A/N: Limited chars on the description. If you wan to read how Mike can move on after Eleven, how he deals with loss, and how much he can love.

Any readers I have left, will not like the first half dozen or more chapters. Your loss, not mine.

Very slow burn on this one.

I ALWAYS do Mileven.

I'm not stupid.

Long distance relationships do NOT work. Maybe if you know for sure you will get back together… maybe… but I don't believe that for a second.

When Mrs. Byers took El and Will away… and seriously how the wet fuck did THAT happen? Anyway, I knew that maybe I'd see El again. Maybe.

We wrote back and forth, I always answered her short letters with a 12 page Fall-Of-The-Roman-Empire tome of a reply. But then… another short letter.

Sure we told each other we loved each other… and I'm sure El meant it at the beginning… but she was away from me, new friends, new guys, there was no way a long distance relationship was going to be viable.

Maybe I should have done the the "proper" thing and let her go… maybe. But I couldn't. Call it selfish. It was just wishful thinking. I would love her forever. There was no maybe about that.

I was sure of one thing though. I would never forgive Mrs. Byers. Will and I were already lost as friends. He never wrote me. I sent off a few letters, but no reply. Call it a hunch but I was sure that he and El were not a couple. I worried about that for a bit, but… like I said, call it a hunch.

One day Dustin said to me, "Mike, time heals all wounds". I think my reply was to call bullshit.

One day out of curiosity while I was at the library. I looked it up. It turns out that a Greek dramatist named Menander wrote that. The original goes like "time is the healer of all necessary evils".

Clearly he never loved anyone like I love El.

I want to punch anybody who says that to me, but it's mostly family and friends, so, yeah… I couldn't.

So I moved on. Tried to anyway. No… not with a new girlfriend. It was El, or it was nobody. I told myself that over and over again. A few girls were interested in me once my hair got longer and a summer job of hard work made me a lot more muscular. Gotta tell you, it surprised the hell out of myself.

Troy wasn't a problem either. Now that I could defend myself, the opportunity was taken out of my hands. I guess he got really coked up one night, killed both of his parents, then turned himself in.

Scratch one bully out of my life.

XXXXX

Believe it or not, but the phrase "Never say never" did NOT come from the James Bond movie. It came from Charles Dickens "Pickwick Papers" , early 1800's .

I can be corrected but I think the full quote goes like: "Nothing is impossible, anything can happen, as in Mary said Tom would never call her again, but I told her, 'Never say never '."

I know what you're thinking. "How the hell did you know that?"

Friends Don't Lie. I read. Gave up on "Lord of the Rings" . Gave up on anything to do with Star Wars. Once my mom told me I need to scrap two boxes of toys, that shit was the first to go. I kept Roary though. Sentimental value. I've always had a thing for dinosaurs anyway. It all seems juvenile now.

I started reading. I read a lot. I read a LOT of shit I didn't want to read. Main reason? I was tired of all these shit quotes being thrown at me at schoole and wanted to know who was the fucktard that said them.

Humbling: Shakespeare, Dickens, Hardy, Plato, that Menander guy. There's a reason they teach those writers in school and in university.

Made me want to read all the classics. I started off with what was horror at the time. "Dracula" was much better written than "Frankenstein" even though they tackled new horrors. Lovecraft… was disturbing. When you had already lived through a Lovecraft story, you see what he was tapping into. Makes me think he knew a whole lot more than he was writing.

So… gonna come right out and say it. The classists that will turn your mind numb: "Pride and Prejudice", "Anna Karinina" , "War and Peace", and "Moby Dick"

At least the first two will set you up for the Seth novels/movies and derivatives (thanks Max!)

I'll tell you right now though that the Peck movie for the last, and the "Heart of the Sea" will at least or should make you better appreciate that last book.

Back to "Never say never."

XXXXX

One day, when I was going to Hawkins U, I went to my locker and saw a post-it note on it.

