9. I Want You Around

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1)Van Halen – Ain't talking 'bout love2)ACDC – You shook me all night long3)The Ramones - I want you around4) Cyndi Lauper – Girls just wanna have fun5) Joan Jett & the Blackhearts – I love rock and roll

It's time for the Halloween chapter and I hope you like it.Follow, favorite and pretty please, review!

Let me know what you think! A new update will be up tomorrow! ;)

I should have bought the damned wig. I knew I should have bought the damned wig but no, of course not, I wanted to be smart and hardworking and make the buns myself. Like most of my choice, I am regretting this one as well. Even with the littlest things, I make the biggest mistakes. At least I did not take it upon myself to sew my costume; that would have been a whole different level of disastrous.

At least the outfit is on point. I didn't go overboard with make-up but if I don't manage to make Leia's buns work, I am screwed. I thought it'd be easier but yeah, I really should have bought that wig.

"Tina!" I hear a yell from downstairs. "Keep the volume down!" Mom yells, from the top of her lungs.

"Fine!" I yell back, only lowering the volume a little; you can't listen to Van Halen with the volume down; that should be considered sacrilege. It takes me a solid minute to finally make the left bun; I need hairspray. I need like… two cans of it, if I plan to make those buns stick for longer than a few hours. Of course, where else do I go looking for my hairspray than in my brother's room? "Steve, if you're going to steal hairspray from me, at least have the decency to return it when…" I stop as I march into his room and see him. "What the hell are you wearing?" I manage to utter.

"Don't you get it?" he asks, looking at me in disappointment. Ah, the utter fear of Halloween: will they know who I am? "I'm Magnum P.I.!"

"Okay, Steve, I hate to break it to you but you don't… you don't look like Tom Selleck, you look like Steve Harrington with a fake mustache and a Hawaiian shirt."

"Oh, excuse me Carrie Fisher," he goes all defensive on me, which only makes me want to laugh at him more; I can't take him seriously, not when he has a moustache taped on him. "I'm doing what I can!"

"Okay, you keep on doing that," I force a smile, not wanting to make it a fight, even if I have endless material to tease him for this… outfit. "Give me back my hairspray; I can't go around with one bun."

"It's in the bathroom," he tells me. "Be ready in 10 if you want me to drive you."

"In 10?!" I ask in shock. "No way Steve, I can't be ready in 10."

"Well, you're walking then."

"Steve, don't be a dick, I can't walk around the town dressed as Leia!"

"Then be ready in 10." He offers me an angelic smile, which I respond to with a middle finger.

"Magnum my ass!" I yell as I resume my search for the hairspray. I don't have time for him and his drama. I literally don't have time because there's no way I can be ready in 10. Absolutely no way.

I wasn't ready in 10. I made Steve wait because as his little sister, I have every right to do so.

"This is where he lives?" Steve mumbles when he parks in front of the Byers driveway; I can see how he's assessing the house before him and how he's not impressed with it. I don't know how I can be wired so… differently to him and Dad. Even mom, I'm sure she'd have the same look on her face. Am I the only one that doesn't fucking care what kind of house he has?

"God, you're such a jackass even when you're not trying."

"I'm just asking!" he lifts his arms up in surrender.

"Yeah, but all the things unsaid are completely obvious," I snap back at him. "I don't care what kind of house they have when they're good people."

"Yeah, obviously," he laughs. The moment he sees the look on my face, I can see that he's regretting his lame ass joke. "Tina, come on, I was just…" I cut him off by slamming the door after me. His precious little car can take the hit instead of him. And just in case my message wasn't clear enough, I give him the middle finger. He still has a guilty look on his face but by the time I'm on the Byers' porch, he's already driving away. He'll sleep in peace, I'm sure of it. And I have other things to worry about. "Hello!" I call out as I walk into the house; I've stopped knocking a few weeks ago. "Guys where are you?" I yell, trying to overpower 'ACDC' that is playing from Jonathan's room.

"Hey, you're early!" Jonathan greets me with a smile and I just freeze in my tracks.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," I sigh, staring his outfit down. "Han Solo? Really? Really?!"

"Yeah," he confirms. "What's wrong with… oh."

