splinters & leaves It's been two years, six months, and three days since the once-quiet town of Hawkins was evacuated in the wake of a 'natural disaster.' Our heroes remain, but Eleven can't move on.

13 of all the bread baskets (AU drabble.) April's never been great at reading social cues—much less romantic ones. But she's not about to divulge that information to a stranger she met five minutes ago because he sat at her dinner table by accident and accidentally hijacked her date. Problem is, he's charming and she's awkward.

14dear reader, sincerely yours (High school AU.) 17-year-old Mike Wheeler has never had much luck with girls he's interested in, but he's not helpless. In order to make some cash, Mike writes romantic love letters for money. It's completely harmless and nobody suspects a thing. But everything goes to shit when he gets paid to write a letter to his best friend, the girl he's totally in love with: El Hopper.

5 crushed velvet and winter sweats (Prompt: Christmas & presents.) "What are you thinking about?" Mike asks her. (Your hair. Your face. That soft hand-knitted blanket upstairs and the sweater you wore a few years ago.) [It's Christmas, and all El wants is one of Mike's sweaters.]

2 the only thing different (i've got you now) (Prompt: Reunion fic.) He had no way of knowing, she reminds herself. He'd vanished into thin air, disappeared into oblivion before she could even steal a final look at him. "I have her." She tells him, comforting, "And you've got me."

2 hope is an endless song (so kiss me for eternity) (Prompt: "basorexia" & "That's a lot of blood".) He reaches forward on instinct, running his hands through her hair, fingers slipping through her curls in adoration, "I can't get mad at you for wanting your dad back." (She hopes that maybe, if anything at all, she'll always have him. Hope is all she's ever had.)

3 have you ever seen the rain (or heard the clap of thunder) If you ask him to describe what rain smells like, Mike won't be able to. But he can explain in detail how wet tree bark feels when you lean against it, and what a rain-soaked t-shirt feels like against his skin. He could go on for hours about the taste of November rain on his lips as thunder follows him home, a stranger's hands clutching at his shoulders for support. [Drabble.]

30 everyone who knows me, knows i love » El Hopper is surprised to find herself the center of attention when — after forgetting her cell phone in the locker rooms — her private texts with a contact known only as 'Waffle Boy' are posted all over the school. It doesn't take long for rumors to start spreading, and soon enough everybody is trying to unmask her mystery boyfriend. / Longer summary inside. (Three-shot.)

5 if we're unmade when the stars fade (Prompt: Raindrops on eyelashes and the creak of leather.) The last thing she expects to see that night is a rain-soaked, sobbing seventeen-year-old boy stood on her front doorstep. But he's there; her boyfriend with the unruly hair, her favorite person, her Mike Wheeler.

2 you're in the wind, you're on my mind (Paperman AU. Oneshot.) When down-on-his-luck Mike Wheeler meets the girl of his dreams by chance, he crafts a fleet of paper airplanes in order to catch her attention.