TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL ASSAULT
please feel free to message me if you don't want to read this chapter & i can give you a recap of what happens instead

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CHAPTER 5: HOLLY GOLIGHTLY

People started talking putting us through our paces,
I knew there was no one in the world who could take it, I had a bad feeling.
— Dancing With Our Hands Tied, Taylor Swift

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31st October, 1983: Harrington Home

OCTOBER PASSED AS QUICKLY AS NOVEMBER CAME, and Daphne was kept busy with rehearsals for the school play, student council meetings and cheerleading practice. She'd managed to keep her grades up against all odds and was still juggling her new relationship with Steve.

The couple went out for milkshakes after every football game and made sure to have a 'date night' every week. In Hawkins, 'date night' meant either the Hawk theatre, Gino's, or the roller derby, so things were starting to feel a little repetitive. Nevertheless, they managed to make it work. Steve asked Daphne to officially be his girlfriend at the beginning of the month, and things had been smooth sailing ever since.

Halloween was coming up, and Daphne and Steve had planned a couple's costume together. It had been Steve's idea, in honour of Daphne's 'favourite' movie, which was honestly very sweet of him, Daphne thought. Daphne and her friends had gone shopping the day before and the blonde was rather pleased with her Holly Golightly costume.

Halloween fell on a Monday this year, and the students all had the day off school, so Daphne had gotten ready with Meera and Fern at her house. Meera, as the designated driver, drove them to Steve's house in her usual convertible. Daphne fixed her hair about twenty times on the drive there, until the pins were stabbing her in the skull from all angles.

The three girls made their way up to Steve's door, chattering excitedly. This was the first real party they'd ever been invited to, especially with older guys, so Meera and Fern were buzzing on the high. Daphne, not so much — although she was excited to see her boyfriend and show off their couple's costumes.

Once inside the house, the sound of dozens of teenagers yelling and chatting flooded Daphne's ears. Most of the attendees were clutching red cups, dressed in cheaply made costumes from movies they'd probably never even watched. Daphne was surprised to see that nearly everyone was already wasted, and it was only eight o'clock. She spotted Steve in the crowd, chugging a beer while his friends egged him on, and made her way over to him.

"Daph!" cried Steve, wiping the beer off his mouth victoriously. Daphne smiled at him, silently checking him out. "You made it! And you look hot! You know, I think we might be the hottest couple here!"

"Are you drunk?" asked Daphne dubiously, as her boyfriend pulled her into his arms, squeezing her tightly. "I thought the party started at eight?"

"Never too early to get wasted, princess," one of Steve's friends responded, winking at her. Daphne wrinkled her nose and turned back to Steve, who tightened his arm around her.

"Some of the guys came over early," Steve slurred. "Wanted to get the good stuff before it was all gone. But don't worry babe, I saved the best stuff for you."

Daphne opened her mouth to object, but Steve was already pulling her over towards a locked cupboard on the top shelf of the kitchen. He pulled out several wine coolers, some cranberry juice and a full bottle of tequila, smiling proudly at her.

"Is this... all for me?" said Daphne incredulously. "Is your goal for tonight to send me to the hospital for a stomach pump?"

Steve laughed a little too loudly. "No, you can share it with your friends, if you want. I just didn't know what you liked, so I grabbed a bit of everything."

Daphne smiled and opted for the wine cooler. Steve put the rest of the cheap alcohol back into the cupboard and dragged Daphne over to where Tommy was doing a keg stand. Daphne found herself caught up in a circle of chanting, sweaty teenagers, unsure of what exactly to do. She caught sight of Meera and Fern, dressed as Cyndi Lauper and a Go-Go dancer respectively, drinking from the large punch bowl in the corner of the room. They were chatting to a group of boys who seemed very interested in their costumes. Meera seemed to be having the time of her life, her eyes bright and her smile wide.

