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Mike Wheeler knows a thing or two about love; he knows what it is, how it feels to be loved and how to love.
He understood what love was thanks to El, she taught him that if two people have deep feelings for each other, that means they’re in love; he guesses that’s why he’s in a relationship with El, they’re in love.
He understood how it feels to be loved thanks to El, she taught him how important he is for her and how, without the love he gives her, she wouldn’t be able to gain her powers to battle against Vecna and be the strongest fighter in the party.
He understood how to love thanks to El, she taught him what she needs and her priorities, he accepted them so he does whatever normal boyfriend would do to prove his girlfriend his love; he kisses her, every time they meet, Mike kisses his girlfriend. He doesn’t have to say that he’s in love to prove it to her, she should know by now.
Meanwhile El needs Mike’s love to gain her powers, to gain his strength Mike has some other things in mind. He thinks about the comforting memories, all the good things that this person does and says to him, so that he would never be alone as long as they’re by his side, he thinks about how much he cares for this person and of how he couldn’t be able to live without them.
Just their reassuring smile they give him whenever Mike feels fragile or weak, makes him feel like the war they found themselves into is actually worth something, so he manages to find his willpower to continue fighting.
There’s a few problems about this person, first of all, they’re not El, like they’re supposed to be. Mike should gain his strength by absorbing El’s love in his heart like she does with him because she’s his girlfriend and he should need her like she needs him, right? Mike never freaks out about this thing, obviously.
Mike actually finds himself needing his best friend more than he ever needed his girlfriend or anyone else in the world.
Will Byers has been Mike’s best friend since kindergarten, Mike can’t remember a single day in his life without Will in it, without his laugh, without the happiness that spreads into his own body when he sees him, without his eyes, his beautiful eyes that Mike studied for so long that he learnt all the emotions they show and how they express them.
He doesn’t remember a day in his life without knowing how to read into Will, it’s one of his favorite things to do.
Just by looking at his eyes Mike’ll be able to read him and predict if Will is happy, angry or nervous. He likes to imagine his best friend like an open book sitting on a desk, but only Mike has actually the ability to read this specific book, and that’s because he’s the only one who gets his deepness, who understands what the book is trying to express to the world even when there aren’t any words on it, he’s the only one who admires this book as it is. He never met someone who loves it as much as he does, it is Mike’s favorite for a few reasons.
In a library full of books he would choose this one infinite times; he would manage to find it immediately, as he feels like the book is somehow connected to him, almost haunting him, pulling him closer like a magnet, even when he tries not to.
Even though Mike already knows a few things about love, he still doesn’t fully understand its depth, how twisted and complicated it actually is; he still doesn’t know how to recognize it in between all his emotions, how to manage it and how to share it.
The way he showed his love for El, was it really a proper way to do it? Did El really gain her powers thanks to Mike’s love, even though he’s not even sure he can demonstrate it to her the right way? Are they really lovers? What even is love?
Mike Wheeler has to learn another thing or two about love.