"So.. Yeah. That's it." Mykailla ended her story, slash explanation. "That was the second time he came over.. I think. That's where it started getting worse. The... Fifth or sixth time he came over, was when it got a little- w-well, when-" Mykailla blushed brightly, taking a swig of her, now half-empty, soda. "Yeah."

"You didn't finish." Chris pointed out, before stuffing a couple of chips into his mouth.

"I did so."

"No, you didn't. You stopped abruptly at "well, when", and then you just said. "Yeah."."

"..."

Chris nudged Mykailla, licking the chip flavoring off his fingers before continuing. "C'mon. You can tell me."

"No, I can't."

"Why?"

"Chris, I really don't- You'll judge me, and if you tell Ricky, or-or Micah- I-"

"Mykailla, you know I won't judge you.. And I promise I won't tell Ricky or Micah."

"... I.." Mykailla sighed. I can't believe I'm about to tell my best friend this. My best guy friend at that.

"You..?" Chris prompted, draping his arm over Mykailla's shoulders.

"Well, Ricky and I kinda had a.. Hatef*ck." Mykailla rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "A really... erm.. violent hatef*ck."

Chris nodded slowly. "Okay.."

Mykailla just nodded slightly as well.

Chris nodded again, then shrugged. "It's not that bad, really. Was it before or after your eighteenth birthday?"

"After." Mykailla sighed. "I don't really want to discuss why, when, where, or how it happened, okay?"

"I wasn't gonna ask-- Wait... How long after your eighteenth birthday?"

Mykailla sighed, scooting herself up so she was fully leaning against the headboard. She crossed her legs beneath herself before answering, "Chris, I told you. I really don't--"

"Mykailla, just answer me. Please."

"I... It was about a month later. June; the night before Micah was going to move out."

"What day?" Chris demanded, seemingly getting more agitated.

Did I do something wrong?

"A... A-A Monday, I think. I wanna say the second one of the month.. Why? Chris, you were there. You're worrying me."

"I know," Chris groaned loudly, rubbing his face as he sat up more like Mykailla had done. "How could I believe such a stupid excuse?" He grumbled to himself.

"Chris," Mykailla pulled Chris' hands down. "What's wrong? Is it something I--?"

"Mykailla, that was the day you lied to me about; on that following Thursday, when we went for coffee, you told me you got those bruises on Monday, from wearing your choker and bracelets on too tight for too long.. On accident. And the ones on your legs were from- You know what? I don't even remember that excuse." Chris rushed out, maneuvering his hands out of Mykailla's grasp to grip her wrists; tightly, yet gently. "He caused those, didn't he? The ones on your neck? Your wrists? Your legs?!" His disbelief evident in his voice.

"It-It was an accident." Mykailla's eyes started to turn glassy. This was one of those memories. She was honestly surprised that Chris remembered that she had those bruises (even the placements of them!) a year after the fact, but not the day of Micah's moving out party. "All of them. Chris, we may hate each other, but he d-didn't mean to hurt me."

"That is still unacceptable."

"It was over a year ago. We're passed that.. Honest."

"But--"

"Chris, I appreciate your "overprotective brother" mode, but seriously. Drop it. It's done with."

Chris sighed, rubbing his temples. "Fine.. But I can't believe you--"

"Chris!" Mykailla shouted angrily. "Stop! We're done talking about it!"

Chris stared at her a minute, then cautiously wrapped both arms around Mykailla's small form. "Alright."

Mykailla set her jaw, not moving, and setting her sights on the poster on the wall by her window. She sat there for a couple seconds, before looking at Chris. He gave an apologetic smile.

She stared at him, her bottom lip quivering as she tried not break. "Chris..?"

"Yeah?" He rubbed her arm.

"Chris, there... He- Th-there," Mykailla broke down, covering her face with her hands and falling against Chris' side; he, in turn, held her closer.

"Shhh, Mikey, it's okay." Chris soothed, rubbing her back.

"There was bl-blood, C-Chris." Mykailla curled up tightly against his side, sobbing quietly into her hands.

"Blood?" Chris was confused.

"When I was wi-th Ri-Ricky." Mykailla cried. "That's n-not supposed to ha-happen, Chris."

Chris was silent for a moment. "Mykailla," Chris kissed the top of her head, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "I got two things to say.. Okay?" Mykailla nodded, and he continued. "The first is that it was a year ago, okay? I know it was traumatic, but it was a year ago.. It's okay now." The shaking girl gave a small nod, wiping the tears from her eyes. "And the second thing is that there is supposed to be blood.. For your first time, anyway."

"There's n-not."

"Well.. You're okay." Chris hugged her tightly again. He tried to add a touch of humor, "And you still hate Rick's guts, so that's a plus."

Mykailla gave a small smile, sniffling. "..."

"C'mooonnn," Chris poked her side once.

She smiled slightly more, poking Chris back. "Can we talk about something else now?"

"Of course." Chris nodded. "... Okay, so, I met this girl--"

"Not about your love life!" Mykailla laughed lightly.

"Hey," Chris laughed. "You said something else! This is something else!"

"Yeah, but I don't care about," Mykailla added heavy quotation marks with her voice. "Future Mrs. Cerulli."

Chris glared playfully. "You're mean, you know that?"

"Well, thank you." Mykailla chuckled and smiled, bringing her sweater-covered hand up to scrub at the, now dried, tears that still marked her face.

"It wasn't a compliment, nerd." Chris smiled, squeezing Mykailla lovingly one more time, before kissing the top of her head. "I gotta go.. Call me tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." Mykailla smiled, nodding once. Chris peeled himself away from her, taking his soda bottle and the bag of chips with him as he stood.

"Ohhhhh, mah butts numb." Chris pulled a look, doing a weird little dance to try and get the feeling back in his outer extremities.

"Wow, okay." Mykailla laughed. "I really wanted to know that."

"I know you did, you pervert." Chris chuckled, rolling his eyes. He did a last little booty shake for Mykailla's benefit, then headed towards the open door of her bedroom. "Remember;" Chris whirled around to face Mykailla, "call tomorrow. I miss you."

"I miss you too." Mykailla smiled, bringing her knees up to her chest. "Don't be afraid to randomly show up, okay?"

"Okay.. Even though this isn't your house."

"Hey! It's Micah's, which means it's mine too!"

"Iiiiiii'm not sure that's how it works."

"Oh, shut up, Cerulli."

Chris just laughed. "I'll make sure to come by more often, alright?"

Mykailla nodded, smiling.

Chris nodded as well, smiling himself. He finally left the room, junk food in hand. "Bye~" He sang as he walked down the hall.

"Bye." Mykailla giggled, shaking her head. She waited until the sounds of shoes against stairs faded, and the opening and closing of the front door sounded.

Who cares if it's only nine in the morning? I need a nap.