•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧

IT WAS HALF AN HOUR later when Addie emerged from her room. She tried her best not to laugh when she walked into the living room and her mom, Will, Jonathan, Bob, and Steve clapped.

"Wow I'm going to a party with Holly Golightly!" Steve says as they're heading out the door.

After Joyce reminds Addie, Jonathan, and Will multiple times they can always come home early if they don't feel like being out, they finally all pile into Jonathan's car. Will admits that he's disappointed that he has to have babysitters while hanging out with his friends.

He adds on that it's not that he doesn't love spending time with them, but also points out that no one else will have anyone there watching them.

When they finally arrive, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin are already outside waiting. Addie can see Will trying to cheer himself up, so that they don't think anything is wrong. Jonathan turns around and looks at her, and she nods, knowing what he wants to do.

"Hey, listen. If we let you go on your own, will you promise that you'll stay in the neighborhood? Like, the entire time?"

"Yeah! Yeah yeah totally."

Addie leans forward in her seat. "And you'll be back at Mike's by nine?"

"Nine....thirty?"

After a minute of back-and-forth, Jonathan and Will shake on it, agreeing to 9. Addie can already see he's genuinely much happier by the time he gets out of the car.

"Ooh! You know what this means," Addie grins.

"Oh no what?"

"You're free right now. So you can come with us to Tina's party."

They drive back to their house first, and Jonathan stops at the end of the street. Steve hops out and makes a run for his car. The plan is Addie will ride with Jonathan, and they'll go straight to the party.

Steve is going to pick up Nancy early, and they'll meet them there. If Joyce and Bob happen to see him, he'll say he was dropped back off just to get his car, and Addie stayed with Will.

When Addie and Jonathan get to the party, it's already dark out. As soon as they exit the car, they can hear chanting. It takes a few seconds to realize that they're chanting "Billy". Addie feels nervous, and part of her wants to just go home. But she takes a breath and follows her brother into the house.

Addie heads straight for the kitchen, and someone wearing a mask calls her name and hands her a red cup. She takes it and takes a sip, not even asking what's inside.

Just as she leaves the kitchen, she sees Steve and Nancy come in through the front door. Right as she's approaching them to say hi, Billy and another guy beat her to it.

(a/n: i know in the show it's tommy that's with billy but i'm changing it)

"We got ourselves a new Keg King, Harrington."

Steve and Billy have what looks like a staring contest, and Nancy rolls her eyes before heading off in the direction Addie just came from.

"Billy?" Addie gently taps him on the shoulder.

He turns around and for just a second, his expression softens. But then that wall is back up, and Addie can tell he's not only drunk, but angry. He looks back and forth between Addie and Steve, then bursts out laughing.

"Wow this is perfect!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You two. I always knew he had a thing for you," Billy says, taking a step closer to Addie. "And looks like I was right. You're even dressed like a couple, matching black costumes."

Addie can't believe what she's hearing right now. "Are you joking? These costumes are from two different movies! And what do you mean you 'always knew' and 'looks like you were right' huh??"

"I'd watch your attitude with me," he takes another step and is standing directly in front of Addie.

Steve steps forward to say something, but Addie looks at him and shakes her head. He watches the 2 of them for a second before going off to find Nancy. But he doesn't like the way Billy is talking to Addie right now, and he plans on keeping an eye on them as soon as he finds out where Nancy walked off to.

Once he's gone, Addie turns back to Billy. "What is your problem right now? Seriously how much have you had to drink?"

"That's none of your concern anymore princess," he laughs, as if he's just told the worlds funniest joke. "Why don't you go run off after your boyfriend huh."

"For the last time, Steve isn't my boyfriend!"

Billy grabs Addie's arm a little too tight and practically drags her down the hallway, pulling her into a bathroom and shutting the door, locking it behind them. "I heard you both."

"What? When?"

"That night I called and asked what you were doing. You said you were tired. That night my dad and I got into it earlier than usual so I stormed out. I came over to see if you'd left your window open. Even if you were asleep I was gonna ask if I could just lay next to you. Luckily for me you did leave your window open, and right as I got there I heard him. Asking how much I know. And you said I don't know anything yet and you can't tell me. I left right after that because what else did I need to hear? I was so fucking stupid. I fell for your little act. Were you sneaking around with him this whole time? At least be honest with me right now. You owe me that damn much."

Addie shakes her head. "No I swear. Billy I've only liked you since I met you. Nothing was going on with Steve and I! He just... I went through something nearly a year ago and he was there when it all happened and—"

"And what? You can't trust me? You talk about wanting me to stay after graduation so we can get jobs together, yet you're sneaking around behind my back!"

"I am NOT sneaking around!!"

Billy slams his hand down on the bathroom counter. "I thought I told you to watch your tone. Have a nice night. Whatever this was, it's done now." He smirks before unlocking the door, letting it slam shut behind him.

Addie quickly locks the door again before anyone can come in. She takes a step back and slips, landing right on her back.

When she opens her eyes... she's there. For a few seconds she's frozen with fear, but she slowly stands up and looks around. It's dark, like there's a blue filter over everything. She tries to unlock the door but it won't budge.

"Billy? Billy!" She jiggles the handle. Finally the door swings open, and when she steps out into the hallway, it's empty. But there are these blue lights, almost lighting up a path. She follows the illuminated path outside, and when she looks up, she sees it.

