"when you talk to him. does he mention anyone ? does he ask about me ?" there was something about his tone of voice that even he couldn't quite place. he sounded sadder than he had in a while.

robin sent me a new playlist. does she know more than two songs ? 😐

"does he know that i ask about him ? i bet you've probably told him that i'm all mopey and sad at college." there was a hint of humour in his tone. he knew Miles had probably complained about him a lot.

Mike let out a soft huff. "and what'd he say to that ?" he was internally hoping that he'd learn that made Will worried too but then realised that was probably a bad thing to hope for. "don't tell me you made him worry."

"and were you..? projecting..?"

Mike went quiet for another minute, looking at his twin with those goddamn eyes of his. "Miles.."

"you came here for a reason right ? I got too distracted by-" he looked at the now crumpled assignment on his desk before shaking his head. "are you okay ?"

his eyes narrow in suspicion. "did we literally not just have an argument about keeping secrets from each other ?" he saw Miles yesterday. if anything, he knew his brother was probably getting annoyed about his mopey presence.

he shakes his head immediately, finally letting his hands settle on his twin's shoulders slowly. "tell me what happened. now. no lies, no secrets. I will know if you're keeping something from me."

"with who ? what about ?"

Mike's face scrunches up at 'that's all you need to know'. he's definitely not happy about this happening but decides to focus on his brother's health rather than beating questions into him. "have you cleaned it at least ?"

"sit down. wait here." he spun Miles around and pushed him slightly so that now he was sitting in the desk chair Mike had just been in. then he walks towards his bed where he has stashed a first aid kit. (he's kept it there since he moved into the dorms.)

the first aid box was comically large. Mike handed his brother some wipes so that he could get the rest of his makeup off and then continued digging through the box to find bruise cream. he was sure he had some in there somewhere, he was sure he had it stocked just in case.

once he had found the bruise cream, he looked at his brother. those goddamn lost puppy dog eyes were filled with concern. "how hard were you hit and where exactly ?"

Mike didn't laugh; didn't even show a hint of humour in his face. "are your ribs bruised too ?"

“do you want me to look or do you want to check it out ?” his words were soft, impossibly caring. it was the tone that he tended to only use with his family.

“it’s a saying. like-“ he let out a little puff of air. there’s another small bout of silence whilst he tries to pick his words to avoid confusion. “cards like secrets. being honest.”

Mike immediately nods, moving closer and holding the bruise cream. “ready ?”