"a voice crackled through the walkie talkie attached to Dustin's hip. Scoffing a little, the boy unhitched it from his belt and stepped away from the trunk of Steve's car to talk to his friend.

While he did so, Ringo and Steve were left to cart the items out, their hands covered by bright yellow kitchen gloves. The blonde had shoved her hair up into a bun, wisps of hair falling from it out of exertion. Even while her hair was messy and her face was red from lifting, not to mention she was currently holding two buckets filled with raw meat, Steve thought she looked rather cute.

"Those gloves really suit you, you should keep them for later and we'll get kinky," he teased, dropping his eye in a wink.

"Oh fuck off, Steve," she huffed in laughter, settling the buckets down onto the ground and wiping her forehead with the sleeve of her shirt.

"Well why you were having sister problems," Dustin continued in the background, "Dart grew again, he escaped and I'm pretty sure he's a baby demogorgan."

"What?" Ringo hissed, placing her hands on her hips and swivelling around to the curly haired teenager. "When did we say that? I was hoping it was still some kind of dog with rabies."

"Wait, what?" Lucas's voice crackled down the line while Dustin waved Ringo off with his hand.

"I'll explain later just meet me, Ringo and Steve down at the old junkyard."

"Steve? And Ringo? As in Steve Harrington and Ringo Wheeler?"

"Noooo," Dustin drawled sarcastically, "it's Ringo Starr. We met him in Brainshakes and he decided to tag along for the ride. Of course it's Ringo freakin' Wheeler, how many Ringo's do you know?"

"What's Steve doing there then?"

"Please," Dustin rolled his eyes, "as if Steve would ever leave her damn side."

At his words, Steve sighed out of shame, but Ringo merely waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively. They shrugged their backpacks on, with Steve's bat poking out of his and Ringo's axe tied to the front of hers. They each carried a bucket of meat each, with Steve carting along a canister of gasoline to boot.

"Monsters again?" Ringo groaned. "Why can't I just have normal teenage problems, like worrying about missing my period or bacne?"

"What's bacne?" Dustin asked as they ventured inside the woodland.

"Acne on your back, doofus," Steve explained, rolling his eyes.

"I think it's kind of exciting, I mean think of all the lame shit every other teenager in Hawkins is doing right now. I bet Danny Pullman is jerking off," Dustin snickered to himself.

"Hey! Gross!" Steve called out, shaking his head in disgust.

"Oh yeah," Ringo beamed, "nothing more riveting than near death experiences."

"Wait, what happens if you miss your period? What's a period?" Dustin asked in confusion, prompting Ringo and Steve to meet eyes, horrified at the prospect of answering.

"Um... you know how werewolves change at the full moon?" Steve tried to explain.

"I don't turn into a werewolf, Steve," Ringo shoved his shoulder in annoyance, furrowing her brows at the metaphor.

"Of course not," Steve agreed, "but you have to agree, you're not all sunshine and rainbows either."

"Guys, I'm fucking with you," Dustin held his hands up, "I didn't mean to start World War freakin' 3."

"Oh, babe," Steve chuckled, inching closer to her until he was able to wrap his arm securely around her shoulders and hug her close, "on your next full moon, how about I buy you your favourite candy?"

"...a gobstopper?" She couldn't help but smile, her resolve easing away.

"God, it's like you guys are rubbing it in my face," Dustin complained, walking ahead of them. "Well, unluckily for you, Ringo, I've found someone else."

"Shut up," she grinned after gasping, letting go of Steve's side to catch up with the younger boy. "Who? You have to tell me!"

"I bet he's lying," Steve teased. "Or she's a video game character."

"I'm not lying! And she's real! You know just for that, I'm not telling you anything now."

✵

"Is it... Becca Murray?" Ringo guessed, tossing another slab of meet down onto the dilapidated train tracks they were currently walking on.

"No, god no," Dustin shook his head in disgust, "she smells like pee."

"Oh, I know! Is it the sister of that guy that runs the arcade?" Steve put forth, following after Ringo and repeating her actions.

"No! You're never going to guess it so stop trying!"

"Alright then so tell me this, how did you end up with a baby demogorgan as a pet?" Ringo questioned, eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Yeah, I think I'd like to know as well," Steve hummed, "I need to know if stupid decisions are a regular occurrence with you while I'm helping you."

"Chill," Dustin rolled his eyes. "Look, I thought it was a really cool new breed of animal that I found, so I kept him. It was neat at the time, okay? And I was trying to... impress someone."

"And when did you start to realise, 'crap, this isn't a gecko, this is a demon!'" Steve pressed, shaking his head with ridiculousness.

"Look, I got attached! You wouldn't put down a puppy if it ate your cat, would you?"

