mitch the bitch

Lottie shifted where she was sitting, turning to face Mitch a little more fully. Whatever leftover annoyance she was holding on to from her unexpected tumble into the snow had dropped, as had her defensiveness. Somehow, he had managed to comfort her a bit, although the fact she was upset was still pretty obvious in her expression. "No, I know," she didn't look at him when she spoke, instead glancing down at where their hands intertwined. "I'm not saying that she will. Just that she could, if she's hurt enough by this. And of the three of us, I'm the more disposable corner of the triangle." No amount of logic was enough to make her feel any less vulnerable about any of this, and in that moment, it felt impossible to know what way it was going to go. It was better to prepare herself for all eventualities.

Mitch's brow showed a wrinkle of confusion. Knowing Mikki as long as he had, which was a long time considering he'd pestered his parents to let him hold her merely seconds into his sister's existence in the world, he knew she didn't cut people off easily. Lottie's concern about it had him curious, though. It seemed like there was some kind of wall there, or at least something she wasn't ready to talk to him about. "Hey," he scooted himself closer to where Lottie was seated, reaching over to lace his fingers through hers. "I know I say a lot of stupid stuff, but believe me when I say this: that's not happening. Mikki wouldn't do that. She has to love me because we're family and all that, but you? She chooses to because you're her best friend." He sighed, suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation they'd gotten into. "Mikayla also has a stupidly big heart. I think she'd understand." It was apparently his turn to deal with the anxiety and what-ifs, his leg rapidly bouncing in place. "I don't want to do a full-on ambush or anything. I don't want to leave you out of this, either, but...you think I should talk to her first? Like, only me? I just..." His free hand moved to rub at his own chin. "I feel like...if it's me, on my own, it'll make it clear that this is not a joke or a prank or betrayal. None of this is a joke to me."

Lottie's brows pinched together, the look she shot to Mitch pointed. "The worst news ever," she repeated, her tone deadpan. She knew what he meant - for Mikki, it likely was the worst news she'd hear in a while, or else they wouldn't have been so worried about her finding out, but that didn't mean she had to like hearing Mitchell describe it that way. "Gee, thanks."

Mitch sighed once more, a bit more noisily this time around. "You know I didn't mean that how it sounded, and I don't think that. I'd yell about you from a rooftop if I could. Seriously. Any roof that I can find access to without a near-death fall happening? I'm there. Mikki, though?" He trailed off with a shrug rather than fill in any blanks. There was no denying the cold, hard truth: Mitch dating any of her friends, let alone her best friend, was not going to be taken happily.

Lottie was fiddling with the hem of the t-shirt Hunter had loaned her, her own clothes in the laundry after being ruined by Mitch tossing her into a pile of snow. She was still angry with him for that, but as much as she didn't want to be talking with him, her temper was cooled by the fact she was hugely anxious about how Mikki had taken the revelation she and Mitch had been seeing each other. "You should feel shitty," she pointed out. "Of all the ways it could have come out, that was probably the worst." She still couldn't fathom what he was thinking, or even if he was thinking at all.

"W-whoa, hold up," he immediately replied, shocked by the fact she wasn't taking his side. Well, maybe not shocked, but still offended nonetheless. "What you should be saying is 'wow, thank you Mitchell for saving me from breaking the worst news ever to my best friend.' So you know what? You're welcome."

