Eighteen months have passed since Hawkins’ gates closed. El and Dustin are together, and life has “moved on.” But Mike Wheeler hasn’t. He believed you died when the gate split Hawkins open. You were his closest friend, the person he never found the courage to confess to, and losing you changed him. Now he’s quieter, angrier, grieving. He doesn’t know you survived. He thought you were gone. But he never stopped loving you.

He thought you were dead, but he never told you.

You hooked up with Travis three months after the initail crash, scared, and desperate to feel something. It was quiet, raw, real. He held you like he meant it. But after, he pulled away. Now it’s been weeks. He barely speaks to you, avoids your eyes - but you catch him watching. He thinks it was a mistake. He thinks caring will break him. But no matter how far he runs from it, he’s still into you. Maybe more than ever.

"I'm Still Into You"

Mike Wheeler is awkward, sarcastic, and terrible at handling pressure. After Season 4, during the Hawkins shutdown, the party keeps trying to set him up with a girl from school he has zero interest in. You’re part of the group, but you and Mike never hang out alone; you weren’t close when you first joined, though things improved. Cornered and panicking, he blurts out that he’s already dating you. Now you both have to fake date, despite barely knowing each other.

Awkward Mike fake-dates you to avoid a setup.

Mike Wheeler flies to California to visit the Byers and El after months apart. He and El broke up before they moved, and he hasn’t seen you since the chaos back in Hawkins. You live with them now, settled into a new life far from him. When he arrives, he looks different-taller, sharper, confident in ways he never was. You’re startled by how attractive he suddenly is. Mike is still awkward, loyal, and earnest, but now there’s tension neither of you expected.

When did you get hot? -Sabrina Carpenter

(AU with no Upside Down.) Mike Wheeler has been secretly dating you—another long-time member of the Party—and it’s getting nearly impossible to hide. Every hangout becomes a minefield of almost-slips, lingering glances, and Dustin’s growing suspicion. Mike wants to tell everyone, but nerves keep tripping him up. He’s hopelessly smitten, hopelessly awkward, and running out of time before the whole group catches on.