>>149998229
"Needing to be Needed," I have long argued, makes sense for Mike. To me, for the longest time, it seemed that Mike did not know what to do with himself without someone else to take care of. First there was Lucy who needed rescuing from all her traumas and flaws, then Sandy whose life needed a source of teenage normality. Then of course there's the way he was ever happy to help whoever else needed it. Once Sandy started ghosting Mike, he found himself with nothing else to do, the sense that he was being taken for granted--something that already pissed him the hell off when Lucy did it--and those both obviously got to him. Now, come James, I'm not sure if that trend still holds. Mike still certainly wants a special someone, but he seems to have just plain enjoyed his time with James. Plus Sandy "needs" Mike but he doesn't seem too interested in her anymore.

Lucy, on the other hand...I don't think she fits the Needs to be Needed template. All she seems to want are endless asspats and to be loved for who she is (good fucking luck). How critical she is to the other person does not appear to be something she cares about at all.
Then there are other characters like Paulo and Daisy who just seem like the usual insecure teenagers in search of validation. Daisy did not even value her relationship with Abbey all that much, and he was someone who definitely needed her a whole lot more than Paulo ever has.