Steve parked his car on the side of the road about a block away from a house that was roaring with life and barely in view. Teenagers were spilling out onto the front lawn that was littered in empty red solo cups. Even from the inside of the car the chill in the January air nipped at every inch of exposed skin. He killed the engine before looking at Charlie in the passenger's seat and Nancy and Johnathan in the backseat.

"Are you sure about this?" Steve asked Charlie for the dozenth time.

"Yes." She answered for the dozenth time. "I've been to parties and gotten drunk before Steve."

Before he could reply she yanked the car door open and stepped out onto the pavement. Steve shared a glance with Johnathan in the back seat before they followed her lead. Nancy jogged to catch up to Charlie, wearing yet another borrowed outfit, a few paces ahead and left the two males behind them. The closer they got to the party the more anxiety Steve could feel start to bubble up in his stomach.

As if he were able to feel the nervous energy radiating off of him Johnathan clapped a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be alright, man." He said, "She lived in Chicago for six years, she's probably been to more parties than both of us combined."

"That isn't saying much considering Nancy and I have dragged you to every party you've ever been to." Steve joked, attempting to lighten his own mood.

They both laughed before quickly catching up with the girls in front of them as they stepped onto the lawn of the house. The group past by family faces, a few of which lingered on Charlie as they walked by. She stayed close to his side, her arm brushing against his own every few paces. Though her borrowed outfit wasn't as drastic of a change as the one from Christmas was the jeans and red jacket were still different from what he was used to seeing her in.

"Do you have a lot of friends here?" Charlie asked him as they approached the front door.

"I don't have a lot of friends in general."

As they stepped into the house the dramatic change in temperature shocked his chilly skin. Though the rooms weren't packed to capacity there were at least twenty in each one. Charlie wrapped her arm around his as they followed Nancy and Johnathan through the house towards the kitchen. Speakers were blaring pop songs in the living room and out the window Steve spotted a pool in the backyard filled with people swimming in their clothes.

They made it into the kitchen and each grabbed a cup, dunking it into a large bowl of punch that was without a doubt spiked. Steve brought it to his lips, struggling not to cringe as the vodka slipped down his throat. He practically choked when he watched Charlie drink it as easily as water.

"How many parties have you gone to?" he asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders, wiping her chin. "I used to crash parties and get drunk enough to pass out so I would have a place to stay that night." She explained. "So, I guess you could say I've been to a lot."

Nancy, whose tolerance for alcohol was very low, gaped at her. "How old were you when you started doing that?"

"Probably fourteen."

"Shit."

Over her shoulder Steve spotted a familiar head of red hair come into the room. He cursed under his breath and attempted to stand in a spot where Charlie would shield him from her but she was much too short to hide him at all. Steve stared down at his cup as he anticipated what was likely an unavoidable conversation.

"Oh hey guys." The familiar voice of Carol said as she sauntered over to them, a cup in hand. It was obvious by the slur in her voice and stumble in her step it wasn't her first drink.

"Hey Carol." Steve said half heartedly.

She opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it when her eyes landed on Charlie. Carol took her face in before her lips curled up into a grin Steve recognized. "And who's this little lady."

"Charlie." She answered flatly.

"Weird name for a girl." Carol commented.

"Being named after a type of song isn't?" Charlie shot back.

Nancy snorted and quickly turned around so Carol wouldn't see her laughing. Both Steve and Johnathan struggled to hold back grins. Carol, on the other hand, was not at all amused. "So where are you from, Charlie?"

"Chicago. River North more specifically."

Carol swirled her drink around. "So what brings you to our neck of the woods?"

Charlie shifted closer to Steve. It was such a microscopic movement he doubted anyone else noticed it but him. He glanced down at her and noticed something hidden in her otherwise blank expression. Though what exactly it was he wasn't sure. He brushed his hand against hers in what he hoped was an encouraging gesture.

"Steve's a family friend, I came down to visit him while his family's away." She answered quickly.

Carol looked at Steve and cocked her head to the side. "You never told me you had family friends in Chicago."

"You never asked." He answered with a shrug

Before Carol could say anymore Charlie turned to face him. "Can you help me find the bathroom?" she asked.

