Yeah⌠Mike is in denial and lying about being âin love withâ El
I didnât initially think this, but the last ep kind of confirmed it to me.
In the last ep, we see El, confront Mike about what he said in the cabin, when fighting with max (âI love her!â).  Mike is confused, that was 3 months ago. Mike: âUm, I donât think I follow?â And El says âYou talked about your feelings your heartâ. Mike just says âOh! Oh, yeah that.Man, that was so long ago. UmâŚâ  and starts to scratch his head. Then he says everything he said at the cabin was âin the heat of the moment stuff and we were arguingâŚâ, but he also says right after thisâŚÂ â I donât actually remember. What did I say exactly.â And yes heâs being genuine, in an other post here- you see his genuinely confused face and how when El kisses him he keeps his EYES OPEN THE ENTIRE TIME, and as El leaves smiling he just has a confused expression and looks away.
But the thing is, him not remembering he yelled âI love herâ, doesnât make much sense since he awkwardly tried to say it to her face- for several minutes at the grocery store. And thatâs when I realized his whole speech was extremely rehearsed/fake, and clearly lines he heard other people say and then I noticed another pattern. When Will is clearly upset and jealous they get into a fight.
Mike says âItâs not my fault you donât like girls!â, then tries to ½ apologize only to say, âIâm not trying to be a jerk. Ok? But Weâre not kids anymore.â He pretty much explains, this is just the way things are-boys fall in love with girls, get girlfriends, and thatâs just a part of growing up (heteronormativity).  And tells Will âI mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?âÂ
And poor Will who is probably more aware of his feelings just responds. âYeah. I guess I did. I really did.â Poor Will even calls himself âstupidâ multiple times, for thinking he ever had a chance.
 But Mike, after he says âI love her!â in front of everyone (cause heâs trying to prove he loves her infront of others) canât even say it to her face. And it becomes quite apparent, heâs parroting and emulating what others say. âI just yâknow never felt like this , with anyone before ⌠andâŚyâknow they do say it makes you crazy.â  El: âwhat makes you crazy?â
 Mike: âyou never - you never heard that term ? You know like the phrase, like  âblank makes you crazyâ (he canât even use the word love to her face, and he doesnât say I love you back in the last ep, even when she says she loves him)
He continues, shaking his head confused. âItâs like a feeling or a  ... .
âlike something, like OLD PEOPLE say it (love) to each other sometimesâ He canât even describe love and what his âfeelingsâ entail for El , he then says  âYeah, like something , like old people say it some times. Yeah.â Itâs all talk, but no feeling, itâs just a part of becoming an adult in Mikeâs mind. Thatâs why he can remember what he said to Will the first time they met, almost 10 years ago, but he canât remember saying âI love herâ 3 months ago (despite doing this whole speech).
*first four byler gifs by strangerthingscast, mileven gifs by livelovecaliforniadreams.*
In the last ep before the mileven kiss, he even invites both El and Will over for Christmas  â And Will too⌠we could all have new presents to play with and⌠*scoffs* Sorry, that made me sound like a 7 year old...  â. And itâs implied (before the mileven kiss),  because of the 3 month breakup Mike is back to liking d &d- since this scene happens right before the mileven kiss.Â
Mike gets upset with the idea of Will not wanting to âplay games anymoreâ. (having feelings for him). The same harmful line he threw at Will.
And Will, says if Mike (doesnât want to pretend to be an adult) and actually reciprocate his feeling then yeah âheâll playâ d&d.
So then Mike asks, shyly âŚ
*cough- girls (the other âspeciesâ, or just someone else: girl, guy or otherwise)
Will, will always love Mike.
 And even if Mike doesnât realize it, this makes him happy, itâs that âfeelingâ he couldnât describe. Also Iâm reading between the lines again, but if we take this âgame thingâ as romantic-thing like the showâs subtext suggests. And then look at the Netflix pitch under Willâs character bio- you see this motif again.Â
âWill has sexual identity issues- LIKE MIKE, he escapes through fantasy gaming where he can be himself, unihibited.â Like what is Mike escaping from⌠being a nerd? Because they could of said âlike his friendsâ, instead, then.
Although, I 100% believe Mike will probably regress and be in denial about his feelings until the end of the series, maybe âget back togetherâ with El. Right after this scene, he apologizes for sounding like a â7 year oldâ. Mike clearly has a lot of internalized homophobia/biphobia- and is trying to emulate what is considered normal âadult behavior.â While he thinks subconsciously his feelings of âfriendshipâ (being in love with Will) is just something that he needs to grow out of, and he just canât be a kid anymore.
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