"Where are they?" I ask; it's as if I can feel my blood boiling. "Where are those four… where are they?"

Jonathan knows me enough to recognize when I am absolutely and completely pissed off and he knows what to do if that's the case: be out of my way. "They're in Will's Castle."

Not saying a word, I march out of the house, picking up the skirts of my costume; it's white and if I'm going to chase four kids around the forest, I don't want to get the costume dirty and ruin all the effort I had put into the whole thing. Ah, but the effort is already ruined. The four of them had ruined it. They knew I was going as Leia, all four of them; they were there when I bought the fucking costume! Earlier today, I was still rushing Jonathan to find himself a costume and if I remember correctly, he didn't ask about what I was wearing, nor did I offer the information. But four people knew; four kids knew.

"Guys!" I call out in a falsely happy voice as I approach the castle; I can't hear anything but I can all but smell them; they're hiding from me. "Why don't you let me into that pretty little castle of yours?"

"Password!" Mike yells out after a few seconds of silence. I laugh. Oh, how I laugh.

"Oh, I need a password to get in?" I ask, moving the curtain away as I walk into the makeshift house, making all four of them look up at me in terror; they were all wearing costumes, sitting on the ground and waiting for the pending attack. "I imagine you know about the surprise that awaited me."

"What are you talking about?" Lucas chuckles; oh, he's the best actor of them all. "Your hair looks really cool, by the way." He asks. Well, one day, his wife will be a very lucky woman, if his tactic is to use compliments to get out of trouble.

"Oh, I think you know very well what I'm talking about," I mumble; it's amazing to see genuine fear on their faces. I'm actually scary and I think I like it. "All four of you knew I am going as Leia. And lo and behold, no one wanted to be Han Solo. Everyone loves Han Solo, Han Solo is the best. And yet, out of four 12-year-olds, not a single one of you wanted to be Han Solo. You knew Jonathan didn't have a costume. You knew I am going as Leia. You did this. The only question is which one of you was it."

"Come on Tina, it was an accident," Dustin tries to persuade me. "A happy accident but an accident."

"No it wasn't, not with the four of you," I shake my head; I'm not buying it. "If it was an accident, you would have been laughing your asses of, not hiding in here. So, which one of you was it? Will, I doubt it's you," I shake my head, immediately taking him off the list. "You might have been the one that suggested it to Jonathan, but it wasn't your idea. Dustin, I don't think it's you either; you were so happy because of the costume and you wouldn't stab me in the back, would you?" I ask, watching as he looks away in guilt; oh yeah, all four of them were in on it. The only question is, whose idea was it? "That leaves me with the two of you. So spill the beans. Now!" I order, watching Lucas and Mike.

"It really was an accident," Lucas rolls his eyes. "No one did anything on purpose."

"Besides, you said it yourself; there will be like 50 Leias in Hawkins," Mike adds. "It doesn't have to mean anything. It's not our fault you two have unresolved issues."

"Unresolved issues?" I ask in disbelief. "Okay, I could understand a prank. I could live with a prank. But this? This is just plain rude. Is this what I get for being you friend? For trying to give you guys the best Halloween ever? Thanks. Thanks a bunch."

Reasoning with a bunch of 12-year-olds is nothing more than a waste of time but I couldn't let it slide without them knowing that this actually bothers me. Yeah, the trick they pulled on me bothers me too but the way Mike just… said it like that? No, that's not them playing nice. I'm not going to fight with them, I have to be the mature one here. But I'll be damned if I don't throw some guilt on them.

Jonathan jumps up from the sofa the moment I walk inside the house.

"I can change," he blurts out at once. "I'll change my costume. I can go as…"

"No, you're not changing," I sigh as I fall down on the same sofa he got up from. "It was a lame ass move but it is what it is. It's not your fault, after all."

"Tina, they're twelve."

"And much smarter than you think."

They know. They can smell it, they're like dogs. They knew exactly what they were doing.

If that dance never had happened, I would be laughing my ass off at this. But after that, I really don't want to have a reminder of… ugh, I don't even know what it reminds me of. Of that complete failure?

"We're going with them," Jonathan tries to reassure me. "We're all dressed as Star Wars characters."

