Julia began, walking quickly alongside her daughter as they made their way to the front entrance, "call the cops."

"I can't call the cops on my boyfriend, Mom," the blonde huffed, a large duffle bag of clothes over her shoulder.

"See, its that kind of mentality that gets girls killed. I don't care how pretty he is, you'll find another fish in the pond," she was saying as they exited the front door, running into Steve - who was making his way inside to see if Ringo needed help with her bag.

"You trying to get Ringo to dump me again, Mrs Wheeler?" He grinned with amusement, holding his hand out for Ringo's bag to politely place it in the trunk. Julia crossed her arms over her chest, a smirk playing with her lips.

"Of course not!" She denied. "If she didn't have you, I'd have to drive her everywhere."

Steve shook his head with humour as he rounded the car and got into the driver's seat, leaving the mother and daughter outside for a quick goodbye before the trip.

"Mom," Ringo hesitated, "you can come with us, you know?" I know you have work, but-"

"No, no," she waved off, placing a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I said my goodbyes to your dad before we left Florida. This is your chance now."

Ringo nodded meekly. Despite the fact a three day road trip with Steve Harrington across four states seemed like a dream, she wasn't looking forward to what would meet her at the end of their destination.

Tomorrow would mark the one year anniversary of her father's death, and it was a better time than any to say the goodbye she never got to before leaving. Upon hearing that his girlfriend planned on taking a series of buses down to Orlando, Steve had put his foot down. He had suggested driving, not just to ensure she was safe, but to make something of the trip and hopefully distract her.

And although Julia would never admit it, hearing his suggestion had only solidified her love for him, as her daughter's boyfriend. She herself wasn't able to take off work to drive Ringo, with the hectic shifts leading up to Christmas.

The two blondes hugged for a moment, before Ringo broke away and gave her a short wave, climbing in and buckling her seatbelt.

"Are we ready, commander?" Steve asked, shifting the car into drive and preparing to take off. Thankfully, he had the heat in his car blasting warm air, to contrast with the bitter cold outside.

"Ooooh, kinky," she smirked suggestively, reaching for the glove compartment filled with his cassette tapes. A road trip wasn't a road trip without some stellar tunes, after all. She managed to locate his copy of Queen's News of the World album, slipping it into the player quickly.

"What made you think the driver wasn't the one in charge of music?" He scoffed, switching his gaze between watching the road and watching her movements.

"You should trust my music tastes, and if my mother heard you were sorting tapes instead of driving she'd hang you by your balls," Ringo chuckled to herself. As the opening chords of We Will Rock You started, she lifted her legs up to rest on the dashboard and smacked her hands gently against her thighs to the beats.

Steve beamed once he recognised the song, patting his fingers against the steering wheel as well.

"Fair enough," he called out to be heard over the music. "By the way, can you keep an eye on the map? I marked out the route ahead."

"Where is it?"

"Your big ass sat on it when you got inside," he laughed to show he was merely teasing. Ringo rolled her eyes and lifted herself up just enough to grab the sheet she hadn't realised she sat on. Sure enough, when she pulled it out, her hands unveiled a large map that had a red marker joining Hawkins and Orlando.

"Hey, be nice to me. My dad's dead," she stated deadpan, watching with satisfaction as his face turned to one of horror. At the sound of her booming laughter, he relaxed and realised she was simply joking.

Ringo had a dark sense of humour, and her darkest jokes were about things she cared about the most. A defence mechanism, of sorts.

"I brought snacks as well," she leaned down and lifted up the smaller bag of junk food and candy she had scavenged from the corner shop for their journey ahead. It would be six or seven hours of driving today, before stopping at a motel to sleep soundly for a night, then completing the last leg of travelling the next day. She estimated it would be around late afternoon when they would arrive at the graveyard, if nothing went wrong, of course.

"Good, you can hand feed me while I drive," he poked fun, one hand resting on the wheel while he reached his free hand out to intertwine their fingers while he was driving on a straight road.

