𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚒𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎.

𝟿 𝚝𝚘 𝟻, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝙿𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗' 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜.

𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚍𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢.

𝚆𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝?

𝚆𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛,

𝚂𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛.

"I'm... I'm fine," she exhaled loudly and blinked uncomfortably when her vertigo disappeared. "Sorry," she muttered, releasing her fists, pulling away from the pair of comforting hands, and curling a strand of hair behind her ear.

🤦‍♀️

"No worries," he smirked and pressed the tip of his tongue to one of his canines as he lavished her body with his eyes. She swore if eyes could undress, his would be stripping her in public.

The sight of his amusing 'tongue-thing' caused the adrenaline in her body to simmer.

She found herself fighting a smile off her face but those eyes were making it hard not to blush. She bit her lip as she turned away and hurried down the hall. She knew she needed to get rid of the weed in her pockets before her eyes and mouth got her into more trouble.

Now that she knew Eddie was there, it was going to be even more difficult to resist him. She had to be even more cautious of what her eyes revealed and what her mouth said.

She scratched nervously at her neck and fought the urge to turn over her shoulder and meet Eddie's caring gaze from afar. She kept her eyes on the ground as she worked her way towards the other end of the house and turned to the door on the left.

She couldn't help herself when her hand landed on the doorknob. Just before she entered, her head turned towards Eddie. Through the drunks and hormonal teens making out across the walls, she managed to find him standing in the middle of a crowd with his hands in his pockets. He was already looking back at her and smirking before she shook her head clear of thoughts about him and winced when she entered the room Kaitlyn told her Steve was in.

She was right, but the gust of smoke Lennon inhaled upon entering made her choke and let out an alarming cough.

"The fuck are you guys smoking?" she used her arm to cover her face when she found Steve sprawled out on a small couch with a man with long black hair.

Then her heart dropped.

It was Argyle.

The man from the Music Store, the one that was put in his two-week leave and left the wrapped guitar she bought Eddie behind the dumpster he smoked by with his friends.

It was still sitting there in a plastic box. She couldn't take it home yet but Argyle agreed to help her and that was the best she could do.

He promised nobody would know it was there and so far, he was right.

When she found him with Steve, her eyes widened for a moment and she worried he might have said something about her to him. She had no idea they were friends so she didn't think to ask but now she had no choice.

Or maybe it was too late. Maybe Argyle said something about the guitar to Steve and because nobody in her social life played guitar, he would have no choice but to suspect Eddie.

"You have the stuff?" Steve sat upright and got to his feet before extending his hands without an introduction.

"Are you crazy?" she shot him a look of incredulity before looking around the neon-lit room and guessed it to be a game room of sorts judging by the two mini couches, large television, and five arcade machines on the other end of the room.

"I haven't had anything all night... C'mon. I... only trust Brontë," he moved his hand closer to Lennon's as he waited for the bag of weed her brother promised.

"Who's that?" she looked over Steve's shoulder cautiously as she ushered towards the man with his head thrown over the back of the couch with his eyes closed.

She had to know if Steve and Argyle were close. She had to know he was trustworthy but not so much as to reveal her secrets to him.

Steve turned and saw who Lennon was referring to before he waved the man off like whoever he was didn't matter. "That's just Argyle."

Initial relief washed over her but she couldn't be certain.

Lennon's eyes then moved to the other two sitting on the other couch and the group of three who had their backs to Lennon as they crowded around the pinball machine. One of the guys off the basketball team was sharing a joint with his girlfriend on the other couch and the sober girls by the pinball machine were band geeks, so Lennon wasn't going to give Steve what he wanted.

"You want it so bad, you can fish it out the lid of the toilet, Harrington," she sighed, quickly making her leave to find clean air.

She cringed before inhaling the air in the hall and being thankful she didn't have to fight for it anymore. She tried to close the door behind her to give the stoners and their allies privacy, but Steve quickly followed her.

