The weather was gradually growing colder. Winter was her least favourite season. Everything was icy and unwelcoming and the silence weighed down on her in the isolation. The radio was always turned on, and the batteries were carefully nestled in the drawer in preparation for when the radio died out.

The floor thudded with each hop as she struggled to get into the skirt. Sure they were a few years old but man, were they way tighter than she remembered. With a huff she looked down, smoothing out the skirt. The shirt was seamlessly tucked in. Turning around she looked at herself in the mirror. The pink skirt that was a little too tight and contoured her from waist to below the knees . . . The pink shirt . . . The tan boots . . . It was as close as she going to get to Claire in the Breakfast Club.

The phone rang, and she perked up. Quickly she went to grab the landline in the kitchen. "Diane Dobler, who's calling?"

"Hello darling." Her mom's voice answered, coming through the static. Despite herself she felt an energy sweep through her body.

"You're still coming back home tomorrow, right?" She asked, cursing herself for how hopeful her voice sounded. How childish. They had been gone for three weeks now, longer than usual. Her parents weren't known for their physical affection, but all she wanted was to be cuddled up with her mom next to the fireplace. They didn't even need to talk.

There was a long pause and Diane strained to hear against the static, careful not to miss any of their words. "Our trip has been extended. But that's not why we're calling."

She laughed without humour. Of course they weren't even going to tell her they had extended their trip. And of course they weren't calling just to check up on her. "Why bother calling, then? To make sure the house hasn't burned down?"

"Diane, this is your father speaking. We received a call from the school. They told us what happened. What happened with our agreement that you'd stay out of trouble and do your work?"

She froze at their words, but quickly regained her voice. The excitement had quickly died down, to be replaced with a biting cold. She wasn't going to tell her parents that the plagiarism wasn't even her fault. Her parents always told her that it didn't matter who had started what, if she was indicted in something, it would always be viewed as her fault. "It was an accident. I - I didn't mean for any of that to happen. It won't happen again. Did you . . . Did you just call because you're angry and wanted to yell at me?"

"No," her mom wrestled to be a part of the conversation too, "We're just so disappointed with you. We raised you better than that."

She swallowed hard. The disappointment was biting. Of course they hadn't called her to check up on her, just to see how she was doing. "I think you and I have different definitions of what raising a child means."

"Don't give your mother lip." Her father scolded. "Diane, we have given you everything, and you to thank us by throwing it back in our face?"

Her hand tightened around telephone cord. "Maybe this doesn't revolve around you. I don't just do everything with you in mind."

There was a long silence and she looked down at the floor. "Adjust your attitude. Now."

"Sorry." She said through clenched teeth. There was never room for argument, she had learned that a long time ago.

There was another long, heavy sigh. "If you present yourself as such a reckless liability, you won't be admitted to work for the Department of Energy."

He was speaking specifically of the research base they worked for just on the outskirts of Hawkins. They produced something boring and bland that involved lots of papers, but somehow involved endless travel.

"Maybe I don't want to work for our stupid government if it involves never being home."

Her fathers voice had turned cool. "We'll call you back soon, in the mean time I fully expect you to stay out of trouble and never to use that attitude with me again. It's deeply disrespectful Diane, and we don't talk that way in this family."

He hung up before she could reply. The beep was monotonous and unending. She placed the handle back with a little more force than was necessarily. Before she had to be stuck with her thoughts too long there was the honk from Steve's car outside. Hastily she grabbed her purse and keys. Maybe this stupid party was exactly what she needed.

The car ride had a slightly awkward air in it. Steve and Nancy was talking, but Nancy kept roping her into conversations that she absently participated in. Her leg bounced furiously in the back seat as she stared outside at the darkening tree line, but the negative storm inside of her wasn't dying down. She should be grateful. She should always and only just be grateful.

She exited the car with a little more haste than she had anticipated. But its not like she knew anyone at the party, or cared much for any introductions. It wasn't going to end up with having friends. Toilet paper had been thrown around the house and came down like party streamers. Graffiti from permanent markers had been scribbled into various surfaces. Tina's parents were going to kill her when they got home.

Making her beeline for the alcohol she saw in the kitchen she hastily poured herself a cup and drank until she saw the bottom of the cup again. Already she was refilling her cup. The punch tasted bitter, and she was sure it was more alcohol than fruit punch. Good.

"So, want to talk?" Steve ventured, appearing besides her. Nancy had found some friends and they were in enthusiastic talks. "You know, since I did drove you here."

