✵

It was another hour before they had arrived home on foot, completed with Ringo stopping their journey once to physically cry. She had told Nancy that it was all down to her shoes pinching her feet like before, but there was a sadness in her eyes that her cousin picked up on. It made her curious about what Ringo could possibly have to be so upset about, and if something had happened today or if the alcohol had brought it out in her.

Nancy had teared up herself when relaying the details of the last few hours to Ringo, completely embarrassed to reveal that Steve had been cold after they had lay together, and how much she regretted it.

Ringo had wrapped her arm securely around Nancy and held her close as they walked, listening to every word she said.

"Nancy, this isn't on you at all," Ringo murmured, resting her cheek against the top of the smaller girl's head.

"But you and Barb warned me this would happen, that he would use me and I didn't listen," she cried into her shoulder blade, thanking god it was dark out and the streets were empty.

"It doesn't matter, he knew that you expected more and if he wants nothing more to do with you then he should have relayed that to you before having sex with you," Ringo argued back softly, squeezing her tightly. "And hey, who knows, maybe he'll call tomorrow, you know? Maybe he isn't a dickhead and maybe he won't completely bail."

Nancy shook her head in disbelief, but stayed quiet nonetheless.

They sighed collectively in relief when the Wheeler house came into view, but were also filled with the sudden fear that they would be punished for being out four hours past curfew.

Nancy opened the door gently, Ringo slipping quietly in behind her. They attempted to be as silent as possible but to no avail, as Karen was already awake and waiting for them, revealing herself by turning the lights on.

"Jesus, you scared me," Nancy gasped.

"Oh, I scared you?" Karen spit back, eyes wide with anger.

"I know, we should have called."

"Where have you two been?" She talked loudly, but not loud enough to wake her other children asleep upstairs. "We agreed on ten!"

"After the assembly, some people wanted to go get something to eat," Nancy made up an excuse, as she always did when talking to her mother lately. "I didn't think it'd be a big deal."

It was a lie and Mrs Wheeler knew it, all she had to do was take note of both of their tearstained cheeks, Ringo's complete silence and the distinct smell of beer.

"What, you didn't think to call and let me know? With everything that's been going on?!"

"We didn't realise how late it was, Mrs Wheeler," Ringo cut in, her voice tiny, "I'm really sorry."

"I'm sorry, mom, what more do you want?" Nancy huffed, moving off towards the stairs to make yet another dramatic exit.

"Wait," she stopped her, putting her hand out, "who's sweatshirt is that?"

Ringo's eyes widened dramatically and Nancy completely froze up.

"Steve's..." she murmured quietly.

"Steve's," her mother repeated.

"Oh boy, Steve," Ringo whispered.

"So is Steve your boyfriend now?" Mrs Wheeler pressed, looking to her with a raised eyebrow for an answer.

"What? No! It was just cold so I borrowed his sweatshirt! It's no big deal."

"Ringo's in a skirt and you don't see her borrowing clothes from other guys," Nancy rolled her eyes at her mother's comment and turned to march back upstairs. "Nancy?" She began again, her voice much softer now. "You can talk to me. You can talk to me about whatever happened."

"Nothing happened."

Ringo looked down at her feet sadly, sometimes Nancy didn't realise how great her family were. She longed for a mother who would have offered to listen to her heartbreaks.

Karen let out a small sigh when Nancy continued on upstairs, turning around to Ringo, who was still stood at the bottom.

"Look, Ringo," she began, taking a few steps down to be at eye-level. "We welcomed you into this family with open arms. But I'm not going to let you get my daughter into the same trouble you got into."

Ringo recoiled at her words, shame and hurt filling her body and watering her eyes. She nodded her head quickly, trying to hold back another sob until she was away from her prying eyes and rushing upstairs and straight into the bathroom, to cry her heart out.

✵

The next day, school dragged on dreadfully.

Ringo was stood at her locker, shuffling through her books to retrieve her notebook for the next class. By chance, her eyes caught onto Nancy down at the end of the hall, at her own locker.

