Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
THE DYSFUNCTIONAL GROUP FOLLOWED THE DEMOGORGONS TO THE LAB. Max was attached to her cousins side as Steve made sure he was always in front of Sam, never too cautious in case one of the creatures stepped out and attacked.
"Why are we are at the lab?" Dustin frowned.
"Why are the lights not on?" Lucas ushered.
"Who's there?!"
The group quickly pointed their flashlights to the voice. Sam grabbed her smaller cousin and held her close, Steve doing the same to his favourite girl.
"Who are you?!" Sam yelled, overly confident.
"Samantha?" The familiar voice of Nancy spoke as she and Jonathan approached the group.
"Nance?" Steve frowned, "What are you doing here?"
The group of five joined the group of two next to the lab gates. All of them still slightly uneasy as to why the lab looked abandoned, Nancy scoffed at Steve.
"Of course you're with her" Nancy rolled her eyes as her lips tightened.
Sam frowned at the petty Wheeler, still holding a tight grip on her cousin.
"What do you mean by that?" Steve frowned.
"I knew you had a thing for her, Steve!" Nancy yelled half heartedly, "I wasn't stupid. The way you'd look at her when I was with you, how you always put her before me. It doesn't take a genius to know, Steve"
Sam felt slightly bewildered at Nancy's words, clearly, there were more important matters to attend too, but the trio didn't care.
"It's true, it's pretty obvious"
"-Yeah, you gotta get better at hiding it, man"
Dustin and Lucas jumped when Steve cut them off, his anger boiled his blood and what annoyed him most of all is how this is not the way he wanted to tell Sam he loved her.
"Shut up! All of you, shut up!" He spat, "I've known Sam for ten years, okay?! If I wanted to make something of us, if I even had feelings for her, which I don't. I'm pretty sure I would've done something about it by now. I was only her friend because my mom begged me to keep her company, it's nothing okay?" He growled.
As soon as the lies tumbled out of his mouth, he knew he was going to regret it. It was the complete opposite of what he said. Sure, he did love her, but he was too much of a wimp to admit it. And sure, his mom did ask him to keep the 'lonely girl' company, and that's how they met. But she was so cool and interesting and jaw droppingly beautiful he just couldn't leave her.
Sam felt as though she had been punched in the chest. She went from thinking he was in love with her to seeing he only hung out with her out of sympathy, all in the space of a day. It hurt and it was painful and she was humiliated. It would've been bad enough he said it just the two of them but to be stood around Nancy, Jonathan and the kids. Mortifying.
"Is that true?" Sam muttered as she took a step towards Steve.
Steve saw the pain in her face and the tears in her eyes and it broke him to know that he was the cause. Of course it wasn't true, but how would he ever redeem himself?
"Sam, I-"
"The lights are back on!" Dustin cut Steve off quickly as everyone aside from Steve and Sam rushed to open the gate.
"Consider our friendship over" Sam cried quietly, pointing a finger to his chest, "I never want you near me again"
She didn't give Steve a chance to reply, she stalked over to her younger cousin, whom was watching the lab.
"It's Hopper!" Jonathan yelled as he watched Hopper run out of the lab, carrying a comatose Will and supporting a sorrowful Joyce.
"Get out of the way! Move!" Hopper yelled as he helped Joyce, Will and Mike into his truck, "turn around and follow me!"
Jonathan jumped into his car, Nancy in tow as they turned the car around. The dysfunctional group clambered into Jonathan's car and waited for Hopper to speed past.
"Holy shit, holy shit!" Max yelled as she watched hundreds of demodogs rush out of the lab, following Hoppers truck.
