electric // mike wheeler

IF I COULD FLY

DOUBLE UPDATE: READ CHAPTER BEFORE IF YOU HAVENT

2 weeks later

It was weird. No one should ever have to attend a funeral to a girl who'd barely become a teen, but here the group was.

It was sunny, one of the hottest days of the year, and while for funerals it may not of fit the mood, for Tee it was nothing less of perfect. She was a ray of sunshine to everyone she met, and the sun made Mike think she was watching down on them as the service started.

Mike had barely spoken a word since that night, the sinking feeling in his chest never dimming. He couldn't believe that she was dead. He couldn't live with the fact he couldn't save her, no matter what he had tried. He still remembered her last words, them playing like a broken record over and over again in his head  every second of every day, making them more and more soul crushing as the days dragged on.

He was sat next to Eleven, the girl having lost her father and her sister, the people she loved most in the world. Joyce had taken her in after everything, giving her a home, giving her a place to mourn. Will had stayed with her most nights as she cried, the two talking about their memories with Tee and El telling him about stupid things Hopper had done over the years.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the life of a kind and caring young girl called Molly Hopper," Spoke the priest as he stood beside a casket. It was closed, per Mike's request, he didn't want to see her, he didn't want that memory burned in his head, "she was a lively girl, with amazing friends who are here today, and a loving family. May she find piece in her soul."

Mike looked down, a tear falling from his eye. His mother sat on the other side of him, Holly on her lap. Her hand was rubbing Mike's back comfortingly, holding back her own tears, not knowing what else to do.

"The first speaker we have today is Max Mayfield," The priest spoke, and Max stood up, a small piece of paper in her shaking palms as she stood at the podium, staring down at the group of friends who loved Tee so much.

"Tee was my best friend," Max spoke shakily, looking down for a moment to catch her breath, "I've never met someone as selfless as her. She always put others before herself, right to the end. She always walked around with a smile on her face - a smile so bright you couldn't help but smile too. I'll never forget the time I took her to the old pet store at the top of my road. We made a whole narrative about two fish being in love, and I ended up buying her one as a gift. He was called Steve because he had a defect that made him look like he had a quiff," She stopped, hearing Steve let out a little chuckle at the name, "she was so thankful, and she didn't stop talking about it for months, and when he died we had a little memorial, and Tee said something that I think she'd want all of you to hear today."

She paused again, taking a deep breath as tears sprung to her eyes.

"Just because he's physically not here doesn't mean he's not around. He'll still be here in memories, and in funny moments and inside jokes - because death doesn't have to be the end, there's so much after it." Max read out what she had wrote. "I'll miss her little stutter, and her smile, but I'll never forget what it looked like, the memory will never go, and that's enough. Thank you."

Max stood down, and everyone clapped softly as she took her seat next to Lucas, welcoming the hug that he offered. Dustin on her other side patted her shoulder softly as a well done, as Mike wheeler walked to the podium.

"There aren't words to describe what I felt for Tee," Mike began, his voice croaky from crying, his hands holding onto the podium as they shook, "I loved her. I still do. I'll miss seeing her scrunch her noise up when Hopper said something stupid, or how she never failed to make cookies if I was sad, or how even when I was being stupid she wouldn't get angry straight away, she'd hear me out and try to understand what was going on. I took her for granted, and I regret that, and if I could say 'I love you' one more time to her I would, if I could fly into the sky just to see a glimpse of her smile I would. But I can't."

He stopped, wiping a tear that had begun to fall, "I'll never forget the relief I felt when she walked through Will's door last year after not seeing her in so long, and seeing she was okay, and all I want is for that to happen again. I swear, I still see her running past my room or sitting on my bed every once in a while... but she's not. I know she'd want me to move on, for all of us to move on, but for now I think I'm okay with pretending she's just gone away for a little bit and she'll be back soon. As Max said. She's still here in memories, and She'll never be forgotten. She really was one of a kind."

-

Watching the love of your life get lowered into the ground is weird, it's a feeling of finality, but also extreme grief. The fact there's no going back. Everybody had thrown in a white rose in memory, staring at the casket get lowered. Eleven was crying onto Max's shoulder, and threw in a piece of paper. Hopper's note.

The note had been for Tee after all, and it felt weird not giving it to her, even if she'll never read it.

Mike has thrown in something other than a flower as well, it was a Polaroid, the Polaroid he had taken just a month ago of Tee making cookies in the kitchen of the cabin. It was a beautiful photo, but Mike didn't want to keep it. He had some of her clothes, her teddy, and a couple pictures of the two of them, that was enough.

The picture hurt too much to keep, seeing that smile, the happiness in her eyes, it just hurt too much.

Death doesn't happen to a person, it happens to everyone around them. And watching Tee go into the ground was the final blow. It was a time to move on, to grow how Tee would want the group to. A time to heal.

She would never be forgotten, but the group had to let her go.

-fin-