She nodded her head, fully in agreement and relieved that he said it, and not her. "Our secret, then. At least until we figure out what's going on with us from here." She didn't want to make assumptions, but his comments up to this point made it seem like this was going somewhere rather than just being a physical thing. You don't take hook ups to the zoo. However, she didn't want to take that as complete truth and end up embarrassed at the end of it. "I've never kept a secret from Mikki before," she mused, suddenly a little nervous at the prospect. Not nervous enough to tell her right now, though. The idea of that scared her more. "I think I remember the boyband, kinda." She hadn't been to any of his gigs or anything, but it was ringing a bell of Mikki mentioning it. "I didn't know about the cooking though. And I would love a grilled cheese. Maybe a cupcake for dessert?" She wasn't sure if they were at a point where she could joke about cupcake-gate, but she was willing to test the waters. "My thing? Uh, I don't really know. I work at a museum, and curating is what I wanna do as a career, so I guess history and all that nerdy stuff. It's not that interesting." She wasn't sure why it felt embarrassing to admit to him that she was a huge geek. He hadn't exactly been shy about showing her the side of him that wasn't the coolest guy in the world, but she wanted him to think she was cool anyway. "Hmm. Okay. Find a smooth palm tree and I'll think about it." She still wasn't convinces. "You're right, hammocks are dangerous too. Maybe we should stick to the houseboat. The kiss was getting a little deeper, and as much as she had promised herself she wouldn't get carried away, Lottie didn't want to stop it either. Instead, she kissed him back.

Mitch frowned a bit as he thought about Lottie's statement. "I don't like that it's a secret. Like, I don't want you or this or us to be, but...I don't want to hurt Mikayla, either. She spazzed out at me just for kissing you, although I think it was more about the making you run out part afterwards, but still. I don't want anything to screw it up when it feels like it's just started, you know?" He wasn't even sure how to describe it. Some internal light switch was flicked from the moment he kissed her, and going from feeling irritated at the sight of her to having to dig up every sense of willpower he had to keep from kissing her at any given moment was still a bit of a whiplash in his mind. "We'll figure it out." That was his lame temporary answer for their problem, one that was easily whisked away from his mind with the cupcake joke. "Ah, real clever. Just as long as no one tries to take them from me one they're finished, I might consider it," he smirked. Although he knew there was an attempt to move back to the desert island question, once she mentioned museums, Mitch's curiosity was fully piqued. "Au contraire, that sounds super interesting to me. I love museums," he mused, pressing his lips to hers once more before trailing down her jaw. He left out the part in admitting that most of the museums he'd visited were for children, but it still counted in his mind. "I think I'd love them even more if you were my curator. Tell me your favorite history fact."

Lottie let out a hum of understanding at Mitch's words, though they did bring up another concern. If Mikki wasn't overkeen on sharing her love of frogs, would she be any happier about her best friend hooking up with her brother? "I think I get it. It probably means that she won't be too pleased about this, though," she gestured vaguely between the two of them, not wanting to address the elephant in the room that it was probably a good idea to keep things private for a little while. At least until they were sure it was going somewhere, at least. "What's your thing?" She knew that Mitch was an off-beat sort of person, but exactly what he was into, she couldn't say. "Oh?" Her eyebrows raised, but before she could ask any more questions, he was rolling on top of her, and giving her exactly details. "Sounds.. um... unsanitary. And scratchy. I don't think palm trees are all that comfortable." She wasn't trying to kill the moment, but he seemed to have a way of making sure she said the first thing to pop into her mind at any given moment. "But the houseboat, for sure. And maybe a hammock if we can make one." Her lips returned to his, getting a little more heated on her end. Any thought of taking it slow seemed to have been forgotten.

"Eh, it's fine. Mikayla doesn't need to know about all this just yet. Will we tell her at some point? Sure, but that doesn't have to be until much, much later." As much as Mitch wanted to scream from the rooftops about how into Lottie he was, the idea of telling his youngest sister, AKA Lottie's best friend, about what was going on with them? It wasn't the right time. He honestly wasn't sure if there'd ever be a right time. With the way she basically turned him into ground beef after the first make-out session, he didn't think she'd be any gentler on him when it came to really talking about the feelings there. He wasn't worrying about that just yet, though. His mind was currently occupied with nicer ideas. "I kind of cycle through different 'things.' It was briefly singing, there was this whole boyband phase and everything. Also basketball, which my brothers are much better at than me. I guess right now, it's cooking. I'm no Gordon Ramsay, and I may scream any time oil spits back at me, but I'm pretty decent at making stuff. I'll whip up a grilled cheese for you one day...if you're a cheese fan, which you definitely should be. What about you, what's yours?" Mitch scoffed a bit when she suggested that his sexy palm tree fantasy would be uncomfortable, shaking his head slightly. "No, babe, it'd be a smooth palm tree. They exist, trust me. Saw tons of them in Hawaii. I do like the hammock idea, though. The balance part might be tricky, but I definitely wouldn't mind trying it out with you." Although he had a million different comments zinging through his mind, they were easily settled when Lottie's lips returned to his. He expected to be pushed away at some point, but considering she wasn't making any move to do so, he shifted his position so he was on top of her now, the kiss deepening with the movement.

