Solandor
Three years after graduation, Mike is still in Hawkins. Waiting for something, he doesn't quite know what.
Even though the group still gets together sometimes, the meetings have become fewer and farther between. Mike misses the Party. He misses feeling something.
Mike calls Will, hoping to find a bit of companionship, the kind only Will can give him.
They meet and talk about a little of everything. Will asks him the question:
"How are you?"
I feel like I'm falling apart into very small pieces of need, of nostalgia, of fear.
"I feel like they all got everything they wanted and didn't waste time stuck here like I did. I don't really want them to do the same, but... I need them so much. I need what we were."
"Mike, you were there for me like no one else. You saw me fall and you helped me back up again and again. You gave me your hand and your heart. I wouldn't be here free, happy, and brave if you hadn't been in my life. I would be there for you for a day, a month, a year, a decade, or a century, if you wanted me to. I'm not okay if you're not."
"For the first time, stop protecting everyone except yourself. Let me be the first."
"...because even though I've opened myself up to loving other people, a part of my heart will always love you. It's the one feeling I've never been able to let go of, like a memory that's still alive."
Notes:
Canon universe
English version
Based on the song: "We Hug Now"
[Cover image credits: flesh.png]