✵

Katie piped up from the back seat. The group of four were seated in Ronny's car, with Ronny himself and Ringo in the front and Jeff alongside Katie in the back. The blonde fought the grimace that threatened to form on her face from Katie's use of her newfound nickname, which the other girl knew full well that Ringo hated.

"Yeah, but I'm sure we'll write all the time, right!" She forced a smile on her lips, getting a dreadful sense that this was the last time the group would be speaking to her.

"Yeah," Jeff answered while everyone else nodded, the lack of enthusiasm was evident in all except Katie, but even hers appeared fake to a degree. She didn't dare to hold a false sense of hope that they'd stay in contact after she moved. The events the other night had lifted a veil from her eyes and allowed her to see just how true her friends were.

"I can't believe you threw up on your mom, that's so sick," Ronny smirked, but Ringo didn't share his amusement. Her actions had shamed her to death since it happened, almost two weeks ago, the only emotion overriding embarrassment was guilt. Now, she was seated in a car saying goodbye to the only friends she had over the last few months.

"Yeah," Ringo agreed weakly, "probably going to have to go for a Sober Summer until things cool down."

"That reminds me!" Katie spoke in a high pitched voice, "we have a present for you!"

"Really?" A warm smile crept its way onto her face, perhaps they truly did care. "You guys didn't have to do that!"

"Nonsense," Ronny cocked an eyebrow, reaching his hand behind him for Jeff to hand him the gift bag. Once retrieved, he passed it along to Ringo. She decided that it could have been a rock from the Floridian grounds and she wouldn't have minded, it was the thought that had counted.

But that was until she peered into the bag and realised they had gotten her the one thing she truly didn't want or need at that minute.

"Oh, it's a bottle of vodka," she exclaimed with fake excitement, swallowing down the slightly offended feeling that washed over her. "Thanks, guys."

"Only the best for you, Ringo," Jeff clapped his massive hand on her shoulder as she slipped the bottle back into the bag.

Deciding that she should end the farewell then, Ringo thanked them for being friends to her, subsequently making promises of staying in contact that she knew she'd never keep. When she stepped out of the car to head back inside her apartment building, Ronny began to drive off. And that was the end of it, simple and not at all homely.

Ringo walked back towards her building, grimacing at the thought of the packing she had left to do before they left in the morning. Until she spotted a lone figure seated on the steps, that made her freeze.

Her steps halted immediately, face paling when she saw the man who she singlehandedly blamed for all of her problems.

"Pete," she smiled tightly, taking a few steps forward and anxiously gripping her keys tighter. "What do you want?"

His head shot up at her voice, clumsily rushing to stand up from the step, assuring Ringo that it was her he was waiting for.

"Ringo- I..." he began, brushing his hands against the back of his jeans. If she were a fool, she'd believe him to be nervous. "I heard you were leaving town."

"Yep," she responded drily, crossing her arms over her chest. The only reason she was even giving him the time of day was in case he managed to convince his mother to press charges against her.

"Right," he agreed dumbly, nodding his head. He was silent for a minute, leading her to cock an eyebrow.

"Did you want something, or...?"

"I wanted to apologise," he sputtered, taking her completely by surprise. Ringo crossed her arms over her chest protectively, glancing down at her scuffling feet for a second.

"Why, now?"

"I figured if you leave now then I'll never get the chance to," he explained, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry that I took those photos and shared them around. I don't know what had gotten into my head, I just... I wanted to look cool, I guess. And you were one of the hottest girls in school."

Ringo stared silently at him for a minute, her eyes practically piercing through his skull.

"So..." he murmured awkwardly when she didn't respond, scratching the back of his head, "are we cool?"

"Are we cool?" She hissed, taking the final step forward so they were as close as could be without touching, aside from the finger she was now jabbing in his chest. "No we're not fucking cool! You ruined my life! All because you wanted a bit of popularity? If you weren't at least dropped as a child, you must have been thrown at a wall!"

"Calm down," he held his hands in the air in defence, infuriating her even further.