"And what about the party, Jonathan?" I remind him. "What about the party the entire school will attend?" I ask; attend and think that we're a couple because why not?! "Are we bringing them there too? Will Dustin hook up with Melissa in the bathroom? Is Will going to do a keg stand?"

"Okay, maybe it's…"

"It doesn't matter," I shake my head, not wanting to continue this drama any longer. "We can just… keep up with the show, right?"

"Trick or treat!"

"Ah, look at you!" the woman gushes as she offers candy to the kids. "Han and Leia and their little children, you're so adorable!"

"Actually, we're not their children," Dustin starts. "I am a…"

"Thank you!" Jonathan and I interrupt at the same time, as I pull Dustin by the shoulders. This time around, they take a hint and actually follow us in silence. "Stop explaining who you are, Dustin. They'll never learn, you'll waste your time and you'll manage to drive us all nuts."

"But they are wrong!" he whines. "I'm a Wookie! And Lucas isn't your son, he's your brother."

"I may be a brother but I'm not her brother." Lucas cuts in.

I would laugh my ass off if I still wasn't angry at them. The tension is palpable, not so much between them as it is between me and Jonathan. It's off and it's off big time. He can't even look directly at me, not since I have mentioned the little show we've had. And I'm just pissed off at everything.

"Come on, we have one more house and then we're going to the other part of town." Jonathan urges them. With a sigh, I follow the five of them, while holding up my skirt; I really care about this costume more than I thought I would, given how it took me two entire seconds to pick it out. I catch up with them and the one walking next to me is Mike.

"I know it was you." I tell him in a low voice as I didn't want the others to hear us.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, cut the crap Yoda," I sigh, rolling my eyes. "What was it that you said, "there'll be at least 50 Leias in town", just like what I said? You probably got the idea then and there."

"We do not betray each other," he shakes his head. "No one will ever offer the information."

"Yeah, you don't have to," I laugh. "I'm not… It was a dick move, Mike but I'm not angry. I just want to know why. I'm not going to ruin your democracy. It will stay between us."

I am about to deem my try useless when Mike finally speaks up.

"Unresolved issues should be resolved," he tells me, looking directly ahead of him. "Especially when you can be happy if they're resolved."

Jesus Christ, a 12-year-old is smarter than Jonathan and I combined. Hearing that is not what I needed to hear now. Things just keep getting worse and worse by the day. I don't think I can keep it up, not when 12-year-olds can see something that wasn't supposed to be obvious. They know, Steve knows, hell, even Joyce must know! They all know and they all have opinions formed and yet, no one wonders why things aren't better. Maybe they should ask Jonathan. Or maybe not, since he's good at ignoring it.

"Two more blocks and we're done," Jonathan announces as he starts the car. "Did you get any good candy?" he asks them but I don't hear the answer as my focus goes to the song that's playing.

"Oh, brother." I sigh when I recognize it as "I want you around" by Ramones. Of all the songs in all the world, it had to be that one. How many hits can I take and why does everyone want to find out?

"Tina, what is going on?" Jonathan asks. I am taken aback by the look on his face; he looks pissed off. He's pissed off at me? "You've been acting all weird ever since we left the house! Is it really the end of the world that I'm dressed as Han Solo? Can't you ignore it for one fucking night?"

"Excuse me?"

"Guys, please don't." Will begs us from the back seat.

"Yeah, I mean it," Jonathan persists. "Does it really trouble you so much? Is it really that big of a deal?!"

"Stop the car."

"No, I won't stop the car because-"

"Stop the fucking car!" I yell and this time, he actually stops. "I'm done trick-or-treating. Have fun guys," I force a smile to the boys as I unbuckle the seatbelt. "And you…" I sigh, looking at Jonathan. "This time, try ignoring me for good." I slam the door shut, turn around and walk in the opposite direction of the one we were driving in. Melissa's house isn't too far from here and I need alcohol.

How dare he? How dare he?!

He's turning this around to be my fault?! God, I should have slapped him when I had the fucking chance! It doesn't matter now, not anymore. None of it matters. Leia is going to get wasted and Han Solo can go fuck himself for all she cares.

