"No no--no," Mike's words are quick even as he's wrenched around, and he finds himself speaking quickly and desperately as Liam bends his arms painfully, like he didn't care.

No, Liam definitely didn't care. Mike had messed up, yet again, with the same thing he's been told not to do multiple times. It was different, he thought, with how gentle, how amazing that kiss was. Mike is losing it. Mike is losing Liam.

"I didn't mean to, I just thought that--we were going somewhere else," He manages. "I thought you understood me, sir, I thought.."

It sounds ridiculous in his throat, but he takes a deep breath.

"I thought that kiss meant something."