You were mad at him— fuming, shaking with a kind of fury you didn’t even know you had in you. Your voice cracked as you shouted, anger tangled with heartbreak:

"God- I-I augh! I hate yo-you!"

The words exploded out before you could stop them, jagged and loud in the too-quiet room. He stopped. Like a machine short-circuiting mid-motion. His back stiffened, shoulders rising, then slowly—slowly—he turned to face you fully.

You saw it immediately—the confusion. The disbelief. And then... the pain.

"What…?" he barely whispered, as if trying to understand a language he’d never heard before.

His wide, soft eyes shimmered, lashes fluttering. His lips parted like he wanted to speak, but nothing came. Then it hit him. The weight of your words. The weight of you—not trusting him, not knowing him anymore.

And then it started.

One tear slipped down his cheek, quiet and hot. Then another. His chest hitched, and before you knew it, he was sobbing. Raw, open sobs—shoulders shaking, hands balled at his sides. The sound was almost childlike.

His walls had shattered. Your science buddy—your partner in experiments and long nights and dumb laughter—was standing there in front of you like a kicked puppy. He choked out between gasps, "You—hate me? You really…?"

He covered his face, curling into himself. What did you do? How did you go from being everything to each other to… this?

You remembered the late nights tinkering together, leaning on each other like you were the only two people in the world who understood. You remembered how he used to grin when you said something smart, or how he’d light up when you got his joke before he explained it.

And now? We used to be close… But people can go—from people you know… to people you don’t.

Just then, the door creaked open. Mikey's round head popped into view, his eyes immediately catching sight of his soft-shelled brother falling apart.

“Whoa—Hey, hey…” Mikey said, voice softening. He stepped in quickly, worry etched across his face. “What happened?” But the room stayed heavy. You couldn’t speak. You just watched the person who once meant everything to you break… and realized you might’ve been the one holding the hammer.