𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐲 | robin buckley

(29) my heart will stay open

SAM HAD DREAMT ABOUT GETTING A TATTOO parlour for the majority of her life but the idea that she'd finally got the funds to do it was unbelievable. It all happened so fast. Sam couldn't comprehend getting five grand from the government for her troubles with large fleshy monsters but after that a property practically fell right into her lap.

It had an apartment built in downstairs, a large studio above it and when Sam had first stepped foot inside she'd though it was hideous. It certainly didn't look like the best place, hidden in a dingy part of Hawkins, but while Sam stared at the walls painted a hundred different colours of cream and the family of spiders in the corner, she saw something perfect, something that was hers.

Steve and Robin helped with the majority of it. Cleaning, decorating. Sam used the rest of her money to buy what she needed, better equipment, posters and chairs. It started coming together. The place had previously been a small hidden junk sale called 'White Wolf' and Sam kept the same because she believed it cool. Inside screamed her, a wall collage filled with tattoo ideas including a small ace of hearts card directly in the middle and posters of her favourite bands. The studio even had its own corner for Moss who would occasionally wander up the stairs at the back connected to the apartment which was much nicer than her older one.

Sam thought it was pretty incredible. A lot of her earlier customers had heard about her from the mess with the mall fire and asked a million questions. Sam had to throw most of them off, tell them she was barely involved and didn't really know too many details about the deaths. Other people heard about her through posters that Robin had placed around the town. Regardless, Sam had more than enough customers to keep her comfortable and that's all she could ask for.

Steve and Robin managed to get yet another job together in the family video store which was a ten minute walk from Sam's parlour which meat whenever she didn't have customers, she could go and annoy them. The store was nice if a little quaint and they got to wear a green vest for uniform which Sam stated wasn't as 'endearing' as their cute little sailors outfits.

Sam would spend many breaks sat in the back room talking with Robin over a badly made sandwich, leaving Steve to hold the fort. Sam claimed that she didn't enjoy this occupation as much because renting movies for free wasn't as fun as getting mint ice cream whenever she felt like it but she did think Robin suited green so she supposed it was a partial win.

As for the group of three, Sam felt happy in calling them a close group of friends. Of course Sam and Robin were a lot more than friends and Steve often joked about being the annoying third wheel but Sam found herself enjoying his company. They did things together a lot whether that be watch movies or go skating (in which Steve and Sam would show off while Robin waved to them with a large raspberry slushie in had).

Sam went back to taking Peony out every other day. She told the girl dramatic stories about monsters and other worlds in a lighthearted way which made them less scary and ensured that the girl would think them fairytales. It was nice to see her face light up when she talked of dramatic fights with fireworks and evil Russians.

She took Peony to a large fair to make up for not going to the Fourth of July celebrations with her. She won Peony a large stuffed cat which quickly became her new favourite stuffed toy and she named in Quinn as a shortened version of Sam's surname.

Peony even met Robin properly instead of just behind a counter full of ice cream. Of course Sam couldn't tell Peony that they were a couple but she introduced Robin as her best friend, saying the girl was very special to her. Robin and Peony got on very well. Sam felt it made sense that Robin was good with kids but it was still sweet to watch.

However no one loved Robin more than Moss. The cat couldn't get enough of her and at some point Sam decided that Moss was deliberately hogging her girlfriend to be annoying. Yet the cat would curl in Robin's lap and fall asleep immediately, she would come greet her whenever she came into the apartment and she would mew happily whenever Robin paid her any attention. Robin often joked that she was only coming to see Sam so she could pet Moss.