"Well, if it's face opened up I'd certainly not let it sleep at the foot of my bed," Ringo answered with a shrug.

"So let me get this straight," Steve began, "you kept that thing, knowing it could be dangerous, to impress a girl?"

"Alright, that's grossly oversimplifying things," Dustin protested.

"Why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" Steve recoiled, nodding towards Ringo. "Would you want one, Wheeler?"

"Oh yeah," she scoffed, "nothing makes me drop my panties faster than a giant slug!"

"But an interdimensional slug?" Dustin responded, "now that's awesome."

"Wow," Ringo deadpanned, "forget the panties I'd get naked."

"Well even if she thought it was cool, which I doubt she did," Steve hesitated, wondering how he was going to soften his impending words, "I feel like you're trying way too hard."

"He's not trying too hard," Ringo disagreed, wincing slightly, "you're just... not going about it the right way."

"Well, not everyone can have Steve's perfect hair alright?" He muttered, clearly downtrodden from their words. Feeling guilty, Ringo smiled sadly and wrapped one arm around his shoulder.

"It's not about the hair," she told him.

"Yeah," Steve agreed, taking over Ringo's meat throwing duty while she comforted Dustin, "the key to girls is just acting like you don't care."

"What?" Ringo recoiled, looking at Steve with an amused expression.

"Even if you do?" Dustin asked, seemingly disbelieving.

"Yeah it drives them nuts."

"Okay no," Ringo sighed, "don't listen to him. That's now how you get a girl's attention. Steve, you never acted like you don't care around me."

"Um, hello," Steve held his hand up, "we hated each other when we first met."

"Yeah, but you were really nice to me after you got over yourself," Ringo smiled smartly. "Dustin, the key to getting the girl is to build up tension. Be cool, but not so cool that it looks like you think you're better than her. Make her laugh and remember little details about her. Oh, and physical contact! Stuff like hugs and shoulder bumps."

"Then what?" Dustin questioned innocently.

"Wait until you can feel it," Steve declared. "It's like before it's gonna storm, you know? You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this.. uh- electricity."

Without intending to, his gaze drifted to Ringo, deciding that there was no better word to describe what those two had other than pure electricity. Seemingly, she had the same thought, her eyes flitting to his face with a smile growing on her lips.

"Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere-" Dustin's voice broke their overly cheesy moment.

"No, no, no, no, no, like a sexual electricity."

"Oh," Dustin said dumbly while Ringo's eyes widened and she moved to cover his ears.

"Hello! He's a kid!" She refuted.

"I'm thirteen, Ringo," he whined, batting her gloved hands away from his ears.

"Anyway," Steve continued, "you feel that, then you make your move."

"And by move, he means kissing. You're too young for anything else," Ringo added with a nod.

"Hey, woah, slow down, babe," Steve waved his hands. "Some girls, like Ringo apparently, want you to be aggressive. Strong, and hot and heavy, like... I don't know, a lion."

"Yeah, because I'm the one that just grabbed you and kissed you in the middle of the street," she muttered under her breath.

"But others you gotta be slow, stealthy, like a ninja."

"So you had to be hot and heavy with Ringo?" Dustin prompted out of curiosity, causing the girl in question to blush red.

"I was kidding, Ringo's different," Steve replied without hesitation, wrapping his arm around her waist. "She's not like other girls."

"You are pretty special, Ringo," Dustin agreed, causing her to audibly awe at his adorableness and hug him from the side with the arm that wasn't around Steve.

"I think you're pretty special too, Dustin. And if she can't see that, then you'll find someone who does."

"But that's the thing," Dustin murmured, feeling bashful all of a sudden, "this girl is special too. It's just like, something about her."

"Woah woah, you're not falling in love with this girl are you?" Steve stopped, swivelling around to face Dustin and dropping his hold on Ringo to do so.

"You're too damn young to fall in love," Ringo added, stopping as well. "You need to focus on school and your friends, young man."

"I'm not!" Dustin denied.

"Maybe Ringo and I should meet this girl," Steve mused, "suss her out, see if she's good enough for you."

"I agree," the blonde girl hummed. "Steve, we should invite her to dinner. My place or yours?"

"Woah, guys-" Dustin tried to put a stop to it, his hands in the air in defence.

"My place, the poor girl won't be ready for Julia Wheeler yet," Steve bantered. "I learned how to make lasagna the other day."

"How is this supposed to get her to like me?" Dustin shouted, recapturing the couple away from their domesticated plans.

Steve and Ringo shared a glance, clearly unable to settle on any one way to get this girl to like Dustin, and knowing full well it was impossible to force someone to have feelings for you.

With an embarrassed sigh, Steve reluctantly offered Dustin something else that wasn't advice on crushes, but hair tips.

