A/N: The Christmas party is finally here! We'll see a small appearance of Steve, a little more Cheryl and some seed are finally about to be planted in the Billy and Teddi garden. Enjoy!
"Warren, come on, buddy! Fingers out of your nose!" Teddi called down from her spot in the life guard's chair. He jumped, turning to look at Teddi with wide eyes. He hid his hands behind his back.
"Sorry, Teddi!"
Teddi couldn't help but let out a small laugh as she shook her head. Billy's class had ended around twenty minutes ago, and a few of the kids were still splashing around in the pool while they waited for their parents to pick them up. Thankfully they had all taken to Teddi pretty well. Even Sophia had decided she sort of liked Teddi after deciding there was no way she and Billy were dating with how often they bickered.
"That Brian kid keeps staring at you." Teddi rolled her eyes at the sound of Billy's voice. She looked down to see him leaning against her chair, sticking a piece of spearmint gum into his mouth in lieu of a cigarette. Teddi knew this already. Brian was in the same grade as Teddi and Billy. He was on the soccer team, and he was kind of an idiot. But he looked like Patrick Swayze, so all of the girls liked him.
"And what of it, Hargrove?" she asked in a bored tone. Billy crossed his arms, watching Brian from across the pool.
"And I think he might wanna ask you out, weird girl." she chose not to let him know how annoying she found it that he sounded so amused. Teddi was mostly just glad that there was no sign of awkwardness between them since that day outside of Melvald's. They were right back to their normal routine and she couldn't have felt more grateful.
Teddi thought about the idea of Brian asking her out for a moment before shaking her head. "Yeah...no thanks."
"Are you sure you're not a lesbian?"
Teddi rolled her eyes. "I'm not a lesbian."
"Fine. So if Brian isn't your type then what is?" he huffed, turning to face her.
Teddi shrugged. "Rob Lowe's pretty hot."
"Oh, so you'll bang Rob Lowe, but not me?" the tops of his ears were getting red again like they usually did when he got annoyed.
"Anyone would bang Rob Lowe over you. And I won't sleep with you because you're an asshole. I'm fairly certain we've been over this. Besides, you don't even like me."
"You think I like any of the girls I hook up with?"
Teddi couldn't help but laugh. "Hargrove, that's one of the saddest things I've ever heard. And what do you care anyways? Shouldn't you be over there hitting on the moms?" Billy only scoffed. "And why are you suddenly so interested in my love life anyways?"
"I'm just thinking if you get laid maybe you'll stop being so uptight."
Tedd rolled her eyes. "God, you're a pig, you know that?"
Billy completely ignored the comment. "What, you don't want a date for the party this weekend?"
"Do you have a date to the party?"
He shrugged. "I might take Cheryl." he didn't really want to take Cheryl. He was pretty sure that a blow up doll had more personality. But she was a sure thing, so who was he to pass that up? He felt a wave of satisfaction when he noticed how annoyed Teddi looked.
But she didn't say anything. "I'm not really looking to date. Guys our age are way too needy and stupid." and on top of it all even if she wanted to date she didn't have the time for it. There was also the added frustration of her home life and the fact that she would have to be insane to try and drag some guy into that on top of the fact that she was planning on leaving Hawkins in the next few months.
"Mr. Myers more your speed?" he asked with a grin, nodding over to where Mr. Myers was pacing up and down the length of the pool in his speedo. Teddi and Billy broke out into a fit of snickers as they watched him try to catch the attention of all the women lounging poolside.
"No, I'll definitely pass. I'm just not interested in dating I guess. Maybe in college or something." She said with a shrug.
Billy pushed off of the chair and shook his head. "Whatever you say, weird girl. It's my turn up in the seat. Freddy said you can head off to the arcade."
"Awesome." Teddi hopped down from the chair and rushed off to the locker room to change. She was back out of the locker room in record time and almost outside when Brian stopped her.
"Teddi, hey. How's it going?" Teddi almost felt horrified when she realized that Billy had apparently been completely onto something.
"Uh, it's good. Just got off my shift so I'm off to the arcade…" she was trying to be as polite as possible, but Teddi did not want to have this conversation.
"Right, sorry. I just wanted to ask, uh, are you going to that party this weekend at David's?" he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Yeah. Heather invited me a few days ago. I mean, I'm pretty sure I can go at least." she should have just lied and said she had to work.
"Cool, cool. Uh, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go with me? I could pick you up at the arcade?" the thing was that Teddi was bad at saying no. Well, she was good at it when it came to Billy at least. And even though she really, really didn't want to go to the party with a date, it was a little too hard to look at Brian's dumb, pretty face and tell him she wasn't interested.
"Um...sure, alright. I get off at eight, okay?"
