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Forgive me

Oswald sat at his laptop, busily typing out an essay when his mother came in through the door. As a child psychologist at St. Luke's hospital, Fanny Foray prided herself with the ability to read her son's emotions like an open book. "Oswald, what's the matter?"

He looked at his mom for a moment, then looked down and shook his head. "Forget it, you wouldn't understand. It's just a really hard class, that I have to write this essay for." She snickered and sat next to her son, closing his laptop and turning him to face her. "Seriously Oswald, you don't think I can tell when you're upset about your dad? I'll have you know that I was once married to the man, and I had my fair share of negative emotions, back before you were even born."

Oswald stared his mom down with raised eyebrows, not fully believing her. "If that's true, why are you such good friends with him and Aunt Lily now?" Fanny smiled, and stood up to begin making dinner. "Because after I got over the shock of your dad cheating on me with Mickey's mother, I thought it better to forgive and forget, instead of holding a grudge.

"Listen Oswald, I know better than probably anyone else that your dad is not perfect, and has made more than his fair share of mistakes. Still though, you also need to understand that he is just as human as you or me. No less, and certainly no more. I don't mean to tell you what to do, but it breaks my heart to hear about you treating Mickey in such a cold way. He was never responsible for your father's actions, and I would've given my eye's teeth to have a younger brother when I was your age."

Oswald thought about this, nodding. "All right, mom. Will you save dinner for me? There's something I need to do." She hugged him gently when he stood up. "Of course I will."

Once he got outside, Oswald got in his car and drove to the Allwine's house. Once there he saw Mickey, taking out the trash with his earbuds in. He waved to him, and Mickey took out his headphones and looked at Oswald in confusion.

"Hey Mickey, is there somewhere we can go to talk?" Oswald said, looking down at his hands sheepishly. "I-I've realized I owe you an apology." Realization shining in his eyes, Mickey smiled widely and nodded. They drove to a Jack in the Box a few blocks away, and ordered a large basket of curly fries to fill the silence.

"Look, Mickey, I'm sorry that I've acted so cold towards you all these years. I thought you were the thing that took my dad away from me, but I see now that it was really selfish and childish to treat you that way." Oswald said once they found a booth and sat down, twiddling with his thumbs.

Mickey sighed, picking up a fry and turning it over in his hand before popping it in his mouth. "Honestly Oswald, I see where you're coming from. But seriously, how do you think it's made me feel, having people see me as Walter Allwine's love child all my life? I love my parents, but because of their choices, it's been really hard to even make friends ever since I started school."

"What about Donald and Goofy? You're really close to them." Oswald pointed out. "That's different. Goofy's new, and Donald is a truly good friend. When he moved into the house across the street, people warned his parents not to let him be friends with me. Still though, Mr. and Mrs. Anslemo didn't believe in listening to rumors, so they brought him over to meet me anyway.

"Ever since then, he's protected me from bullies and hypocrites basically everywhere we've gone. Donald has understood me when no one else did, and that's what makes him truly special." Mickey said, smiling softly while thinking of his best friend. 

Oswald was taken aback at what Mickey said. "I guess I didn't realize how much you've gone through, Mickey. Let's promise that for now on, brothers come first. No more secrets, no more grudges, instead we tell each other everything." Mickey smiled widely, and nodded. "I can agree with that." They bumped fists, and finished the rest of the fries together, as friends instead of strangers.

A few miles away, Minnie, Clara and Daisy were watching a movie in Daisy's room. "Oh, hold on. I just got a text." Minnie said, and her friends paused the video so she wouldn't miss anything. "Oh my gosh, it's from Morty!" She gasped, and opened the message while Daisy and Clara exchanged uneasy glances.

"He's asking me to the semiformal!" Minnie said happily, looking over to her friends to share the moment with them. To her surprise though, they weren't smiling, but rather glaring at her. "What's wrong?" "Minnie, what did we say about Mortimer? He's nothing but a jerk, and if you let him lead you on like this you're just going to get your heart broken." Daisy sighed while Clara nodded.

"Well, maybe you've just misjudged him." Minnie shot back. "Every time I've talked to him he's been a perfect gentleman." Daisy and Clara looked at each other in disbelief, they never thought in their wildest dreams that they'd ever hear someone call Mortimer Bennet a gentleman. "Well, did you hear the rumor that he beat up Mickey Allwine in the bathroom last week?" Clara asked, remembering the looks on everyone's faces when this rumor was passing around.

Minnie looked at them skeptically, but her eyes still showed concern. "Really?" Daisy nodded. "Yes, and the fact that it's a rumor should be enough to prove something to you. Mickey's had a hard enough life without getting beaten up for who knows what, and Mortimer's one of the only people who still gives him crap about being born out of wedlock."

Minnie's eyes widened, her hand covering her mouth. "Why would you think that Morty would do something so awful?" Daisy and Clara groaned, tired of this discussion. "Because Minnie, Mortimer Bennett is a spoiled, self-absorbed and judgmental brat. If you still refuse to see that, then maybe you deserve each other."

Minnie's eyes widened when Daisy said this, tears pricking them as she stood up and grabbed her bag. "Well, if Morty and I deserve each other so much maybe I should go see what he's doing." Clara looked shocked, but Daisy kept a stoic poker face. "Yeah, maybe you should." Minnie's eyes welled up with tears, but left quickly with her head held high.

"Daisy, you were being way too harsh. Mortimer is a very charming and manipulative person, it's not Minnie's fault that she got caught in his web of lies." Clara said, sadly closing the laptop. "I know, it was just so painful to hear that rumor about Mickey today. We're not best friends, but my mom's his godmother, so we definitely have a brother-sister relationship."

Clara nodded, hugging her friend gently. "Especially since Mickey had that black eye, and everyone was just staring at him as he walked down the hall. I can't believe his parents didn't let him stay home." Daisy shook her head, smiling softly. "No, that was a choice Mickey made, he said so himself. I think it's his own way of showing Mortimer that he's not afraid of him, and he's not ashamed of something that's not his fault."

Suddenly Daisy's phone rang, and she picked it up to look at the contact. "Well, speak of the devil." She said, showing it to reveal Mickey's name. "Hey Mick, what's up?" Daisy said, once she answered it. "Oh, I'm sorry. Mortimer, the lovely narcissist that he is, literally just asked Minnie out. I know, right? I couldn't believe it either. Anyway, have a good night. Goodbye."

"What happened?" Clara asked after Daisy hung up. "Apparently Mickey wanted to ask Minnie to the semiformal, and called me to ask if I could help set it up." They both sighed, wishing that he'd made that call a half hour earlier.

"He's something else, isn't he?" Clara asked, remembering with sadness how he would look at Minnie.  If only Minnie could realize what a jerk Mortimer was, she could realize how much Mickey cares about her. That he'd never use her or treat her like arm candy like Mortimer, instead with love and care.

"Well, we may be too late for now, but maybe we can make a plan for the night of the semiformal. After all, you never know what Mortimer may pull then, and if we play our cards right Mickey could still get the girl in the end." Daisy said with a mischievous smirk, and Clara scooted closer. "I'm listening."