Chapter Text
Okay, he’d admit it. He didn’t want to be here at all. He thought it was worth being with his friends, but nobody had even glanced in his direction besides two people.
It was a stupid feeling. Wanting to go home. Mike hadn’t been out in public, if this even counted, in at least a month. Being around so many people he knew 6 years ago felt so unnatural. He felt out of place. He shouldn’t be here.
“Mike?” He heard a voice call.
Mike snapped out of it. He had been staring at the table for far too long. Had he even been staring at the table—or was he staring off into nothingness. Definitely the table—that’s what he first saw, so that must have been what he was focused on.
He was getting off track
He smiled at the boy in front of him. “What’s up Cam?” Mike responded, probably a bit too late to not be concerning.
“Are you alright?” Cameron asked him cautiously. Mike frowned. He wasn’t, but he hadn’t assumed it was THAT obvious.
“Obviously! Why wouldn’t I be?” He swiftly lied. Paired with his nervous laugh, he just sounded like what he really was. A liar.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t be upset coming back here. Nobody was going to make you come.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Great, thanks,” he deadpanned.
”I didn’t mean it like that!” Cameron scrambled, trying to defend his previous words as if they needed defending. “Everyone wants to see you—they’d just all rather you be completely comfortable.”
”I am. I’m fine, Cam, really.” Mike moved to shake his shoulder playfully. “Loosen up a little!”
Cameron seemed like he was planning to respond, but he was interrupted by the red-headed girl returning to the table with a drink. Mike should have asked her to get him one, but he didn’t know that she was getting any.
She sat down, placing the drinks onto the table with a gentle thud. “I forgot how annoying some of these jocks are!” She exclaimed.
“Who?” Cameron inquired. “Lightning?”
”Yes,” she confirmed with a sigh, “and Jo.”
Mike nodded in agreement. He had no idea what either of them had done, but he DID know that they both had a tendency to be annoying. “What’d they do this time?”
”I was trying to get my drink, and they were fighting. Like children!” She sounded drained in her exclamation. “Something stupid about protein.”
“Of course,” Mike sighed.
”Like—we aren’t 16 anymore. I thought they would’ve matured at least a little bit.”
”I thought Lightning was doing well for himself,” Cameron commented. “I mean—life wise anyways. I thought he would have matured considering his status.”
”Status?” Mike queried. “What? You thought being famous and good at sports would make him be nicer? He was both of those things on the show too.”
”Well..I don’t know. It has been years too.”
“Just stay away from him,” Zoey interrupted. “Both of them.”
Mike thought that advice was simple enough. He didn’t plan to talk to anyone else besides maybe Dawn, Brick, B, Sam, and Anne Maria. Mike watched her take a semi-large drink of her beverage, which she noticed. She grinned.
”Mike,” she laughed. She had a pretty laugh. “If you want a drink so bad, go get another one. They’re free, y’know.”
”Oh shit, yeah,” Mike responded, laughing with her. “I don’t have to suck it up, the drinks are FREE.” Mike quickly stood up after his realization, taking a few steps backwards. “I’ll be right back.”
As he walked away, he heard Zoey call, “We’ll save your seat!”
It was comforting to have people who actually enjoyed his presence around him every once in a while. Sure, he saw Cameron everyday, but it was amazing to be with him and Zoey in a semi-public space. He hadn’t seen anyone else much either.
He saw Anne Maria the most outside of his trio, but that was almost solely due to Vito. Still, Anne didn’t push him away when he was the one fronting, which usually occurred AFTER Vito and Anne had done whatever they did. Thank God for that. Whenever Mike was in the driver’s seat around Anne, she almost always picked up on it pretty quickly. Her whole demeanor would change, and she seemed a bit nicer around Mike, not that he would know very well. It was sort of condescending at times, but the effort was clearly there.
That’s what he was thinking about, as he walked to the bar, and ordered a vodka martini. He stopped paying much attention to his surroundings as soon as he ordered his drink.
After the show, Anne had become very aware that Mike and Vito were in fact two different people. Seeing her on the show, maybe you’d think she would have ignored it—but she did the exact opposite. She saw Mike and Vito as their own people, and once again Mike could say he was thankful for that. She lusted over Vito, sure, but she only saw Mike as a friend.
It was comforting.
They stopped talking as much after Anne got a girlfriend, which made sense. They only really spoke over text now, so it’d be good to see her.