Fern, on the other hand, had one hand on the nearest boy's bicep, but kept glancing over at Daphne inadvertently, scowling when her eyes landed on Steve. Fern had had a problem with Steve ever since he and Daphne started dating. They could barely be in the same room without bickering. Fern got cross whenever Daphne tried to talk about him with them, claiming she was making her whole life revolve around her boyfriend and didn't have time for them anymore. Daphne couldn't understand what her problem was with him.

Looking away from her best friend, Daphne loosened a breath and took a large gulp of her wine cooler. She'd only ever had a glass of champagne during the holidays, so it took her a while to get used to the taste. But after about an hour of dancing and chatting, Daphne was breathless and lightheaded, and everything seemed to be coloured with a brighter hue. She'd been dancing with Steve for most of the night, both teenagers intoxicated by each other's proximity and ignorant to the longing looks they were both getting from the other party-goers. They only had eyes for each other.

As the night went on, Steve left to go and talk to one of the other jocks and didn't return. The last Daphne had seen he was jumping in the pool with some of his friends. She drained the last of her wine cooler and made her way to the back of the kitchen to grab another one. She stood on her tiptoes to reach the cupboard, but it was just out of her grasp. She was about to give up and go and find Steve, when a presence appeared behind her, opening the cupboard and handing her the wine cooler she'd been trying to reach.

Daphne spun around, expecting Steve, but instead, she came face to face with one of the football players — Ethan Smith, if she recalled correctly. The raven-haired boy wore a white jumpsuit and a cocky smirk on his face, his costume screaming Elvis Presley right away. Daphne had never spoken to Ethan before, so she was rather confused as to why he stood so close to her with that strange look on his face.

"Daphne, right?" Ethan asked, leaning against the kitchen counter. "How come I haven't seen you around before? I think I would've noticed a girl like you."

Daphne took a step backwards, clutching her wine cooler tightly. "I'm a sophomore. I'm here with Steve—"

"Steve Harrington, right," said Ethan, nodding as though deep in thought. "He always gets the hot ones. If you ask me, it's unfair on the rest of us."

Daphne frowned, looking up at him. "Right. Well, I'm just going to go find him, if you don't mind—"

Ethan grabbed her by the elbow, pulling her back towards his chest. Daphne gasped in indignation, her blue eyes wide. "Now, now. It's rude to walk away when someone's talking to you, Daphne. I thought we were having a nice conversation."

"We were," stammered Daphne. "I just really have to find Steve. My curfew's soon—"

"Curfew, huh?" said Ethan. "It's not even ten o'clock. Your parents must be really strict, huh?" Daphne nodded slightly, still trying to pull her elbow out of Ethan's bruising grip. "Well don't you worry, Daphne. I'll take you home for ten. But first, I'd like to show you something."

Daphne felt fear rising in her chest for the first time in a while. She had always been good at reading people, and there was something seriously off about this boy. She was too scared to protest, so she merely let him drag her into Steve's sitting room. Daphne had never been in the sitting room before, so she was temporarily distracted by the various framed photos of Steve grinning widely at the camera.

"Why are you showing me Steve's sitting room?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly. "You know, Steve's probably looking for me—"

"Relax, sweetheart," said Ethan, pushing her down onto the sofa. "I've heard a lot of things about you, you know. People are saying you're up for anything. Is that true?"

Daphne felt her blood run cold. Were these rumours real, or was Ethan just making them up to mess with her? She'd never even slept with anyone before, so she couldn't imagine where people would've gotten the idea that she slept around from. But football players talked. They shared secrets, especially about girls. And maybe they exaggerated a bit, too...

"Steve will never have to know..." said Ethan, and then he was on top of her.

Daphne was frozen in place, her blood as cold as ice in her veins. She let Ethan push her onto her back and climb on top of her, pulling his shirt off. A voice inside her was screaming at her to do something, to push him off, to scream, to run, anything! But it was as though her body was paralysed and it just wouldn't cooperate with her mind. Her brain felt fuzzy — from the fear or the alcohol, Daphne wasn't quite sure. She tasted blood in her mouth and realised she was biting down on her lip so hard that she had torn the skin. Ethan's hands were moving down her body, his lips were on her neck, her dress was riding up her legs...