For a moment she thought of rejecting it. But she went through with it anyway. She let him lead the way until the found a quiet room, which happened to be the bathroom. Considering the rest of the party it was surprisingly clean.

As the door muted the party she found she didn't know what to say. Small talk was awkward, but she didn't really have anything to say about the past.

"Is it too late to say sorry?"

"No?"

He laughed. "So Tommy's kind of a dick."

"He really is." But she only stuck to agreeing with him.

"Amy and Andie are pretty bitchy, too."

"How'd you figure all that out, Sherlock?"

The smile faded and he shrugged. "Around the time they spray painted all that shit about Nance everywhere."

Right, it had been everywhere. People still thought Nancy was a cheating whore. There were several embellished rumours going around on the topic. Especially because they got to combine it with the 'loner kid' and his 'freaky little brother'.

It hadn't been Steve as the instigator to kick her out. Amy had been the main instigator, with Andie and the others either joining or being apathetic too it. Steve had been apathetic to the whole thing. That had somehow hurt worse than if he had just honestly barred her from being a part of their group.

Not that she was too upset she wasn't part of their group anymore. Being on the outside looking in she was constantly reminded of how different they were. Steve had realised that too, just years later.

"Why now?" It wasn't a judgemental question, though it ought to have been. She was simply curious.

He didn't seem to have a definitive answer himself. "I've been beginning to see things in a different way than I used to. Didn't really pay attention for years where you were. But you're sort of by yourself all the time, and you didn't used to be."

"Steve." She looked up at him. "I choose to be alone."

"No, I know." He replied quickly. "I'm not trying to pity you. Not that I don't. But not like that that. I mean. What I mean is, being friends again wouldn't be too bad, would it?"

"Being friends with the loner? Steve Harrington are you feeling alright? "

That earned her a light punch in the shoulder.

"I know making fun of you when you didn't want to join us was a dick move, but . . . friends, again? Promise I won't ditch you again." He said, holding out his pinky.

She laughed. They hadn't done pinky promises since elementary school. But when they did, it meant serious business. It was so childish and innocent she couldn't help but find a renewed warmth towards Steve. She held out her pinky, and linked it with his. "Friends."

He smiled widely, fully aware of how silly they must look with their pinkies linked like kids. Whatever had happened to Steve in the past few months, she liked him a whole lot better now. Being nice suited him.

She raised her glass "To me finally getting around to drinking."

"That's a crap toast."

"You got a better one?"

He raised his glass and bumped it against her. "To finally joining the cool kid."

They drained their cups. For a moment they looked at each other and smiled, finding a brief serenity in having patched things up. Not that she fully trusted him to keep that going, but she was getting tipsy so that didn't matter, anyway.

Finally he stood up and she mimicked him. "Back to the party?"

"Back to the party." She confirmed. First he exited and she followed him into the hallway. But the hallway was crowded with a few faces she wasn't interested in seeing, and judging by Steves expression, neither was he.

"Old friends, huh?" Billy asked, slamming his palm against the wall and forcing Steve to confront him. He eyed Steve up and down, mockingly sizing him up. "Hell, I'd said you're more than that."

"Mind your own business." Steve glowered at him.

Billy was soaked in beer that was combatting the smell of sweat and ashtray; it was overwhelming and Diane took a step back.

"Mind my own business like your girlfriend's minding her own? She bolted the second she could get away from you, Stevie. Must suck to realise her boyfriend's the little bitch in the relationship."

"Oh, bite me." Steve snapped back at him. There was a sound of mocking surprise from Tommy, who had attached himself to Billy like he was leached to Steve the year before. Now Diane knew Nancy was smart by leaving elsewhere, because the amount of stupidity filling the hallway was smothering. The gorilla beating his chest with his two monkey lackeys howling behind him.

While she felt bad for Steve, she also knew he could handle himself. This game was just about who could be the douchiest. Too bad Billy didn't realise Steve had already quit the game.

Billy ignored Steve for a moment and looked raked over Diane's form and she shifted on her feet, acutely aware the clothes she wore were much more form-revealing than usual. "Nice to see you took my costume recommendation seriously." He said.

"You're wasting your time." Tommy sneered at her. "Dobler ain't nothing but a stick in the mud."

"Why don't you piss off, Tommy? 'Stead of being Hargrove's lapdog." Steve stood up for her, looking over Billy's still extended arm at his former friend.

"You always go for the losers, don't you? Easier to get into their panties I bet." Tommy said grin a wide grin, eyeing Diane up and down like she was a piece of meat. Diane narrowed her eyes.