Steve didn't need to be asked twice. He kept one of his hands on the small of her back so he wouldn't lose her as they made their way through the crowd and into a small hallway on the opposite side of the house. As the crowd started to thin they passed by a number of couples making out.

Charlie stopped and turned back to him once they were in front of the bathroom door and he had a feeling she just wanted to get away from the conversation. "I don't like her." she told him.

"You and me both."

"She was a bad friend to you." Charlie said, leaning on the wall and taking a long sip from her drink. "Most of your friends before Nancy and Johnathan were bad friends to you."

Steve sighed and leaned on the wall next to her, tilting his head back and looking up at the ceiling. "I really know how to pick 'em, don't I?"

In his peripheral vision he saw her turn her head towards him. "Why do you do that?" she asked him, "Pick bad friends?"

"I don't know." He said, which was fairly untrue. He just didn't want to admit the truth to her. "Maybe I'm just really bad at reading people."

There was a beat of silence, likely while she debated whether or not she should call him out for lying. After a moment or two she turned her whole body to face him. "Did you really kiss her for New Years in ninth grade?"

Steve let out a laugh and watched a smile break out of her face. "It was, like, the third time I ever got drunk. I wasn't making good decisions. Why, was she thinking about it?"

Charlie nodded. "She thought 'he really downgraded on New Years kisses in the past few years.'"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "She thinks you're a downgrade?"

"Apparently."

"She's either dumb or blind."

Her smile widened and she lifted her cup to her face in an attempt to hide it. "I think she's dumb." She said. "I also think she downgraded in New Years kisses. You're much better looking than Tommy H."

Steve felt his cheeks getting warm at her compliment. He grabbed her cup and tilted it towards him. "Did you chug that drink? Are you drunk already?"

She rolled her eyes at him and punched his am lightly. "Oh please. It takes much more than that. I bet I'll be the one holding your hair back in there later tonight." She pointed into the bathroom.

"Promise to cut me off if I try and get into the pool."

Charlie laughed, a sound that echoed in his ears. It was hard to believe how closed off from him she had been just a little more than two weeks ago. "No way am I missing out on the opportunity to see that." She brought her cup up to her lips and tilted her head back until she had finished the rest of her drink. "I need another one." She announced, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket and pulling him into the crowd with her.

Though Steve was worried about Charlie getting too wasted it quickly became apparent that it wasn't an issue. In the first few hours of the night he attempted to keep up with her and the number of drinks she had. But by drink number four he was starting to stumble from room to room while she seemed perfectly fine, so he decided to slow down. Though Charlie remained relatively sober she did drink enough to loosen up more than she ever had before. As midnight approached she didn't protest when Nancy pulled her out to the dance floor when a song they both liked came on.

Steve leaned against the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, where everyone was dancing. The longer Charlie stayed the more hope he had that she wouldn't end up disappearing. But he knew he couldn't fool himself. His parents were coming home from vacation in a little more than a week and that once they did she wouldn't be able to stay with him anymore. Though he planned on proposing she stay at the cabin with Hopper and Eleven he had no clue how to go about asking her. Her and Eleven were beginning to develop a sisterly bond but Steve could tell she still wasn't Hopper's biggest fan.

He decided not to stress too much about the future and headed outside to get a bit of air to clear his head. Everyone who had been in the pool had gone inside to get away from the cold weather, leaving the only people outside besides Steve a handful of couples looking to get some privacy. He leaned against the railing of the back porch and rubbed his now cold hands together in an attempt to warm them up.

"Your girl's one hell of a dancer." An approaching voice behind him said, breaking the quiet of the backyard. "Pretty good looking too when she puts in the effort."

Billy Hargrove appeared in his peripheral vision with a smirk on his face and a cup in his hand. Steve kept his eyes fixed on the pool, already feeling his annoyance beginning to grow. "Too bad she's not interested in you."

"Yeah but she's interested in you, right?" he asked, gesturing at Steve with his cup.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Why do you care?"

Billy held his hands up in fake surrender. "Hey, I'm just trying to look out for you, man. After things with you and Wheeler ended, then she got with Byers, I was worried about you." He leaned his elbows on the railing next to Steve, much too close for comfort. "I kept waiting for you to get back out there. I thought it would never happen, or that maybe you were queer. I'm proud of you."

