If there's one thing I love more than anything... it's making Steve Harrington squirm.

And that's pretty much all he's done since we've came out back, chilling by his underground pool. I cover my ears as Carol starts screaming at the top of her lungs as Tommy H. pretends to throw her in.

Steve comes back over to us with a knife and shotguns his beer. Barb rolls her eyes, unimpressed as Nancy smirks. What would happen if I just lean my chair back far enough to be out of my misery. Steve sighs as he relaxes into his chair, grabbing the cigarette from his ear.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" Nancy muses.

"You're not?"

"No one is." I voice, taking a drag of my own cigarette.

"Let's see you do it then." He turns to me, holding out another can and his knife.

"I have my own." I say dryly, grabbing the can. I'm not gonna let him gloat. I make the incision and immediately start chugging and within about five seconds crush the can in my hand. Steve stares as Nancy's lips part.

"Wow, everybody's dream girl." Steve applauds causing Nancy to find her lap really interesting.

"More like nightmare." I mutter.

Nancy clears her throat. "You're a cliché, you do realize that?" She looks at Steve.

"You are a cliché." Steve tosses his hands up before lighting his cigarette. "What with your... grades and your band practice." She's not in band.

Nancy laughs. "I'm so not in band." See. I was in band seventh and eighth grade until they kicked me out because I couldn't play any instruments and always fell asleep in class. Oh and skipped practice.

"Okay, party girl. Why don't you just, uh, show us how it's done then?" He smarts off.

"Okay." She smirks, taking the challenge. "I don't think I'll be able to beat Toni though." She laughs. Ha, okay I'll give her that.

Barb shakes her head as Nancy stands.

"You gotta make a little hole right in-" Steve begins to instruct.

"I got it." She smiles.

"Yeah, she's smart, you douche!" Tommy H. laughs as him and Carol move closer. He slams his can into the side of his head. Mmm, smart. Maybe he could learn a thing or two.

"Chug, chug, chug." Steve raises his flask and begins to chant as Nancy starts drinking. Tommy H. and Carol join in.

After about a hundred chugs later, she throws the can on the ground. Tommy H. cheers.

I throw my head back boredly until Nancy says, "Barb, you wanna try?" I shoot back up.

"What?" Barb looks at her in disbelief. "No. No, I don't want to. Thanks." She rushes out as Nancy goes to grab her a can.

"Yeah... Come on. Yeah." Steve encourages until I glare at him. He quickly looks at the ground.

"Nance, I don't want to."

"It's fun! Just give it a- give it a shot." Nancy giggles, shoving the can and knife into Barbs hand.

"She said she doesn't want to." I snap.

Barb sighs, not wanting conflict. "Okay." She stands.

"Barb-" I grab her arm. "You don't have to."

"It's okay." She whispers.

Nancy turns to Steve happy and even he looks pretty excited to see.

Barb brings the knife and can closer to her face as she tries to poke it. "So you just..." It slips and she cuts herself, dropping the can as she gags.

Tommy H. chuckles.

I jump up and grab another can beside Steve, cutting myself too. "Shit, me too." I let out a nervous chuckle.

"Are you okay?" Nancy hurries over to her as she hunches over.

"Yeah." Barb straightens up.

Steve grabs my jacket sleeve. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He says under his breath. I yank out of his grasp.

"Barb, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine." She assures. "Where's your bathroom." She turns to Steve.

"Oh." He stumbles out of his chair. "It's... It's, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left.

"Okay." Barb hurries inside. I stare at the sliding class door stunned until I hear Carol chuckling softly.

"Oh." She hums turning to the pool to smoke.

I turn to give her a piece of my mind when suddenly I'm tripped into the pool. I gasp, water entering my lungs as I go under. I knew this was a terrible idea. Maybe I should just stay under here and drown. I hear it's peaceful once a person let's go and stops fighting.

I finally come up for air, choking and coughing.

"Oops." Tommy H. chuckles.

"Dude, come on." Steve whacks him.

"Are you okay?" Nancy peers down at me.

"Fucking peachy." I say in between coughs.

Tommy shoves Carol into the water next. She screams. "Oh, my, God! What the hell?" He dives in after her.

Steve pauses before pushing Nancy in and hollers, jumping in himself. Screw this, I'm going inside. I heave myself out of the pool, sopping wet, and my teeth begin to chatter. I scoff, stomping inside as Tommy and Carol start sucking face and the other lovebirds splash each other.

I groan in frustration seeing Barb's in the bathroom still. I look down at the puddle I'm dripping onto the floor, then my eyes move to the stairs. I begrudgingly start up the steps, pushing the familiarity of this place out of my mind.

I approach the room I haven't entered since ninth grade, the door is open thankfully, and nothing has moved or changed. I go straight to the dresser drawers, the bottom one to be exact, and with shaky hands open it, noticing blood. Oh, right.

Sure enough, the entire drawer is still filled with my clothes.

I quickly change into a pair of sweatpants and peel off my jacket before pulling on a fresh, warm hoodie. A throat clears and I jump, yanking it right over my head before spinning around.

"What the hell!" I raise my voice, my heart now pounding. "Don't you knock!"

It's Steve, standing in the doorway. "Well, uh, this is my room." He points out, glancing over his shoulder.

"Oh god." I shutter. "Are you about to-"

His eyes widen. "No. No, no, no."

"Mmm." I give him a look, not believing him. "I'm leaving." I mutter, gathering my wet clothes as he steps to the side.