Jordan couldn't remember a time where she had touched Mitch and he hadn't responded to it immediately, and as shitty as he felt that this was exactly what he was doing now, she got it. There was no way to avoid the fact she'd basically stomped on his heart here, and it would take a complete psycho to respond to that with a casual hug and a 'see you later'. she should be grateful that he wasn't making this harder than it needed to be, but that didn't necessarily mean he was making it easier, either. Jeremiah's interruption wasn't an unwelcome one, giving her the opportunity to step back and shove her hands inside her pockets, awkwardly looking anywhere but at Mitch. It wasn't nice seeing him cry. "Yeah. Okay," she nodded. She wanted to ask if he was going to be alright, but it seemed like a redundant question. "You take care of yourself, okay? I'll see you, Mitch." Not quite knowing how to say goodbye, she took one hand back out of her pocket to give him an awkward wave, and then turned to leave for good.

"Okay." It was a lame response, but Lottie could feel her smile stretching across her face in a huge, and probably dorky, grin. She couldn't actually recall the last time she had been on a proper date. Pretty much everyone she had ever been interested in had always seen her as the second option, which didn't really lend itself to romance. With Mitch, though, it felt different. Something huge had shifted between them, and all of a sudden, she wanted nothing more than to be on a date with him at the zoo. "Huh, really? I didn't think she was possessive like that. I mean, she loves showing off her frogs." She paused as she tried to picture the lead singer of Green Day, giving a little shrug to show that she didn't really know the answer. "Maybe? I'll Google it later." Checking her phone was the last thing on her mind right now. "I don't think it's weird. I mean, it's kind of sibling goals, right?" She found it oddly sweet how close he was with Ashley, even if the idea of Ashley daunted her sometimes. "Oh, but your answers were good ones!" She had completely missed the suggestion in his tone, but when his lips met hers again, she suddenly didn't care what he'd change. From where she was leaning against him, she wiggled her arm free, letting it drape across his shoulders and inch herself a little closer to him while continuing the kiss.

Although the plan of actually taking Lottie out would make its way back, Mitch's mind was like a dead end road and only held so much focus per subject. That's why he thought so intently about Mikki's frog situation. "I mean, she isn't but she is. Like, she likes that we like her frogs, but if I decided I wanted to have my own little frog colony, I don't think she'd be into that. It'd kind of be like if one of the other's decided to go vegan. Hunter's already got all of that tree hugging stuff accounted for, and it'd just throw everything off balance if another one of us decided to take it up." Despite being his family, there was no denying that every single person in the Smith household had a weird quirk to them. Just like their dumb nicknames, it was stuff that was unique to each person. Mitch was starting to think one of his newest quirks was the urge to kiss Lottie every time he saw her, though. "I know," he smirked, "but they were decided before I was aware that you were also stuck on this island with me. I would've gone into much more detail." As he kissed her back, he shifted around so that he was now on top of her, one arm holding himself up while the other slid down to her hip. "Although most of it would have to do with being with you in the ocean," he muttered, lips brushing hers as he spoke before kissing her again. "And on the beach." And again. "And in the houseboat. Wait, are there palm trees on this island? Definitely against a palm tree, too," he grinned before finally shutting himself up and returning his lips to hers and not having the urge to comment any further.

