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Karen Wheeler didn't speak a single word to her daughter or niece the entire drive home, which was never a good sign. The two teenagers knew that Karen had a lot more to say than 'get in the car', she was simply waiting to get home before she'd unleash fury on the both of them.

The second she pulled into the driveway and harshly yanked on the handbrake, Ringo and Nancy scuttled quickly out of the car, tripping over each other to get inside and to the safety of their room.

Karen, however, couldn't wait any longer until they were out of their neighbours hearing distance.

"I cannot believe you two!" She exploded, startling the girls enough to jump. Ringo's eyes were widened, standing behind Nancy as her cousin opened the door to the house.

Nancy had forced her way forward, but suddenly Ringo was too afraid to run away from Karen - thoughts of being kicked out or her parents being called springing to mind. So as Nancy marched forward through the house stubbornly with Karen hot on her tail, she stood to the side, ready to take her punishment as a woman.

"You both lied to the police!" Karen bellowed the second she slammed the door shut.

"I didn't lie," Nancy's voice cracked, further angering her mother. Ringo didn't dare speak a word, just following in the back quietly.

"How naive do you think I am?! You and Steve were just talking?" She reared around to face her niece, pointing an accusatory finger at her then. "You passed out because you were 'tired'? I knew it from the second you came home afterwards, I could smell the alcohol a mile away!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs Wheeler-" Ringo pleaded, heart hammering in her chest. Nancy finally stopped her mad dash through the house to face her mother.

"Fine! We slept together and Ringo got drunk! Is that what you want to know? Because it doesn't even matter!"

"It does matter!"

"No! It is all bullshit!" Nancy yelled back, her voice just as loud as her mother's. Ringo wondered where she got the balls to shout at her parents like that. "It has nothing to do with Barb and she's missing and something terrible happened to her, I know it! And no one is listening to me!"

Finally breaking down into tears, Nancy made a move again towards the stairs, filled with worry and guilt for her missing friend. Her breakdown softened her mother's approach, who tried to catch her arm and assure her that she was listening to her.

"I am listening to you, Nancy!" She pleaded, trying to keep her downstairs.

"No you're not!" Nancy spit back, breaking free from her grip and dashing upstairs.

"Nancy! Nancy!"

"Just leave me alone!"

When the door of her bedroom slammed shut, Karen covered her face with her hands, exhaustion starting to settle in. She barely remembered the other teenager in the room, who had been silent during the ordeal. The small sound of whimpering met her ears, and Karen lifted her head to see her niece crying quietly down the hallway, trying to keep quiet.

"Oh sweetie," Karen cooed, shuffling towards her and wrapping her arms around the blonde securely. Ringo hugged her back eagerly, desperate for a sense of security.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry- I didn't mean for anything bad to happen," she sobbed into the older woman's shoulder, who soothingly rubbed her back to calm her.

"Of course you didn't, I know that," she murmured to her.

"I drank because I wanted to feel comfortable with myself and I haven't felt like that since I got to Hawkins," her voice was hoarse from crying and occasionally her words stuttered from sobbing. "Please don't kick me out, I can't go back home."

"You're not getting kicked out," Karen squeezed her tighter. "Maybe it's all for the better, right? You would have got in trouble for underage drinking, anyway."

After a few moments, Ringo pulled away, wiping her cheeks quickly in embarrassment. It felt like she hadn't stopped crying lately, and for once she wanted to feel stronger than she was.

"Why don't you go and take a shower, and then we'll go out and bring back some take-out for tonight, how does that sound?" Karen cupped her cheeks, smiling warmly.

"Okay," she forced a smile, touched by her kindness. Karen Wheeler's actions were how every mother should have reacted to a child being upset, trying to understand the teenagers actions instead of jumping to blame them for it.

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A knock at her bedroom window caused her to gasp in surprise. Ringo shot up from her cot, tossing aside the comic book she had stolen from Mike. After flicking through one of them in the basement out of boredom one day, she had found herself addicted to the series, and occasionally rifled through his bedroom for the other issues. Mike had caught her one day, of course, completely freaking out about her shuffling through his bedroom.

Ringo huffed when she saw Steve Harrington's face through the glass, sliding the window up and raising her eyebrow at him.

"Nancy's not here," she told him, marching back to her cot and flopping down on top of it, bringing the comic book above her face again to read.

"What do you mean?" He asked in frustration, looking disappointed. Steve climbed through the window none the less, trying to be as quiet as he possibly could with his gangly limbs.

"She said she was out with a friend," the girl shrugged, flicking through another page, eyes skimming over the text and graphic images.

"We had a fight," Steve sighed, sitting down on Nancy's bed and scraping his hand through his mane of hair.

"What did you do?" Ringo asked knowingly.

"How do you know it was something I did?"

Ringo smirked and looked over at him, her face saying it all.

