promptingKaren to nod towards her son to open the front door and invite their guests inside. Mike lazily got up with a huff, but he couldn't complain today - his parents just bought him a BMX bike for his Christmas present.

Opening the door, he was greeted with two smiling blondes, who broke into eerily similar grins at the sight of his rather festive sweater.

"You look like Christmas threw up on you," Ringo snickered, her mother slapping her arm in protest but still hiding giggles of her own.

"Shut up, Ringo. Mom made me wear it," he rolled his eyes, leaving the door open for them to come inside and trailing back into the living room. They each had bags between them, filled with presents for their extended family. Perhaps they had gone overboard, but Julia and Ringo hadn't celebrated Christmas with anyone for nine years.

They entered the room rather sheepishly, both worrying that they were intruding on private family time. Rather comically, the same sweater had been forced upon every member of the house, making them look like a Christmas informercial. Or a horrific pop band releasing a Christmas anthem.

"Julia, Ringo!" Karen stood up giddily, gesturing with her hands for them to come further in and sit down. "We're so glad you could come, dinner will be ready in an hour!"

Settling the bag down next to the tree, Ringo immediately gravitated towards Nancy, who was clutching a box of brand new hot curlers in hand. Julia still felt rather awkward, and chose to sit in a free armchair by herself. She noticed how easily Ringo fit into the family, being so familiar with them. But she was also a blood relative - and Julia was merely the wife of their deceased brother/uncle.

Picking up on her mother's discomfort, Ringo decided to strike up a conversation to get her involved.

"We brought presents, as payment for not having to cook a turkey!"

"Ringo can't handle looking at uncooked meat," Julia rolled her eyes in amusement, "it's almost a phobia at this point."

"Only psychopaths can handle a carcass with ease, mother," she spoke with a flat tone, eyes narrowing dramatically.

"You didn't need to bring anything!" Karen insisted, but she smiled widely all the same with Holly balanced on her hip. Ted was nearly dozing off in the corner, likely having guzzled too much mulled wine.

As presents were divided out and happily opened, Karen handed a smaller one to Holly, pointing towards Julia for the girl to give to. Teetering across the room, Holly childishly smiled as she handed the wrapped box towards the blonde, who looked up in surprise. She hadn't expected to be included in their gift giving, and was feeling rather emotional upon opening the box to find a beautiful necklace inside.

When she met Karen's gaze again, the woman dropped her left eye in a sneaky wink.

"Oh my fuck!" Mike swore, waking up Ted up instantly to glare at his son. "It's a mint condition Spider-Man issue 50! Only Dustin was able to get one of these!"

Ringo smirked at his words as she sipped on a glass of eggnog, keeping her gaze cast down.

"How did you get it?" He whirled around to Ringo, the most giddy she had ever seen him.

"I got it from Dustin," she shrugged casually.

"He said he'd never part from it, no matter how much we paid him," Mike answered sceptically, rechecking the comic in case it was incidentally missing half the pages.

"He gave it to me for free? He said all I had to do was hug him."

"What an adorable boy," Karen awed, the adults in the room nodding in agreement while Mike shivered with disgust. Dustin's intentions were far from innocent, that he knew.

✵

Ringo smiled at the sight of her mother chatting animatedly with Karen, glad to see they were hitting it off. Her mother needed more friends in Hawkins if they were staying permanently, and she couldn't wait to introduce her to Joyce Byers.

A knock on the door rang out, and Ringo skipped up to answer it, having a fair idea of who it could be. She had asked the Wheelers if Steve could join their celebrations after hearing his own family dinner had been disastrous. He was due to arrive later anyway, as were all the teenagers. The plan had been to go down to the basement, like it was yet another Wheeler family Friday. But Steve needed to escape quicker.

The second he saw a blonde head of hair appear through the glass on the front door, Steve sighed in relief, barely wasting a second after it opened to lean down and kiss her. She was taken aback at first, but eventually melted under his touch, his hands coming up to cup her cheeks. Steve placed a series of short pecks on her lips, before wrapping his arms around to hug her.

"God, I've missed you," he sighed, letting go of his girlfriend to shut the door and close them off from the Wintery breeze.

"Wow, needy," she scoffed playfully, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek nonetheless.