"Don't tell me to calm down," she seethed, narrowing her eyes furiously. "I don't accept your apology, so get lost."

"Fine, Jesus," he whistled, turning to the side and stomping off towards his newly fixed car, muttering along the way. "Bitch was bad in bed anyway."

"Oh, I'm bad in bed?" She called out after him, uncaring for the bystanders who's attention she now had. "Because you finished! And I didn't!"

With that line, she turned her head so quickly that her blonde hair whipped through the air and stepped back inside the building, thankful this was her final day in Florida.

✵

As it turns out, the price of renting a two-bedroom apartment in Orlando was almost the same as renting a small house in Hawkins, Indiana. Although she had been slightly nervous about her return to Hawkins, Ringo adored the small house her mother had procured for them. It was quaint and cozy, and more than enough for the two of them. It was the nicest place she had lived in all her life.

The town was a thirty minute drive from Fort Wayne, where Julia Wheeler intended to look to find a new job as soon as she could.

It dawned on Ringo the risk her mother was taking in moving - quitting her job that provided stability and healthcare to uproot herself and move to another state. The teenager only hoped that Julia found some solace in moving away from Orlando too, as she knew the memories of her late husband were just as proficient as Ringo's.

They had been travelling back and forth between the car, carting boxes of their belongings to and fro. Thankfully, the apartment came fully furnished, and neither woman held much sentiment for their larger furniture back in Orlando enough to bring it with them.

As soon as all of the boxes had finally been set down in the hallway, they stopped to catch their breath and take in their surroundings. Julia smiled softly, resting her arm around her daughter's shoulders.

"You're lucky I love you, kid," she teased, squeezing her arm gently. "They don't even have a McDonald's here."

Ringo smiled weakly, that same sense of guilt that had become all too familiar creeping up again.

"Karen invited us for dinner at the Wheelers tonight, so we don't have to worry about cooking," the older woman announced as she reached for the first box, taking note of the 'kitchen' writing on the side and trailing off to the room.

"Great," Ringo grinned genuinely, excited to see her cousins once more, but slightly unsure if her cousins were excited to see her.

✵

"Ringo!" Mike exclaimed, being the one to be open the door. His eagerness and excitement warmed her heart, and almost immediately she bent slightly to hug him in return as he reached for her. It seemed that he had grown so much, even over the course of six months.

"Hey!" She beamed, squeezing him back and rubbing her knuckles against his scalp.

"It's about time you're back, asking Nancy for help with Math homework is like pulling claws from a cat," he rolled his eyes, prompting her to playfully shove him in Nancy's defence.

"Ringo!" Karen called out happily as she appeared from the kitchen. Her heart warmed slightly as the older woman engulfed her as well. She even missed her step aunt, who acted as a second mother during her original stay in Hawkins.

"Julia, how are you doing?" Karen smiled comfortingly at her, noticing the mother's awkward stance by the front door. She was hesitant about accepting the invitation to dinner, after all she was in the middle of a divorce when her husband had passed.

This was her husband's relatives, not hers.

As Karen dragged Julia off to the kitchen, chattering happily, while Mike had run off to the basement with his walkie talkie - Ringo stopped at the sound of a creak on the stairs.

Her grin felt a little more forced when Nancy had come into view, purely because she could tell by the girl's demeanour she wasn't as excited as her mother and brother to reconnect with her cousin.

"Hi!" Ringo greeted happily, grinning as Nancy continued down the stairs.

"Hey," she waved back in return, the dimples in her cheek indented in a way that told Ringo her smile was indeed false, as well.

"I missed you," she admitted, awkwardly holding her hands out to her for a hug. The words seemed to break some of Nancy's tension.

"I missed you too, Ringo," she visibly relaxed and rushed forward to wrap her arms around the taller blonde. They stood for a moment, hugging out the awkwardness that Ringo wasn't quite sure about the reason it had formed.

"My room is too quiet without your snoring," Nancy teased after pulling away, nudging her shoulder.