My anger refuses to die down, despite the 10 minutes it takes me to get to Melissa's house; I've never been to hear place before but "Girls just wanna have fun" was my sign as to where the party is.

The house is packed and a few people wave at me when I walk inside; of course, everyone needs to wave at Steve's sister. I look around for him, I look for his stupid Hawaiian shirt but he's nowhere to be found. Then, I look for alcohol. I don't find it but I find Nancy Wheeler instead, dressed as a fairy.

"Hey Nancy," I force a smile. "Have you seen Steve?" I ask her.

"He was here moments ago," she shrugs. I guess they aren't official enough for her to know his whereabouts at any given moment. "Wait, are the kids already done trick-or-treating?"

"No, Jonathan "The Asshole" Byers is taking care of them," I roll my eyes. "I've had my fill. Speaking of which, where's the booze?"

"Here, take this," she offers me her own cup. "I don't like it."

"Well, I do." I down the drink in one go, not even sure what's in the cup; I think it might be cola vodka, which is the worst mix in history but I'm… I just don't care anymore. I'm not angry, I'm not sad, I just don't care. Flat line, all of it. I don't care about anything anymore, especially not about that asshole.

"Whoa, Tina, take it easy."

"Don't worry yourself too much Nancy," I laugh. "We're not sister-in-laws just yet."

"Hello there," a guy in a red jacket smiles down at me; I'm guessing he's James Dean, but I'm not sure if the costume really works for him. "Would Princess Leia care for a dance?" he winks at me.

"Why of course she would."

I don't know him and I don't care. When I dance, I don't think. When I drink, I don't think. The way I see it, this is a win-win combination. The guy's a senior, I know that much; I've seen him around school before. And my brother's around somewhere, he'll keep me save if he has to.

Melissa's house is so packed, I can't even dance without hitting a few people with every move I make; we are all slamming into each other but hey, that's how house parties function. Besides, I think everyone is too drunk to care. And I'm not drunk enough.

"What's that?" I ask James Dean, looking at his cup.

"Beer," he tells me. "Want some?" he offers and without saying a word, I take the cup from him; this time, I stop halfway through; if I have too much at once, I'll be too drunk. I don't need to be too drunk to forget about all the bullshit I want to forget about. "Wow! I didn't know Steve's sister's a drinker."

"Neither did she," I shrug. "Oh, I love this song!" I yell when "I love rock and roll" starts playing. "Come on James, dance with me."

I was too close to him for my own good, I know that. But I don't care. I don't have the energy to care; Jonathan Byers drained it all and left me half dead. I might as well have some fun with the little energy I have left.

I sporadically zone in and out, but whenever I open my arms, I see Steve staring me down from across the room; he looks ridiculous, really, in his Magnum outfit. I know I am pissing him off, dancing with this guy who has his hands on my waist, but I really don't care. He wants to be a guard dog? Well, he can.

"I didn't know Steve's sister was such a good dancer."

"Well, Steve's sister is full of surprises," I force a laugh, not moving away from him as the song changes; we've been dancing for too long and I can feel that I'm enjoying it less and less but still, I decide to keep it up. "How about you bring Steve's sister a drink? Any kind will do."

James Dean listens to me. I move around on my own as I wait for him to return. I turn to look at Steve but this time around, I see he's not alone. Nancy's by his side and lo and behold, so is Jonathan Byers.

"Oh, fuck you," I utter to myself, diverting my attention back to James Dean, who was approaching me with two cups in hand. "Thank you, James."

"You're welcome, Leia."

"Tina, do you have a minute?" I stop and look at Jonathan in complete surprise; I wasn't expecting him to have the balls to say anything, much less here, at a party, while I'm dancing with another guy. Oh, he looks pissed off. Well, I guess he should know by now that I don't care.

"Can't you see I'm dancing?" I ask.

"Yeah, you're not," Steve cuts in, smiling as if he is having the best time of his life. "I'm going to have to steal Adam from you for a little while; I have to explain to him why he should keep his hands of my sister. You're free to talk." He announces and before anyone could say or react in any way, he puts an arm over James's shoulder and walks away with him, undoubtedly threatening James in a super kind voice; well, I guess his name is Adam.

And now the fuckers are working together against me. That only makes me angrier.