Sarcasm was dripping from his voice and puddling at their feet. Though Steve would have normally just walked away the alcohol in his system convinced him that staying was a good idea. "Yeah, whatever." He said dismissively, shaking his head a few times.

Billy took a sip of his drink, his gaze moving out towards the backyard. "I bet she's a freak in the sack."

"Shut up." Steve said through gritted teeth.

"We all know that Wheeler is Miss Missionary. But, what's her name, Charlie? You know she's into all kinds of weird shit. The bitchy ones always are."

Steve straightened up and pushed Billy just enough to make him stumble. He quickly regained his balance but only seemed amused. "Don't talk about her like that."

"Or what?" he laughed, setting his cup down on the railing. "You'll beat me up? Cause you really fucked me up last time."

Steve rolled his eyes, not wanting to think of his last confrontation with Billy Hargrove. "Just stay away from her, dipshit."

"Oh, I get it." He said with a short laugh. "You're worried that once she gets a taste of what she's missing out on she'll dump your ass. Hate to say it but I don't blame you. A girl like that can never get it all from one guy."

Anger swelled up in Steve's chest and before he knew what he was doing he stepped towards Billy and gave him a hard shove in the chest. He could tell instantly he was screwed by the way fury exploded on Billy's face as he stepped back towards him. He hardly registered that Billy had even raised his fist until it connected with his face.

Steve stumbled back a couple feet, grabbing onto the railing to keep from falling down. The alcohol in his system combined with the quickness of his stumbling made his vision blurry and he had to shut his eyes before the world started spinning. Though he only had a second before relief when his eyes flew open at the feeling of Billy grabbing him by the shirt and forcing him upright. He had to blink a few times for the other males' face to come into focus, but when he saw the look Billy had on he wished he hadn't.

"You're really begging to get your ass kicked right now, aren't you?"

He knew that if he apologized he would likely get to walk away with only one punch. But when he remembered what Billy had said about Charlie, and the disgusting way he looked at and thought about her he knew there was no way he would even apologize in his direction.

"Bite me, Hargrove."

A fire lit up in Billy's eyes and only a split second later his fist once again connected with Steve's face. He stumbled back farther than before, getting closer to the three steps leading down to the lawn. Out of the corner of his eye he could see someone on the other side of the sliding glass door notice a fight was breaking out and grabbing a friends' attention. His reaction time was slowed due to his many drinks and he hardly had time to brace himself for yet another blow. Billy's fist connected with his lip and only a few seconds later the metallic taste of blood flooded into his mouth.

"You know, you really ain't shit Harrington." Billy told him, rubbing his knuckles with his non-dominant hand. "You're a washed up jock with a social life failing faster than your grades. And I bet it's just a matter of time before Charlie dumps your ass like Wheeler did."

His words his Steve harder than any punch ever could. His stomach twisted into a knot so tight he could have easily leaned over the railing and threw up. But people were starting to come onto the back porch so he figured he shouldn't. "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about." He spat, quite literally since blood splattered onto the porch when he spoke.

"Don't I?" Billy asked, walking towards him again and giving him another shove. "You know, I think you know I'm right. And you're too much of a pussy to admit it. And that's why," he shoved him again, "you're never gonna keep a girl. Cause you're a pussy."

"Hey!"

Steve caught a glimpse of Charlie storming over only seconds before she grabbed the back of Billy's jean jacket and yanked him backwards. Her hands landed on his arms with an iron grip as she forced him to face her. A deep scowl was written across her face, as ice cold as her eyes. "You keep your hands off him, you hear me? If I hear that you even looked at him the wrong way I'll make you fucking sorry."

Billy's momentary look of shock quickly morphed into a smirk. "I see, he's too much of a wuss so you have to fight his battles for him."

Charlie's brows creased deeper and she grabbed Billy by the back of his neck and forced him down to her height so she could whisper in his ear. Steve was sure he was the only other person that could hear her. "You think the beatings from your dad are bad? If you ever bother Steve again I'll show you what it's like to really get your ass kicked." She let go of him and took a few steps back, pointing her thumb at the door behind her. "Now get the fuck out of here."