"I wouldn't hand feed you on your deathbed," she huffed, giving his fingers a light squeeze.

✵

"So, Jonathan finally asked Nancy on a date," Ringo grinned excitedly as she suddenly remembered the news, after spending a prolonged period of time staring out the window at parking lot of the KFC they were eating at.

"No way," Steve chuckled, shaking his head around a mouthful of chicken, "I never thought I'd see the day he'd finally ask."

"At this point, I was expecting Nancy to be the one to ask him," she shrugged, wiping her greasy fingers on a napkin.

"They had sex and they're not even together, we haven't even had sex and we've been together nearly two months," he set down the bone-chewed chicken wing, reaching for his Coke and taking a long slurp.

"Thanks for pointing that out, I'm now happy to wait another two months," she nodded along with a fake smile, reaching for her drink to take a sip of her own.

"Why does my mouth always get me in trouble?" He groaned, wiping his hands on another clean napkin before reaching for his wallet in his pocket.

"True, life would be so much easier if you didn't talk," she sighed wistfully, standing up as they gathered their trash for a nearby bin.

Steve relaxed his arm on her shoulders as they walked outside, fishing around in his pockets for the keys. They ended up stopping halfway through the lot as the teenager went into a mild panic, patting every one of his pockets for the car keys.

"What is it?" She asked, picking up on his suddenly tense posture. After one more check, he suddenly looked to her with a grimace.

"I can't find the keys."

"You what now?" She asked calmly, assuring herself it was merely a matter of misplacing them or leaving them on the table inside. Until Ringo quickly glanced around at the remaining cars. "Steve... where's the car?"

Steve whipped around on the spot, eyes bugged out as he searched the lot for his prized vehicle.

"I... I can't find the car either."

"It's stolen?!" She shrieked, turning around once again as if it would magically appear in the spot they left it before.

"Goddamn it!" He panicked, scraping his fingers through his hair with stress. Steve was only ever willing to mess up his hair in the most dire of situations. "What are we gonna do?! We're in the middle of Tennessee!"

"I'm going to have to sell my clothes for food," she whispered in a panicked voice. "I'll never see my family and friends again."

"Don't be so dramatic, there's a payphone right there," he rolled his eyes, stomping towards the rather crusty looking phone booth that was a couple feet away. Upon reaching it, he shuffled the coins in his pocket around and lifted the phone to his ear. Waiting a second, Steve returned the coins and slowly turned around to face his girlfriend.

"Well?"

"There's no dial tone."

"Was I Hitler in my past life? Is that why this shit always happens to me?" She questioned, a dazed look in her eyes.

"Come on, don't worry," he clasped her shoulders comfortingly. "I saw another payphone at the gas station down the street. We'll walk down and then call the cops, okay?"

"Okay," she groaned, following after him as they set off down the street, for what was sure to be at least a twenty minute walk.

✵

"My feet hurt," Ringo whined childishly. Much to both Steve's chagrin and amusement.

"I'm not carrying you, it's been ten minutes," he chuckled despite his sour mood, knowing that's what she was hinting at.

Steve loved his BMW with a fiery passion. So much so, he was willing to risk his relationship with his girlfriend if it meant not letting her drive it. Letting Ringo near the wheel of his car was like putting a hairdryer on the side of the bath and hoping it wouldn't fall in.

"Steve," she stopped suddenly, eyes fixated on something ahead.

"I'm not carrying you!" He re-iterated, not realising she had stopped in her step.

"No, Steve-"

"I love you, I do, but I wouldn't carry my own mother to Bethlehem to birth Jesus."

"Look, you idiot!" She ran forward to catch up, smacking on his arm to get his attention onto the object she was staring at.

"Oh my god," he ducked down with a gasp, in case anyone saw him. The house was alone on the dirt road, but nothing looked lonelier than his car sitting out the front of it.

"Those bitches!" She cursed, standing up straight and stomping forward towards the lot. "I'm getting my axe from the trunk!"

