#but anyway- michael's only 17 here

[nostalgical]

thinking about how michael's first instinct was to fight when he witnessed a kid being mistreated by his father in public. displaying the same type of aggression he saw from his own father growing up. what makes it even sadder is when their caretaker judd asked michael afterwards, "what do you think is going to happen when the man you hit and his family go home tonight?" and instantly michael is filled with so much regret because unfortunately he knows. he's been in that kids shoes. and i can only imagine how much guilt he had over what he might have potentially caused. but at the same time, i'm sure he wished that someone would have stood up for him the same way he did for that boy. he would have loved to have known that someone out there could see what was happening and cared enough to do something about it.