"C'mon, Lenny," Steve complained. "I'm not... fishing shit out of a toilet-"

"Should have knocked some sense into your asshole of a best friend last night then. 'Cause it could've been him doing this instead; no toilet bowls required," she scoffed incredulously, keeping her eyes peeled for the bathroom.

She hated to admit it, but her eyes were actively seeking out a certain forbidden companion. She rifled through the crowded hallway, looking both for a bathroom and a pair of warm brown eyes but they must have deserted their earlier station because he wasn't where she left him.

"Just give it here," Steve groaned, taking Lennon by the wrist and stopping her from moving any further toward the line of three girls pressed against the wall as they waited for the bathroom. "Make this easy, would you?" Steve sighed, letting go of her arm and lifting his other hand for the package.

Lennon's eyes sketchily moved to those around them to decide if it was safe enough to chat or not. "Drugs should not be this important to you, Steve," she warned him lowly. "What the fuck is up with you lately?" she ridiculed him.

"Like you're any different," Steve rolled his eyes and shook his hand insistently between them, growing more and more impatient with the younger girl he had to tolerate for the sake of his best friend's peace of mind.

"That's low," she sneered and turned back towards the line for the bathroom which reduced to two people in waiting but Steve reached for her again and this time, his grip was a little tighter than before.

Lennon looked down at his hand and cringed. "Stop grabbing me and grow up," she rolled her eyes and snatched her arm out of his hand with considerable force.

"Just haaand it over so you can go back to fffucking with Hargrove. C'mon," Steve groaned, pulling her shoulder and causing her to stumble back slightly to counter him.

"The hell are you on about?" she cringed, trying to brush him off but Steve didn't seem interested in giving up.

"You're such a fucking showoff, man," Steve rolled his eyes and noticed the size of her pockets.

"What?" she shot back in disbelief.

Steve wasn't making any sense and the more he fought, the more Lennon had to think he wasn't as sober as she first thought.

"You wanna make everyone think you're little Miss Perfect? Grab the new guy. Makeout with the surfer from Cali in fffront of everyone so they thinnnk you're the shit-" Steve spoke loudly.

"Steve..." Lennon interrupted him with a warning gaze but he didn't follow it.

"Break Kaitlyn's leg and get promoted to a flyer, why don't you? Make me prrractically beg you for a fucking ounce, Lennon!" he rebuked, grabbing for her pocket and failing to snag the bags she had hidden inside when she was quick to swat him away.

"Steve, stop," she swatted at his hand again as she growled under her breath.

She had never seen him so bitter before. He sounded drunk but she didn't want to blame his behavior on the substance. No, he needed to take responsibility for the fact he was upset about Nancy and couldn't see others' success through his jealousy and resentment.

"Give. Just give me the weed, Lenny," he grit through his teeth before Lennon had no choice but to take Steve's wrist and shove him away.

"You're fucking drunk, Harrington," she hissed. "Back off."

"You're such a fucking attention whore, you know that?" he leered, moving for her pocket again but she wasn't going to let him make a fool of either of them and jumped back.

No matter how hard she tried to save them both their dignity, people started to stare and conversation dwindled the longer they fought.

"Steve," she grunted, growing worried about how much longer she'd be able to hold him off. "Steve," she cried out in a whisper. "Stop."

"The fuck's your problem, Harrington?" someone came between them and shoved Steve back with one swift provocation.

Steve stumbled backward in his drunken state but managed to catch his footing before he spilled someone's drink on them.

It took Lennon a second to realize who it was but as soon as she was faced with those dirty-blond curls, she knew she needed to stop them before they got started.

"Billy," Lennon deserted her attempt to reach the bathroom and scurried to be between her date and her brother's best friend. "We're not doing this," she groaned, pushing him back and quickly whipping back to Steve before Billy could protest.

"Take your fucking weed and your fucking shrooms and leave me alone," she hissed under her breath, angrily throwing the six bags of different strands and baggies full of dried food at Steve, causing him to scurry and fail to catch them as they tumbled to the floor.