"Dope...well, later then." he gave an awkward wave and walked off. Teddi looked over to where Billy was sitting. He was grinning at her from ear to ear. Teddi shot him a mocking look and flipped him off before she ducked outside and rushed over to her van. How did she keep digging herself into holes like this? Before she could stop herself she got this horrifying image of going on double dates with Brian, Billy and Cheryl. She groaned and dropped her head down onto her steering wheel. God she hated Hawkins.
It was Friday, the night that she had been dreading the entire week. She could barely focus on her work. The kids in the arcade could have staged a full mutiny against Keith and she wouldn't have realized it was happening. She felt stupid for being so nervous. It was just a party. Teddi had gone to plenty of parties back when she lived in New York. But then things had been different then. There hadn't been the pressure of money and responsibility that she had now among other things.
The fact that she had a date wasn't making things any better. She would be stupid to say she wasn't attracted to Brian. He wasn't exactly her type, sure, but still he had one of those smiles that made you forget what it was you were talking about.
Teddi hadn't really had a good idea of what to wear either. It was just a house party, but the added date aspect made her want to put a little more effort into it. She ended up choosing a black, off the shoulder top with a plaid mini she had just bought not too long ago. If she paired it with the same pair of boots she could usually be found in she would look nice, but not like she had tried too hard. She ended up changing out of her work uniform in the arcade's break room and deciding to hang out behind the prize counter to wait for Brian.
"Wow, you actually look like a girl." Keith had said once he saw her.
"...Thank you, Keith." she sighed.
"You got a hot date?"
"Brian's picking me up for that Christmas party. You know, the one that you said you'd rather light yourself on fire rather than go to?" he wasn't wrong to think that way either. Teddi kinda wished she could do the same right about now.
"Brian Jean? How'd you swing that?"
Teddi let out a heavy sigh. "I wish I knew." it wasn't like she was ugly or anything. The idea of a boy asking her out wasn't so completely insane. She was no Nancy Wheeler or Cheryl Burns, sure, but Teddi just kept to herself mostly. She was sure that if Brian hadn't had a little brother that was in Billy's class at the pool he never would have known that she existed. At least now she could technically partially blame Billy. That made her feel a little bit better.
"Look at him," Keith said as Brian walked into the arcade. "He's like...prince charming. You have got to tell me how this party went tomorrow."
Teddi looked over at Keith with an amused grin. "I thought you didn't want to go?"
"I don't. But I still wanna know what happens." he gave her a pointed look as he disappeared off into the arcade as Brian walked up to the prize counter.
He flashed Teddi one of those dazzling smiles of his. "Hey. Man, you look totally hot."
Teddi let out a nervous laugh. "Oh, thanks. I mean I'll freeze my ass off, but at least I'll look good, right?" she joked. She grabbed her coat, smiling when Brian helped her put it on and followed him out to his car. He even opened the car door for her too. Teddi had to admit that she was impressed. Although with spending so much time around Billy lately she'd probably find anything halfway nice was impressive.
It was a short ride to the party. Brian made polite small talk with her during the drive. As dumb as he was, Brian was a fairly easy guy to talk to. She could feel her anxiety about all of it fade a little bit the more they spoke. Maybe having a date wouldn't be so bad.
When they got to David's house there were a few dozen cars already parked in the lawn. Teddi wasn't sure when exactly the party had started, but she was sure that by now it had turned into a rager. The Christmas lights that had been hanging from the roof were now hanging halfway off and strung down the driveway. There was a light up Santa that was face down in the lawn, and three of his reindeers were nowhere in sight. Three guys that Teddi recognized from the football team were all passed out in the driveway with beers clutched tightly in their hands.
"Wow, guess we missed out on some fun, huh?" she asked with a small laugh as they weaved their way up towards the front door. Brian opened it and stepped aside to let her in. Jingle Bells was playing far too loudly inside.
"Oh don't worry, dude. I'm sure we can catch up," he said reassuringly. "You want some punch or something?" Teddi nodded, peeling off her coat and tossing it into the pile that sat by the front door. She didn't envy David for having to clean all of this up tomorrow. I looked like a tornado had passed through his living room.
Brian gave Teddi a thumbs up and disappeared into the crowd. This was the part that she hated most about parties. The awkward waiting around. She also didn't really recognize anyone there. There wasn't any sign of Heather so far. She'd spotted a quick flash of Steve Harrington when she had walked in, but he had quickly disappeared into the sea of people. She and Steve were pretty good friends. They'd met through Max and her friends. But Teddi hadn't seen too much of him during Christmas break since Steve was working with his dad for a little extra cash. Eventually Teddi guessed that no one would really notice her standing there. They were all far too wrapped up in whatever they were doing to notice. But she still felt super exposed somehow. And besides, it felt like Brian was taking a long time.
