“Oh my god, I can't believe Kevin day fumbled two different situation ships” Kevin Day who surgically removed himself from the people he loved when he realized he was not the better option. Kevin day who even when he's the first option knows he's never the best option. Kevin Day who lets people use him as they learn to love each other and themselves until he has no use anymore and lets them go even as they rip parts of himself away when they leave. Kevin day who is always the first choice and never the last.

drunk up thinking about el hopper and joyce byers and joyce learning how to dutch braid by balancing a printed guide in one hand and el’s hair in the other, a comb held in her mouth. el on a stool and her wide eyes rolled up, straining to see what’s going on as she fidgets with a scrunchie. joyce’s words muffled through thick plastic between her teeth, trying to gesticulate but reined in by her occupied hands. the phone ringing and joyce shouting incoherent “mmnmhn!”s to jonathan, who stands across the room in the kitchen—taking a picture for the first time in a while.