✵

Normally, he wouldn't be so eager to have to meet his girlfriend's parents. But as it turns out, he wasn't here to meet them formally - he was here for her blonde cousin who liked to tease his hair and show him how to be a better person.

He prayed beyond belief that Nancy wasn't here. He wasn't ready to see her just yet. Truthfully, he did feel bad for the entire incident, the embarrassment of it mixed with the hurt he felt over her spending time with Jonathan was enough to make him not yet ready to see her.

A woman he didn't know opened the door, looking at him in slight confusion. Her eyes scraped over his appearance and the plastic bag in his hand.

"Can I help you?" She asked politely. The longer he stood there, the more he noticed her similarities to Nancy. It was true, beauty was genetic.

"Y-yeah, is Ringo here? I'm a friend of hers," he stammered, his eyes looking over the woman's shoulders to locate the girl in question.

"A friend," Karen echoed with a smirk, wondering if this was the fellow Ringo went on a date with before. "She's in her room, it's the second door on the right."

Steve thanked her quickly, before rushing past her and jogging up the stairs to reach the room before anyone else could stop him.

"We keep the doors open in this house!" Karen called protectively up from the first floor, prompting Steve to chuckle in amusement. If only she knew how often he had been here already, and how he knew exactly which room was theirs.

Steve had the decency to knock beforehand, three quick raps against the door before opening it. Thankfully for them both, she was fully dressed and not in a compromising position. Instead, she was spread out on her cot, headphones covering her ears and the faint sound of music emitting in the background.

Ringo had her eyes closed, but upon sensing a presence, opened them immediately and shot up in bed in fright at the sight of her guest.

The blonde teenager ripped the headphones from her head, throwing them onto her pillow and stood up abruptly. She began wagging her finger accusingly at him.

"Get out, now!" Ringo exclaimed, her voice thick with emotion.

"Ringo, please just hear me out," Steve begged, taking a step toward her which she instantly took backwards. "Look, I'm really sorry okay?"

"Oh, is this you saying it or Tommy?" She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow boldly. Steve sighed and nodded his head in acceptance.

"Okay, I deserved that," he acknowledged, having accepted his cruel behaviour and been consumed with guilt on the car ride over.

"Just get out Steve," Ringo demanded, pointing towards the adjacent door again. "I don't want, or need, slut shaming assholes who won't make it past high school in my room."

Steve's expression faltered at that, gulping harshly, he felt truly offended by her words. It had been so long since she had looked at him with such contempt, he began to worry that their friendship wasn't salvageable at all.

"Do you really believe that?" He whispered, one of his worst fears coming to bite him in the form of her words. Picking up on his offence, Ringo paused, eyes narrowing in on his face. She looked ready to soften her approach, but instantly snapped out of it with a shake of her head.

"Why do you always care about what I think?" She hissed.

"Because I care about you."

This made her stop again, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Ringo blinked rapidly, suddenly feeling at a loss for words. He would have laughed, had the situation not been so desperate.

"You also care about Nancy, and look what happened there," she pointed out.

"I know. And I really regret it, okay? I like Nancy, and I shouldn't have let Tommy say those things, because I've seen first hand with you how damaging that kind of shame can be. Can't you see Ringo?" He pleaded, tossing the plastic bag onto her bed. "I haven't even known you long and you're one of the best friends I've ever had, because you're honest with me. And you keep me in line. I mean, fuck, I haven't even laughed as much in a long time as I do when I'm around you. Please don't throw that away."

"I didn't do anything," she denied quietly, her voice and demeanour noticeably quieter and calmer.

"Look," he began again, reaching for the bag on the bed and slowly holding it toward her. "You don't strike me as the type of girl to forgive someone because they buy her stuff, but either way, I want you to have this."

Her expression twisted in disagreement, not wanting to accept the gift at all. But curiosity got the better of her, and Ringo couldn't help but peer into the bag. At the sight of a vinyl inside, her heart leapt inside her chest. Her eyes glanced up to Steve's as she reached her hand in, pulling out the very thing she had been searching for, for half her life.

"Oh my god," she mumbled, tossing the now empty bag down to run her fingers over the cover, almost as if making sure it was real. He had rendered her absolutely speechless once again. "Where did you get it?"