The door to the sitting room burst open. Ethan looked up, and the distraction jolted something deep inside Daphne. She lifted her knee as quickly as she could, connecting it with Ethan's lower region. He howled in pain and rolled off her, and Daphne leapt to her feet, pulling her dress back down.

Fern stood in the doorway, her mouth slightly agape. "Daphne...?"

Her friend's eyes felt like they were burning into her skin. There was no sympathy in Fern's eyes, only shock and slight tinge of anger. Daphne felt her heart splinter into a million tiny pieces. She gathered up the remnants of her dignity and pushed past Fern, hurrying out the front door of Steve's house and down the road.

She didn't know how she was going to get home. She had no car, no friends to call and she was wearing kitten heels that pinched the soles of her feet. Her head was still buzzing, and her vision was blurry. She walked and walked, as far away from Steve's house as she could get. When the rain started, she relished in it. She let the cold water wash away the dirtiness she was feeling.

She'd been walking for about half an hour when the alcohol started to wear off and the cold reached her bones. Her body was wracked with shivers and her tears had practically crystallised on her cheeks. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trying to summon any warmth that she had left in her body.

A headlight appeared around the corner, and Daphne had to hold her hand up to block the light from her tired eyes. She waited for the car to pass, but instead, it started to slow down beside her. The drenched girl backed up slightly, terrified that it was Ethan back for round two, or some stranger trying to kidnap her. But when the window rolled down and Daphne's eyes adjusted in the dim light, the band geek — Raven — was peering out confusedly at her.

"Daphne?" she asked, frowning at the girl on the side of the road. "What are you doing out in the middle of a storm?"

Daphne's legs shook violently, and she couldn't quite find her voice to answer. Raven opened the car door and got out, taking a step towards her. When she slowly placed a hand on Daphne's arm, the same way you would a startled dog, Daphne collapsed into a fit of sobs.

"I'm s-so stupid. Pl-Please can you t-take me home?" she cried, gripping Raven's arms forcefully.

Raven looked startled, glancing from the drenched girl in her arms to the driver of the car — her band geek friend from auditions. The boy in the driver's seat looked equally as confused as Raven, and gestured for her to help Daphne into the back seat of the car.

"Er — sure. Okay, yeah. You got it," stammered Raven nervously, opening the back door to help Daphne in.

She started to step away to go back to the passenger seat, but Daphne grabbed her hand to stop her, looking up at her with pleading eyes. She could still feel Ethan's hands on her body, even through the layers of ice coating her skin. She could see the look of disgust in Fern's eyes. She could hear his taunting comments. She grasped Raven's hand tighter.

Raven's mouth fell open slightly before she looked over at her band geek friend with a shrug and climbed into the back with Daphne. In the dim light of the car, Daphne took in Raven's outfit. She was wearing leather pants, a leather jacket and a headband, complete with some heavy eyeliner and ruffled hair. Daphne frowned. Raven didn't strike her as a Eurythmics fan.

"Annie Lennox?" she murmured, looking up at Raven through her eyelashes.

Raven glanced over at her. "What? Oh, you mean my costume. Er... Yeah. Milton's supposed to be Dave Stewart. He really likes Eurythmics, especially Sweet Dreams, he plays it, like, all the time, it's honestly kind of annoying—"

Daphne laughed softly, causing the nervous girl to quieten. "My boyfriend wanted to do a couple's costume, too. I'm supposed to be Holly Golightly. I don't think he realised that I would look more at home at a funeral than a party."

"Oh, Milton's not my boyfriend," scoffed Raven, then paused. "He's like, the opposite of my boyfriend. We're just friends. Platonic with a capital 'P'."

She laughed at her own lame joke, which in turn caused Daphne to crack a smile. "Right."

"You know, I didn't expect Steve Harrington of all people to be into couple's costumes," Raven piped up. "Or to have watched Breakfast at Tiffany's, for that matter. He doesn't exactly strike me as a rom-com kinda guy. Shitty, overhyped action movies? Maybe."