It hadn't been easy hearing him plead with her, but for some reason, his tearful acceptance was even worse. As much as Jordan was sure this was the right thing, for both of them, she wished that doing the right thing didn't feel so shitty. The last thing she wanted was for him to cry, and there was still a residual instinct to be the one to wipe his tears away. She was trying to be as careful with him as she could, to make this easy, but she was starting to see that there truly was no way to do this. Though she was trying to keep her distance, his next question had her shaking her head and reaching out to pull him into a tight hug. "You listen to me, Mitchell Smith," her voice was a lot firmer, because if nothing else, she wanted him to remember this. "I know it's a cliche to say 'it's not you, it's me'... but it really is. You've done nothing wrong. This is all on me."

Mitchell was an extremely tactile person, almost certain to score "physical affection" as his number one love language and always being a little too touchy feely for his own good sometimes. It was to the annoyance or liking of many people in his life, all depending on who was asked about it. With all that considered, the fact that he stood frozen in place when Jordan hugged him spoke volumes. It was like freeze tag, but in this case, there were only losers, and he was the biggest one. His eyes fluttered shut as he hoped the pavement under his feet would swallow him whole. He couldn't think of any time he'd not want to be near Jordan until now. This was a first and probably an all time low in that department. He'd rather be at the bottom of the ocean or stuck in Hunter's room while getting a spray bottle bath, anywhere but where he currently was. Just when he had the thought, or perhaps hoped, that one of his siblings would rescue him, it seemed to be manifested at the right time.

"I think I am," despite the smile on her face, she could feel herself blushing. She'd never had the best luck romantically, and that was enough to make anybody a bit shy, but coupled with the fact it was Mitchell Smith she was talking about going on a date with? A few weeks ago, she would have laughed at the idea of it, and now, the idea was giving her butterflies in her stomach. "Uh, I mean, sure, if you're really feeling it. I think Mikki would like that. You'd match her frogs." A vision of Mitch with frog-green hair popped into her mind, and she tried to hold in a laugh at the image. While he spoke, she leaned back a little to look up into his face, though not enough that his arms moved from around her. His answers weren't what she expected, but were enough to have her nodding her head. "Taking your sister is sweet. And the houseboat is a good idea, actually. Especially if there's WIFI on board." It was such a good answer that she was a little envious that she hadn't thought of it before. "Well, I guess it depends. Am I trying to survive the island or escape it? Because if it's the first, I want a lighter and a big old knife. And, uh, if it's the second, I want a radio and a flare gun. In both cases I want my Kindle, but you'll probably have to let me into the houseboat to put it on charge."

"You think, huh? Well I think I might just take you up on that," he grinned. Despite his lack of actually going on dates in recent years, something about the idea of actually being somewhere outside of his house and the eye of his siblings with Lottie made Mitch feel a bit giddy. Nothing would ruin that, not even the idea of matching with his sister's frogs if he decided to get green in his hair. "Ooh, not sure I'm ready for that, plus I think Mik would probably get all defensive like I'm moving in on her hyperfixation. I'll let her have the frog thing and maybe get a green streak if I'm feeling a little wild or want to look like a punk rocker. Didn't the singer of Green Day do that, or am I just thinking green because it's in their name? Mmm, either way, maybe in the future." He shrugged a little once she mentioned Ashley being sweet as his first choice. To him, it was a no-brainer. "We're just weirdly close. I mean, it's not weird to me, but we're buddies. I feel like she'd make me laugh, too. Like, if the guy in Castaway had his slightly crazy sister to keep him company, things might've been different." Although he knew the question was rhetorical, the situation of the island changing had him rethinking his answers before shaking his head and listening to hers. The idea of her being stuck on the island as well had him raising his brows suggestively. "You're stuck there too, huh? Well if I knew that from the beginning, my answers would've been very different," he grinned before leaning in closer and placing a slow but deep kiss to her lips.