He gaped at her for a few moments, the shock at how she could know something so private momentarily paralyzing him. Eventually his face screwed up in anger again and he gave Steve one last glare before pushing his way through the small crowd that had gathered on the front porch.

As soon as he passed her Charlie's expression fell and she hurried over to Steve, her hands grabbing either side of his face while her eyes frantically inspected him. "What the hell happened?"

He put his hands on her wrists and attempted to push her away but she resisted him. "Charlie I'm fine."

"Liar." She said, brushing her thumb against his lip and making him wince. "I could hear you from all the way inside. We need to go home."

He groaned and tried to lean away from her. "No, we don't."

"Yes, we do." She insisted, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the house. "We're finding Nancy and Johnathan and getting the hell out of here."

xXx

A little less than an hour later Steve was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, changed into sweatpants, and gently attempting to wipe the dried blood off his lip and cheek. The more time passed the more swollen they got and he only hoped that Billy's knuckles were suffering. He heard Charlie's quiet footsteps approaching down the hall before she appeared in the doorway holding a frozen bag of peas. She still had on her borrowed clothes from Nancy and promised to give them back in the next couple of days.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, leaning on the sink next to him.

"Yes." He admitted, running the cloth under the faucet again before bringing it up to his lips. "Could be worse, though. It has been worse."

"Steve why the hell would you do that?"

"You know why."

There was a beat of silence before Charlie sighed and turned towards the towel rack, grabbing another hand cloth and running it under the warm water. She wrung it out and gently dabbed at the small cut on his cheek. He did his best not to wince at the contact. "You can't fight every person who says something you don't like about me."

"Can't I?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, you can't. You'll be fighting the whole world." She met his eyes in the reflection of the mirror. "It's not worth it."

"That's bullshit." He muttered under his breath.

Charlie's hand dropped to her side. "Sorry?"

Steve sighed before setting the cloth down on the sink and turning to face her. "Look, I know you push everyone away so you're not used to people caring about you, but you kind of dropped the ball with me. That's what people do, Charlie. They stand up for people they care about. And I know that's why you stood up to Billy."

"So?"

"So why are you allowed to care about me but I'm not allowed to care about you?"

"Because."
Steve rolled his eyes. "Well that's a pretty shit reason."

"Because I fuck things up with everyone who's ever been important to me and I don't want to do that with you, okay?" she tossed her cloth into the sink. "Come downstairs and drink something when you're done in here, you're gonna be hungover as hell if you don't."

She turned and disappeared into the hallway before he could even think about replying. While he listened to her footsteps head down the hall and down the stairs he cursed at himself for getting cross with her. He knew it was because he was drunk. Though he meant what he said he knew he would have said it differently if he was clear minded. As he worked to clean up the rest of the dried blood he thought about how he would go about apologizing to her while simultaneously praying he hadn't just scared her off.

A little less than ten minutes later, after all the blood was cleaned and his lip was sufficiently numb, he made his way out of the bathroom and down the stairs. He could hear the kitchen radio playing and followed the sound until he found her leaning against the counter with a glass of water beside her. She picked her head up when she heard him come in and his eyes followed him as he crossed the room towards her and grabbed the water, downing it in only a couple of gulps.

"Better?" she asked as he set the glass down.

"Better." He agreed, leaning against the counter facing her. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said. I should be thanking you for preventing me from getting my ass kicked, not getting angry at you."

A small smile made its way onto her face as she shook her head. "It's fine. I should be thanking you for standing up for me. You're right, I'm just not used to people caring about me enough to do that."

"Well get used to it." He told her, "Because as long as you're here I'm not going to let people say whatever they want about you in front of me."

Something in her expression changed and for a second he thought she might cry. Her posture straightened up and she angled herself to face him. He debated asking her if she was alright but before he could she stepped towards him and put her hands on either side of his face, bringing him down to her level and pressing her lips against his.

Every cell in his body was all of a sudden wide awake at the unexpected contact. His brain seemed to switch to autopilot, leaving him to act solely on instincts. Steve's lips moved against hers while his arms wrapped around her small waist, keeping her close to him. Slowly everything around them started to fade away into the background until they were the only two things in the house left.