"Ringo, stop!" Steve whisper shouted, gripping her arm and dragging her back down to crouch behind the bushes. "We need a plan here!"

"I had a plan, my plan was to cut a bitch," she ranted, unable to get over the audacity of someone to steal their car and park a mere ten minutes away.

"Jail time sounds fun and all but Christmas is my favourite season and I'm not missing seeing Gremlins at the movies because you're in prison for assault," he warned her, eyes darting around the house for any sign of movement. He wondered if the keys were still in the car, and remembered that not everyone was as stupid as he was to leave them there.

"Okay, I have a plan," he started off, eyes darting between the car and the front door. "I'm going to sneak in through the back and you're going to ring the doorbell and distract him."

"That's probably very degrading," she sighed, "but I brought really nice underwear and I'll be damned if someone else is wearing my pretty panties tonight instead."

"Really?" He asked, momentarily distracted. "So... about these underwear-"

"Shut up," she laughed breathily, shoving his shoulder and standing up as she began to pace towards the front entrance. While she did that, Steve slipped towards the open window at the side of the house, suddenly realising the danger involved in what they were doing. Perhaps he shouldn't have asked Ringo to get involved. If there was a group inside, they were toast.

Spreading flat against the wall next to the window, he leaned in slightly, just enough to peer inside and gauge the number of people. It was actually a rather nice house, and he wondered why they didn't bother just simply buying a car like his.

He saw only saw one figure inside, a male, who got up to answer the door at the sound of the doorbell. Steve was also beginning to realise how stupid he was to think that the keys would be within plain sight.

"Hey!" Ringo's voice carried through the room. The blonde had adopted a wide grin, cocking her hip to the side and looking the man up and down. If movies taught her anything, it was that if she was going to be hyper-sexualised she was damn well going to milk it for her own benefit.

"Can I help you?" He crossed his arms over his chest, eyes full of suspicion. The man didn't particularly appear all that dangerous, except for the way he looked at Ringo, almost like he was ready to snap any second.

Steve slipped inside the adjacent window, eyes fixated on the gleaming silver of his car key - which had been left on the coffee table where the man originally sat across from. The window frame wasn't exactly designed to accommodate for all 5 foot 10 inches of his body, so his entrance was mere centimetres from falling flat on his face.

"My car broke down, its just down the street. Is there any way you could give me a jump?" She paused with a dramatic gasp, then covering her mouth with her hand to pretend to hide her giggles. "Oh, you know what I meant!"

"Well," the corners of his lips lifted into a smirk, visibly relaxing and giving her a once over again as if he suddenly had a new first impression of her. "Who am I not to help out a little lady in trouble?"

Steve grappled for the keys. In his panicked haste, his elbow hit off of a vase that was placed nearby, knocking it over. As if it were happening in slow motion, Steve could only stare wide-eyed as the rather plain ornament tipped and smashed against the ground, breaking into smithereens. Even worse, accompanying the shards of ceramic were little tiny pills.

Steve may have left his keys in his car, but he knew drugs when he seen them. And judging by their quantity and strategic hiding place, he guessed this wasn't just a casual user. This was a dealer's house.

The owner whipped around at the sound, prompting Steve to whirl on the spot, stomping on all sorts of things as he practically dived for the open window and hurtled through it. He landed with a groan in the bushes underneath, but fuelled by the sudden adrenaline kick, swiftly hopped back up.

"What the fuck?" The man roared after whipping around to find the intruder. Reacting on instinct, Ringo flew her boot-covered foot forward and connected it with his crotch with a sickening thud.

"Run, baby!" Steve was shouting as he made a mad dash towards the front entrance, where both Ringo and the car were. "Run!"

"Yeah, motherfucker, you stole from the wrong-" Ringo was in the midst of pointing at the thief, until Steve's arm wrapped around her waist and she was hauled towards the car.

They leaped inside the car, Steve barely closing his door before starting up the engine. Groans of pain and shuffling were heard from the front door, prompting Ringo to start smacking her hand against the dashboard.

