Bittersweet Candy Bowl

You didn't have to.

Well; that was a riveting conversation Mike.

Mike drop.

amazing pun

Hold them boundaries! Listen to your best supporting friend!

They're both so tired

Thank goodness, good on Lucy for just walking away

Good for you lucy, hold your boundaries because he doesn't deserve the time of day from you

Well that went well

FATALITY

Mike: Whew, that was a relief. For a minute there, I thought she was going to scream at me for 15 minutes in front of everyone at the mall.

Lucy: >:(

Mike: Uh oh!

I love the sense of finality in this page, this really might be the last time these two talk to eachother (probably not). If it is, at least they played one more game together before leaving eachother alone for good.

jesus lol. I mean, I get that he felt super shitty for smth that was pretty much out of his hands and all, but... lmao. just feels like he's still too concerned with his own feelings and his image to actually understand how not to hurt Lucy further

Mmm, it's definitely true Lucy doesn't need to fogive him, but how exactly does a genuine apology, spurred on by bumping into her and unintentionally ruining her mood followed by his new friends dragging her into things with him, qualify as, "hurting Lucy further?" By the time he got to the apology, the damage was already done. All an apology (a good one, that is) does is try to convey intent after the fact. Sure, it does more to assuage the guilt of the responsible party than it does to fix damage done, but healthy communication can help both parties. Mike was told not to talk to Lucy because he failed time and time again to actually communicate with her without hurting her in the process. This... is not an example of that. Which considering everything Mike has done wrong as of late, says a lot about him finally starting to better himself. This is definitely a combination of, "Too little, too late," mixed with a bit of, "Better late than never."

Any interaction initiated by someone who has abused you has the potential to cause further damage. Just because it's in the form of an apology doesn't magically void the stress of having to interact with that individual on their terms.

Kinda hope he doesn't take it out on James and they can talk about it together, James and the track team can help him move forward in a healthy way and leave Lucy, who I'm assuming already has moved on, to her own devices.

If Mike can convince James that Lucy and he have a history that he's trying to put behind him, then James would have to accept that Mike is fallible... James may not be ready for that.

I wonder if Augustus told her EVERYTHING he said or just the part about not speaking to her

I'm glad she didn't buckle, Mike IS hurting but she hurt for a long time

Good girl!! ?

Good on Lucy for keeping her boundaries set, and good on Mike for letting the apology sit without expecting anything in return. I think this is quite possibly the best handled apology from Mike in this comic, and I really hope they're both finally able to move forward and grow past this, even if it means keeping a distance from each other for the forseeable future.

GOOD FOR HER!!!

First bridge mended.

Good girl!! ♡