Steve was too shocked to speak.

She wouldn't hand the drugs to him in front of the people in the other room so he expected her to keep hiding what she had in her pockets, but she abandoned that mindset. He didn't think she had it in her. He didn't think she would be angry enough to make a fool out of him and risk her sterling reputation, but alas, her patience was worn thin.

Steve watched her as she never missed a beat to meet with Billy again. People around them had all gone quiet as they watched the three of them from the sidelines. That was before snickering and 'ooh's and 'ahh's started which put Lennon even more on edge.

She wasn't as concerned about being caught with drugs as she was about saving Steve an ass-kicking now. It was Brontë's stash, it was Brontë's problem. It was Brontë's friend, it should have been his problem; however, there she was, always cleaning up after him and having to face the repercussions nonetheless.

"C'mon, Billy. Please. Let's go back downstairs," she begged, pressing her hand to his bicep and speaking softly with insistent eyes.

"I'm sick and tired of this-" Billy grew with rage at the sight of Steve before Lennon interjected.

"Please!" she begged, hating the sound of her voice as she submitted to pleading. "Billy, we're not doing this. Please, let's go downstairs and have a drink," she pulled both her hands to rest on his chest, curling her fingers over his shoulders and walking him backward from Steve.

Billy's eyes finally left Steve's and found a sense of stability in the green ones staring up at him.

Lennon watched something wash over his face. It was like all the anger rising inside him had dissipated under the warmth of her promising gaze. She looked so sure, so unprovoked, so calm.

How could she be so calm after that?

It made it impossible for him to be angry. She wasn't a malicious person in the slightest. She didn't usually let people anger her or bother her to the point she acted out in it. She didn't let any of it faze her. She didn't carry a single bad bone in her body and when Billy looked down into her innocent face in search of ill-intent, he couldn't find it in himself to be angry because she wasn't.

Billy flared his nostrils and sighed, falling back in his dominant stance and surrendering to the girl between him and Steve.

People started to whisper and snicker and egg Billy on to start something with Steve, but Lennon wanted to disappear before anything anyone had to say had the opportunity to trigger Billy back into his rage. She took him by the hand and surprised him with the small gesture.

His eyes fell to their clasped hands then up to find her staring at him softly. He was catching a vibe of hesitance and she seemed a little like a stand-off, so her took her hand holding as a surprisingly positive sign.

She ushered him down the steps and shook her head at the people continuing to complain or agitate the mood in the hall.

"What was all that about?" Billy followed Lennon back into the foyer before she impatiently squeezed her way in between people to get to the kitchen where the booze was served.

"I'm not getting involved in that. Whatever that was is between Steve and my brother," she groaned and dropped Billy's hand. "And Steve and Brontë are not worth a broken hand, trust me," she shouted over the music and lifted two red solo cups from a stack in the corner of the counter.

She stared at the bowl of punch that somehow kept getting refilled but decided against it.

Punch wasn't going to be strong enough; not if the night continued like that.

She moved for the bottle of vodka and a can of beer set out in a bin of ice off to the side and started pouring. Her quick and reckless pouring surprised Billy. He stared in both fascination and curiosity at the girl now. She didn't seem like the type to have a taste for bartending but her movements contradicted that belief.

She set the vodka down and split the contents of the beer into two cups before looking for something sweet to add to the unmeasured cocktail.

"Not your first time bartending?" Billy scoffed, leaning his back against the edge of the countertop to watch her eyes move in a frantic pattern before she reached over the center of the island in the middle of the crowded kitchen. She smiled when she found the simple syrup and turned to Billy wondrously.

"My brother tends at the Hideout," she informed him. "You watch him long enough you can measure out an ounce just by counting in your head," she explained charmingly, finishing the drinks and swirling the contents inside since she didn't have a spoon or a shaker. "He spends more time there than he does at home," she said mindlessly. She handed Billy his drink and added, "You would think the bastard would know better than to get alcohol poisoning after serving it every day..."

