13. Parties Suck

The next few weeks went by in a blur, as they all returned to school, apart from Will, as the school couldn't quite get around re-enrolling a child who used to be dead. Lucas and Dustin were over the moon to finally have their friend back, but Karmen could tell Mike was still upset. He was missing Eleven…and so was she. Karmen didn't even know whether Eleven was dead, and if she wasn't then, where was she? All she knew was that she had let her friend down.

"Hey, you going to eat that?" Steve questioned, as he sat down in the canteen next to her.

Steve had been following her around for the last few days, much to her surprise. He seemed to have completely dropped his 'popular' friends. As for Nancy, she hadn't been spotted around school much. Barb's death had hit her harder than it had for Karmen, as they had been friends for years, not to mention the guilt Nancy felt over it. Jonathan had vowed not to step back into school until Will was allowed back, so they hadn't seen much of him either.

"You touch my chips, and you die" Karmen warned Steve.

"They're called fries here remember…so…" Steve grinned, as he grabbed a handful from her plate.

"Right, and chips are crisps?" Karmen inquired, as Steve chuckled.

"How did we not pick up on the fact that your English, it's painfully obvious" Steve stated, as he ate his stolen food.

"It must be because your so oblivious" Karmen shrugged.

"So, are you going to that party tonight?" Steve queried, as she shook her head.

"Not really my scene" She replied.

"Oh, come on, it will be fun" Steve insisted.

"I think our definition of fun must be very different" Karmen exclaimed.

"Please come…I don't really have any one else to go with, and I can't just show up by myself" Steve went on.

"Oh, you have to keep up your reputation, do you?" Karmen laughed.

"I think that ship has sailed. Everyone just treats me like a leper now" Steve sighed.

"That's because you've shut down everyone who's tried to talk to you. I know things didn't end well with you, Tommy and Carol but they've been your friends for years-" Karmen started, but he cut her off.

"No, I don't want to be around them anymore. They were never my friends, not really. And the stuff they said about Nancy…and you…" Steve shook his head.

"Speaking of Nancy, have you heard anything from her?" Karmen inquired.

"Nope. Have you heard anything from Jonathan?" Steve asked, as Karmen scoffed.

"It's not the same thing, Steve" Karmen retorted.

"You like him-" Steve started, but she cut him off this time.

"And you love Nancy. She'll come back to you. I'm sure of it" Karmen told him, as he gave her a small smile.

"But until she does I need to keep busy…if only there was some sort of party on…" Steve trailed off, with a grin.

"Okay, okay! Fine, I'll go with you to the stupid party. I don't know why you want me to come anyway, won't I just cramp your style?" Karmen suggested.

"Friends go to parties together" Steve shrugged.

"Is that what we are now?" Karmen inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you not want to be?" Steve questioned, giving her puppy dog eyes.

"Jesus, Steve. Don't be so dramatic. Besides, I can think of a few worse people to be friends with" Karmen giggled.

"I will see you tonight then" Steve smiled grew, as he looked happier than she had seen him for a while.

She knew it must have been hard for him to suddenly lose his popular status overnight, and she didn't like seeing him miserable. And it would get my mind off Jonathan, she thought to herself.

Karmen brushed down her jeans as she waited in the cold outside her apartment building. She had left a few minutes before Steve said he would pick her up, mainly because she didn't want him coming up to her flat and seeing where she lived. She hated her tiny room, and compared to Steve's literal mansion, it was an embarrassment. Right on time she saw the boy's familiar car pull up beside her, as Steve jumped out of the car.

"Hey, you should have waited inside for me" Steve stated, as Karmen walked over to him.

"It's fine" She shook her head, with a small smile.

Once she sat down in the passenger seat she suddenly realised that it was the first time she had been alone in Steve's car, with just him. She wasn't sure why she had become so hyperaware of the fact when Steve hopped back into the car. He instantly reached to turn up the heating, seeing that Karmen was shivering.

"Thanks" She smiled, as he nodded in return.

They soon arrived at the party, after a drive in comfortable silence. Steve was about to get out the car, when Karmen stopped him.

"Are you really sure you want to turn up to this party…with me?" Karmen asked, as Steve frowned.

"Well yeah. It's like you said, no big deal" He shrugged.

"Steve, I'm not exactly going to help your status and clearly not being the 'king' of the school is upsetting you" Karmen went on.

"Maybe I was upset before and just didn't realise it. I'd rather have a friend than be 'King Steve'" He explained, using quotations marks with his fingers.

"You get that my friends consist of a twelve-year-old missing girl, a girl who's avoided me for the last few weeks and…Barb…" Karmen trailed off, as she remembered the ginger haired girl.