"You want to talk?" I laugh out loud. "Let's talk Jonathan! Let's talk!" I snap, immediately causing everyone to look our way. Yelling in the middle of a party? Not the best I idea I've ever had.

"Oh my god!" Nancy yells suddenly, causing all of us to look her way. "Look at that!"

A diversion. They've made a fucking diversion, all three of them. While everyone is look at whatever Nancy decided to point to, Jonathan grabs me by the hand and drags me out of the house.

"Stop it!" I pull my arm out of his grasps.

"Tina, you're drunk."

"Actually, and I hate to break this to you, I am completely sober," I laugh. The little alcohol I've had was not enough to cloud my judgment, not even in the slightest. "You want to talk? Then talk!"

"Not here," he warns me and I start marching away at once. "Where are you going?" he yells after me.

"Away from the house, so that you can have some privacy," I laugh as I walk down the road. "Is this good enough for you? No one in school will hear about this shit, don't worry. So, let's talk!"

"What is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with me? You're wrong, Jonathan! You're the fucking problem!"

"Oh, so now you're going to blame this on me?" he yells. "What more do you want me to do, Tina?! I have been walking on eggshells around you, picking out words carefully and you throw a fucking fit because of a stupid costume!? And then what? You get wasted at some party and dance with a random guy because why, you just want to show me that you don't give a shit about me?!"

"Oh brother, if that's what you're thinking, you're so wrong!" I laugh; I can't believe him! After everything, he's blaming this on me! "You don't have the right to be angry with me, not when I'm making everything so much easier for you! I'm staying away, I'm acting like it never even happened and you can go around and brag how you made out with Steve Harrington's sister and didn't even have the decency to acknowledge her the following day!"

"Is that what you think I'm doing?!"

I have never seen him this angry before.

"And what the fuck do you think I'm doing?!"

"You're the one who ignored it, Tina," he shakes his head. "It took you one night's sleep to decide that it wasn't good enough for you! That I could never be remotely good enough for you! You like to think that you're all different and special but you're just like the rest of them!"

"And so are you! I'm sure you got oh so disappointed when you didn't get some, huh?!"

"Is that who you think I am?! Fucking hell Tina, do you even know me at all?!"

"You know what? I don't think I know you at all at this point because the Jonathan Byers I thought I knew would have the decency to look a girl in the eye and say that he doesn't want to be with her, and not pretend like nothing ever even happened!"

"You were pretending Tina!"

"You didn't answer my fucking phone calls! You ignored me, Jonathan! You fucking ignored me and you even waited for me to leave school so that you can go into the dark room! What is that if it's not pretending?!"

"I didn't want to see you, not after the way you've been acting!"

"The way I've been acting?!" I yell; oh shit, we're taking it too far. I can feel the tears forming in my eyes and I don't think I can control them. "You hurt me, Jonathan. I thought…. I don't even know what I was thinking but… you were supposed to be one of the good ones. Like, I get it. I understand why you wouldn't want to be with me. I really get it. But was it too much to ask to at least get a proper explanation? You were the one who suggested that we should act like it never happened."

"No, don't you blame that one on me!" he yells; god, I'm really crying. "You were the one who suggested it and you started it the moment you called and acted like it never fucking happened!"

"My mom was in the room with me, Jonathan!" I yell. I stop to take a breath. At this point, it's more a sob than it is a breath. "What was I supposed to say? I liked kissing you and we should do it more often? She was in the room with me, Jonathan! I tried calling and you know it! You ignored my calls and at school, you couldn't even look at me. What was I supposed to do? What more could I have done?"

"I thought you were pretending like it never happened."

"Well, I wasn't. That was all you."

God, I'm such an idiot. He's an even bigger idiot than I am. Is it possible that it was all just a stupid misunderstanding? Is that what all of it was? A stupid misunderstanding that is going to cost us our friendship? I'm stupid, I'm so stupid. And so is he.

"Tina…" he starts and I wipe away my tears. No, this is too much. It's bad enough that I'm crying in front of him, he doesn't need to take it a step further. "I… I didn't know. I thought that…"

"Well, you didn't bother asking, did you?" I sigh, finally managing to calm myself down a little bit. "If you had just answered my call, if you had just called me when I asked you to, this all would have been avoided. It's too late now, it's way beyond too late. There's nothing left to salvage."

