"Love me still but know not why."

~ John Wilbye

The party was in full swing when Valerie arrived. Bodies crowded the entryway and she had to throw elbows to move around. The music was thumping throughout the house, shaking the walls and ringing in her ears. The chatter between people was white noise in her ears as she moved through the rooms.

Her red hair was brushed back with a purple headband. She had on a lavender dress with a green scarf and purple high heels. Her sheer tights did little in the way of warding off the cold but Max had told her to go as Daphne and she didn't have any better ideas.

Billy had left an hour before she had. She didn't ask for a ride and he didn't offer. She had no desire to be around him after his stunt on the way home from school. She berated him at home, told him he could've killed those kids but he shrugged her off, claimed he wouldn't have hit them. Valerie didn't tell him that she thought he was lying.

She had convinced her mom to drop her off at the party on her way. Susan was dropping Max off in the wealthier part of Hawkins to trick or treat while she socialized with the other moms as they watched their kids with negligent eyes. Susan hadn't said anything when they stopped in front of Tina's house but Valerie could tell by the look on her face that she didn't think it was a good idea.

Valerie had waved them off with a floppy hand and a firm, "Billy will take me home" before Susan drove off down the crowded lane. Valerie had watched her taillights disappear before she ventured inside the house.

So far, she'd seen five faces that she recognized from school. She gave herself a pat on the back considering so many people were wearing masks and face paint of some kind.

She looked towards the back of the house when she heard chants of Billy's name. She saw him walk inside from the backyard, his leather jacket open over his bare chest. His chin was shiny with beer that ran in trails down his neck and chest. The ends of his hair was wet as well and she could see a streamer of toilet paper wrapped around his hand like he was going to wipe his face.

His eyes were focused on someone down and to her left and, when she looked, she saw Steve and Nancy leaning against the wall. Billy and his new entourage approached and she looked away.

She ventured into the kitchen and found a foggy bowl of red punch. She took a cup from the overturned stack and dipped it deep into the murky liquid. She sniffed it once and, finding it appealing enough, took a long drag. She coughed once and licked her lips, savoring the burn of the liquor as it traveled down her throat to her belly, the burn warming her from the inside out.

She turned to leave and stopped at the glistening chest in front of her. She looked up and met Billy's droopy blue eyes. He grinned down lazily at her and reached around for a cup. He dipped it into the punch bowl and drained it in three swallows. She pretended not to be transfixed by the muscles of his throat working beneath his skin.

"Hey Daphne, where's Scooby?" He drawled. She sneered up at him and pushed passed him. She didn't need to see to know that he was following her.

She pushed through the crowd and found a staircase. She gripped the knob of the banister and took the steps two at a time. Her calves were burning when she reached the top but she didn't see him behind when she checked.

She sighed and walked deeper down the hallway, examing the pictures hanging on the walls.

She ignored the sounds of sex as she passed by the various rooms. She stopped in front of a door that was surprisingly silent and twisted the knob. She had it open a crack when she felt hands at her waist. She shrieked and turned violently, hands up to strike her assailant.

She felt a righteous anger well up in her chest when she heard Billy's familiar laughter. She shoved him back and he stumbled half a step.

"You're an asshole, Billy." She spun on her heel and entered the empty bedroom. He followed her and closed the door behind him. He was still laughing, wiping away fake tears as he leaned up against the door. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mayfield, but it was too easy." He sighed and copied her stance, his arms tight across his chest. She ignored the way his jacket strained against his arms and shoulders.

"What are you even supposed to be?" She scoffed. Billy smirked and pushed off the door, doing a dramatic spin and bowing. "I'm a rebel without a cause." He snorted and shook his head. She couldn't help the smile that began to stretch across her face.

This was the Billy she remembered. The one who could laugh at himself joke around with her. The one who wasn't afraid to be himself.

"Well, I'm sure every girl here's just dying to be the Natalie Wood to your James Dean." She snarked. She moved to go around him but he pressed back against the door, again, blocking her way. She huffed. He tilted head and narrowed his eyes.

"What about you?" He asked. She narrowed her eyes and shook her head, confused.

"What about me?" Her voice was sharp and Billy's jaw tensed. He turned his body to face her fully. She was level with his collarbone and didn't appreciate having to look up to meet his eyes.

"Are you dying to be my Natalie Wood?"

She sneered and shoved at his chest, trying to move him. For someone who'd been drinking, he was remarkably steady on his feet. He didn't move an inch when she shoved him. He just looked down at her with his piercing eyes and a straight face.

"Move." She shoved him again for good measure.

He shook his head. "No."

She glared at him, willing him to feel the heat of her gaze and the anger that burned in her chest. "Move."

He lowered his head until they were eye to eye. "No."

"Where do you get off, huh?" She scowled at him, her voice low and resonating. He reared his head back and gazed down at her, giving nothing away.