"Well, after the last visit, I went into the store again the next day and asked the manager to specially order it in. It arrived today.." he trailed off awkwardly, feeling stupid now for making the effort at all if she as going to hate him.

"I know I'm mad at you but..." her voice cut off as she suddenly started to squeal with excitement, literally jumping up and down on the spot. The brightest smile he had ever seen on anyone stretched across her face, which instantly made his heart soar.

"You're not cursed after all," he remarked with the smallest of smiles, causing her gaze to lift back up to him.

In the second it took her to calm down, Ringo had an internal debate with herself. On one hand, what Steve done was despicable. The stuff of bullies and assholes and everyone she hated in the world. On the other, he was clearly regretful of his actions. Steve was right about one thing, she wouldn't readily forgive for presents. But this wasn't just a gift, it was a true act of kindness on his behalf.

"Well.. this may have made me feel better, but," he raised his eyebrow at her pause, lifting her finger into the air again, "you have to beg for Nancy's forgiveness. And Jonathan's. You still fucked up."

"Yeah, I know," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "That might be a little difficult right now, because I think- uh... I think Jonathan might have been arrested."

"He what?" She bellowed, serene expression falling to one of livid anger. "What the hell Steve?"

"Well, I mean look at my face, he got caught hitting me," Steve gestured to the swollen lumps that were taking over his cheek and eye, which she had promptly ignored until now to avoid feeling sorry for him.

"And you didn't hit back?" She crossed her arms over her chest sassily, after gently placing the vinyl down as if it were made of the most delicate material.

"Well... I did, but I was smart enough to run away when I seen the cops landing!" Steve protested, scoffing as if he were innocent.

"So they're at the police station," Ringo trailed off, thinking about what they had planned to carry through with before the interruption. At the very least, she hadn't missed it and could now partake as planned.

"Steve, I need you to take me to-" her voice was cut off by the sound of cars outside, more cars than what was considered normal for a small suburban neighbourhood.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, stepping towards the window to gaze out. Upon seeing that the flurry of vehicles had stopped right in their front yard, and that some very official-looking individuals were walking to the front door, Ringo's heart dropped.

"Shit," she hissed, standing up straight and backing way, running her hands through her hair. Steve was confused by her sudden, onset panicking.

"Who are those guys? They don't look like cops," Steve questioned, his face nearly pressing against the glass to see out.

"Are you stupid, mumps?" She whisper-shouted, gripping him by the bicep and dragging him out of sight roughly. "We have to get out of here!"

"What do you- why?" He was suddenly suspicious of her, looking her over. "Ringo, are you... are you in trouble?"

"No, I'm not," she sighed, sneaking a glance out the window. There was no way they could escape through it in broad daylight, especially since the window faced the front of the house and they would have been easily seen. "But I think I know why they're here."

"What's going on?" He pressed, his eyes narrowing at her frantic state. Ringo didn't answer, her head snapping up when she heard the door bell ring out through the house.

"The back door! Let's go!" She hushed, reaching for his hand and beginning to run out of the bedroom, dragging the teenager along with her. Their footsteps were loud on the stairs, but nobody had entered the house yet.

"Can you kids calm down?" Ted Wheeler rounded the corner, his voice sounding as bored as always, looking at the two with suspicion, "it's like a damn herd of baby elephants coming for some water!"

"Sorry, Ted," Ringo muttered, rounding around the corner of the staircase and heading towards the kitchen before Ted could open the front door. Steve had finally shaken himself awake, and was now intent on escaping the house like Ringo was - although for what reason, he knew not of.

The blonde grasped for the brass knob desperately just as she heard a new voice echo down the hallway, yanking the door open as silently but as quickly as she possibly could have. However, the second the outside air hit them, so did the image of a strange woman standing there, blocking their exit.

The middle aged lady smiled, although it came across as wicked instead of welcoming, taking it upon herself to step inside past the dumbstruck duo.

"Hello! I wasn't quite sure if your household preferred using the front door or the back, it's impossible to tell these days," she spoke with an eerily calm voice, which only added to her overall creepiness. "Ringo, is it?"

The girl in question looked towards Steve with widened eyes, before returning her gaze and nodding her head slightly.

"We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

✵

Karen and Ted were being interviewed in the dining room, while the woman - who had now identified herself as Diane, took the two teenagers into the living room for their questioning.