"Well Goddamn, Larsson. You clean up nice," Teddi sighed loudly and turned to face Billy. She had to admit, he looked good. His leather jacket hung over a black button up shirt that was of course unbuttoned low on his chest. The same necklace he always wore dangled against his bare skin, and she was pretty sure his jeans were a full three sizes too small. She could also smell his cologne from where she stood. "How come you don't dress like this for me?"
"Shouldn't you be balls deep in Cheryl Burns right about now?" she asked, rolling her eyes. Teddi was a little surprised that she hadn't spotted Cheryl yet. She was sure that Cheryl and Billy would've been attached at the hips all night.
Billy flashed a devilish grin at her. "That what you think about in your free time, Teddi? Me balls deep in other girls?" Teddi scoffed. Billy smirked, shrugging and looking at the room around him. "I lost her a while ago. She was starting to get on my nerves. Where's loverboy?"
Teddi cast one more hopeful glance around the room. "He was supposed to be getting us drinks, but I think he might have gotten distracted by something shiny." she said with a heavy sigh. Billy only held out his beer to her. Teddi raised an eyebrow.
Billy rolled his eyes. "Just take it. I'll get another one," Teddi only eyed him suspiciously. "Jesus Christ, Larsson. I didn't drug it or anything. I'm trying to be nice."
Teddi almost suspected Billy was drunk. But he was still a little too grouchy and seemed too alert. Maybe hell was freezing over. She hesitantly took the bottle from him and mumbled a thanks. Before Billy could say anything else, Heather had run over and was grabbing Teddi by the wrist. "Ohmygosh. You came! This is such an awesome party isn't it? Come on, we're playing beer pong and I need a partner!" and suddenly Teddi was being dragged through the party and outside to the back patio to play beer pong.
The rest of the party was sort of a blur. Teddi wasn't great at beer pong. She never really had been. She also had way too many of the red and green jello shots that had been passed around. And there hadn't been any sign of Brian the entire night. Or at least if she had seen him she didn't remember. Mostly she just remembered drinking with Heather and dancing to Jingle Bell Rock with her on the dining room table. Billy had joined in on a game of beer pong towards the end and he was of course amazing at it.
After that, Teddi had seen him a few times here and there. He hadn't been drinking that much. Mostly nursing a beer and one of the green jello shots after Teddi had practically forced it into his mouth. But after Teddi and Steve Harrington finally found each other and belted out a drunken duet of Baby It's Cold Outside, Teddi had lost all track of Billy.
But now it was late. And even in her current state, Teddi had no idea how she was supposed to be getting home. She was lounged out on the couch and trying her hardest not to fall asleep when someone shook her a little too roughly by the shoulder. "Christ, what?" she complained, trying to shove whoever it was away from her.
"Wake up, Larsson," it was Billy. "Where's Brian?" he asked.
"There you are!" Teddi said, her hands latching onto Billy's arms as if he'd disappear at any second. Teddi narrowed her eyes as she tried her hardest to spot Brian in the living room that was slowly emptying before she shrugged. "Ugh. Who knows. God, what a dick. He like totally abandoned me. I can't believe Keith called him Prince Charming." she crossed her arms.
Billy rolled his eyes. He hadn't seen Brian himself the entire night. Maybe Teddi had scared him off. Even Billy had been impressed with how hard she could party. She was constantly surprising him. But it was getting late now. Teddi needed to get home. He'd looked everywhere for Cheryl already, but he hadn't seen her in a few hours and Carol had said she'd seen Cheryl leaving about an hour before. So he pulled Teddi up into a sitting position. "Alright, Larsson. I'm gonna take you home. Can you stand?" he was sure if Max saw this she'd shit a fit. He was being nice.
"Yes I can stand," Teddi huffed. She braced herself on his arms and tried to stand, but her wobbly legs gave out from under her and she fell back onto the couch laughing. "Nope! Guess not!" she giggled.
Billy shook his head. "Let's go, Ted. Up you go." he grunted a little as he scooped her up into his arms and headed for the door.
"Wait, wait! My coat!" she complained, trying to reach for the pile of coats by the door.
He huffed and stopped. "Which one's yours?" Teddi narrowed her eyes again before jabbing a finger at her puffy, black coat. Billy yanked it from the pile and handed it to her. Teddi was a pain in the ass when she was sober, so it wasn't much of a surprise that she was even more of a pain in the ass when she was wasted. The kids in his classes at the pool were less of a mess than she was.
Teddi gripped onto both Billy and her coat tightly as they made their way outside and to Billy's Camero. "You're strong." she sighed out. Billy couldn't help but smirk, his chest puffing out just a little bit. Alright, so maybe drunk Teddi wasn't so bad. He opened the passenger side door and gently set Teddi inside before buckling her seatbelt so she wouldn't be sliding all over the place.
He got in after her and lit a cigarette before driving off. In a million years he would never have guessed that he'd be driving a drunk Teddi Larsson home. But he guessed there was a first time for everything.