The next thing Billy knew, she was chugging her cocktail down before Billy could even question the contents.

"Whoa..." he stood with a look of shock on his face as he watched this beautiful, seemingly innocent girl finish her drink in the span of a few seconds. "Take it easy!" Billy widened his eyes and looked at Lennon's unattentive stare as she searched the countertop for something that would keep the worries away and iron out her disappointment in Steve and Tina, and more importantly, herself.

"You can't expect to take me out and not have fun, right?" she called out over the heavy chatter in the kitchen which rose when a shipment of kegs arrived at the front door. "This is fun!" she shouted over the hoots and cheers.

"Look!" Billy furrowed his beautifully shaped eyebrows sympathetically and got closer so she could hear him better. "If this is about Harrington-"

"Not everything's about Steve!" she shouted back, finding a nearly empty bottle of tequila being set down by one of the frat guys at school. "Excuse me!" she shouted as she leaned over the girls he was with and filled her cup with what was left of the liquid.

"You sure?!" Billy asked insistently.

"Absolutely!" she rose her cup into the air. "Cheers!"

Billy looked between her cup and her face and hesitantly trusted her. He clinked his cup against hers and muttered, "Cheers..." before doing the same and finishing his cup in one go.

Lennon took a sip of hers and cringed, forcing the liquid down her throat and hating both the taste and the burning sensation as it went down her throat.

"Fuck being sober!" she shouted victoriously.

Billy stood up straight and watched her curiously as finished the contents of her cup before taking his empty cup and setting them both down with a heavy hand.

She looked comfortable. Physically, she looked like she fitted in, but she didn't act like it. He silently questioned if she had ever been to a party before but knew not to question her after watching her stomach tequila like a champion. No party-virgin was capable of holding that down.

"There's beer pong in the dining room!" Lennon took Billy by the shoulder and spoke beside his ear. "You in?!"

She pulled back and met Billy's wavering stare.

She was smiling and she looked hopeful. She was taking the reigns and inviting him to a game. In any other case, he would have accepted without a second thought, but Lennon just got done throwing heaps of drugs at Steve and she looked distracted and... hurt? Was the possible? Could she sincerely be hurt by that? Or maybe he was reading her all wrong...

"I couldn't imagine a better partner!" Billy smiled and quickly got whipped away by the girl.

She grabbed his hand and led the way through the dancing bodies in the lounge. Lennon thought the layout of the house was a little strange seeing as there were two living rooms on either corner of the West wall but she tried not to judge.

Houses that were built with grand amounts of money always made Lennon skeptical. There was no good reason to have two living rooms and the dining room looked more like a dining hall with four decently large tables set out inside. It just felt like people with money often spent it because they had it, not because they needed it.

She wasn't in a position to remark upon it after seeing what her parents left her in the will. It was a handsome sum of money, but as soon as she had legal ownership over those things, she was sure she wasn't going to spend it on two living rooms and a dining hall half the size of the cafeteria at school.

Lennon and Billy took over the game by the double doors that led into the front living room. Though, the living space through the entrance seemed slightly off-putting considering it was split between a room with a pool table, TV, and some cushioned chairs, and a room with a couch, a fireplace, and a desk. The space with the pool table was being used as a dance floor in the furthermost corner and the space between that and the dining hall was occupied by a much calmer, more reserved vibration.

Billy and she started setting up the game once the two winning jocks from the team, Jason and Patrick retrieved some beers from the kitchen. They disappeared when Chrissy and Heather asked for some help upstairs and someone out of the corner of Lennon's eye caught her off guard.

She fiddled with the ping pong ball in her hand as she started to recognize those sitting around the fireplace. There were two boys sitting by one corner of the stone containment, staring into the flames as they chatted happily. The raven-haired boy and charming dork beside him were from Hellfire.

There was a game of sorts being played on the coffee table between the fireplace and the couch. Two more boys sat with their backs to Mike and Will. Dustin and Gareth sat side by side as five more familiar faces occupied the place on the couch.