"Hey!" Whitney frowned, raising her hands to cover her cheeks. "Now that's just mean." For the first time, he actually managed to distract her, and she craned her neck to look at herself in the mirror. "I'm not that pink," she muttered. Her distraction didn't last for long, though, and Whitney was soon honing back in on the matter at hand. When it came to matters of love, it was impossible to deter her for long. Call her a hopeless romantic, but if her own love life had to be in such a shambolic state, she was determined to make sure Mitch wasn't making mistakes in his own. She looked back at him, but found that he wasn't looking at her. When she heard his revelation, she understood why. "You don't have to explain it to me, or make it make sense," she spoke softly, trying her best to be comforting. "But it does, by the way. Make sense. Look, Mitch, I don't want to be harsh, because God knows it's a lesson I've learned the hard way myself, but Jordan... she's not part of your life anymore. If thinking about Lottie is helping you let go, that says it all, doesn't it?" She paused, giving him a moment for her words to sink in. "Does it matter why it happened? Is that something you need to understand? Or is it just important that it did? Would you do it again?"

"Kidding, Whit. I wouldn't worry too much, though, it looks cute on you," he teased, knowing he'd probably show a little more mercy if it weren't for the fact him and his siblings were constantly at each other's throats when it came to lovingly bullying each other. It was also a great way to try and distract from the Charlotte situation, something he was still trying to do even after he'd already spilled his guts. He was very good at feeling his feelings and doing so deeply. It was actually addressing them when he was unsure that was harder. He'd be lying if hearing Whitney say Jordan was history didn't send a hard pang through his chest. He did soften once she continued, though, the idea of Charlotte making things better never really occurring to him until that moment. "I guess," he reluctantly admitted, although the dramatic sigh he let out didn't do much to help him with accepting the reality of it. "It just...I'm so confused, Whitney. I do appreciate your advice, really, it's just hard to wrap my head around. I feel like I've gone crazy...more than my normal level of crazy."

"Oh," Lottie wasn't sure why, but she could feel herself flushing a little bit. "Well I would like to go to the zoo. With you. As a date or not, I don't mind what you want to call it. Is it kind of weirder if it's not a date?" She frowned for a minute, trying to define whatever it was that was going on between them proving an impossible task. For now, though, him being somebody she wanted to make out with was enough. "I mean, I won't stop you if you want to make out with me a little more." Even though they were here because she wanted to slow things down, something about being in his room with him felt intimate, like a speedrun of getting to know him better. "You did?" She cracked a smile, trying to imagine him with a bleached hair look and somehow imagining him in one of Ken's get ups. The idea was funny to her, and she had to stifle a laugh. "Well, luckily it was Barbie and not Shrek, I guess. Or you'd have to dye your hair green." She was saved making a further fool of herself when he put his arms around her, pulling her towards him, and she found herself settling into a comfier position as she leaned in to his touch. "Oh, um, okay." She frowned for a minute, trying to think of something interesting to ask. "Why's it always that you can never thing of anything to ask in times like this," she chuckled. "I guess... if you were trapped on a desert island, what three things would you want to take with you?"

Lottie's question actually stumped Mitch, considering he hadn't been on a proper date in about a trillion years. The implication of it all did have him smirking, though. "Are you saying you wanna go on a date with me, Charlotte Liang?" he teased, her comment about continuing the make-out session having his grip around her tighten just slightly. As much as he wanted to get back into all that, he wasn't about to distract from having an actual conversation with her. She was right when she said that a lot of stuff between them was still a mystery, and he didn't want it to be like that. He wanted to know her outside of being Mikki's best friend. "I don't think green's my shade, but we'll see. Maybe if I'm feeling a little wild, I'll try it one day. It might make my eyes stand out a bit more.'' His gaze remained fixed on her face as she thought of a question. He wasn't about to ruin the moment by saying something stupid, but he couldn't help but grin and think about how cute she looked while searching for the right thing to say. "Ooh, good one," he said, although the expression he wore showed he was about to take the question a little too seriously. "First thing would probably be Ashley. She's pretty much my best friend, but I'd also love to see her go full on beast mode while trying to open a coconut or hunt for fish. Second would be a house boat, just cause I feel like sleeping on the sand or in some kind of bamboo shack situation would not be good on the old back, and I'd like some form of normal civilization. And third, uh...maybe a nice stereo set up. I work better when I have good tunes in the background." With a little nod, he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before flashing a smile. "Your turn, three things."