"I'm sorry!" He blurts out.

I pause, letting out a small laugh. "For what?"

He sighs. "It's, uh, long list." He mumbles. "Um, how's your hand?"

I roll my eyes. "Like you care."

He stumbles over his words, so I spin back around. "Why do I still have a drawer?" I wait. "What's wrong, you were so full of questions a second ago."

He just stares at me, at a loss for words. I nod, exiting the room. I zoom past Nancy on the stairs, ignoring her bewildered look that I just came out of Steve's room.

"Barb?" I look back in the bathroom and she's gone. My breathing starts to pick up and my throat closes up. I can't believe I just had an actual conversation with him. In his room. Or that I'm even here at all, at his house! Why, why, why did I let Barb talk me into coming?

I check out back to see if she went back out and nothing! I guess she left already.

I stumble my way into the kitchen, digging my short nails into the cut, desperately needing a distraction, but barely even feeling it. I swipe one of the remaining beer cans and chug as fast as I can before repeating with a second. When I begin the third, and last one, I start hearing Tommy and Carol's sex noises.

I rush out the door, slamming it behind me. I grab my moped and begin walking down the sidewalk as I push it along beside me being I am not sober enough to drive it and not stupid enough to do so.

❁❁❁

Steve's POV

I watch as Toni rushes out of my bedroom like it's on fire, finding myself wishing she would've stayed, even if it was to just shout at me more.

I sigh. I'm not sure why I still have a drawer with her clothes in it after two years. I just couldn't bring myself to empty it and there was no way in hell I was going to return them to her. I'm surprised she even thought to come up here and grab them. Well, she was soaked genius.

Nancy comes in a few seconds later. "So, you and Toni know each other?" She asks politely.

"Um... no, not really..." I trail off. Not anymore. She nods, understanding I don't want to talk about it.  "Oh, right." I snap out of it, turning to grab her some dry clothes of mine. She goes over to the window while she waits. I hand her pants and sweatshirt.

"Thanks." She smiles. I nod. "Um... some privacy, maybe?" Duh.

"Oh. Yeah, right. Sorry." I turn around as my mind keeps going back to Toni shot gunning her beer, cutting herself, standing here in my room.

"Steve?"

I look over my shoulder and Nancy is taking her shirt off. Oh, shit. I can't lie and say I didn't plan on doing this in hope's to have a little when I brought it up at school today. But after everything that's happened tonight I just can't focus on that right now.

"Um, why don't I let you change and then we can lie down?" I offer.

"Oh." She sounds surprised. "Yeah, ok."

I can't get Toni Henderson out of my head...

❁❁❁

Back to Toni's POV

Walking is starting to become more and more difficult as my vision begins to blur. I hear something rustle from the woods beside me and I screech to a halt. My breath hitches as I turn and swear I see something zoom by in the shadows. I begin to pick up my pace which is lovely considering I have my moped and sure enough, I eat shit a few seconds later.

"Shit!" I enjoy the relief that scraping my knee brings until a car starts to slow beside me. My heart begins to race as I scramble to search for a stick or something.

"Toni?" I hear Jonathan's voice and freeze, I look over to see his window rolled down.

"Jonny?" Tears well in my eyes.

"What the hell are you doing out here!" He rushes out  to help me up and I trip into his arms. "Are you drunk?"

"No mom." I mumble. He holds me out in front of him, keeping a firm grasp on my shoulders. I look around to avoid his gaze.

"Look at me."

"No."

"Toni-"

"I don't feel so good." I begin to feel light headed.

"You're bleeding." Is the last thing I hear him say before I'm out like a light.

❁❁❁

3rd Person POV

Jonathan sighs, catching his best friend as goes limp, passing out. He picks her up and gently places her in his backseat before putting her moped in his trunk. He knows she just came from Steve's house, having stumbled upon the group as he was walking through the woods and heard a scream, thinking someone needed help but turned out it was just Carol being pushed into the pool.

He saw it all play out. Toni getting tripped, going into Steve's room, her and Steve talking, Barb outside then she wasn't, Toni coming out to look for her. Then when Nancy started changing and Toni went back inside he hurried back to his car, thinking she would be in some sort of predicament like he found her in. He didn't know she'd be drunk and had no fucking clue as to why she was there in the first place, though he smartly inferred it had something to do with Barb. He could kick himself for not being back in town sooner and possibly preventing Toni from being talked into going. But, either way, he's going to take care of his best friend no matter what. He'll have to clean her scrapes, and he swears he saw lots of blood on her hand, but as long as she would be safe now at his house he didn't care the mess he had to clean up.

❁ ❁ ❁

Author's Note: Whew! Finally made it through this episode's chapters!! What a messy one this was lol but I live for the drama and angst <3

Btw!! I'm cutting out the part where Jonathan takes pictures of Nancy changing because... yeah. That was SO weird, but he still took pictures of the group so he'll still considered a creepy stalker and the camera scene coming up will still take place (spoilers but not cause it's in the show lol). Just wanted to explain that since it is a change I made!

Anywaysss, Happy Stranger Things S4 Anniversary!! I cannot believe it's already been 1 year... wth, times flies!! Oh, and happy anniversary to republishing this book!!

Hope y'all enjoyed all these new chapters, see ya in episode three!! <3

P.S. OH MY GOSH YOU'RE LOSING ME IS LITERALLY STEVE & TONI IN THIS SCENE WHATTT... it's literally so perfect it's as if Taylor wrote it for them!!