Nancy wasn't alone of course, she was sharing a kiss with Steve. Ringo smiled at the sight, thankful that Nancy hadn't been used and dumped like she so feared she was going to be. Her smile began to fade as her sadness set in, and she wished suddenly that she had someone who would treat her like she wasn't worthless, too.

"Hey, Ringo," a voice sounded from beside her, startling her enough to jump.

"Oh, hey Daniel," she greeted politely, closing her backpack and shutting the locker door, leaning against it to look at him.

"So, this is really forward," he made a funny face, causing her to chuckle, "but I'd like to get to know you better. How about we go see a movie tonight? Your choice?"

Ringo would have declined, really. If she hadn't seen Steve and Nancy just moments before that, and hadn't been egged on by her slight, underlying jealousy of her cousin.

"Sure, that sounds great," she smiled brightly, causing him to beam in return.

"Awesome. You're staying at the Wheelers, right?"

"I am, yes."

"Pick you up around eight?"

"I'll see you then," she waved as he started to back away, a sense of hope renewed in her.

"Did my ears just fail me, or are you going on a date with Daniel Ashford?" Her best friends voice cut in behind her, causing her to whirl around and smile excitedly.

"Yes! Isn't it great?"

"Define great," Jessica cringed.

"He's not that bad, is he?" She teased, unable to keep the smile off of her face.

"Well let me see, long haired white boy with bright blue eyes and a pretty smile," she mused, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder lightly. "Boy, you are screwed."

✵

Later that day, the final bell had rung at last, and Ringo was heading towards the parking lot towards Steve's car so he could give her and Nancy their daily ride home.

The small smile on her lips had yet to leave, however when she approached Steve's car and noticed a scene happening, it was quick to fall.

Jonathan was standing facing the group, his bag being tossed between Tommy and Steve carelessly.

"Hey!" She shouted, running over to the group and ready to intervene. "The fuck is going on?"

"You're right in time, Ringo," Steve surprised her by grinning as he reached into Jonathan's bag and began to rifle through it.

"What are you doing? Give him the bag back or so help me god-" Jonathan was trembling next to her, and she was suddenly furious at the man she thought was coming close to being her friend.

"Here we go," Steve ignored her, whipping out a pile of something she couldn't see from his bag.

"Put it back, doucheface," she threatened, moving forward to approach him.

"Oh look, Ringo, here's one of you!" He exclaimed, causing her eyebrows to furrow in frustration and confusion.

Steve handed a printed photograph towards Ringo, it was blurry and taken at night, but the setting was remarkably familiar. It took her a second to realise that the girl in the centre of the picture, who had her arms raised in the air and was grinning happily, was in fact herself.

"What is this?" She looked over to Jonathan, who looked nothing short of mortified.

Carol stepped forward and took a handful of photographs that Steve had handed to Tommy, looking them over before scoffing.

"Yeah, this isn't creepy at all!"

Ringo hated to admit, but for once she agreed with her. The situation was all too familiar for her, and her heart raced with fury - this time, directed at Jonathan.

"Why would you do this?" She asked with gritted teeth.

He shook his head lightly, swallowing harshly, it was clear he felt guilty and ashamed but at that minute, his emotions didn't matter to her.

"I was looking for my brother," he stammered, causing her to wince in disappointment. She snatched the pictures from Steve and flipped through them all, hoping that there was none of her in a revealing manner.

"No," Steve refuted, "this is called stalking."

Ringo continued to search desperately, thankfully, there were only two more where she was in the picture - one where she was smiling softly, a lit cigarette in hand, and the other taken through a window, where Steve kneeled next to her sleeping figure on the couch and was gently touching something on her face.

She lingered on this picture, wondering when it could have possibly been taken, and why Steve was doing that in the first place.

Nancy had finally arrived, much to Jonathan's horror. She watched as her group of friends were stood with Jonathan, matching expressions of judgement and disgust. To her surprise, that included Ringo.

"What's going on?" She asked curiously, looking at each of them for an answer.

"Here's the starring lady!" Tommy grinned.