"Yes, there is."

"No, there really isn't Jonathan," I laugh. How can he see a silver lining in all of this? "What's done it's done and I think it would be best if we just stay away from each other from now on."

"No." he deadpans.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"No," he repeats. "I'm not going to let a misunderstanding ruin this."

"It's already ruined," I shake my head, watching in surprise as he starts walking my way. "No, Jonathan, you're not the only one who has a say in this. It's already ruined and-"

Both times he had kissed me, he interrupted me while I was talking.

The first time, I was confused. Now, I think I'm kind of glad.

Despite everything, despite losing my voice when yelling at him, despite the tears, I am glad he had shut me up because that's all it took. One moment, one kiss and I am back at that Friday night, back in the backseat of his car, laughing with him, kissing him and just… having fun.

This time around, I am not confused and this time around, I don't let him break the kiss. No, no way in hell. I don't care how much of this we will have to resolve later, I'm not stopping it.

A loud honk startles us both.

I didn't even notice that a car was parked a few feet away from us, much less that it is his car. And now we have Will, Mike, Lucas and Dustin grinning at us.

"Oh, you're back!" Joyce hugs Will as we walk through the front door. "Why aren't you two at the party already? Did you get any good candy? How did it go?" she asks her youngest.

"It was good," he smiles. "We got good candy, Han got Leia. It was a good Halloween."

"Oh, did he now?" Joyce laughs, looking at Jonathan and me; I look down at the ground, knowing that the floor wasn't going to give me a pointed look.

"I'm going to drive Tina home." Jonathan mumbles, ignoring her question.

"What about the party?" Joyce asks in confusion.

"Too wild for our taste," I speak up, shaking off the uncomfortable feeling. "Have a good night guys. See you." I walk out of the house before anyone could ask me when exactly they are going to see me. I walk to Jonathan's car and I wait for him to follow me as I sit in silence; he takes his place in the driver's seat but he doesn't start the car. We just… sit there, in complete silence, not looking at each other.

"You should have called me back, Jonathan," I finally manage to utter. "You should have called."

"And you should have told me about it when you saw me afterwards, but you didn't," he tells me. Fair enough. I don't get to point the finger without having a finger pointed at me, fair enough. We are both to blame here but that's not the question anymore, is it. The question is where do we go from here? What do we do now? "We're both to blame."

"That we are."

"Now what do we do?" he asks me. I finally gather the courage to look up at him. He looks like he actually cares and… he wouldn't have kissed me if he did not want to do it. I wish I could have the courage to say it like it is, to say what I really want, but after everything… even if it was just a stupid misunderstanding, my self-confidence is yet to recover from that blow.

"What do you want to do?" I ask. I need more. I need more from him. If I'm going to say it, if I'm going to be the one with balls in this story, I'm going to need more. Just a tiny hint. That's all I need.

"I don't want a stupid misunderstanding to ruin this," he repeats his earlier words. "But I need to know what you want to do?"

He needs more too. If neither one of us is willing to say it plain in simple… someone has to.

"Well, you don't get to make out with me twice and then act like you forgot all about it, Byers," I raise my eyebrow. A gigantic weight is lifted off my shoulders when I see a hint of a smile on his face. "Look, I'll just put my cards on the table here. I want to try. If you're willing to try, so am I. So long as we actually communicate this time around. If we talk and if… if we just talk and stay honest to each other like we've been before… If we can do that, we should give it a go. I'm in if you're in." I shrug.

"I'm in."

I might be the one saying the words but he's the one doing the deeds. I'm the one who says it but he's the one who starts the kiss.

This time around, we don't end up on the backseat and we don't get interrupted by 12-year-olds. This time, we kiss and when we stop, I lean on his shoulder and he kisses my head.

We're in.

1)Van Halen – Ain't talking 'bout love (Tina getting ready)

2)ACDC – You shook me all night long (Han Solo reveal)

3)The Ramones - I want you around (car)

4) Cyndi Lauper – Girls just wanna have fun (party)

5) Joan Jett & the Blackhearts – I love rock and roll (party)