Always By Your Side *Mileven* // SEQUEL

He Never Gave Up

El's POV:

I lay in my bed, wide awake. Hopper had taken me home after the dance because he had gotten a call at the police station about a fire at the school. Hopper told me it was okay if I didn't want to talk about tonight. Probably because he knew how upset I had been earlier that day.

I contemplated and replayed what I had seen at the school. That person, standing on the other side of the flames, looked similar to Mike. A part of me wanted to believe it was him, but I knew that he was gone. I had seen him die. My mind was probably playing tricks on me. The person was too tall to be him anyway, and I couldn't see his eyes either. Then, I remembered that I hadn't seen Mike in almost a year, and it is possible he could have grown.

Why was I doing this? Why was I trying to convince myself that he was still out there? I knew the answer to that question, yet I still asked it. I missed Mike, I just didn't want to deal with the fact that he was gone.

Mike was one of the first friends I had ever had. He was my first crush, too. I felt like if I faced that fact that he was gone, I would move on. If I moved on, I felt like I was betraying him.

I had talked to this to Hopper before. Every time, he would tell me that Mike would want me to be happy. 

Life has just felt a lot more complicated ever since Mike left.

I lay there on my bed, with silent tears running down my cheeks. I turned on my side, with my back facing the door. I pulled the covers closer to my chest because it was cold. After all, it was winter. I wiped the tears from my eyes and tried to fall asleep, but I couldn't. I just kept thinking of the incident at the school. My mind was so focused on that person with sunglasses.

Then, I realized something.

Why would someone wear sunglasses during winter, especially on a night like this? Was the person hiding something? What did the agents, Seven, and Eight even want with my friends and me? I had so many questions rolling through my head.

I thought about the 353 days Mike and I were apart. He never gave up on me. He called me every night, and here I was, giving up on him. I treated him as if he were a lost cause. What kind of friend was I? If there was even a chance that Mike was still out there, I shouldn't give up on him. He didn't give up on me. It was time to return the favor.