"Talk to Myfanwy. She likes you." It was Max's handwriting. There was a locker number after that.

Gah… she was trying to set me up. I was so totally not interested.

XXXXX

I knew what she looked like. Dark auburn hair, not even chunked. Greenest eyes you will ever see on a girl.

If I didn't talk to her Max would be pissed at me. Having Max pissed at you was not all that good an option for anybody. Her and Lucas were long over. There wasn't a whole lot Dustin and I could do about that. It just was. It was weird though that Max kept looking out for me. Not gonna say we were real close, but we definitely respected each other's feelings. Can't expect much more than that, really.

I went to… (gah, didn't even know how to pronounce it) to Myfanwy's locker.

It's like she had been waiting for me. Not gonna lie. I had only seen one girl at least as pretty as she was. Yeah… El.

I was conflicted. I mean, I thought El was pretty beyond words. But Myfanwy… I almost felt sick. I should NOT be feeling this way.

She turned to me, eyes flashing "Mish" She said.

I was guessing that was a short form of "Mike" in… in whatever was her first language.

I had to look down. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to pronounce your name… I can spell it though…"

"Mefenoy, at least that's how the Welsh pronounce it, England bastardised it. They say 'way' at the end." Mike nodded.

"Uh, that's um, Welsh right?"

"It is. Is Max trying to set us up?" There was a glint in her eye.

"Yeah, I think so. Not totally opposed… I think… but she told you my… um… history?"

Myfanwy looked down, "She did… if this too painful for you… we can just end this conversation now."

"No. Well, to be totally truthful, it IS painful… but… I need to move on… didn't really expect any other girl to be interested in me. It's been a few years"

"I know the feeling. Long story… not for now. If you would like to meet for coffee or something… I'd be ok with that… if you would?"

I recognized the look in her eyes. Aaaaah shit. I was already conflicted. I wanted to talk to my friends.

But I said "yes". It was almost like her eyes flared and her hair became more radiant.

XXXXX

Max glared at me. "So what's the problem Mike… You didn't like her ass? Tits not big enough? Too much hair… wait, her eyes weren't El's were they."

I shook my head slowly. "She has beautiful eyes." Then I started to sniff… then I started to cry. Just a little, but probably the worst thing I could do in front of Max. She was gonna make me pay for it, I was sure.

"Mike", her voice was a lot softer, "We get it, you feel a loyalty to El. Even years after your last communication. I will tell you a secret, El once told me that if for some reason she was… gone. Make sure that nothing got in the way of your happiness. It's almost like she knew Mike, but she was worried about you just in case."

"Ahh shit, Max." And then I just cried on her shoulder. " I don't know what to do."

"That's easy Mike, let Myfanwy help you. I know it will be tough, but it will be good for both of you. Just tell me you'll give it a shot?"

"I have nothing to lose… we plan to have coffee together… she… um… was very nice to me. Are you sure she knows my past?"

"Not the Upside Down stuff, or El's ability, but the whole lab rat thing, yeah. She cried when I told her… and…"

"And what, Max?"

Max and looked down, "she also told me… she told me… she really liked you and would never break your heart… just give her a chance Mike. Both of you will know soon enough if it will work or not. El would want you to be happy… you KNOW that."

XXXXX

Wallowing in self-pity a few years will weigh on you. It's not healthy for you, or for your friends and family. They understand, but eventually they stop asking how your doing because they get the same looks or answer every time.

Max made a lot of sense. Another shot to be happy was not to be ignored. It would only be my second. Most people should be so lucky.

So I went to Myfanwy's locker the next morning at before my classesl. It was around the corner from mine. My idea was to plan our coffee date.

I think she might have actually heard the trepidation in my walk up to her, she turned and gave me a smile that… that… almost made me cry. It came from her eyes. I never thought I'd feel like that again.

I took a deep breath… "What do I call you for short? Be honest." I think I gave her a lopsided smile.

She looked down… when she looked up, I thought I saw a tear on her cheek.