you there, both of you there.’’ Max’s eyes are warm and welcoming; he understands why kids feel safe with her. She had gotten this comforting nature that Mike hadn’t really noticed before; maybe it had always been there and just hadn’t been as strong, or he was just noticing it for the first time. He trusted her words. Mike found it weird how he had ever underestimated her.