"Alright, guys enough. I don't want to see these any more," Ringo tried to stop the show there, shoving the pictures back into Steve's hands and leaning against the trunk of his car, her eyes on her feet as memories swirled through her head relentlessly.

"This creep was spying on us last night," Carol ignored her, exposing him.

Nancy looked back to Jonathan for an answer, clutching her bag tighter.

"He was probably gonna save this one for later," Carol handed Nancy a photograph from her pile. Ringo saw it from the side of her eye, her stomach turning again. It was Nancy, of course. But she was in the middle of getting undressed, her bra and back on show.

"See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong," Steve teased, moving up to stand in front of Jonathan, "but man, that's the thing about perverts. It's hard wired into them, they just can't help themselves."

Steve began to rip the pictures up, letting the pieces sprinkle onto the ground before turning around and reaching for Jonathan's bag.

"We'll just have to take away his toy."

"No," Jonathan began to beg, moving forward to retrieve it himself, "please no, not the camera."

Tommy stepped up, ready to fight Jonathan off, but was ultimately stopped by Steve.

"No, no, wait man, it's okay," he smiled softly, holding out Jonathan's camera towards him. "Here you go."

Jonathan sighed in relief and stepped forward to reach for it, but Steve had played with him, and let it drop from his fingers, hitting the ground with a definitive crack.

Ringo looked away, trying to force down the pity she felt after witnessing his broken expression.

"Come on, lets go," Steve gestured towards the car, heading towards the drivers side and ready to head home.

Ringo pushed off the car, unable to help herself as she marched up to Jonathan, her finger pointed angrily at the ground beneath her.

"You might want to change your direction, next time," she seethed, "because this?" Ringo kicked the piece of ripped photograph that showcased Nancy's near-naked body. "This can ruin people's fucking lives."

"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, face reddened with humiliation.

"I thought we could have been friends," she told him honestly, Jonathan visibly deflating at her words as she turned and began to march home, calling over her shoulder that she was walking.

✵

"Where are you going?" Nancy asked her friend curiously, watching as she applied her lipstick in the mirror with care.

"On a date," Ringo snapped close her lipstick and smiled in the mirror, hyping herself up.

"A date?" Nancy laughed, "with who? You've been to school for like a week and you already have a date!"

"Daniel Ashford," Ringo beamed excitedly, practically bouncing on her feet.

"Daniel Ashford," Nancy's eyes widened, "he's like one of the most popular guys in school, Ringo!"

"I don't give a shit about that, he's cute. And he seems nice, so," Ringo fluffed her hair and tugged her coat up her arms.

"What are you going to tell mom?" Nancy followed her out of their bedroom and down the stairs.

"I told her already that I was going on a date, she was actually excited for me, maybe you should try a little honesty sometimes!" Ringo winked at Nancy, almost skipping downstairs as the time neared closer to eight.

"Well... have fun?" She offered, watching with furrowed brows as Ringo waved and rushed out the door, the sound of a horn beeping outside ringing out.

Nancy had never seen Ringo like this, so excited over meeting a boy. It confused her, but perhaps it was just a new side to her she never got to witness.

"Hi," Ringo greeted happily as she slid into his passenger seat. Daniel hummed and gave her a once-over, smirking and clearly satisfied with her appearance.

"Hey, babe. You ready to go?" He asked, she nodded eagerly as he started to reverse out of the drive.

"What movies are our options?" Ringo asked, assuming they were going to the theatre.

"The only movie playing tonight is The Shining, is that alright?" He answered, expecting her to recoil at the name.

"No, I love horror movies," she beamed, surprising him. Ringo was slightly confused that there was only a single movie playing that night, but perhaps the cinema in Hawkins simply didn't have multiple showings like her local theatre back home did.

Ringo soon realised what he meant, however, when he pulled in at the entrance of a drive-in movie park, her smile noticeably dimming. There was only one reason guys took girls to these types of showings, and it wasn't to 'get to know them'.