"Alright, it was my fault," he conceded, rolling his eyes. "She told the cops about the party at my house and I didn't want her to, because I didn't want to get in trouble."

"So you were like," Ringo sat up, deepening her voice suddenly to mimic him, "fuck Barb, Nancy! I don't want my parents cutting my allowance!"

"Hey," he groaned, tossing a stray pillow at her. "I came here to apologise to her. And then I was going to ask her to come to the game with me tonight."

"Well," Ringo shrugged and turned around onto her stomach, "like I said, she's not here."

Steve's head tilted suddenly, looking at the girl with a small smirk, her eyes narrowing upon noticing it.

"What?" She asked in suspicion.

"Why don't you come with me to the game?" He offered, her reaction was immediate and in the form of a snort.

"There are a million things I'd rather do. Like die, for example."

"Come on!" He huffed, throwing another pillow at her. This time, she caught it and launched it back, hitting him square in the face. "People are gonna start to think you're a loser if you never go out!"

"'People', meaning you and your friends?" She replied sassily.

"Look, it's either come out to the game, you can even get some popcorn or a hot dog or whatever, or stay here in your room reading..." he plucked the comic from her hands, ignoring her protests as he read the title, "Captain America. Really, Ringo?"

"Hey! I don't make fun of you and the bag of playboys you probably have stuffed into your seventh closet!"

"I don't have a-" he tried to deny, his face flushed suddenly, eliciting a loud laugh from Ringo. "I don't have seven closets."

"Okay, big bird," she stood up, smacking his bicep. "I'll go for the popcorn, but if I get bored and bail that's your own problem."

✵

"Come on! Goddamn it!" Ringo shouted at the top of her voice from the bleachers, Steve's eyes were wide as he looked towards the blonde next to him.

"I thought you didn't like football?" He questioned in confusion.

"I don't, I just wanted to fit in," she grinned, shrugging her shoulders and relaxing back into the seat, shovelling another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

Steve shook his head in laughter, bewildered sometimes by her behaviour. They watched quietly as another player from the opposing team body slammed a Hawkins player, immediately the crowd reacted in shouts of rage.

"Damn, this reminds me of back home," Ringo mused.

"Football?"

"No," she shook her head, "two guys pummelling each other."

"Okay," Steve murmured disbelievingly, engrossed by the game, "I bet you lived in a nice suburban home and only think you're poor because you have, like, two bathrooms," Steve brushed off jokingly, but Ringo didn't laugh.

"Nah, I lived in a trailer park actually," she commented casually, taking him off guard.

"O-oh," he stuttered, unsure of how to react.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. It's quite fun actually. You hear a rustle outside and most people would think it's the wind, but us trailer park people think 'damn, am I getting robbed again?'"

It was clear she was joking, but Steve wasn't sure if he should laugh - instead, he chose to change the subject.

"Hey, you really did break his nose," he barked a laugh when he caught sight of Daniel nearby behind them, pointing towards him for her to see too.

When she looked over her shoulder and saw his nose was covered in white tape, Ringo chuckled too, blowing on her fingers and then rubbing them on her shoulder, sassily.

"Oops! My hand slipped!" She beamed triumphantly and spoke in a childish voice. Steve continued to stare back, noticing that Daniel was now fully glaring at the back of her head. He then made eye contact with Steve, and did something he wouldn't have expected - smirked.

Ringo didn't see what was going on, trying to pay attention to the game as she shoved more popcorn into her mouth, but Steve did. He watched as Daniel suddenly lifted up his backpack and rifled through it, bringing out a picture and showing it to his friend beside him.

Steve's eyebrows furrowed as Daniel encouraged his neighbour to pass along the photograph, which then made its away along the line of students in that row. When it neared a parent or the end of the row, the person holding it would pass it downwards to the next row. Each of those who would see the picture, would instantly react by laughing loudly or widening their eyes in surprise, looking at Ringo and Steve with agape mouths.

Daniel was still smirking at Steve, making him think whatever image the picture held related directly to him.

Ringo noticed Steve's sudden distraction, turning her head and asking him innocently what was wrong.

"Nothing," he forced a smile, looking back toward the game but not really focusing on it this time around.

His revere was broken by a tap on his shoulder, Steve turned to look and saw a sophomore holding the photograph in question, a wide grin on his face. Against his better judgement, Steve took the photograph and inspected it, instantly grimacing.

"What is it?" Ringo asked, leaning over to get a look. Without hesitation, Steve ripped the photograph up into pieces, letting it drop to the ground beneath him. "What the hell?" She huffed in confusion.

"It's nothing, Ringo," he refuted, but she bent down anyway and picked a particularly larger torn piece up, her heart almost stopping as she instantly recognised what picture this originally was. The image had been burned into her mind for weeks now, making it easily familiar.

"Where did you get this?" She whispered, absolute shame filling her.

