A/N: I shouldn't be writing this up before bed but I'm too impatient to care rn.

Fun fact: one line of this chapter was originally meant for chapter 36. Guess which one if you want.

This was a STRUGGLE to write, ohmygod it was worse than ch38 which is saying a lot. I don't even know if its any good aaaah, I hope its decent at least.

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

Enjoy!

The exchange between Mike and Noah would have likely devolved further if Vito hadn't stumbled into the living room to ask Noah about something, with Scott's voice calling for him in the background.

"Vito, now is not a good time for me to answer any questions you have," Noah spoke through clenched teeth.

Mike's eyes had reddened, his body now supported by the table he had been dusting before he broke down. His legs were ready to give up on him for the day.

Vito looked between the two, unsure what to do.

Scott appeared behind him, saying loudly, "What the hell, Vito, we were in the middle of the game and you just-" he stopped seeing what was in front of him: Noah seething, Mike crumbling, Vito stagnated. "Couldn't even dust a table, could ya?" he asked Mike. "Useless…come on, Vito, let's get back-" he started heading back upstairs, but Vito didn't follow him. "Hey, earth to Vito! What are you waiting for?"

"...ey...what did you do to him?" Vito asked Noah, ignoring Scott.

Mike sniffled from his spot, taking shaky, uneven breaths.

"I didn't touch him," Noah replied, trying to stay calm in front of his sons. His underlying anger was still there.

"What is up with you, Vito? He's fine, this happens all the time-" Scott assured him.

"That ain't right, yo," Vito decided, frowning.

"Both of you, leave," Noah ordered.

"We're havin' a long talk about this," Scott said to Vito with a frown as he dragged his brother out of the room.

Noah slowly turned his head to look again at Mike as he was struggling to pull it together. "I will not have a servant ruin this family," he decided with subdued anger. "You are far too unstable to be trusted with anything, let alone an entire house. It's a wonder you haven't burnt it to the ground by now."

You made me this way, Mike wanted to cry out. I never asked to be like this. His heart had not returned to a normal beating rate, and he felt excessively warm.

"...you've left me no choice," Noah declared, clenching his fist. "From now on, you are not to set foot off this property. Ever." He turned curtly before adding, "not even if the king himself came knocking."

Mike had hoped it would never get that bad. He thought that Noah would remain at least a little lenient...he had to, didn't he? Surely this punishment wouldn't last.

Right?

He ended up not eating that night. After begrudgingly finishing the dusting in the living room he had no communication with anyone, so he shut himself in the attic, letting his body finally rest. His mind still raced, but it was easier for it to do so when he didn't have to support his own weight.

After staring at the ceiling for about an hour, he decided to take a look at that paper from DJ to try and get his mind off what happened earlier that evening. Maybe it would calm him down, whatever it was.

He was sorely mistaken, as the paper was in fact a note.

Mike's tired eyes widened as he read the neat script that had smudged only slightly in transport.

This can't be real...

She's coming here? To this town?

Just to see me?!

His face burned the further he got into the note.

He reread the date specified. It was only a few days away.

Oh no…

He was just put under house arrest. Granted, he had the ability to go outside whenever he wanted, but he couldn't leave the property. And he wouldn't think of doing so.

Not after what happened after the wedding, and today.

That would be asking for it.

She couldn't come here to the house. No, no, definitely not.

DJ knows people who know where I live...and he's going to be guarding her.

"...why'd it have to happen today?" he wondered aloud instead of in his head, staring up at the note a princess wrote him.

While Mike ponders, let's rewind a bit, say...

Around the time of the dinner.

Duncan packed his tools up for the day, sweaty and tired after many long hours of fixing way too many crashed carriages and other various items. "I'm heading out, B," he announced to the only other person who worked at the shop full time. B nodded in his direction with a thumbs up, not one for many words.

Duncan left the shop and realized it was nearly full on nighttime; the sun was sinking further and further down in the sky, the street lamps that lined the streets of downtown already lit. "Another late one…" he said to himself as he started for home.

As he was passing through town square, its center emptied out since the day's bustling market had closed, he spotted only a few out along with him, including a man who left the local law office building in what looked to be a sour mood. He was cursing in a foreign language and stuffing the last bits of loose documents into his bag. In the dimly lit area between street lamps it was hard to make out any of the guy's features; Duncan wondered what got him so worked up.

The man ended up crossing in front of Duncan a little too close, and quickly caught himself. "Ah, buen señor, my apologies. It is difficult to see at night, yes?"

Duncan blinked. It was clear now that they were much closer together that this guy was older than him, though he clearly kept up on his looks. "You're fine, man, 'don't need to apologize."

"Gracias. I will not impede you any longer," the man promised with an untrustworthy and forced-looking smile.

"...right," Duncan replied. He started to move away from this guy, hearing a rustling sound behind him before he felt a piece of paper hitting into his foot just as it glided to the ground.

"I really should not have rushed so furiously from my office…" the weird guy remarked as he reapproached Duncan in order to retrieve his paper. "Please forgive me once again, señor…?"

"...Duncan?" he replied cautiously.

"An excellent name indeed. As for me, I am Alejandro Burromuerto," he introduced himself, offering his available hand to shake.

Duncan reluctantly shook it. Alejandro's grip was just edging out of being too tight. "I'm gonna go home now," he said, releasing his hand. "Wife's waiting."

"Of course, of course...may you have a safe journey homeward," Alejandro said before pulling something out of his bag. A slip of paper with information on it. "In case that marriage of yours turns south." He smiled in an odd way, like he could just smell the money he could tear out of Duncan's hands in the future, then finally left him alone.

"Strange guy, that Alejandro…" Duncan thought out loud as he looked at the paper.

Alejandro Burromuerto

Man of the Law in regards to family, business, and estates.

Fluent in English and Spanish

*office address is here*

"I don't need a lawyer...my marriage is going great," Duncan muttered as he pocketed the paper and went home to Zoey and dinner, followed by some interesting conversations with the latest occupant of the guest bedroom about the off-putting, bilingual lawyer he met on the street.

The last scene was written for the sake of word count and for future plot stuff maybe hmmmmm

Please tell me how I did with this one, especially with the character stuff for good ol Al because its been literal years since I've written him in this fic and in general.

Til next time, stay safe out there :)