"You nearly run three kids off the road today, you scream at me and Max, you ignore me at home and at school, you treat me like I never even mattered." She shrugged and brought her hands up towards him in a placating manner, bringing them down with a slap that echoed through the room. "It's like you blame us for moving to this backwater town when you know that none of us had a say in this."

Billy shot off the wall and pointed a threatening finger at her. "You don't know anything, Mayfield so stop acting like you do. We both know who's fault it is for moving to this bum fuck town."

Valerie snorted. "You think you're so tough, pointing fingers at me, yelling and screaming." She moved into his space, forcing him back. "It's all just a show. You're putting on this grand performance to keep people from looking at you. You'd rather they see this arrogant, wild boy from California so that they don't ask questions 'cause God forbid they want to know anything about you.

"If they don't ask questions you don't have to remember." She poked her finger into his sticky chest and felt his breath heaving. He was trembling with rage and she could see color rising up in his cheeks.

"If no one digs deep you don't have to think about what you're missing. You don't have to think about me, what we had and how happy you were. That makes it easier, right?" She nodded, clenching her jaw. She could hear the breath rushing from his lungs through his nose. It was sharp and exploded across her face in a stream of cool air.

She stood up on her toes, brushing her nose with Billy's. "Well, fuck you, Billy Hargrove."

She pushed passed his waist and wrapped her hand around the doorknob, turning it. He wrapped his hand around her wrist and jerked her around, pressing her back against the door.

"You don't know shit, Mayfield." She opened her mouth to retort but was silenced by his lips.

He pressed hard against her, shoving her back with his body, pressing fully against her. She moaned and thrust her tongue against his, tasting beer on his breath.

His hands raked down her sides, sliding down her thighs and hoisting one up around his waist. He snaked his hand around the inside of her thigh and ghosting his fingers across her panty line. She shivered and groaned against his lips, wrapping her arms tight around his neck, holding him to her.

He groaned and tilted his head, moving his lips across her cheek and down her neck. She clenched her eyes shut and dropped her head back against the door. Billy tugged the edge of her panties aside and slipped his fingers against the seam of her core. She gasped sharply, a high whine trailing off against his ear.

He groaned at the wet heat dripping over the pads of his fingers. He brushed his nose against her ear and tugged gently on the lobe. She shivered and tightened her arms around him. "Tell me to stop." He whispered.

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and shook her head, clutching him closer to her. "Keep going." She said. He moaned low into her neck and didn't hesitate.

His hands moved rapidly to unfasten his jeans and in less than a minute, he was sheathed inside her. She gasped and tensed against him. The entrance was slick but tight. He stretched her to a point that was familiar and yet not. It had been months since they'd been together so she was a little out of practice.

In time, her body became familiar with the burn that came with taking Billy inside her and she nodded against him. He pistoned in and out of her with rapid strokes, building himself up.

She felt a simmer deep in her belly, centered around her core and she raked her nails through his hair. Billy licked a stripe up her neck and brought a hand down between them, pressing rough fingers against her clit.

She groaned against his neck and felt goosebumps rise up along her arms and legs. He pumped his hips three more times against her before he shuddered. She felt him spill inside her and she pulled roughly on his hair. He growled and circled his fingers against her, finishing her off.

As soon as she caught her breath, she shoved him away.

He gave her a hard stare and scoffed, pushing himself back inside his jeans and zipping up. "What?" He scoffed.

She adjusted the skirt of her dress and rolled her eyes. "You can't just jump me every time I piss you off." He snorted and shook his head, pushing his curls back away from his face.

"I don't. Just when you're being difficult." He smacked his lips and rested his hands on his hips, arching his back and cracking his spine. He groaned at the relief and smirked at her downturned expression. He stepped forward and cupped her chin in his hand.

"Cheer up." He said before planting a smacking kiss on her lips. She shoved him back and wiped roughly at her lips with the back of her hand. "Next time you're being difficult, I'll just push you up against a wall and make you come. Maybe then you won't piss me off as much."

Her nostrils flared and she pushed her hand flat against his face, shoving him back. He cackled and reached around her for the doorknob. "Stop being such a buzzkill and have fun, Mayfield."

To anyone else, he would've sounded like he meant it. Valerie knew that he was patronizing her. She snorted and pushed passed him out the door. She ignored the sound of his laughter and instead looked for a bathroom.

She was halfway down the hall when Steve Harrington stormed out the door ahead of her and disappeared down the stairs. She huffed and turned to the door he came out of. She approached and knocked.

She heard a feminine grown and pushed it open.

Nancy was leaning unsteadily over the sink, wiping futilely at the giant red stain on the front of her white sweater. Valerie felt a small smile come over her lips and she laughed lightly.

"Nancy, do you need help?" The girl in question looked at her through dazed eyes and shook her head. She looked like a bobblehead. Valerie suppressed her laughter and came in, leaving the door open behind her.

"Here, Nance, let's get you downstairs." Just as she made to move Nancy's arm over her shoulders, a figure loomed in the doorway. Valerie looked up and was met with the puppy dog eyes and droopy face of Jonathan Byers.