"Daniel was sending it around, Ringo..." he admitted quietly, feeling complete and utter pity for her. If the same thing had happened to him, he wouldn't have been able to handle it.

There was no denying the girl in the picture was Ringo, except she was showcased in a manner he had never seen her before - asleep on a bed and completely naked.

Out of nowhere, Ringo tossed her popcorn to the ground and turned around, stepping up onto the bench she was seated at and climbing up and over it. She continued her way up, shoving people mercilessly and climbing onto benches to reach Daniel, who was seated at the top row.

When she finally did reach him, she was practically shaking with anger, and Steve was only beginning to get up and follow her now, getting over the initial shock.

"You did this?" She spoke through gritted teeth, her shoulders rising and falling quickly and her fists clenched at her side.

"Bingo, Ringo!" He laughed, his amused expression falling for a second into one of shock. "Hey - Bingo, Ringo! That rhymes!"

His comment sparked laughter in the group surrounding him, even Ringo laughed along with him - although hers was entirely faked.

As the feigned grin fell from her face, without warning, she shot her fist out and hit his nose once more, hearing a crack as it was re-broken.

"Fuck, Ringo!" He howled in pain, clutching his nose that began to bleed once more. The break did nothing to ease her pain, so in an uncontrollable fit of rage, she launched at him, knocking him backwards against the wall at the top of the bleachers. Too in shock to react quickly, Ringo began to hit him in the face with her fists repeatedly. A cry rang out amongst the crowd, but no one attempted to pull her back. That was, until Steve had arrived.

Scooping his hands under her armpits, he completely hauled her into the air and away from Daniel, settling her beside him.

"Let it go, Ringo!" He shouted, trying to restrain her. Steve was surprised that she was able to do damage at all with how tiny her fists was, but he also knew now that Ringo didn't learn to fight in a Suburban, middle class neighbourhood like Daniel clearly had.

Ringo huffed and began to storm away from them, the crowd parting like a sea to allow her through, scared she would lash out on any of them.

"Fucking crazy slut!" Daniel shouted after her, while being helped off the ground by his friends surrounding him. Steve stopped before he chased after her, turning to Daniel and lifting his foot out - he kicked it against Daniel's chest to send him falling back against the wall, again.

"You so much as look at her again Ashford, and you're dead!" He threatened him, not waiting for a response before he darted off after the blonde.

He located her in the parking lot, waiting beside Steve's car, knowing full well he would have followed her and that it was fruitless to run home.

Steve approached her slowly, suddenly afraid she would snap at him for some reason. When she heard his feet rustling towards her, her head moved sharply up, seeing Steve approach her instantly calmed her down.

"I'm not a slut, okay?" She commanded, her arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face. Ringo's cheeks were as red as Steve's sweater.

"I know," Steve agreed, pushing forward towards her.

"Guys call girls sluts for doing the exact same thing as they do," she continued on in a rant. "I had sex with a guy, I get called a slut. You have sex with a girl and you get praised for it. It's fucking ridiculous."

"I know," Steve reached her, leaning against the side of the car next to her.

"A guy takes a picture of me, naked, after sex and suddenly it's my fault that he took the picture? Like I pressed the camera button while I was asleep?" She was shouting now, fuelled by rage and embarrassment.

"It's disgusting," Steve tried to soothe her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and hugging her from the side.

Ringo was quiet for a few moments, her voice dropping lower as her sadness overpowered her rage.

"That's the reason I was sent here."

"Because a guy took a photo of you?" Steve inhales sharply in disgust. It was hardly a fair punishment, not that she deserved any punishment at all.

"He didn't just take the picture. He printed the film and showed all of his friends. They made copies of it as a joke, and the next thing I know I'm walking into school with my naked body plastered on every locker and door in the building."

"Jesus, Ringo," he hissed with a shake of his head, feeling absolute anger and disgust at her situation. Nobody deserved to be put through that, but from what he knew of her, Ringo especially didn't.

She didn't reply, and the next few minutes were spent with him squeezing her shoulder and Ringo taking deep breaths to calm down. Deciding he would try and help, Steve attempted to make her laugh.

"So, which song on your mixtape was going through your head when you kicked his ass?" Steve brought up, smiling brightly when he managed to amuse her. Ringo started to chuckle.

"...Immigrant Song," she admitted, causing him to bellow in laughter. Steve clutched his stomach as he laughed, and eventually Ringo joined in, the two a mess of laughter in the empty parking lot.

"I'll give it to you, I was right to call you Ass Kicker," he shook his head, looking at her, full of amusement and underlying pity. "You ready to go home or is there anyone else on your hit list?"

"Hmm," she mused playfully, tapping her index finger against her chin. "Mrs Snider gave me a C, let's go fuck that bitch up."

Steve cackled in laughter again, opening the passenger door for her to climb inside and then retreating to his own, to drive her home.

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