“Link Play”, page 24

gotta agree with mobius here. not saying this is the most grievously hurtful thing Mike has ever done to Lucy, and I'm not saying Lucy has never done anything wrong. but after everything he's put her through lately, he needs to stop trying to contact her for any reason other than like, life or death situations. he's just demonstrating that he is not actually that interested in keeping his promise not to talk to her.

prismabunny

First bridge mended.

adzrobinz

Any interaction initiated by someone who has abused you has the potential to cause further damage. Just because it's in the form of an apology doesn't magically void the stress of having to interact with that individual on their terms.

GOOD FOR HER!!!

Ren

Mmm, it's definitely true Lucy doesn't need to fogive him, but how exactly does a genuine apology, spurred on by bumping into her and unintentionally ruining her mood followed by his new friends dragging her into things with him, qualify as, "hurting Lucy further?" By the time he got to the apology, the damage was already done. All an apology (a good one, that is) does is try to convey intent after the fact. Sure, it does more to assuage the guilt of the responsible party than it does to fix damage done, but healthy communication can help both parties. Mike was told not to talk to Lucy because he failed time and time again to actually communicate with her without hurting her in the process. This... is not an example of that. Which considering everything Mike has done wrong as of late, says a lot about him finally starting to better himself. This is definitely a combination of, "Too little, too late," mixed with a bit of, "Better late than never."

Alec

Good on Lucy for keeping her boundaries set, and good on Mike for letting the apology sit without expecting anything in return. I think this is quite possibly the best handled apology from Mike in this comic, and I really hope they're both finally able to move forward and grow past this, even if it means keeping a distance from each other for the forseeable future.

Alec

If Mike can convince James that Lucy and he have a history that he's trying to put behind him, then James would have to accept that Mike is fallible... James may not be ready for that.

Dave Ostroske

Good girl!! ♡

Chloe Fowler

amazing pun

Karissa Slonka

I'm glad she didn't buckle, Mike IS hurting but she hurt for a long time

Matthew Smothers

I wonder if Augustus told her EVERYTHING he said or just the part about not speaking to her

Insomni-act

Kinda hope he doesn't take it out on James and they can talk about it together, James and the track team can help him move forward in a healthy way and leave Lucy, who I'm assuming already has moved on, to her own devices.

Sidyena

jesus lol. I mean, I get that he felt super shitty for smth that was pretty much out of his hands and all, but... lmao. just feels like he's still too concerned with his own feelings and his image to actually understand how not to hurt Lucy further

prismabunny

I love the sense of finality in this page, this really might be the last time these two talk to eachother (probably not). If it is, at least they played one more game together before leaving eachother alone for good.

Mike: Whew, that was a relief. For a minute there, I thought she was going to scream at me for 15 minutes in front of everyone at the mall. Lucy: >:( Mike: Uh oh!

SCD

FATALITY

Airy Frith

Well that went well

TannArts

Good for you lucy, hold your boundaries because he doesn't deserve the time of day from you

Arctic

Thank goodness, good on Lucy for just walking away

Goobis Woobis

They're both so tired

Fiver

Hold them boundaries! Listen to your best supporting friend!

Haruhi Hatake

Mike drop.

Neve Fluffehbutt

Well; that was a riveting conversation Mike.

Meowtcha

You didn't have to.

Yewsea