He’d make sure to talk to her later.
Mike had expected to spend more time with Sam after the season, but they didn’t really know each other on a personal level. They would play a random game, usually of Sam’s choosing, and that’s all they would talk about. No real small talk during it, even when Mike actually tried to initiate it—which was rare. Sam was more focused on gaming or something, so Mike stopped making an effort.
Couldn’t blame the guy. Mike wasn’t worth it.
This WAS Dakota’s gathering though. She’d invited the whole cast, so he spoke with her about it too. He’d also had vague conversations with her over the phone when he was playing with Sam.
The only other person he’d spoken to since the season’s end was Dawn. She sent him strange ominous, and somewhat concerning texts every once in a while. He never knew what they meant, so maybe he could ask now that he heard her voice.
”Hello Mike,” Dawn called. She was sitting down a seat away from him. Mike would assume that she had done that weird thing where she manages to..just appear out of thin air, but this time he didn’t. She couldn’t have, considering the invalid next to her now looking up at Mike.
He looked away as soon as Mike noticed his gaze was on him.
“Dawn?” Mike answered hesitantly. “What are you doing here-?”
”It’s a season gathering,” she responded bluntly. She probably thought Mike was an idiot, and he couldn’t really blame her. It was a stupid question in hindsight. He had just been caught off guard.
”No,” he corrected. “What are you doing here? At the bar. I’m pretty sure the non-alcoholic drinks were at the snack table..unless you wanted a mocktail.”
“Oh, no. Scott wanted a drink, and I decided to accompany him,” she explained. “And there are in fact non-alcoholic beverages here.”
Mike couldn’t stop himself from glancing back at the invalid. Scott. Of course Scott would be an alcoholic. Even just thinking it sounded right. Why did he even come? Nobody wanted him here.
”See something you like?” Scott asked, reminding Mike that he was staring. He quickly looked away, similar to how Scott had a moment ago.
Dawn looked up at Mike, grazing past Scott’s comment, which Mike was more than thankful for. “I would have thought you would be with Zoey, or Cameron.”
Mike gestured to the counter. “Just getting a drink,” he informed her.
”Well, I am glad. Not for the getting a drink part,” she prefaced. “I‘m glad to see you. I feel we should catch up.”
Mike glanced towards the bartender, who was mixing a drink that wasn’t his. He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted.
”You are not obligated to stay here with us,” Dawn stated. Mike thought she was talking to him, before she continued. “I imagine Lightning would be glad to beat you at table football.”
As if on cue, the bartender came over with Scott’s drink, which didn’t look good at all. Scott willingly ate gruel, so Mike wasn’t surprised all he cared about was the strength of whatever alcohol he had. “I’m not loosing to Lightning at foosball.”
”I’m beating him,” Scott declared, standing up with his drink.
”Everyone will hear all about it shortly,” Dawn responded. Both Lightning and Scott would probably tell everyone who would listen about their victory. Scott scoffed, and walked towards Lightning and Jo’s table.
- - - - -
”How have you been, Mike?”
“Uh, great,” Mike lied. It was a horrible lie, so he added more. “Well, same as always. Can’t keep a job, but other than that, everything’s going smoothly.” He awkwardly took a sip of his beverage. It burned.
Dawn hummed. Mike hates how she reads everyone so easily. Mike wasn’t necessarily a good liar, but everyone he spoke to was strangely dense. He didn’t need to be a good liar, because everyone else was worse.
Dawn didn’t lie. She didn’t need to.
Mike took the chance to switch the topic. “What’s up with Scott?” He asked. When all she did was raise a brow, he continued. “I mean—why are you—or were you hanging around him? I thought you hated him.”
”I don’t hate people,” she started. “I held a temporary grudge that sizzled out as I spent more time off of the main island, and with the other eliminated contestants.”
”Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you willingly walk around with him or something.”
”I quite enjoy his company.”
“What-!?” Mike sputtered. “He got you out—and he’s not a good person.”
“He received worse karma than he deserved. Do you think being mauled for playing dirty in a strategically influenced game is a fair punishment?”
Mike faltered for a moment. That question was meant to catch him off guard to weaken his own point, but it didn’t mean that her’s wasn’t a good one. “First of all, exposing my DID isn’t excusable because of strategy, or whatever,” Mike said with a roll of his eyes. “Second of all, he wasn’t a nice person outside of strategy either. Third of all, him getting karma still doesn’t explain why you suddenly like hanging out with him.”