"My room smells too normal now that your night gas doesn't flood it up," she fired back, narrowing her eyes playfully.

"Hey!" Nancy scoffed as they began to walk to the kitchen. "I do not fart in my sleep."

"I sure hope you do, because if it's not a fart then you're 100% shitting yourself in bed."

✵

Ringo and Jessica had a designated spot they agreed to meet at in town, which was the corner right across from the movie theatre.

The two had kept in contact since December, probably more so than she had with anyone else in Hawkins. Jessica had been absolutely ecstatic when she learned that Ringo was returning, which was probably the most emotion she had ever seen emit from the girl.

Julia had been iffy about letting her daughter out of the house so easily to meet her friends, but ultimately decided it was harmless as their reunion took place during the day. Besides, Jessica was the only friend Ringo had that actually didn't drink.

Thankfully, their house was within walking distance of town, even closer than Nancy's house had been. Ringo's mother had set off to Fort Wayne on a job search since that morning, although reluctantly. Even leaving during the day was entrusting Ringo a lot more than she did at the moment.

Ringo waited at the small convenience store Jessica had suggested, a small smile on her lips as she recalled one of the times she had visited it before. It was a little before the events of Halloween, when her biggest problem had been Tommy and Carol. She chuckled lowly at the thought of spraying Coke all over Carol, despite the fact they had since reconciled their differences.

The sound of feet hitting the ground behind her rang in her ears, but she hadn't quite registered it before all of a sudden, arms encircled her and were lifting her enough for her feet to dangle off the ground.

"What the fuck?" She shouted as the person finally lowered her down, whipping around with her fist in the air and ready to strike her attacker. However she was met with long hair and excited brown eyes that made her fist, and her heart, stop immediately.

"Ringo!" Steve Harrington beamed, wrapping his arms around her again and hugging her, but she was too in shock to even react. He didn't even seem the slightest bit angry that she had been ignoring his calls as of late, which absolutely baffled her.

He had been the one person she dreaded seeing again, and she had no one to blame but herself.

After realising she wasn't going to hug him back, he let go of her as if it burned him, taking a step back awkwardly and scanning her from head to toe, taking in her appearance.

"I wasn't sure when you were coming back, Nancy didn't tell me when," there was something in his voice that told her there was more to that story, but she didn't press it at the time.

"Y-yeah," she smiled weakly, holding her hands out and gesturing around. "I'm back! Permanently, I guess."

"You should have called and told me!" Steve still held a smirk that made her heart clench, it was a reminder that he was yet another person in her life that she had let down, that didn't deserve it. "I'm throwing you a party the second my parents ditch me again."

"No!" She said too quickly, causing him to frown in confusion. "I mean... no parties."

"It's really great to see you, Ringo," he told her, full of sincerity. She tried to fight the blush that crept up on her cheeks, but it was practically impossible. His hair had grown slightly longer, making him look even more handsome than usual.

"It's-" Ringo began, but was cut off by a shout of her name from behind her. She turned in time to catch, this time, Jessica before she latched onto her like a koala bear.

"Oh thank god! You're here to save the town from the jocks again!" Jessica spoke in a pleading tone, causing her to laugh and squeeze her back as equally as forcefully. Steve's smile dimmed slightly upon noticing how she reciprocated Jessica's embrace, but tried not to dwell on it.

"Oh snap, there's one right here," Jessica muttered when they pulled apart and she saw Steve standing, uncomfortable.

"Jessica and I have... plans," Ringo informed him, hoping he would take the hint - thankfully, he did.

"Yeah! No, yeah! I'll just... call me when you're free to hang out, okay?" His tone ended in one of confusion, but truly, he was confused.

The unanswered phone calls had offended him over the last few weeks, but he had tried to tell himself it was nothing more than Ringo being busy. Now, here she was, and even colder than when they had first met.

He stood dumbly for a minute, watching as the blonde turned and began to march up the street, chattering happily with her friend and wondering why he wasn't the friend she was so excited to see any more.