Jordan was under no illusion that this would be an easy conversation to have, but she didn't think she'd realised just how difficult it was actually going to be. Perhaps that was naïve to think, given just how long their relationship had been going on. She was a teenager when she met him, but the Jordy who had loved him, and seen a whole future with him, was not the same Jordy she was now. She wasn't sure when the wakeup call was, but seeing her sister leave her own single days behind to settle down with her boyfriend and her kid had her realising that while Jess had settled on who she was before meeting her partner, Jordan couldn't say the same. From there, the cracks grew, and now it felt like she and Mitch were standing on opposite sides of the grand canyon. "All right," there was a small, sad sigh in her voice. "I know." Her words were firm, but not unkind. She just wanted to make sure there was nothing up in the air, and nothing left ambiguous. He deserved that much. When he started pleading with her though, she winced. "Mitch, please. Don't do that," she squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them again, her line of vision finally met his. "You didn't do anything stupid. Well, I guess you kind of always do things that are stupid, but that's not it. I liked that about you. I still do," she corrected herself. It was be easier if she'd realised she fallen out of love with who he was as a person, if there was a habit or quirk she just couldn't live with anymore, but that would be a lie. She still loved the bones off of him - that love just wasn't romantic anymore. "You don't need to change a thing. Not for me, not for anyone. But Mitchell... this isn't it. What we have will always be so special to me, but we've ran our course. Don't you understand that?"

Mitchell was hearing everything she was saying. Somehow, though, it was like having an out of body experience but in the worst way possible. He wasn't sure which point of hers had done it, but he didn't actually feel he was presently there. He may as well had been a ghost floating around them there as he let his arms fall back to his side and listened while Jordan essentially skewered his heart on a stick and roasted it like a marshmallow over a campfire. Her gentle approach to it might've been nicer, but it didn't take away the burn. "Huh," he muttered, his vocabulary suddenly lacking. For once in maybe his entire life, he couldn't think of words. "Alright." He wished in that moment that he didn't wear his heart so visibly on his sleeve. If he were a different kind of person, he wouldn't be standing there feeling hot and pathetic tears swimming in his eyeline. "No, I guess I don't understand that, but, um, I'm not gonna try to stop you or anything when you're clearly done, so..." His jaw tensed, shaking his head after a pause and hoping it distracted from the fact he was fully crying. "Can you tell me one thing? I just need to know...is there anything I could've done to change your mind?"

"I mean, I haven't either," Lottie confessed. "But I've seen one open a banana with their feet. That's got to be trickier than opening a door." She was babbling, but she didn't miss his offer to go to the zoo and witness it in person. "What, like a date? Or was it just one of those things people say? Like 'we should do this again sometime' when you have no intention of ever hanging out again?" She winced, acutely aware she was bombarding him with questions, but her mouth and her brain weren't really in alignment right now. "Sorry. You don't have to answer that." It was easier to fall silent when he was dragging her around the house by her hand, and not just because the feeling of actually holding his hand had her stomach doing backflips. She wasn't sure what to expect from his room, but as she entered and glanced around, she realised she was surprised. She let her hand fall from his grasp, slowly walking a lap around the room as she took in the things that mattered enough to him to keep, and it hit her that she didn't really know him that well. His frostiness had made sure there was a distance between them, and now it felt like there was so much to learn that she didn't know where to begin. "This is a cute picture," she smiled, picking up the frame to examine the photograph of Mitch with Mikki and Ash a bit closer. "Look at Mik's hair! I forgot it used to be so long. And you look really handsome, too. I like the blonde look on you and Ashley." She replaced the frame in it's place and crossed to perch tentatively on the edge of his bed. "I'm just realising I don't really know that much about you. I mean, I know some stuff, obviously, like your parents names and how to make your dog stop howling, but beyond the surface level stuff. You're a surprise."