"You've always been disgusting." She snapped at him, crossing her arms. And full of bullshit. Back when they had been friends, she knew Tommy had had a crush on her for years. Funny how easy he turned when she went her own way. Having enough she pushed past all of them, daring Billy to block her way too.

With everyones level of drunkness at the party they barely noticed Billy's confrontation, but it probably wasn't the first one he had had tonight. He seemed out for blood, and she was betting there were a bunch of people who were triggering him in one form or another.

Getting through the wave of people was like trying to fight against the current. But she knew there were more drinks in the kitchen. And as the alcohol already in her system began making her feel fuzzy she decided she wanted more. Just then Billy apperated in front of her, but he had probably viciously shoved his way forwards without regard, instead of her polite and unnoticeable manoeuvring.

"Running away so fast?" He asked, and while his voice was surprisingly level, she heard him over the booming music.

"Didn't think you were interested in talking to me." She gave him a pointed look.

"Well, I got a moment to spare." He said, and for a moment she wasn't even sure if he himself was believing his own words, like some god who knew the mere mortals around him would be grateful for the chance to socialise with him. And then the alcohol she had been drinking, a little too fast, since she had arrived hit her full force. Everything turned into one big blob of colours. And every emotion she had previously just tried to get rid of came rushing back to the surface with the intensity of a broken damn. Mom and Dad were certain to be disappointed by how she was acting now.

"I get it. You hate having to leave California, you hate that you have to be in the Middle of Nowhere Indiana, you hate having to get blown in the backseat of your car in a field by some Hawkins girl. You hate all of it." She could hear her own increasingly slurring speech, but she couldn't stop the words from spilling out. "But guess what, Billy? We all have things we wish we could change but you know what? You can't. Not all of us just can. We don' - we don't all go and get angry at the world. So we just make do with what we have."

She chugged the rest of the sickly sweet drink. It was nice now, she couldn't taste the bitter liquor anymore. She should fine another one. "So, bye." She told him and bumped into him as her orientation began twisting. Getting away from him was her best option after those comments; she had already seen the way his face twisted at the accusations.

But he gripped her arm and she looked up at him. His expression was calculating, like he was trying to figure her out. His own words were filled with disbelief and frustration. "So what, you're bothered because you think I'm trying too hard?"

She didn't know why he was even pursuing this conversation. Because he didn't care. For a brief moment the crowded party around them slipped away. "I don't think you're trying at all. I think when you had to move here you just gave up."

The music rattled her bones and she jerked out of his grip, stumbling towards the kitchen where the punch was. Someone had refilled it to its brim. As she took a large sip she pondered why she was even here at all. This was Billy's world, filled with too much booze, cigarette smoke that choked her lungs and made her eyes water, and a whole host of people just looking for the next story to gossip about in the sober mornings of school. It wasn't hers.

Nancy came storming out from the hallway, red punch spilled down the front of her shirt. That's when she realised she hadn't seen Steve in a while. In fact, he wasn't anywhere. Something had shifted in the past few months since he had begun hanging around Nancy and knew he hadn't found a new social circle since. If she couldn't see him, then it was only logical that he had gone home.

Had he seriously just left her stranded at the party? Well fuck you too, Steve Harrington. Friends forever, huh. But after a moment concern began to knot in her stomach. Steve was a lot of things, but he was also responsible, and he wouldn't have purposefully just left without inviting her to be driven back home by him. Judging by Nancy's glazed eyes upset face and disheveled appearance they had gotten into a huge fight.

One strong enough to cloud his judgement, because he was much more sober than her and Nancy. Despite the jerk move he had pulled leaving her here, she couldn't help but worry about him. But she suspected his emotional state was somehow linked to Barb as well. Ever since she ran away both Nancy and Steve had been on edge, somehow.

She saw Andie and Billy together, close together. A creeping smile appeared on both of their faces and Billy glanced her way, while Andie eyed her up and down before refocusing back on Billy. There was a cold triumph in Andie's eyes. Whatever it was, it was clear she was involved in their conversational topic, but Diane was less than interested to know what it regarded. With a roll of her eyes she turned away to fill up her cup with the red liquor. Then Jonathon found Nancy and whisked her away.

She was going to ask him if he could take her home too, but he was moving fast and she got distracted by someone yelling something across the room. When she looked back, he was gone. Damn. Really, damn. Of course she had been left behind. Alone, as usual. She set down the now empty cup, and began walking towards the front lawn as she thought hard on how to get back home. Goosebumps rippled across her exposed skin. Bringing a winter jacket to the party would've been smart right about now, but she had assumed she'd be riding back home in a warm car.

