Fork in the Road
 | This chapter is exclusively available to members of Bittersweet Club International. |
| Fork in the Road | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Published | December 31, 2025 |
| Page count | 29 |
| Major characters | Mike, Lucy, Sandy |
| Minor characters | Lucy’s mom, Sue |
| Chapter navigation | |
| ← Open Fire | Fork in the Road 2 → |
| Read in the BCI Members’ Library | |
Fork in the Road is a non-canon Bittersweet Club International-exclusive comic, a what-if in which Lucy never came back after leaving Roseville in high school. Three years into that silence, a freshly heartbroken Mike knocks on her door in the middle of the night.
Partial synopsis
Adult Lucy lives alone. Over the phone, she assures her mother that work and school are stressful but she is doing fine and, no, she has not met anyone.[1] A late-night knock interrupts her as she gets ready for bed. Mike is standing on the doorstep, and for a long moment neither can speak.[2] Lucy recovers enough to ask “what the hell is up with your HAIR?” before letting him in.[3]
On the couch, Lucy asks why Mike came, and he breaks down in tears. Sandy ended things a few days ago. “Instead of cutting back, she’d rather cut me off,” he sobs.[4] Lucy hears him out. She says Sandy will never change, so Mike can either take her back and enjoy the fleeting moments or grieve for a while and find someone who will give him the care he deserves.[5]
Mike leans in and kisses her.[5] Lucy shoves him off, stunned. He apologizes and says that, despite how they treated each other, she was always there when he needed her most.[6] When he kisses her again, her protests trail off. Neither of them has any idea what this one night is about to set in motion...
Character dynamics
- Mike and Lucy: In the main comic, Lucy eventually returns to Roseville.[7] In this story, she and Mike have not seen each other for three years.[6] During his visit, Lucy gives him blunt advice about Sandy, and he kisses her.[5]
- Mike and Sandy: In the main comic, Mike excuses Sandy’s absences with “Sandy’s a hard worker..”[8] In this timeline, he says they barely saw each other even after moving in together, and that Sandy ended the relationship rather than work less.[4]
Trivia & observations
- The comic ran to 29 pages and went up for members in April 2016, alongside Love Letters and the tenth-anniversary celebrations for the series. The authors billed it as “a harrowing 29-page story about what could go terribly, terribly wrong for Mike, Sandy and Lucy”, and told readers “You will have opinions about it.”[9]
- The story began as a drawing request. Someone on stream asked Veronica for a picture of MikexLucy and MikexSandy kittens playing together, and the idea that came to her instead made her cry.[9]
- The comic kept its reputation. Years later the authors’ membership pitches still sorted the library into “the famous ‘Fork in the Road’” and everything else.[10]
- Veronica redrew the whole chapter for its 2025 book release, updating the art to match the 90-page Fork in the Road 2. The two were printed together as a 126-page softcover, in a small quantity and, the authors promised, “never again”.[11]
- The book came out before the comic did. From November 5 to 24, 2025 it was a print exclusive, given free with a $69 annual membership or a $20 monthly Patreon subscription and sold on its own for $15 in the BCB Store.[11] Copies shipped that December, and the redraw only reached the members’ library on New Year’s Eve, when the sequel went online.[12]
- Veronica drew this AU before Love Again was published. She omitted Augustus because Lucy’s closeness with him “woulda been a spoiler.” In this timeline, he “got into a great school out of state,” while Lucy moved to Steepdom for university.[13]
- Asked how Lucy would fare if Mike ever left Roseville, Veronica pointed to this story’s Lucy as “a good example of a Lucy who is doing pretty well without Mike, just going about her life.. it only gets messed up when he comes knocking at her door LMAO.”[14]
Related chapters
- Fork in the Road 2: The 90-page sequel takes place roughly a decade later in the same alternate timeline. The two chapters share a softcover, and this one was redrawn to sit beside it.[11]
- Eternal Flame: Sandy breaks up with Mike over the phone in this later main-comic chapter. Mike then spends an emotional evening with Lucy, and they kiss.
- Love Again: Lucy returns to Roseville and begins rebuilding her life there. In Fork in the Road, she never comes back.
References
- ↑ Fork in the Road, page 1 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Fork in the Road, page 2 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Fork in the Road, page 3 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fork in the Road, page 6 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Fork in the Road, page 7 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Fork in the Road, page 8 🔒 (members only)
- ↑ Chapter 95: Love Again, page 6
- ↑ Chapter 94: Model Girlfriend, page 7
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 “Newspost announcing Fork in the Road and Love Letters”. 2016-04-27.
- ↑ “Newspost announcing Another Way for BCI members”. 2024-09-02.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 “Newspost announcing the Fork in the Road book and Fork in the Road 2”. 2025-11-05.
- ↑ “Newspost announcing the online release of Fork in the Road 2”. 2025-12-31.
- ↑ “Ask response on Augustus’s absence from Fork in the Road”. 2026-05-25.
- ↑ “What would Lucy do if Mike moved out of Roseville?”. 2026-01-15.