gonna wear my mike wheeler apologist glasses for this one because i refuse to believe that mike didn't realise will was crying and i definitely refuse to believe he saw his best friend sobbing and decided to ignore it.

this scene was such an emotional rollercoaster—both for will and for the audience. but how on earth was mike feeling? i know there has been a ton of discussion around it but i wanted to add my two cents anyway.

in this scene, mike was more vulnerable with will than he has been with anyone in months—presumably more than a year. he admitted that he feels like some random nerd and that superman showed up on his doorstep. up until this point, will pretty much assumed that mike was so worried because he didn't know if his and el's relationship would survive the fight. but this is the moment where mike finally reveals his real insecurity—he feels like he's not enough. he feels like he got lucky that a superhero chose to be with him, but now his luck is finally running out, and he'll not be cool by association anymore—he'll just be mike again, and that, he feels, is not enough.

(sidebar: i think there's a point to be made here about codependency and defining his self worth by el's presence by his side and how it's interesting that will needs him because he's important to will but he needs el because he isn't sure of himself without her. and how this shows that their relationship isn't healthy. or something. but that's a different post altogether lol, and you guys have talked about it much more coherently)

basically, to put it mildly, he's in a lot of emotional distress in that scene. i think we gloss over it a tiny bit because will is going through such a devastating moment in his character arc, but yeah.

as if all these thoughts aren't overwhelming enough on their own though, something else happens—will gifts mike a painting. you don't need me to elaborate on how much that must mean to him. will, who used to give mike all his art, so much so that he had an entire book of it in season 1. but then they grew apart, and now they're trying to mend their friendship—and will gives him this? this is the first painting he's received from him in years!

and then he finds out el commissioned it. i don't think he sees this as a bad thing, but it's a bit weird to him because sharing art is a will-and-mike thing. but then will starts talking, telling him el thinks he's the heart. the heart. that not only is he enough—he's the core. he's central to her being okay. will is telling him exactly what he needs to hear in that moment—he's assuring mike that's he is needed while also ensuring that he keeps believing that he and el still have a future together. no wonder he looks so goddamn mesmerised.

and this is the reason why he didn't reach out to will. he heard him crying, but he was so choked up with emotion and a mixture of relief and gratitude and oh my god will art after so many months and you're the heart, that he didn't know what to say. he was feeling fragile. and because he didn't feel like he had anything left in him at that moment to comfort will, he just let him cry, leaving us to wonder if his head is full of air or rocks.

i think he feels at least little bit of guilt over it, by the way. we know he wants to be there for his friend and he wasn't in this moment, and we know that he's not easy on himself, so it doesn't feel like a stretch to believe that he would feel guilty. which is why he physically reaches out to comfort will in the cabin scene. i mean, strictly speaking, he didn't need to, just saying "we will" would have been enough. but this is the first time will is opening up to him in a long, long time, and he hadn't been able to be there for him the last time will needed him, and so we have

anyway, ik this was longer and ramblier than it needed to be but that's my take on all of it. i hope next season we get to see him come to terms with himself. and we know this but he's not a bad kid, like at all. just in pain.