Crossing her arms she rubbed her arms to keep warm as she harshly blinked to rid herself of the double-vision. It was there to say.

"Hey." Hot breath tickled her ear, and she turned around. For a moment she didn't recognise who was beneath the fake moustache and Hawaiian shirt. Oh, it was that kid that was a year above her.

"Oh . . . Simon." She faltered.

He grinned and took a step closer to her. "Nice outfit."

As she looked down at her clothes she stumbled slightly and he caught her, hands going around her upper arms. "Woah, hey, I got you."

She looked up at him. Before she could say anything he had surged forwards, pressing his lips harshly to hers. His lips were wet and slippery and all over the place. She gripped his shirt in alarm. "Get - get off me."

But he pulled her tighter towards him, hands roaming all over the place and clutching her at odd angles. Diane needed to get out of here. She didn't want this. Everything felt wrong with Simon and she couldn't even remember how they had gotten here in the first place. Didn't Billy have a car? Oh yeah, of course he did. A fast one. One that could take her home. That was all she needed. Billy sounded like a great idea? Right. Yes. Better than this one. A lot better. If he didn't accept, she'd bribe him with money. Her parents wouldn't notice anyway.

But the world was spinning faster than the spin cycle of the washing machine. "Get. Off." She slurred out. His breath was too hot against her skin, his hands sliding down to her hips felt unwelcome and intrusive. But she was missing concentration, and her body was rebelling against her in vengeance from the alcohol she had flooded into her bloodstream.

There was a small tussle between them that threw her off balance and onto the ground with a thud. She looked up to see the hazy blur of Billy shoving Simon away. He was yelling something, but his words weren't translating to her. Then he gripped the front of Simons costume and shook him hard, face nearly pressing against the other boys.

She hated violence and fought against the nausea to stumble upwards. Billy drew his fist back and she leapt forwards, gripping onto his outstretched limb and using it for leverage as her balance was thrown out. "Billy, don't. Please."

He whipped his head around to stare down at her. His eyes were bright and wild, face tinged red with anger. "Get the hell off me, Dobler."

He shook his arm. A crowd had begun gathering. "I don't have a ride home. I need to get home."

Her pleas were losing against a wave of growing beat him, beat him, beat him chants that were rising in chorus from the gathering boys. Their fists pumped in the air. Blood was already trickling out of Simon's nose as he panted hard, glaring at Billy with eyes as wild at the other boy.

"Beat it." Billy snapped at her, not taking his eyes off of Simon.

"Fine, I'll walk back." She muttered, disengaging herself from her plagiarism partner. She didn't think he heard her as she began fighting against the ring of boys. It was chests and elbows and the stink of sweat and booze all the way through.

Billy threw out a wild laugh and gripped Simon by his jacket again, pulling him so close their beer-fused breaths mingled. "You're a fucking loser, Hawthorpe." Then he sent the boy sprawling onto the grass. The ring erupted into ferocious cheers, and egged on by the others began throwing their drinks and red cups at Simon, who had begun curling up into a ball, heads thrown over his head for protection. Most of them had gathered later and didn't even understand why Billy had targeted Simon. They didn't care.

Readjusting his jacket, Billy made his way out of the crowd, but they parted for him with roars of pride. He knocked into someone and didn't even care enough to turn around and figure out who. Diane turned the corner and he walked a little faster. His hand played with the keys in his pocket absent-mindedly as he made his way towards the blue Camaro parked outside on the street, far away from everyone else. If she got eaten by a nuclear-infused dog then police would probably end up at his place since they had spent so much time together recently. And their entire household was well aware of what happened to little Billy after law enforcement perused their premise.

It was really fucking cold. Fucking Indiana weather, it was abysmal. He started the car up with ease, making a quick U-turn, speeding up down the road to catch up with Diane. Reaching over he began rolling down the window, swerving along the road as he did so. He stopped right before her.

I realise there might be small discrepancies in my story. I know, I had one job. And I'm shifting time a little bit to fit with this story . . . but hey, Stranger Things have happened (this joke was bad in my head and it was bad writing it but I had already committed). The reason I've chosen to stretch out the timeline of the events in the show is so I can run parallel and weave Billy and Diane's characters and plotline into the central story of Season 2 better. I've done the same thing for 80's pop culture references: The Breakfast Club was released in 1985, and Stranger Things is set in '83 and '84.

If anyone wants to talk S3 theories or characters shoot me a message.