[Cassel didn't mean to put this on Mickey, is the thing. If he knew what he was doing - if he honestly understood how hard he was making it to just function, to just give a shit - he'd leave, make it so Mickey didn't have to. Which is part of the problem.]
[He doesn't want to lay anything more on the line here. It feels instinctively not only like he's done something wrong but like he continues to do things wrong, every second he's sitting here. Like he's actively fucking up Mickey's life by being near him. Like he's cursed.]
[I don't need help, I need Zane back, he thinks, and bites his lip hard enough that it doesn't come out.]
I don't need help. I'll be okay. You don't have to worry about me.
[A bright smile as he turns to Mickey again, all sunny bullshit.]
spam
[He doesn't want to lay anything more on the line here. It feels instinctively not only like he's done something wrong but like he continues to do things wrong, every second he's sitting here. Like he's actively fucking up Mickey's life by being near him. Like he's cursed.]
[I don't need help, I need Zane back, he thinks, and bites his lip hard enough that it doesn't come out.]
I don't need help. I'll be okay. You don't have to worry about me.
[A bright smile as he turns to Mickey again, all sunny bullshit.]