This Hellhole Called Hawkins - A Dustin Henderson Fanfic

~2~ 100 Signatures, 3 (Broken) Promises, and No Guarantees

The door opened and none other than Michael Wheeler came into view.

"Hey, Mike. Sorry to interrupt... Could we... talk? For a second?" I asked.

"Um, yeah, sure." He shut the door. "So... it's... been a while? Huh?"

"Yeah..." I replied.

"What's that you got there?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah, right, duh! I was just wondering if you would sign this petition for me?"

"What's it for?"

"It's to get the school to replace the annual musical with a ballet instead."

The smile on Mike's face suddenly disappeared. "I'm really sorry. I can't."

"Why not?" I questioned.

"El was... really looking forward to doing the musical."

El. Jane Eleanor Hopper. The Chief's daughter. The one who Mike fell in love with over the summer and became his girlfriend. It stung to think that Mike would so quickly push the memory of me aside and fall in love with someone else. But I had pushed my feelings aside and been happy for him. Until now.

"El, huh? Your girlfriend, the chief's daughter, right?"

"Um, yeah."

"What happened to us, Mike?" I asked, suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"You were my rock. It seemed that in the middle of all of my chaos, when it seemed like all had dissolved around me, you would be the thing that would always be there. But suddenly, you... disappeared. What happened?"

"Life happened, Emmy. We drifted apart."

"Drifted apart my butt! You and your stupid friends decided that society would reject you if you were seen hanging out with me so you stopped, am I wrong? Say it, Michael! Say it to my face that I'm wrong!" I yelled, leaning towards him so much so that my face was close enough to his to kiss him. I placed a hand on his cheek as a tear rolled down my face. "It always used to be you and me against the world. Nothing else mattered. Not even what other people thought of us. Just you and me against the world. You say we drifted apart, but what about everything before that? What about the promises you made? Like the one we made when we were in third grade and you asked me to marry you? When I said, "No, Mikey, we're too young. Promise you'll ask me again when we're eighteen, and I promise I'll say yes." and then you promised. But you have a girlfriend now, Mikey. A goddamn girlfriend. You were so quick to fall in love with her, and so quick to ask her to be your girlfriend that I bet you that I didn't even come to mind, right?"

Now, it was Mike's turn to begin to tear up.

"And what about the promise you made that no matter what, our friendship would always come first? What about Will, and Lucas, and Dustin, and Max, and most importantly El. But what are you doing now, huh? Choosing to make your new girlfriend happy instead of the girl who you've known for just about ever. Mike, there are so many other promises that I could name, and you know it, but for now - what about the most important promise you ever made me? The promise that has kept me going for as long as I have. The promise that no matter what-," I choked back a sob. "The promise that no matter what, you would always be there for me. To catch me when I fell. But look where we are now, Michael. I'm drowning in a bottomless pit, screaming, watching everyone breathing around me, but guess what? That doesn't stop the drowning. Hell, it makes it worse. All this time, I've been holding onto this tiny sliver of hope, that someday you would find your way back to me one day. But I've made a terrible mistake. You never even took a single step back to me. Hell, you ran the opposite direction of me. And if you, the only friend I've ever had, can't seem to find your way back to me, then who will? Do me a favor, Mike. Throw this stupid petition away. And while you're at it, throw away all of our memories, all of our promises, all of our everything too." I pressed my lips against Mike's, savoring everything about the kiss that I knew would be my last with him - the hum of surprise he had made, the scent of vanilla from his hair, his soft skin under the fingers of my right hand. Our lips parted just the slightest bit and I ran my fingers through his soft, night-sky black locks of hair.

"Goodbye, Mike," I whispered, dropping the clipboard at my feet and running out of the school. He called after me, probably running his voice hoarse doing so, but his words were drowned out by the sadness that had taken over me.

I can honestly tell you I have never cried more in my entire life than I did that day.