Mitch's mind was occupied with the image of a chimp using its foot to open a banana, finding he was maybe a bit too intrigued with that visual. Before he could start considering trying the foot-fruit move for himself, her follow up question had him raising a brow. "Well I don't know about you, but I would personally love to take you to the zoo. Doesn't even have to be a date if that makes it weird, it could just be, uh...two...people...enjoying animals...or something like that," he said, the pauses cutting in as he attempted to describe what it could be without labels. "Also the whole 'never hanging out again' idea kind of defeats the purpose of me wanting to make out with you, so...don't see that happening anytime soon." As he watched her poke around, he attempted to shift himself so that the frog Squishmallow Mikki had bought him was sufficiently hidden behind his back. "Oh yeah," he chuckled at the blast from the past, thinking about how they all were as kids. "Me and Ash lost that natural colour years ago, although she convinced me to dye it with her when the Barbie movie came out. We also all went through weird, long hair phases. Hunter's was the worst. He looked like homeless Jesus for a while." He watched as she took a seat much farther away than he would've liked, realizing that she had a point. He could've said the same about her and what he knew. "Well...it's a good thing you're here, then." With that comment, he leaned over to pull her in closer to him, settling back against the pillows and loosely wrapping his arms around her. "It's about time we dive past the surface, don't you think? Ask me anything."

If Jordan was being honest, she'd been growing away from Mitchell for a long time now. She'd been pulling away, and as much as she was trying, she had reached a point where she couldn't deny what was right in front of her face anymore. And the worst thing was, he didn't even seem to have noticed anything was up - or at least, he didn't until she hit him with the we need to talk. There was no good way to put it, but it was cruel to continue the way they were. It wasn't just herself she was holding back. While he was wasting time on Mitch-and-Jordy, he was being held back too, even if he didn't know it yet. "Mitch," she began, and she couldn't help but wince when his hands made contact to her shoulders. "I think... I think we need to break up. And I know that you probably don't want that, but it's the right thing to do. I just can't..." She took a deep breath. It was suddenly a lot harder to articulate herself. "We've been together so long... I think I've forgot who I am without you, and I don't want that. I need to be by myself and figure my shit out."

Mitch had been victim to his siblings dumping ice down the back of his shirt many times, and the words coming from Jordan's side gave him a similar feeling to that. He was frozen in place, blinking as he tried to process it. She was saying all these things and not looking at him, and the fact she couldn't even make eye contact made it feel like something was causing his lungs to tie into a giant knot. "You think," he repeated, licking his lips as the wheels in his mind were practically setting off sparks with how fast they turned, "or you know? Cause it sounds like you know, Jordan." This wasn't even something he could save with a joke or funny little stunt. His breath hitched in his chest before he continued talking, the panic finally hitting him and hard. "Did...did I do something? Like, did I say something stupid? Cause if I did, I...I'm sorry, Jordan. And I don't...I'm not sure what, but I can fix it. I swear. If it's just some dumb thing, I'll stop and I'll change it, okay? Just...please, don't...don't end things like this." He was practically begging, his fingers now gripping against her shoulders and doing all he could to try and get her to just meet his eyes and look at him. "Jordy, baby, please."

She had been putting this off for far too long, hoping that the growing feelings of dissatisfaction would fade. Jordan had been with Mitch for so long that it had been hard to let go - for almost a year now, she had tried to get back on track, tried to convince herself she could work through her feelings, because she loved him. She did love him, but she wasn't in love with him anymore, and that was the hardest part to swallow. She knew what she had to do, but that didn't mean ripping the band aid off would be easy.