And what is that noise? Why is it coming from every direction? It's coming closer, so she turns to run. When she blinks, she's back at the party and has just crashed into some stranger.

Addie stumbles around, eventually finding Steve and a drunk Nancy with a very stained outfit. She's panicking, but can't find her voice. She looks around, wondering where her brother is. When she looks back to where they were, they're gone. She heads back to the bathroom, feeling like she's about to cry. Right as she puts her hand on the door, Steve comes out and bumps into her.

As upset as he is, he recognizes the look on Addie's face and despite her looking down, he can still tell she's upset.

"Hey hey what's wrong?"

"I... had a fight with Billy and then he left me in the bathroom and—"

"Did he do something??"

She shakes her head, wiping away a tear. "No. No but then I locked the door and I slipped and when I opened my eyes after I fell I was... I was there! In the Upside Down. So I panicked again and opened the door but you were all gone and I was alone so I ran outside and I saw... I—" Addie puts a hand back over her mouth to try and hold back a sob. Steve gently takes her arm and leads her towards the door.

"Come on let's get you home."

"But Nancy—"

"She's finding another ride home. Come on."

Addie is basically in a daze again, going over what just happened in her head. She doesn't pay attention as Steve leads her to his car and helps her into the passenger seat. She's quiet for the beginning of the ride home.

"My moms gonna kill me," she finally says.

"Huh?"

"My mom. I was supposed to watch Will tonight. But he... he was so excited to go off on his own, I mean you heard him. And she said I could sleepover at Nancy's or something but I can't because I was supposed to call and tell her first and now I'm in trouble and what if something happened to Will too and I should've stayed with him and now Billy hates me. He fucking hates me. God, what is wrong with me?" Addie says that last sentence softly, looking out the window as more tears fall.

"Addie. Hey. Addie, c'mon. Look at me." They come to a stop and Steve turns the car off. "Nothing, I promise, nothing is wrong with you. Do you wanna talk about what happened with Billy?"

"He heard us. He was outside when we were talking and he was going to come in, then he heard you ask me what I've told him, and he heard me say nothing, so he left. He thinks we were talking about us, that we're secretly in love and so I was cheating on him. Which makes no! Sense! Because I've never given him a reason to question me! And I've told him about you and I so many times. I don't know why he doesn't believe me."

When Steve is quiet, she turns and looks at him. He's pissed. His knuckles are white from gripping the steering wheel so hard.

"I'm gonna kill him tomorrow."

"No, Steve—"

"You said it yourself. You haven't given him any reason to doubt you. And I didn't like the way he was talking to you, he had no right. Did you see how drunk he was? I know it's a party but come on."

Addie looks out of the car and sees they're at the Wheeler's. She didn't even realize where Steve was headed. They get out of the car and head towards the front door.

"Hey, are you okay?" Addie stops to check on Steve.

"Huh, oh yeah I'm good. Nancy and I are done though."

"Wait what why? Is it because of what Billy said? I can—"

"No. I guess her feelings have been building up for a while. It's nothing to do with what Billy said, I promise."

Their conversation is interrupted when Mike opens the door. He sees the looks on their faces, and knows something happened to Addie tonight too. Steve gently pushes Addie forward, silently urging her to go inside.

"You coming in too?" Mike asks.

"No, I'm heading home. Is it cool if Addie crashes here tonight?"

Mike nods. "Yeah, I think Nancy is already asleep upstairs. Jonathan brought her a little while ago." This catches Addie and Steve's attention, but neither comment on it.

"Hey," Steve looks at Addie. "I'll see you tomorrow, we can finish talking."

Addie nods, feeling pretty out of it again. "Thank you," she says so softly that it's almost a whisper.

"Get some sleep okay?"

Mike gently takes Addie's hand and pulls her back so he can shut the door once Steve walks away.

"Are... did you... were you back in the Upside Down tonight?" He asks, careful and trying not to upset Addie.

"Yeah... wait how did you know that?" Realization hits her. "Will too?"

"When we were out trick-or-treating. He's okay now though, I got him distracted and talking about other stuff so I don't know if—"

"I'll wait and tell him tomorrow."

"Okay well um, I'm pretty sure Nancy really is asleep but you can still go upstairs, her beds plenty big enough. Or come down to the basement and hang out with us. Will already called your guys mom and asked about sleeping over since there's no school tomorrow." Addie looks confused, because Mike adds on; "announcement on all the tv's and radios. They didn't say why, just that school was cancelled."

"Okay. I'm pretty tired so I'll just go up to bed. Thanks Mike," she pulls him in for a hug. "You're a good kid you know that?"

Apart from a brief crush on her, Mike has pretty much always thought of Addie as another older sister, and he loves and cares for her just like Nancy. He doesn't want her to get in trouble, so after she goes upstairs, he makes a call.

"Hi, Mrs. Byers, it's me, Mike. Addie got back earlier and was so tired that she fell asleep right away. So I think she — yeah, she and Jonathan brought us all back to my house before they went to the party. And they weren't there that long before they came back. Steve and Jonathan drove them here. Oh he's home too, good, good. Okay well I just wanted to tell you so that Addie wouldn't get in trouble. I will. Bye Mrs. Byers."

•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧.˚ *•̩̩͙ ✩. •̩̩͙*˚⁺‧