Dawn watched him with a patient expression that made Mike feel like a child. “Do you truly think he knew what was going on in your head?”
”But-“
”It does not excuse, or even justify his actions.”
Mike shut up. He had a lot to say about that, but he’d rather hear her continue. There was no point in adding his input until he had all of her’s.
“Scott isn’t a good person,” she started.
”Really?” Mike blurted sarcastically. Seeing her lack of amusement, he shut up.
“Nobody is a good person. He’s rude, but not unbearable. He’s still human. Every action he’s taken in years has been out of fear,” she explained. Mike had ALMOST let himself forget how unnervingly good at reading people she was. If she could read Scott that easily, than surely-
“Aren’t your’s?”
Mike shut up. Dawn should learn to do that sometimes. She talked too much. She was in his business for no fucking reason. Why was he even talking to her again?
”Besides his disregard for Mother Nature, once you get to know him, he can be enjoyable.”
Mike huffed. “So why do you hang out with him?”
”Have you been listening to me?” She queried.
”Right,” he mumbled.
Finally, Dawn got the hint, and changed the topic. As she spoke more about her own life, Mike couldn’t help but stare at his drink and wonder if anyone had ever defended him like Dawn had with Scott.
- - - - -
”So you’re still living with Cameron,” she said. It was hard to tell if it was a statement or a question.
”Yep! He’s letting me stay until I can hold a steady job.”
”Are you still searching for one?”
Mike looked at his reflection in his half-empty glass. He had looked better kept that morning, he noted.
“He trusts you,” she remarked.
”I know!” Mike snapped. “I was trying! I was trying really fucking hard. I can’t keep a gig for longer than a month before someone else fronts and ruins everything. Nothing I do sticks.”
Dawn seemed unfazed.
”I know, Mike.”
Mike realized after a moment that he had lashed out at Dawn for little to no reason. He couldn’t help it. “Then why even say anything-?”
”To remind you of what you have.”
That felt stupid. Mike knew what he had already. He had Cameron, Cameron liked him—he already knew that! But for some reason, her words made him feel like he hadn’t.
“Would you be interested in a job?” She asked. The question caught Mike off guard.
“Nobody would want me,” Mike reiterated. “I’m not even me half of the time. Nobody knows what to expect. Hell, I don’t even know what to expect.”
Dawn looked up at him. It was slightly unnerving. Mike felt like he was being studied by someone who already aced his test. “I’d quite enjoy your company.”
What? “What?”
”I run a small shop. I’m not sure any of it would interest you as much as it does me, but it isn’t an unbearable work load at all. I think it’s quite doable, and if you can’t manage, I won’t be at all offended if you have to quit.”
Okay. That’s new. Mike had never been offered a job. He’d always just barely make the cut for a job he tried ages to get, just to be let go before the effort had been worth it. “I don’t have a green thumb, and I’m not very good with animals. I’m not sure-“
”I wouldn’t need your help with that,” she interrupted. “I have variety of items for sale. Nothing to do with animals. Candles, moonstones, other items of that sort. I trust that you could help me restock supplies onto shelves. I could give you more details if you ever choose to consider my offer.”
”Obviously!” Mike blurted. “I mean—uhm. I would love to help around your shop. Like—an actual job? You’d be willing to help me then?” Mike quizzed, sounding astonished. That made sense considering he was.
”We can speak later. I would hate to tear you away from your party.” Mike assumed she meant the actual party, before remembering Cameron and Zoey were waiting on him. “Enjoy yourself, Mike.”
Mike nodded a bit too eagerly, but he didn’t care. “Thank you so much,” he chirped, grabbing his drink. “I’ll see you later-!”
Mike started walking towards his group, before looking back to Dawn. “Hey, Dawn?” He called.
She was gone.
Mike still had no idea how she did that, but he didn’t falter with his ecstasy. He took a sip of his drink, which felt sweeter than usual.
This was the first step to fixing his life. No more freeloading. He could finally be his own person. Everyone already knew who Svetlana was, who Vito was, who Chester was, who Manitoba was-
But Mike?
Maybe having some structure would make him stronger.
He finally had something good happen in his life, and he was never letting it go.