✵

and needless to say, the entire household held a dark tone to it.

Nancy and Ringo were getting ready in their shared bedroom, donning their clothes and preparing themselves to look appropriate.

"You know," Ringo began randomly, disrupting the silence of the bedroom, "one time down in the basement a few years ago - I came to visit for the weekend, remember? Anyways, I dressed up as Princess Leia or something, and the boys had to all run around and save me. At the end of the day, Dustin brought cookies for everyone that his mom made for the gang. There wasn't enough for me but I didn't mind, but Will split his cookie and made me take half. He said that we were friends now and that friends should always look after each other."

Nancy looked down after hearing the anecdote, a sad expression on her face.

"I mean, I know it's a stupid story," Ringo shook her head with a soft smile, "but he was just such a great kid. Like if that was my brother I'd have been so proud."

"He was really nice," Nancy admitted, embarrassed that she had barely gotten to know her brother's friend recently. As she grew older, she strayed away from the group in her desperate attempts to appear like an adult.

"I can't help but think that I should have walked them home or something, I'm seventeen now. I should have walked them all home to make sure they were safe."

Nancy inhaled sharply, knowing how much more dangerous the world was now, something she had yet to tell her cousin about.

"You can't blame yourself, Ringo," she reached out and gripped the blonde's forearm in comfort. "He rode his bike home every night he came here. You couldn't possibly have predicted this would happen."

Ringo nodded, smiling softly in gratitude at the younger girl.

"By the way," Ringo sighed, knowing she couldn't put off this conversation any longer. "You should probably know, it might damage your reputation a little to hang around with me for a while."

"Why?" Nancy frowned.

Releasing another breath, Ringo sat down on the large bed aside her cousin and relayed the story to her - the events that happened in Orlando and what happened the night before. It was something she hadn't disclosed before, only Nancy's parents knew.

"Wow," Nancy whispered, speechless, her eyes wide with surprise by the end of the story. She felt nothing but sympathy. "Ringo, that isn't your fault, you have to know that."

Wordlessly, she reached around and hugged her tightly, Ringo took a second's pause before returning her hug with equal force.

"God," Nancy huffed, leaning back and narrowing her eyes into the distance. "I'm gonna kick Daniel's ass so hard."

"What are you gonna do?" Ringo barked a laugh, "read your encyclopaedia to him until he dies of boredom?"

"Hey!" Nancy protested, shoving her lightly on the shoulder.

"Oh, Daniel! I'm going to recite the entire periodic table for that! There's hydrogen, then lithium, then beryllium..." she trailed off as her laughter intensified, Nancy joining in her amusement - mainly because of how high Ringo made her voice to mimic her.

"We shouldn't laugh, it's a serious day," Ringo's face dropped, all essence of humour gone except for a twitch in her cheek.

"You're right," Nancy stopped laughing and followed suit. But all it took was for the two cousins to make eye contact before they were laughing once more.

✵

The funeral ceremony was as hard as one would expect, Ringo supposed that not many people would have been able to attend a funeral of a young boy and come out without being completely affected.

She stood with the Wheelers, Nancy and her with their elbows hooked around the others for support, like they did when they were children.

Ringo's eyes couldn't help but continuously drift towards the Byers, feeling absolute pity for them and what they must have been going through - but not wanting to stare all the same. She remarked upon Jonathan, who looked as broken as ever next to his mother. Despite all that had happened between the two, she wished she was there to comfort him as a friend. Were they ever even friends?

When the procession ended and it came time to leave the grave, as was customary, the attendees approached Will's family to offer condolences. Will's father being the only one to actually greet anyone, understandably.

Ringo couldn't help but approach Jonathan as Karen spoke to Will's father, tapping him lightly on the shoulder to get his attention.

Jonathan turned in confusion, his face falling instantly upon seeing the blonde behind him.

"O-oh, hi Ringo.." he murmured softly, fearful of her reasoning for talking to him.

"I just wanted to say that- um..." she trailed off awkwardly, before throwing caution to the wind and stepping forward to wrap her arms around him tightly.

It took him a moment to respond, but when he did, he wrapped his arms around her too - albeit confusedly.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled against his shoulder, pulling away and giving him the smallest of smiles in politeness. The gesture looked as if it had meant something to him, and for that - she was glad.

As Ringo stepped aside, desperate to not be overbearing, she noticed that Nancy and him shared a simple nod with each other. The nod wasn't what had caught her attention - rather the look in Nancy's eyes as she did it. As if they shared a secret.

As they began to walk back to the car, Nancy stopped suddenly in her step, her thumb pointing over her shoulder.