"He hasn't seen it," said Daphne, laughing under her breath. "He thinks it's my favourite movie, so I guess he thought it would make me happy."

"Thinks it's your favourite movie?" enquired Raven. "Isn't it?"

Daphne looked away, clearing her throat. A slip of the tongue, and she had almost outed herself as a phoney to a complete stranger. She mumbled an incoherent answer to Raven and directed her gaze out of the window, watching the idyllic houses blur into one. She'd given Milton her address, and apparently, he had a relative on the street, so she didn't need to give him directions — which was a good thing considering she was still slightly intoxicated. She could still feel Raven's gaze on her from the other side of the car, piercing and curious.

"Can I ask you something?" said Raven, causing Daphne to look over at her. "How did you end up on the side of the road in the middle of a storm? Didn't Steve offer to take you home?"

Daphne sighed, playing with her fingers. "I didn't ask. I don't think he even knows I left, he's probably worried sick. I just had to get away from someone — something. God, I'm so stupid."

Raven nodded, choosing not to say anything more. Daphne knew she was dying to ask more questions, and restraining from doing so was absolutely killing her. Daphne was grateful for it though; the last thing she needed was more questions tonight.

She shivered again, the rain still soaking her to her core. Raven frowned, and shrugged off her leather jacket, tossing it across the car to Daphne. Daphne looked at her with narrowed eyes. Raven's costume was pretty cool, and her jacket didn't look cheap. She was a complete stranger to her, so Daphne couldn't quite figure out why she was being so kind to her. Or why she had even stopped in the first place.

"It looks like you need it more than me," shrugged Raven. "Besides, I don't think the cheerleading squad could cope with you being wiped out by pneumonia so soon after your ankle injury." Raven's eyes twinkled in amusement, and Daphne smiled softly before pulling the jacket on.

It was warm and smelled faintly of cherry pie and muted spices. Daphne pulled it tightly around her body, soaking up Raven's warmth. It wasn't long until Milton pulled up at the driveway to her house, turning back towards her expectantly. Daphne froze slightly, trepidation flooding her at the thought of going back to an empty house. Part of her was even debating asking Raven to stay with her when she saw the lights in her sitting room flicker on. Arthur was home.

Daphne opened the car door and jumped out, opening her mouth to thank the two band geeks, when Raven grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks. "Hey — whatever happened tonight — you should talk to someone, okay? Your parents, a teacher ... hell, you can even talk to me if you want. I know it sounds stupid, and you don't even know me, but I just want to make sure you look after yourself, okay?"

Daphne squeezed her hand lightly, trying to get her to stop talking. She didn't know Raven very well, but from the limited interactions she'd had with her, she could tell that Raven rambled a lot when she was nervous. And she seemed to be nervous, like, all the time around Daphne.

Daphne let go of her hand, moving to walk towards her house. "Thanks for the ride."

She felt Raven's hand grab her elbow, pulling her back again before immediately releasing her. "And Daphne... for the record... I don't think you're stupid."

Daphne's eyes narrowed; it was as if Raven had somehow managed to read her mind and see exactly what had happened to her that night. She didn't even know what to say in response, so she just squeezed Raven's hand again and mumbled, "Thanks, Raven."

She thanked the other band geek for the ride before hurrying up the porch to her house, ready for whatever lecture she was about to receive from Arthur. Her body was drained and her mind was all over the place, so she was only half listening as he ranted on about staying safe and not doing anything risky and toeing the line. It took all she had to stand upright and pretend as though she was listening.

When he finally dismissed her, Daphne ran up to her room and jumped straight in the shower. She turned the water up as hot as it could go and sat on the floor of the shower with her knees pulled up to her chest. She scrubbed her skin until it was red raw and stinging, but she still didn't feel clean. Eventually, she dragged herself out of the shower and changed into her oldest, most worn-out pair of pyjamas before curling up into a ball under her duvet.

That night, Daphne's sleep was broken and disturbed, and she dreamed of football players with slits for eyes and tiny ravens dancing around her room.

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