For Mitch, it was a typical night at the Smith house. He observed from the kitchen, shoving a cookie into his mouth while glancing over the back's of Mikki and Hunter's heads as they watched some boring looking animal documentary in the living room. He was considering joining them or possibly bugging one of the others until the doorbell rang. "I got it!" he shouted loud enough for his voice to echo throughout the first floor of their house, practically showing off parkour moves in the process as he skirted over to the door. He opened it, expecting pizza or something but being just as happy and surprised by who was on the other side. "Jordy!" he greeted, although the smile he wore dipped once she spoke. Her tone set off immediate alarm bells that something was wrong. "Oh...um, alright, yeah, just..." He trailed off, glancing behind his shoulder before looking back at her and stepping outside. The door was shut behind him quickly afterwards. A pit of nervousness settled in his gut, one that only churned a bit harder the longer Jordan went without looking him in the eye. "Baby, what's going on?" he asked, his hands automatically reaching out to gently touch her shoulders and let his thumb smooth itself over her skin.

Lottie nodded her head, clearly taking his words seriously. She had yet to see anything of Mitchell that would make that statement untrue, given that he had always been pretty single-minded in his decision to hate her. "Well, uh, that's good. I kind of like distracting you, it turns out. I would hate to have to hold back from that." She wasn't trying to make it awkward by bringing up any past bad feelings, but luckily Mitch didn't linger there. "Why?" she asked. "Why not your room, I mean. You'd be drier, by the sounds of it." A very brief, very distracting image of Mitch in a wet shirt came to mind, but before she could dwell on it, he had grabbed her hand and was dragging her up the stairs to Mikki's room. The revelation of his toe agility was not expected, and Lottie blinked. "What, like a chimp?" She blurted out, moving into the familiar space. It felt a little weird, being here without Mikki present. It kind of made the whole space feel different - especially as it was Mitch there with her. She tucked a curl of hair behind her ear, and bent down to examine the tank, her eyes following each frog as he pointed them out. She nodded her head like she got it, but in truth, she knew she wouldn't remember which was which. "Clearly your eyesight is better than mine," she chuckled. "They all just look little and green to me. Cute though. Especially that one." She tapped her finger on the glass gently, gesturing to a frog with a particularly sweet face before straightening up. "It's a deal," she grinned, squeezing his hand gently. "Do you want to go to your room? Just to make sure we don't give her anything to be really mad about."

Mitch's eyes squinted as he considered the qualities that him and a chimp would've had in common. "You know, I can't say I've ever seen a chimp open a door with its foot, but that sounds about right. We'll have to go to the zoo or something to see it in action." Although he was usually a yapper extraordinaire, something about watching her point out whatever frog she likes best, and he was pretty sure it was Bonnie, had Mitch quietly watching with a grin and feeling like cartoon hearts were floating around his head. If he hadn't spent so much time blinded by rage, he would've been noticing how adorable she was way earlier on. It took everything in him to not explode on the spot with her next suggestion, though. "Oh, my...my room? Yeah, absolutely," he nodded in a jerky chicken like motion before grabbing her hand once more and leading the way. He normally left it open so there was no need to fully use his foot to open it, just finding that nudging it with his big toe was enough. "So, this is where all the magic happens," he let go of her hand to walk in and gesture around the space like a realtor. It was, like him, a bit chaotic; not overly messy but definitely with its Mitch touches. "We've got some trophies and medals and stuff from when my parents forced me into sports as a kid, said some shit about finding an outlet for my energy or whatever...uh, some pictures of us all from about a thousand years ago, books, CD's...yeah! Feel free to look around. You're getting a full, private showing of the Mitch Museum." He settled on his bed before shoving part of his blanket out the way and patted the now empty spot next to him. "A spot for you once you're done, madam...or honestly wherever you can fit. Feel free to move whatever around, and sorry if there's any dog stuff. Sometimes Stephen mistakes my room for Ashley's."