Together, they re-entered the living room to prying eyes. Julia, Mike and Nancy were accustomed to the sight of the two of them together, but Karen and Ted found it rather jarring. Especially given Nancy's own history with him.

They settled into a love seat in the corner, until Ringo got up and scurried towards the tree to fetch his present.

"Isn't that your boyfriend?" Ted muttered to Nancy, baffled by the display.

"Nah, I was keeping him warm for her," Nancy shrugged, until her Dad's silence indicated he took her comment seriously. "Kidding!"

Ringo grinned once she saw the familiar rectangle, tied with a tiny bow on top. She clutched it in her hand, excitedly returning to the seat and presenting it to her boyfriend. Steve had a present of his own for Ringo, and he couldn't wait to see her reaction.

Carefully tugging off the wrapping and the red string, his lips lifted into a wide grin as he unveiled a cassette tape, words scribbled on the cover sheet in a very familiar fashion to them.

'Songs for when you love Steve Harrington,' it read.

"Goddamn it," he shook his head with adoration as he looked back at her, "I love you."

She accepted the kiss he tenderly placed on her forehead, warmed by his reaction. Ringo wasn't the richest of her friends - in fact, she was probably the worst off financially. But that wouldn't stop her from making efforts to make her friends, and boyfriend, happy.

"If I play this and there's nothing on it, I swear-" he threatened, her loud laugh cutting him off.

"I'm not that bad, Harrington," Ringo playfully shoved his arm before settling in and laying her head against his shoulder.

"Clearly not, or else I wouldn't have gotten this," he whipped the two pieces of card out from his inside pocket, smirking as he waited for her reaction. Confusedly, she took one in hand and turned it over, face frozen comically for a second before eventually her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen.

Ringo had looked less surprised seeing a demogorgan appear in front of her.

"Oh my GOD!" She shouted, capturing the attention of everyone in the room. "NO. You're lying. I swear, if you're lying. Oh my god, Steve!"

He was full on laughing at her response by now, her hands and arms flailing around dramatically and eyes checking every detail to make sure it wasn't fake.

"What is it?" Julia asked her finally.

"It's tickets to see Stevie motherfuckin' Nicks!" Her voice was still an octave too loud, causing everyone to wince at its volume, except Steve - who was still rather enjoying the display. He remembered her mentioning she had never been to a concert or gig, and thought who better to give her tickets for than her favourite singer?

"I got two tickets, I'm hoping that means you're gonna take me," he teased, returning her attention to him. Ringo leaned in and peppered his cheek with kisses, practically jumping on the seat with elation.

"This is the best present ever, oh my god! Thank you!"

✵

All members of the group under eighteen had relocated to the basement, now joined by the rest of the group and a rather timid looking Jane. She had never experienced Christmas before - perhaps throwing her into their mix was a little too much too soon. Nonetheless, she spent the night by Max and Mike's side. Ringo's face nearly split from grinning every time she saw the two girls together and being friendly.

Those two were two of the best girls she knew, pitting each other against the other was unnecessary when they could make such good friends.

Meanwhile, Dustin was in the midst of trying to teach Steve a new handshake, which he was purposefully messing up every time out of enjoyment for the boy's frustration. Lucas and Will were trying and failing to watch a Christmas movie, distracted by the commotion around them while they dipped into the snacks available to them. Jonathan and Nancy were snuggling in the corner, and Jessica was full of concentration as she switched the sides around on her new rubix cube.

Jessica noticed Ringo's silence as the blonde gazed around at her peers with a quiet admiration, and nudged her with her elbow to snap her out of a daze.

"You okay, Ringo?" She tilted her head, eyes switching between her friend and the cube in her hands.

"You know what?" She began, catching Steve's eye over Dustin's shoulder, as he crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out to make her laugh. "I've never been better."

It had taken Ringo Wheeler quite a while to admit she loved Hawkins, Indiana. Even longer to confess to loving her current boyfriend, Steve. As dysfunctional as their group was, and as much as they seemed to attract danger, she decided she wouldn't change their little squad for the world and would defend them to the ends of the earth.

And when defending them didn't work, she always had her trusty axe laying in the trunk of Steve's car.

✵