"Go! Go! Go!"

With a screech from his tyres, Steve pulled out of the drive and narrowly missed the front wall, peeling away from the lot and stepping his foot down firmly on the gas until they were out of sight.

"Ugh, Steve?" Ringo called out hesitantly, eyes trailing around the car. "I don't think this is your car..."

"What?!" He all but roared, the car swerving slightly on the road from the shock of her words.

"Kidding, I'm just so pumped!" She laughed, practically jumping in her seat with giddiness.

"Pumped?!" He echoed, placing one hand over his chest and feeling his heart thumping through. "He was a drug dealer, Ringo! I would never have done that if I knew! He could come after us!"

"I'll just kick him in the balls again," she waved off, opening the glove compartment to find a song that matched the powerful feeling she felt. Cheap Trick seemed like a good shot.

"Jesus Christ!" She shouted suddenly, as along with the tapes haphazardly shoved in the compartment, there was now also a large, plastic-covered block of white powder.

"Fuck!" Steve yelled, "get rid of it!"

Ringo rolled down her window before he could question her actions, and practically shot-put the drugs through the air into the ditch.

When she rolled the window back up, the shock of the situation was finally starting to settle in, and her heart began to race.

"Holy crap, I just kicked a drug dealer in the balls."

✵

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful in comparison, with the only notable event being their first time sharing a bed together. It was awkward, and Ringo was a sleep-kicker, Steve discovered. But it was nice, they didn't spend all night cuddling or spooning, but the comfort of having the other beside them lulled them into a deep sleep.

Sun was already beginning to set when they arrived at the graveyard. The weather was colder than she remembered for December in Florida, but it only served to remind her this wasn't a happy visit.

Ringo wasn't coming to her father's home for dinner, to catch him up on her life in Indiana and let him meet her boyfriend Steve. Ringo was coming to a graveyard, to talk to a headstone and hope that somewhere he was able to hear her.

"I'll let you do this one alone," Steve whispered to her after opening her car door, pulling her in for an engulfing hug before sending her on her way. She walked slowly towards the grave - this would be the first time she 'talked' to him since his death.

"So," she began, after a moment of silence, stuffing her cold hands into her coat pockets. "I think I just realised today that you're actually dead. I mean, I obviously knew, but it never really sunk in. I got so used to not talking to you after what happened at school that I just felt like you were still giving me the silent treatment.

"But no, you're dead. You're not going to be there when I graduate school, or to walk me down the aisle if I ever get married. You're not going to congratulate me when I finally get my license, or scare Steve into never leaving me. And I thought I was going to be okay with that because of what you said to me. But I'm not."

Taking a shaky breath and blinking away the tears that started to rise, she crouched down, eyes fixated on the name carved into stone.

"I don't think I could ever forgive you for not being there for me after the picture thing," she continued to ramble. "But I think I'm able to move on from it. I mean, if you hadn't sent me to Hawkins I wouldn't be here, right? Anyways, what I really wanted to say was that... I love you. And I miss you, daddy. And I'm so sorry I didn't tell you that before you died."

Steve sat watching from the driver's seat, eyebrows furrowing in concern when he saw that she was returning already. Exiting the car, he met her at the hood.

"What's wrong?" He asked quietly, cupping his hands around her shoulders. Surprisingly, her expression was rather calm, although her eyes were reddened.

"Nothing," she shook her head, smiling tiredly. "I don't think I need to sit with him and tell him every aspect of my life. If he's out there... I'm sure he knows. I just needed to come here and-... and come to his grave. For the first time."

Steve silently wrapped his arms around her again, allowing her to bury her head against his chest and breathe deeply to contain sobs that threatened to rise, while he calmly rubbed her back.

"He'd be proud of you," Steve whispered in her ear. "How many fathers can say their daughters regularly kick demon ass? I bet he's taking bets in Heaven with all the other guys on who's got the most badass kid."

"Well," she slowly revealed her face again, forcing an amused smirk to lift her lips, "I have been known to handle myself well."