She tried to push that voice in her head aside, telling herself that if Steve didn't treat Nancy like that, maybe Daniel would be different from the boys in Orlando as well.

He paid for their entrance, and parked the car towards the back of the lot. The car was silent, awkwardly so, with them both shuffling to get comfortable as the film began to play.

"You want to sit in the back instead?" He offered, but she was skeptical, so he explained himself. "It's just more comfortable."

"Um, sure!" She accepted, following his lead and getting out of the car, re-entering through the back to sit there instead.

"So, how are you finding Hawkins?"

"It's a little boring," she scrunched her nose up, "but I like the people here, and I love spending time with my cousins."

"Do you miss Orlando? And your old school?"

"Not really," she looked down for a second, glad to be away from the shit show she had left.

"I have a cousin of my own that lives in Orlando as well, he goes to Richard Brady high school," at his words, Ringo completely froze, her face paled entirely.

"His name is Hank Sanders, you know him?" He continued, and her stomach began to turn in fear. She couldn't form words, just a shake of her head. "Really? Because he knows you."

Ringo reached out and grabbed the door handle, ready to leave and run away from him. It was clear by now that he knew what happened in Orlando.

"Wait!" He stopped her, gently grabbing her arm, she whipped her head around, her eyes furious as she looked at him for a response. "I just wanted to tell you that, so you know that I don't judge you."

Her eyes narrowed further in suspicion, brows scrunching together as she tried to figure out the man in the back seat with her.

"It's true, I don't care about it. Nor do I judge you for it, okay?" He looked at her with raised eyebrows, and as much as her gut told herself not to, she couldn't help but believe him.

"Okay," Ringo whispered, closing the door and settling back into the seat, Daniel's arm dropping his grip on here and wrapping around her shoulders.

After a while, she could feel his eyes boring into the side of her face, but Ringo was too nervous all of a sudden to look at him and let the inevitable happen.

After a few more minutes, Daniel huffed impatiently and gripped her cheeks, forcing her head to face towards him and smashed his lips against hers.

Ringo squeaked at the contact, hitting his arms to get him away. He refused to listen, moving his lips forcefully against her own, trying to get the response he wanted.

She eventually managed to break him away by squeezing her leg up and pushing her foot against his chest to get him back. His eyes turned from lustful to anger really quickly, moving forward again and shoving her foot aside.

Reacting out of fear, Ringo shot the heel of her palm out and made contact with the tip of his nose, hearing a small crunch as a result. Her eyes widened in horror as blood began to drip down from his nostrils.

Ringo whirled around and opened the door once more, scrambling to get out of the car and sprinting as hard as she could away from the parking lot.

✵

Having no choice but to walk home, Ringo cried and cried until her eyes were red and her cheeks were soaked. She was sure she looked insane to the cars passing by, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Shuffling her coat tighter around herself, she trudged forward, desperate to get home. Shame and fear had filled her entire body. Her life in Florida had followed her here, threatening to ruin her life as it did there.

Too indulged in self pity and self hatred, she barely noticed a car pulling in on the side of the road ahead of her. When she noticed it, she stopped in her step, scared that it could have been Daniel again.

Upon further inspection, she breathed in relief at seeing the car was black, instead of navy - as Daniel's had been. Even worse though, it was a car she knew well.

Ringo kept her head down, walking even faster, eager to move past Steve Harrington before he could see her broken appearance.

"Ringo!" He called through the open window. "You need a ride?"

She shook her head, not even daring to look to prevent him from seeing her face.

"No,thanks!" She called back, cringing upon hearing her own voice - which was raspy and hoarse.

Steve's expression twisted in confusion, believing that Ringo was mad at him for a second, despite making a truce with her the night before.

He creeped the car forward slowly, keeping up with her pace of walking.

"You sure you don't want a ride? You'd be the first to die in a horror movie!" He joked with an easy grin, the car still slithering along the side of the road.

She ignored him this time, still walking along.

"Ringo, come on!" He yelled again, giving her one last chance. Steve sighed when she finally gave in and turned to the car, opening the door and climbing inside roughly.