could not say that he was oblivious to the fact that hannah hadn't been herself lately. summed it up to a natural reaction to everything that had been happening in their lives, but perhaps that was just his mind willing her to be better than she was. it'd been easy to see past her addiction in the beginning ⸺ she'd done well enough hiding it, that by the time he and cait had noticed, it was almost too late. she'd been getting better, but it appeared that all of her progress thus far was for naught. ❝ no, i don't. ❞ he responds with a sigh, chin lowering towards his chest. as difficult a fact as it was to hear, he's glad someone had finally confirmed his suspicions. ❝ i don't even know where she's gettin' it from ⸻ cait 'n i locked everything up soon as she came clean. ❞

finds himself confiding in alice more like a friend than a niece, and almost immediately feels guilty for it. however easy it was to do, especially when she had spent more of her life away from than she had with them, it still felt wrong to burden her with a problem that seemed bigger than all of them could handle. ❝ i don't know what i can do for her . . . ❞ honesty spills before he has the chance to bite his tongue, and a hand raises to push fingertips into his eyes and re-collect his thoughts. knows he can listen, can offer his best advice possible ― but it'd all be things that she's heard before. ❝ it seemed like everything had been going fine ― i know she still thinks about what happened, but there has to be something else. ❞ bile rises in his throat, disappointment in himself shaming his gaze downwards. feels selfish asking for help, yet mike knows its necessary. ❝ how would you ⸺ what would you do if you were me? i mean, how would you approach this without upsetting her more? ❞ (cont.)