Back and Forth | A Mike Wheeler Fanfiction

Paralyzed

Song: Paralyzed -  by NF

Y/N POV

As I run my fingers through my y/h/c hair, I glance at Mike across the room. The whole party was here. Will, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and me. El was gone. She sacrificed herself for us, and she was gone now. 

Mike hasn't been the same. Not since El left. I keep telling myself that he'll get better, but I don't think he ever will. He's been depressed, quiet, and he doesn't hang out with us as much. I'm worried about him. I've always had a crush on Mike, but now that he's acting differently, I just want to comfort him and make him feel better. 

When we found El, I didn't know what was going to happen. I thought that things would stay the same. I would have never thought in a million years that Mike would fall for her. Now that I see how miserable he is without her, I know that I was wrong. 

It kills me when I think about how much he loves her. I almost start to cry when I think about them together, but I don't. I know that I can't let Mike see how I really feel, not when he's like this. He's already going through so much, and I wouldn't want to make it worse. 

Mike is sitting across the room from us, as if we aren't here. He's staring at the ground and I can tell that he's thinking about her. El has been gone for about a year now. 

I stand up and walk over to him. I can feel Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Will's eyes on me, but I keep walking anyway. 

"Mike, are you okay? Do you want to go to the arcade?" I ask. Maybe some video games will cheer him up a little. 

"No, I don't think so. I called you guys over here to discuss something." I sat down next to him and put my hand on his shoulder. 

"We're listening." I said. Mike looked up at me, and I almost broke apart right then and there. I could see the pain in his eyes. The sound of him calling for Eleven rang through my ears all of a sudden, and I had to look away. It was too painful. I loved this boy, but he didn't love me back. At least, not in that way. 

"Well, I wanted to discuss what we were going to do for the campaign. I mean, we were gonna have another one soon, right?" Mike stood up and stood in front of the party. 

"Um, I don't know. Do you want to?" Dustin asked Mike. Max shifted uncomfortably in her seat. 

"What do you mean, 'Do I want to?' you guys are all saying that we should." Mike started to pace around the room. He always did that when he was thinking. 

"Well, I mean, are you up for it?" Will asked. He looked up at Mike and almost instantly looked away. He must have felt the pain too. Mike's depression had been getting worse and worse over the past few months. 

"What are you guys talking about?" Mike asked, accusation in his voice. I could sense his agitation. 

"We just want to know if you're okay, Mike." Lucas said. He didn't even look at Mike. Dustin and Will weren't looking at him either. It seemed like me and Max were the only ones still making eye contact with Mike. He looked at me as if we were all crazy. 

"Of course I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be okay?" Mike threw his hands in the air while he said the last sentence, making us all flinch. 

"We weren't trying to accuse you of anything, Mike." I stood up and walked over to him. 

"Well then what did you mean?" He sounded like he knew what I was about to say. 

"What we meant was, are you okay? We know that you've been miserable after El left. You don't exactly hide it from us." I stepped closer to him, and he looked like he had just been hit in the face. His eyes started to tear up once I mentioned her name. 

"Oh." He said. Mike sniffed and walked back over to the couch. He sat down and didn't talk to anyone else for the next few minutes. It was like someone had hit the mute button, because there was absolutely no noise coming from anyone. 

"I'm fine." Mike finally said. As soon as he finished talking, his mom announced that it was time for dinner. We all walked upstairs and ate dinner with the rest of the Wheeler family. 

A/N 

I know this is short! Sorry! Also there is going to be a time skip in the next chapter to the night that El comes back. Enjoy!