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SAM SIGHED TO HERSELF AS SHE WAKED INTO THE DRIVE OF A ONE STORY HOUSE ON CHERRY LANE. The large U-HAUL truck indicated she was at the right place.
Sam was more than excited to see her younger cousin; Max. As much as she knew Max despised the idea of being in Hawkins, she knew seeing Sam was a massive bonus. Despite the four year age gap, her and Sam were always close.
Frequently when Sam was younger she would fly down to sunny California on vacation and solely spend her time with Max. As the years went on, and her new stepdad and brother came into her life, the visits slowly stopped. Although they'd still frequently write to each other.
"Samantha? Is that you?" Her aunt, Susan smiled as she went to the moving truck and grabbed a box.
"Hey, Aunt Susan. It's good to see you" Sam smiled as she hugged her Aunt timidly.
Sam grabbed a box from the removals truck and started the trek up to their house. Stopping in her tracks when a beam of fire-red hair ran over to her, crushing her in a hug and knocking her off her feet.
Sam erupted in laughter and prayed the box that tumbled to the floor wasn't fragile as she hugged her cousin.
"Sam! Man I missed you so much!" Max cheered as she stood up, sticking her hand out.
"Hey, Max. I missed you too" Sam chuckled, letting Max pull her up to her feet.
"Max! You gonna help us out or what-"
Sam scowls at the sound of her cousins step-brother. Billy Hargrove. He's always been nothing but trouble and he tries desperately to get in between Max and Sam.
"Hello, Samantha" Billy taunts as he walks over.
"Billy" Sam states glumly as she picks the box up from the floor.
"What? No hug for your cousin?" He smirks as he wets his lips.
Sam walks past him, purposely nudging his shoulder as he lets out a deep chuckle.
All Sam wanted to do was see Max for a little and have Steve pick her up. She wanted to have her weekly routine with Steve, which consisted of them going to Hawkins Diner on Thursday evenings and each of them buying a double decker cheeseburger supreme. Steve would buy a strawberry milkshake and Sam would have a chocolate, afterwards they'd share a chocolate pudding. It was as simple as that. They'd been doing it every Thursday for the past four years.
•••
STEVE SAT ANXIOUSLY ON NANCY'S BED, GLANCING AT THE CLOCK. It was nearly 7pm. He promised Sam he would get her at their normal time of 7:30.
"Nance, I really have to go. You know me and Sam do this every Thursday" He said pleadingly as he stood up, following after her.
"Steve, I don't understand why you can't just hang out with me. I am your girlfriend" she scoffed.
"I've been with you for four hours, Nance. I'm aloud to spend time with Sam as-well. This is tradition for us and I told her I'd pick her up from her aunts" He groans as he just about loses his patience with the petite woman.
"You'll stay here if you love me" she stated abruptly, taking Steve off guard.
"What?"
"You will stay here with me instead of going to the diner if you love me" she shrugged as she leaned her weight on her hip.
"Nancy, you know I love you. But if I don't get Sam I've literally ditched her" Steve pleads.
"Then you don't love me" she shrugs.
"Goddamnit Nancy!" He groaned, falling back on her bed.
Nancy smirked to herself as she walked into the bathroom, knowing her small mind trick worked and he wasn't going to run off to Sam. Nancy knew deep down Steve didn't love her. She knew he loved Sam. After all, Nancy didn't mean it when she says 'I love you'.
Steve rubbed his face in frustration at his girlfriend. He knew what she was trying to do. But he kept tricking himself into thinking he loved Nancy. Often he thought if he did it enough he might actually fall in love with her over Sam.
The one thing Steve hated with a passion was seeing Sam sad. The way she pretends she's not sad when she truly is heartbroken made Steve want to protect her forever. He always knew when she was truly sad as her smile never fully met her eyes, her eyes constantly had a light gloss over them, as if she had been crying-or was about too- and Steve couldn't bare the thought that she would be like this because of him.
•••
SHE SAT UNCOMFORTABLY ON HER AUNTS COUCH, GLANCING AT THE CLOCK. It was 8pm. Steve was late. Sam couldn't fathom why on Earth he'd be late to pick her up. It's nothing but tradition for the two lovers-uh, best friends. Yes, she may be at a different house, but he knew where Cherry Lane was, it was only around the corner from Lucas Sinclair.
"Do you need a lift home, Sam? I wouldn't like you walking in the dark" Susan tutted sympathetically as she cleared the coffee table.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Susan. My friend was supposed to pick me up, I'm not sure what's happened" Sam rambles, an embarrassing blush crawling against her cheeks.
"Don't worry, sweetie. Billy can drop you off, can't you Billy?" The petite red-head smiled at her step-son.
Billy snorted to himself and shot a menacing smirk to his cousin.
"Of course. After you" he taunted as he let Sam lead the way.
"Give your mom my love. It was nice to see you" Susan smiled as Max quickly gave her a hug goodbye.
The two cousins grudgingly walked to his car. Sam wouldn't hear the end of this from Billy and she wanted nothing more than to find Steve and yell at him for being such an asshole. The fact he broke their tradition was bad enough, but the idea that he ditched her at nighttime without any form of contact was a whole other issue.
