A/N: New chapter woohoo

Not much to say other then these lads need therapy and I'm enjoying Vito's character arc a bit too much woops-

Thank you once again to Muttlpe Mike and Kitkatkatester for reviewing the last chapter :)

Enjoy!

Mike swept the stairs to the upstairs bedrooms and hummed to himself, having eventually gotten over his bad thinking that was replaced with more pleasant things on the mind...mostly thoughts about Ella. He didn't even notice the front door opening, but finally snapped back to reality after turning to see Vito looking at him strangely from the living room. He silenced his hum abruptly and felt himself stiffen a little out of pure reflex. "Ey yo, looks like I'm the first one back," Vito observed.

"That is, um, that is true, sir, the other two haven't returned yet…" Mike confirmed with a small nod.

Vito thought about what to say and, more importantly, what not to say. "Walk was good, yo," he said uncomfortably, like he wanted to say something else. "You been outside much today, Mike?"

"...I did some gardening, so yes," Mike replied, technically speaking the truth. He wouldn't dare say anything about the princess' visit.

"Cool, yo, cool…" Vito took a breath in and out and started moving further towards the staircase.

"...is that all, sir?" Mike asked, a bit confused by his behavior.

"No!" Vito said suddenly and a bit loudly as he halted his movement. "Sorry, got stuff rattlin' my brain, yo…" He sighed. "Words are hard."

"...okay?..." Mike said with a raised brow.

"...I been thinkin' a lot today, and uh, I don't do that much so I dunno howta deal with it, but uh...I wanted to tell you that um…" Vito was finding this very difficult. He was usually more confident than this, or at least appeared that way. He seemed a bit tense, like he was holding something back. Maybe it was due to his lack of experience apologizing or even expressing how he was feeling to someone else without fear of judgement. That's what he was trying to do, and it was so much harder than he'd thought it would be. He couldn't look Mike in the eye as he stood there trying to get out the words.

"Tell me what?..." Mike asked, hoping he'd finish.

"...I don't feel right 'bout what's been done ta you no more," Vito finally admitted. "I..I'm sorry…" Words he rarely ever spoke. He was trembling a bit, feeling some sort of sudden and foreign release that swept over his being.

Mike's eyes widened, shocked that he was apologizing. He felt his breath catch in his throat from how unexpected it was; not once in the last year and change had any of his stepfamily given him an ounce of remorse for what they'd done...granted, Vito hadn't been nearly as bad as his father and brother most of the time, and he'd been a lot better as of recent, but he'd still stood by and let certain things happen.

He didn't know what to say as he stood there with his hands on the broom handle, also unsure how to feel.

Vito wrapped his arms around his sides and sat down in the nearest chair, trying to hold himself together. Emotions and memories were flooding through him the more he thought about what to say next, feeling what he'd said wasn't nearly enough for him to feel any better about the situation. His breathing got a bit louder and uncomfortable as he tried to suppress it. That's what he'd always done, what he'd grown up understanding: keeping it in was better than letting it out...

Except for when it all came out at once.

Mike snapped back to attention seeing Vito's rapidly declining state. He quickly put the broom down and limped quickly towards him. He stood next to the chair; Vito had covered his eyes with his hands and was still shaking, his shortened breaths nearly causing him to hiccup. It was comparable to when their positions were reversed upon Mike's arrival after his disappearance from the ball, only now the dynamic was drastically different.

As if he were touching a live grenade, Mike lifted his arm and placed a dirty, calloused, large, and yet exceedingly gentle hand on Vito's shoulder. "Take your time," he insisted, his voice quiet but audible. "Breathe." He wouldn't dream of forcing him to say anything more right now. He'd been in a similar position before.

The touch was grounding in a strange way, and Vito slowly allowed himself to take in air, rubbing his eyes and moving hands briefly off of them to blink rapidly. Do not cry do not cry DON'T YOU DARE START CRYING -

He glanced up at Mike, for some reason expecting him to be looking down on him-wait maybe he was thinking about the wrong person-his head hurt, thinking hurts…

"...it's painful to keep it in, isn't it…?" Mike asked, nothing to suggest hostility or mockery in his voice like Vito was expecting. He sounded more understanding than anything else.

Vito nodded without thinking twice, wiping his eyes once and continuing to breathe with varying degrees of success.

Mike nodded back before getting a glance at the time. "I really need to get back to sweeping...but I'll be just over there. Whenever you want to continue just let me know. Okay, sir?"

"...Vito's fine…" Vito was able to say, his voice strained. Being called sir by Mike just...didn't feel correct anymore.

"...Alright...Vito," Mike said slowly but calmly. "We'll finish this conversation later." He withdrew his hand with care and moved back to the stairs, picking up the broom and starting to sweep again.

Having more time to collect his thoughts made Vito calm down more and more until he finally felt ready to continue again. By this point Mike had moved to dusting and so was stood closer by anyways.

"I don' wanna speak for nobody but myself," Vito started. "... I been feelin' real terrible and since ain't no one else here I thought I'd...say sorry…'bout everythin'." He took a breath. "It ain't right what's been done to you, and I can't change that it did but -" I'm gonna try to make sure it doesn't happen no more he said in his head but not out loud.

"You still wanted to apologize," Mike finished for him, taking in what he said while dusting a knick knack.

"Yeah, exactly, yo," Vito affirmed.

Mike placed the object of his dusting back where it was. "I don't feel that much can be done about that stuff now or in the future, nor can I forgive anyone for anything, but I appreciate you saying sorry anyway," he said in an oddly resigned tone.

"The future can be different, though, yo," Vito pointed out.

"What's that about the future?"

Both turned to see someone neither of them wanted to see or speak to right now.

This day is so long whyyyyyyyyy

Y'all know the drill, review if you want to and stay safe out there, I'll see ya next chapter :)