"You know what, I think I'm gonna stay behind and talk to Jonathan. He needs a friend right now," she forced a smile as she began to walk backwards.

"Of course, sweetie," Karen had agreed, but Ringo's eyes were narrowed. Since when had Jonathan and Nancy become close pals?

There was something her cousin was hiding from her, and she was determined to find out what.

✵

"Ringo!" Karen called through the house. The blonde, who was laying on her cot asleep in a nap, awakened with a jolt. She ran her hand down her face, rubbing her eyes with her forefingers to waken up before she could answer.

"What?"

"Phone!" Ringo huffed as she got off of her bed, sitting on Nancy's instead so she could reach the phone that sat on her bedside locker.

Picking it up, she brought it to her ear, hesitantly - afraid it had been one of her parents.

"Hello?" She mumbled, still tired from her disrupted nap.

"Get ready, we're going to see a movie," a voice sounded from the other end, instantly recognisable.

"Steve?"

"No it's David Bowie," he drawled sarcastically. "Yes it's Steve!"

"What did you want?" She asked again, suddenly feeling more alert. For what reason, she was unsure of.

"I said we're going to see a movie. Nancy said she can't come, so you're my back up."

"Gee, thanks!" Ringo rolled her eyes, wondering where her godforsaken cousin had eloped to that day - she hadn't been seen since the funeral. "Why don't I just go ahead and carry you and Nancy's children now too, seeing as I'm basically already carrying this relationship!"

"Come on," he groaned. "She's being weird with me, I just want to go out with a friend and forget about the fact my girlfriend doesn't want to see me and almost hit me with a baseball bat."

"Yeah, she really needs to work on her aim."

"Ringo!"

"Fine," she moaned, dragging herself off of the bed and shoving the phone back down onto the receiver, retreating to her pile of clothes still packed inside of her suitcase to get ready.

✵

"I can't believe you're making me see All the Right Moves," Ringo whined once again from the seat next to Steve, shoving another handful of popcorn into her mouth, messily dropping two pieces down onto her lap.

The entire cinema screening was almost empty - save for Ringo and Steve, and three more lone stragglers scattered throughout the cinema.

"Oh, come on, it's amazing!" He held his hand out to the screen in exasperation. "Besides, everyone thinks I look like Stefan."

"Everyone's right, you do look like a douchebag," she grinned widely and innocently, turning her head to the side to look up at him. Despite it being an insult, he couldn't help but laugh at her goofy expression.

"You're annoying," he rolled his eyes then, lifting his hand and shoving her head lightly, messing up her hair.

"This movie is such a cliché! Like, a small town guy who wants to get away from his hometown because it's so boring," Ringo poked fun while she attempted to fix her hair, but upon spotting Steve's cringe - realised then why he liked the movie so much.

"What's your favourite movie then? Hmm?" He turned back on her, ready to make her the object of his humour.

"Halloween," she said without hesitation. His eyes narrowed in defeat, actually approving of her choice.

As the film progressed, with Ringo steadily ignoring it, she began to think about her life in Hawkins. She came to realise how close she and Steve had gotten since she first arrived, the difference in how she felt around him was truly remarkably, feeling even somewhat comfortable instead of disgusted. If someone had told her when they went to the bonfire that weeks later her and Steve would be close friends and regularly hang out - she would have laughed in their face. But now, it was almost too easy for them to be friends.

"So, hey. What's Nancy doing tonight?" Steve asked suddenly, nervous for her answer in case it counteracted Nancy's earlier excuse about being busy with family.

"I don't know, she's been weird all day. Why?"

"I just feel like she didn't want to hang out with me," Steve shrugged, looking visibly saddened by his theory.

"Why wouldn't she want to?" Ringo pressed, feeling out of sorts. Comforting others was a strong suit for her, but comforting Steve Harrington?

"Maybe she's just not that interested," he shrugged offhandedly, trying to appear nonchalant about the idea.

"Well, if she was - and I don't think that's the case, by the way - that's just something she can't help. We can't always control who we like, and it's nobody's fault for that, you know?" Ringo tried to explain as softly as possible, but Steve only answered her in the form of a nod of his head to show he heard her.

"Besides," she reached over and ruffled his perfectly styled hair, shivering as her hand made contact with his hair gel. "She'd be silly to not like a guy with as much hair gel as you do. You could build her a house and stick the bricks together by rubbing your hair on them."

"You're such an asshole," he laughed nonetheless, earning a reproachful look from another cinema-goer.

"She's going through a lot too, I mean Barb was her best friend and now she's lost her."

