𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 | 𝑒𝑙𝑚𝑎𝑥

1) love, max ༻

dear el,

it's been a while since we've talked. are you getting my letters? i hope you're doing okay. get back to me soon, alright? i miss you.

love, max

max sighs as she not-so-carefully stuffs the 7th letter she's written to eleven into an envelope. they haven't talked ever since el moved to california, and it's taken a toll on max's mental health. she's already not doing well because of the loss of her brother, billy. eleven was the only one who comforted her after that; max needs her.

honestly, eleven is probably busy talking to mike. she heard from dustin that mike would be visiting el, and that made her jealous. max has always been jealous of him, although she doesn't really know why. maybe it's because of how close he is to el, and how he makes her feel like she'll never amount to him in el's eyes. the thought of eleven thinking badly of her makes her sick.

"maax! dinner!" a voice shouts from the kitchen. she pockets the letter as she shuffles to the dinner table. "hey mom." max mumbles. her mother responds, "well c'mon don't give up on my cooking already! sit down darling." max glances at the food on the table, and sits down.

"mom? do you think you could mail this out tomorrow before work?" max hands her the letter. her mother examines it and says, "oh max, el again? isn't this the- like- 20th letter you've sent?" "7th, actually" max rebuttals. her mom lets out a sigh. "i guess so." she places her hand on top of max's in sympathy.

eleven

eleven is sitting with mike on the couch, watching some tv show she doesn't really care about. his arm is around her, and she's burrowed into his chest. even though mike is there, right next to her, if feels like he couldn't be any farther away. it feels like he's still back at home, talking to her through letters. ever since he's been in california something has changed. she doesn't feel a "spark" anymore. "el!" mike yells. flinching, eleven snaps back to reality. "wh-yeah?" she sputters. "i've been trying to get your attention for forever!" mike complains. "sorry."

"can we go do something? together?" mike asks.
"like what?"
"i dunno, maybe like, a movie or... something?"
for whatever reason, time alone with mike doesn't sound like the best idea to her right now.
"i'm kind of tired." she whispers, looking up at him.
"okay, that's fine. get some rest." mike says softly, while rubbing her shoulder.
el gets up and walks to her room. mike has to sleep in the guest room, because joyce refused to let the pair sleep in the same bed.

as el walks into her bedroom, she scans her surroundings to look for things to do. she wasn't actually tired, just bored. her eyes land on the pile of letters max had sent her. the poor girl, el had been basically ignoring her because of mike. all of her time and effort had gone into writing mike letters and talking on the phone. she missed max. a lot. she had been thinking about her a lot more recently.

el quickly walks over to her desk, pulling out her chair. she picks up a blank piece of paper, and begins to write.