"That's better than my grand total of zero" Steve exclaimed, as Karmen raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on. There must be someone who's your friend" Karmen insisted, as he shrugged.

"Okay, enough of this self-deprecating crap. You're gonna go into that party, hold your head high, and act like you belong there…or you can turn this car around and go mope in your room" Karmen ordered, as Steve laughed.

"Jeez, alright Mum" Steve mocked, as she shoved his shoulder, playfully.

Karmen was surprised that she was enjoying the party. She and Steve did get some strange looks from people, but once it got around that they were just there as friends, the interest seemed to die down. As she downed the last drink she had gotten within the minute, she suddenly realised just how drunk she was getting. She quickly spotted Steve and went to go stand beside him, feeling less vulnerable by his side.

"Hey, how's it going?" Steve questioned, having to shout over the music.

"I think I need to go sit down for a minute" Karmen replied, as he nodded.

They began walking though the rooms, finding that every seat or sofa was taken up by a drunken teen. They eventually made it to a bedroom on the top floor and entered, hoping that there would be space for them to at least sit. Neither of them could have expected what they would see.

"Nancy?" Steve whispered, softly.

Jonathan and Nancy were lying on the bed, with his shirt off and her hair in a mess. They broke their kiss apart as they saw the pair who had just entered.

"I…It's not…" Nancy stuttered, as she jumped off the bed.

Instantly, Steve took off not sparing her another glance as she rushed after him. Jonathan was about to follow her when Karmen grabbed his wrist.

"I think you've done enough" She stated.

"Steve, wait!" Nancy cried, as she rushed out of the house after him.

"You're unbelievable" Steve scoffed, as he picked up his pace.

"I didn't…I mean how we left it…I thought…" Nancy trailed off.

"You thought it would be alright to hop into bed with Jonathan Byers?!" Steve shouted, as he turned around to face her.

"You knew that things had…developed between me and him" Nancy went on.

"Three weeks. It's not even been three weeks since our 'sort of break up'. You couldn't have waited any longer?" Steve exclaimed.

"We were drinking, and things escalated" Nancy sighed.

"Just stay away from me, okay? I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear from you…Just stay away" Steve ordered.

Jonathan and Karmen had witnessed the end of the argument and Karmen watched as Jonathan sped over to Nancy, who was now crying. It was then that the girl spotted Karmen.

"Karmen, I…I'm sorry" Nancy cried.

"Save it, Nance" Karmen shook her head.

"You said you liked Jonathan, past tense. We thought it would be all right" Nancy stated.

"And I would be fine with you guys getting together…in the future! Not now. Why couldn't you have just waited?" Karmen questioned, as she walked away.

She found Steve leaning with his hands against his car, looking at his reflection in the shiny metal.

"Hey, are you okay?" She inquired, as he turned to look at her.

His eyes were bloodshot from where he had clearly been crying. He looked miserable.

"Well, that's the last party I'll be going to for a while" Karmen joked, as Steve rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah" He mumbled, sniffing.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Karmen suggested, as he shook his head vehemently.

He went to go get into the driver's seat of his car but Karmen stopped him before he could open the door.

"If you have drunk anywhere near as much as I have you definitely can't drive right now" Karmen told him, really thinking his emotional state was more why he shouldn't drive.

"Yeah, I guess, but how are we gonna get home?" Steve queried.

"…Have you ever slept in a car before?" Karmen asked.

"No" He frowned.

"Well there's a first time for everything. Luckily your seats look pretty comfy" Karmen exclaimed.

That was how she found herself a few blocks away lying down in the backseat of Steve Harrington's car with two blankets over her. There had been a disagreement for a while on who would take the more comfortable backseat, but Steve had won, stating that it was his car and his rules. Karmen sat upright and saw the awkward position that Steve had fallen asleep in. She grabbed one of the blankets from her legs and placed it over the sleeping boy. After that she sat back down in the seat and drifted off into a light slumber.

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Jonathan and Nancy will be getting together earlier in this story so by the time of Season 2, they'll have been in an established relationship for a while. Does anyone have anything they'd like to see in Season 2? Please leave a review:)

Micky-Moo: She will eventually, but for now she expects that Eleven could be dead. Thanks for the review!

LIsa: Sorry, here's the new chapter! It's a long one, so enjoy:)

uNICOrnDIANGELO: Yeah, I do like to make things as painful as possible, haha. Billy and Max are going to be great additions to this story, and don't worry Karmen will definitely get to punch him at some point! Aww, thank you:)