Time is cruel, as Mikey had found out recently. Time and patience.

It’s not what he wanted — of course he didn’t want this. To make you wait so long for him to get better that you eventually moved on. Moved on and found yourself a relationship with someone who wasn’t self-destructive like he was.

He loathed himself for it, for letting you slip through his fingers like that. You were the only good thing he had in his life, and his selfishness prevented the two of you from doing more, being more. He would always tell you he wasn’t ready for a relationship, and you’d never force him to be ready — but he didn’t think that not being ready would result in a new man coming out of nowhere and taking you from him.

Maybe he was exaggerating; after all, he didn’t own you. You weren’t his, never had been. But it was close enough, right? To anyone on the outside, you might as well have been together. The nights you spent together, while they were purely innocent in nature, meant so much to Mikey. They meant a lot to you, too, but you were waiting so long for him. It wouldn’t have been good for you to keep waiting.

If looks could kill, your new boyfriend would be gone by now. Mikey stared at him with an anger you’d never seen from him before. And when it came to you, he just looked betrayed. You don’t know which one you would’ve preferred — would you rather he was angry with you or just plain hurt?

He looked at you with a mix of both when he came to your apartment one night. There was nothing unusual about it; he’d come to your apartment all the time, so you were ready to welcome him with open arms.

“He doesn’t live here, right?”


You were confused for a moment before you shook your head. It was too early for your boyfriend to have moved in yet. Mikey replied with a nod before making his way through the doorway.

"You look happy, you do. Swear it. 'M not tryin' to, like, homewreck or whatever the fuckin' word is. I just wanna talk, yeah? 'Bout us. Because there is somethin' to talk about, you know that."