PLAY THE PART | mileven

epilogue

FIVE YEARS LATER.

he never thought his life would ever lead up to this road — he never thought he'd see days like these in his future.

when he was younger, he thought that his life would end the same way his teenage years were wasted away with.

alone, bruised up, unloved and uncared for.

whenever teacher's asked them in high school what they see in their futures happening, mike could never see past the age of twenty-something. the future seemed like a myth that he'd never be able to solve, he couldn't vision a single snippet of himself in it.

having a solid plan and something to actually strive forward to long-term? that wasn't something he had.

at least, not until el sneaked her way into his life.

she gave him the closure he needed when it came to hawkins, standing alongside with him as he silently faced the demons of that town and could leave it all behind. the trauma may be something he will carry with himself forever but it didn't define him anymore — no, he's more than that.

she ignited feelings inside of him that he thought were nothing but the aftermath of a forest fire. the ashes and smoke inside his heart were a camouflage for tiny branches growing inside of him — her love were the roots for those, causing flowers to bloom in burnt places.

four years ago, he proposed to her.

after their group of friends finished their bachelor thesis and el received her bachelor in architecture, they celebrated together with lots of champagne and soda. mike cracked the news that he wanted to keep going to get his master's degree as well, earning a loud cheering from everyone who was present.

especially el was endlessly supportive of that, looking at him with a big smile on her face and repeating how proud of him she was.

some time shortly after that, mike had clammy hands while subtly asking lucas and dustin for advice on how a proposal should usually unfold. the guys lost their shit right then and there, screaming "what the fuck! you want to propose to el!" over and over again.

a few minutes after that the atmosphere shifted into something far more casual again and dustin thoughtlessly shrugged. "well, i'm not really surprised. i knew that you'd propose to her sooner than later anyway."

they bombarded him with ideas for the entire night after that, googling stuff like "how to plan a good proposal?", "what does a man say while proposing?" and "on which knee do you kneel while proposing?" all night.

mike figured that he would never be able to plan one with both of them involved — so he asked for max's and will's help as well. both were over the moon when he told them of his plan, squealing how happy they are to hear that.

max and will suggested to help him by looking for the ring with him, meanwhile lucas and dustin were trying to find a romantic place to let it all unfold.

the days leading towards the proposal were the worst. he could feel his heart nervously drumming each time he saw her, the speech he wrote down and memorized threatened to be forgotten and he feared that he would fuck it up or that she would reject him.

she started to notice that things were off about him during those days, always asking him if he's alright and made sure to remind him that he could talk to her about anything.