"You're right," he agreed, still looking somewhat downtrodden. Without warning, Steve grabbed her box of popcorn out of her hands and started to dig in.

"Hey!" She whisper-shouted, reaching for the box once more and attempting to tug it back, but Steve wouldn't allow it.

Eventually they were fully engaged in a tug-of-popcorn, trying to quiet their giggling but failing miserably. The game ended up with the popcorn falling to the ground, its entire contents spilling out onto the ground.

"Steve!" Ringo groaned, looking down at the now speckled floor with an exasperated expression.

"Ringo!" He mimicked her, breaking the two into laughter once more. They were interrupted by a sudden bright light being directed at their faces, and a theatre worker's voice to accompany it

"You two! Out!"

✵

"What time is it?" Ringo questioned anxiously as Steve rolled his car into the Wheeler driveway.

"It's..." he paused to check his watch, "ten after eleven."

"Shit," she cursed flicking her hand through her hair and biting her lower lip. "I was supposed to be back at ten. I'm gonna be murdered."

"So climb through the window," he shrugged, as if it was an easy solution.

"The fuck I look like? Curious George?" She huffed, opening the car door and inhaling deeply, drawing on her cousins lying skills for her upcoming conversation with Karen Wheeler.

"Oh for god's sakes," Steve rolled his eyes, following suit and stepping out of the car. "I'll help you up."

Ringo watched with widened eyes as Steve dragged himself up onto the lower levelled roof, stepping carefully but expertly. When he was on the roof next to Nancy's window, he gestured for Ringo to follow.

"I can't do that!" She whisper shouted, weary of the Wheeler parents probably being awake. "I have the same upper body strength as Scooby Doo!"

"Well," Steve sighed exasperatedly, "at least Scooby Doo was cute!"

Ringo gasped loudly, her jaw dropping to open her mouth in insult. "You take that back!"

"Why don't you come on up here and make me?" He gestured to his feet, situated next to the water spout. When he broke into a wide smile, she suddenly realised what he was playing at.

"Oh, you're good," she looked at him with narrowed eyes, before shoving all of her hair into a ponytail using a hair tie surrounding her wrist. "Let's do this."

Ringo clapped her hands once for motivation, then proceeding to step up onto the bench against the wall as Steve had done. With her new elevated height, Steve hung his hand down towards her, for her to grab.

"Grab on, Scooby."

Ringo slipped her hand into his, the feeling of his larger hand surrounding hers feeling entirely foreign, making her realise with a pang of surprise that this was probably the first time she had ever held a boys hand, and it wasn't even done properly. Any of the boys she had been with had never tried to be sweet with her.

Using all of his strength, Steve dragged Ringo up onto the roof, with the blonde using her feet against the wall to propel herself upward.

When she finally reached the safety of the roof, they broke into a round of silent giggles, faces red from the exertion and the ridiculousness their newfound friendship consisted of.

"You weren't actually that heavy, must be because your head is so empty," he joked, his hands behind her in case she fell backward as she stepped towards the window.

"Well, I know your head is definitely heavy with the ten tubs of hair gel you apply daily," she fired back, a smirk playing with her lips. Ringo gripped onto the window sill and reached to grab the window itself, attempting to shimmy it upwards. However, a sight inside made her halt.

"What is it?" Steve asked, noticing her hesitation. His voice snapped her out of it, and suddenly she was desperate to get inside and prevent him from seeing.

"Nothing!" She replied, her voice all too high to be believable.

"Come on!" Steve groaned, following after her when she slipped quietly inside the bedroom. Ringo stepped quickly, standing in front of the window to block his view of the bed.

Steve reached his hand in and shoved her to the side lightly, lips still upturned in amusement, not sure what to expect. His smile quickly dropped upon realising what she was hiding him from seeing.

"What the-?" He whispered, overcome with shock at the sight of his very own girlfriend, the same girlfriend who told him she was too busy tonight to see him, laying in bed next to Jonathan Byers.

"Steve..." Ringo murmured, shuffling towards him to try and calm him down.

"No it's okay," he replied quietly, not giving her a chance to say anything more to him as he scampered back down the roof to escape to his car.

Ringo watched him from the window, a grimace on her face out of pity. Steve had his moments, but she truly believed he was a good boyfriend to Nancy, and didn't deserve that.

She turned around then to look at her cousin, absolutely baffled. Ringo knew something was going on from the funeral earlier, but she would never have expected this.

With a resounding exhale, she changed her clothes in the bathroom and went to sleep in her own cot, preparing the speech she was going to give to her cousin in the morning.