"It's Fabergé," he huffed as he walked ahead, avoiding Ringo's eye.

"What is?" Dustin asked, clearly having never heard of the brand, while his fellow blonde companion definitely had.

"It's Fabergé organics," Steve explained. "Use the shampoo and the conditioner, and when your hair is damp - damp, not wet okay it's damp-"

"Damp," Dustin echoed.

"Stop saying damp, I'm uncomfortable," Ringo sounded.

"When it's damp, use four pumps of the Farrah Fawcett spray."

"Farrah Fawcett?!" Ringo practically shrieked, doubling over with laughter, her entire body shaking.

Dustin couldn't help but follow, his seriousness breaking at the sight of Ringo's obvious amusement, soon enough the duo were both laughing at Steve's admission.

"Wow, okay," he grumbled, "I try to help the kid and this is what I get."

"I'm sorry, babe," Ringo tried to speak through her chuckles, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her t shirt instead of her meat soaked gloves. "But come on, Farrah Fawcett."

"You tell anyone I just told you that," Steve turned to Dustin, his finger pointed accusatorially in his face, "and your ass is grass. You're dead, Henderson."

Dustin nodded in understanding walking ahead again to escape Steve's glare. Meanwhile, Ringo shimmied up to his side once more, eyes bright with amusement.

"What about me?" She waggled her eyebrows, "is my ass grass?"

"Most definitely," Steve nodded, suddenly dropping his bucket of meat onto the ground and scooping Ringo up to rest over his shoulder, eliciting a shout of surprise.

"Put me down, Farrah," she laughed, tossing her bucket down as well, "Jessica is going to die when she hears this."

"You won't tell a soul, Ringo!" He demanded, placing her back down on her feet to stand in front of him.

"Or what?" She challenged with a smirk.

"Or... or- I'll dump you!"

"Nice one," she giggled, rolling her eyes and picking up the bucket again, throwing forth a chunk of meat. "You loke me too much."

Steve didn't deny her, for he knew it was true. Besides, he and Ringo hadn't officially said they were together yet anyway. Even though they acted as if they were, there was still that unspoken air between them where they had yet to define their relationship.

✵

The old junkyard was just that - an old junkyard. Numerous abandoned cars littered the open field, and one inoperative school bus. Ringo found herself wishing she had found this place before, envisioning the parties and downtime she could have spent here with her friends.

After a long walk from where Steve had parked his car, it was past midday when they reached the lot, immediately deeming it suitable for Operation Catch-That-Sunuvabitch, as Ringo affectionately called it.

Ringo tossed the entirety of the buckets leftover contents near the entrance to the lot, while Steve deposited his in the centre of the cars, drafting up ways they could trap the wild beast.

"I said medium-well!" A voice called out suddenly, prompting all heads to turn and see Lucas standing next to an unrecognisable ginger girl.

Sighing, Ringo snapped her gloves off and tossed them into the empty bucket, shivering in disgust and relief at having them finally removed as she moved to stand next to Dustin and Steve.

"Who's that?" Ringo asked, at the exact time Steve did. Upon realising they said the same thing, they held their fingers up to one another and shouted 'jinx!'

But when they looked back to Dustin, who was stood in between them both, their amused smiles faded at the seemingly sad expression on his own face. His eyes were fixed on the girl they didn't know, leading them both to come to the conclusion that perhaps this was the girl.

Dustin and Lucas trailed behind what remained of a red car to discuss the recent events, while Steve and Max trailed about looking for scraps they could set up a perimeter with.

Ringo, instead of helping, lay splayed out on the hood of another car, enjoying the temporary break as she soaked in the small bit of sun Hawkins was getting in the Fall season.

"Hey," Steve approached her, a sheet of scrap metal in hand, "why aren't you helping me? What are you- napping?"

"No, I am helping," she protested, sitting up onto her elbows, "I'm visually scanning for points of entry."

"Behind your eyelids?" He drily responded.

"Look, I've had a rough day," she huffed, "you guys made me walk cross-country with a bucket of raw meat, give me five minutes."

"Fine," Steve sighed, shaking his head with amusement as he trailed toward the other two boys in their group, smacking the metal against the red car to startle them. He was much less kinder in his approach to them than he was with Ringo.

"Hey! Dickheads!" He shouted. "How come the only one helping me out is this random girl? We lose light in 40 minutes, lets go. Let's go!"

"Alright, asshole!"

"Okay, stupid!"

"Ringo!" Steve called out to her again, gesturing with his thumb for her to get up. "Haul ass!"

"Ugh," she grumbled, sliding her bottom down off of the hood and following after the group towards the bus.

Ringo was sure this was going to be an interesting night ahead, and thanked god she had Steve by her side so they could get through it together.