Steve's knee bobbed anxiously, but Ringo was even more nervous than he was. Because she had an idea of what this was about.

The entire house was being searched over by a flurry of men in suits, occasionally they would box items and carry them out to their respective van. The idea of them searching through her belongings made her tense, and she hoped that Nancy didn't hold any evidence of the previous night's indiscretions.

"So, are you two together?" Diane gestured between the both of them, causing them to chuckle awkwardly.

"God, no," she shook her head hard enough for her hair to flick. "Just friends."

"Yeah, just friends," he nodded in agreement.

"Alright then," the elder woman reached into her briefcase and brought out a small photo, passing it over to Ringo to inspect. "Ringo, I need to know if you've ever seen this girl."

Her blood instantly ran cold with recognition. She very much did recognise her. After all, this was the girl Mike and his friends had rescued, the one she intended to help herself. Perhaps, the girl had run away from the police station where she had went to?

Either way, Ringo wasn't prepared to reveal that detail any time soon. She didn't trust the woman as far as she could throw her, and didn't want to put a girl's life in danger if that was the case.

"I'm not sure," she acted, tilting her head to the side and over-dramatically narrowing her eyes. "Steve, have you seen her before?"

"Nope, never," he replied honestly, baffled by her display.

"She doesn't look familiar, sorry," Ringo shrugged, handing her back the photograph. The sound of Karen yelling through the walls captured the three's attention, making the situation so much more heightened.

"So, you're telling me you haven't seen her in the last few weeks?"

"Don't think so," Ringo answered vaguely. "Why? What has she done? Who is she?"

"I can't answer that," Diana cryptically spoke, placing the picture back inside its holding in her briefcase. It was clear the woman was frustrated with Ringo's lack of compromise.

"Then answer this," she sat forward, fed up from playing nice. "Why are there probably five grown ass men looking through my underwear drawer right now?"

"Miss Wheeler," Diana turned back, her expression stoic, "have you any idea where Michael may have gone with his friends?"

"I can't answer that," she fired back, mimicking the woman's earlier response.

"Miss Wheeler," she sighed in frustration, "I understand your apprehension. But Michael is in extreme danger, and we're only trying to help."

"Help yourself to the sight of my ass walking out the door," Ringo huffed, shooting up from the couch, not waiting for Steve to follow. She headed straight for the adjacent front door, with her friend hot on her heels.

"Miss Wheeler!" She heard shouts of behind her, but she didn't pay any attention, continuing to march across the lawn and towards Steve's car.

"Jesus, Ringo! Wait!" Steve huffed, struggling to catch up with her as he fumbled out of the doorway. "I don't want to get shot!"

The pair entered the car in their respective sides, buckling their seatbelt as Steve reversed away from the parking spot - just narrowly missing one of the black cars parked behind.

"Okay! What the hell is going on!" He shouted out of nowhere, whipping his head back and forth to look between Ringo and the road.

"Nothing! I don't know what she's talking about!" Ringo denied, her voice equally as loud.

"That's a load of bull and you know it! Those guys weren't Hawkins cops, Ringo! They looked like the freakin' FBI!"

"Don't you think I know that!" She shouted exasperatedly, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Can you just, please, take me to Jonathan Byers?"

"Ringo-"

"Please!"

"Alright," he resolved out of sake for her sanity, taking the next turn, his face screwed up as if he had sucked on a lemon.

✵

"Nobody's home, Ringo, can we just go?" Steve rolled his eyes after the blonde knocked again. They arrived almost ten minutes before then, and Steve's reluctance to go near the residence dissolved upon discovering nobody had even been there to welcome him.

"Well then, where are they?" She grunted in frustration, turning around to face him and leaning back against the aged front door.

"I don't know, maybe still at the police station?" He suggested, looking up at the darkening skies overhead.

"Well then, where am I going to go?" She shouted, anxiety and fear instantly flooding her system, which Steve took note of instantly. "I can't go home with those people there!"

"Hey, hey, don't worry," he soothed, stepping up onto the front porch and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You can come back to mine until tonight, okay?"

"Really?" She quaked, her voice dropping to a whisper. Her expression looked so innocent at that moment, he felt nothing but pity for her, even though she refused to tell him what was going on.

"Of course, doll," he moved his hand to wrap his arm around her shoulder comfortably, using it to lead her back towards his car. "You can stay as long as you need."