Homecoming

"Can you believe what people actually write in these things?" Sam outbursted. She was slouched on the bed reading various magazines- probably about fashion and celebrities as usual, with an abundance of open bags of junk food accompanying her. Her ankles were crossed and she was creasing her eyebrows angrily from whatever she was reading.

I assumed she was just thinking out loud again since she usually never gave me a chance to reply to her, and when I did, she wasn't listening.

It was about 9:00 at night, and it had already begun to get dark. I looked back at her from my desk. "What are you reading now, Sam?" I asked.

She had been flipping through those for about an hour now, and kept commenting on everything and telling me about it, although I clearly had no interest in it. I thought it was cute, though.

She shrugged and didn't look up at me, continuing to flip through the pages of the magazine. "Just a whole lot of rumor crap." She must've remembered how I am usually disinterested in that stuff, although I try not to show it, but I could tell she summarized her answer and held in whatever she really wanted to say about it.

It had been one month since we safely returned home from Yamatai, and sometimes I even forgot that all of it ever happened. Before we left, Sam and I did exactly this almost every night. We had been living together in this apartment ever since we got out of college and had enough money to afford it. Well, I had enough to pay off my half.

I escaped a breath of laughter, slightly rolling my eyes at her playfully and turned my head back around to face my desk. I had brought back so many relics and journals from Yamatai, I had barely taken my eyes off of them since we got back. There were theories to be typed out, and research to be done. Sam always bugged me about it, though, and liked to tell me that I spent too much time on them. But, they were all just so fascinating to me.

I had my laptop out with various tabs open on Chinese History that I had been researching, and a handful of pencils, paper, and tools laying around, making my desk look like a total wreck. I picked up my magnifying glass and hovered it over a coin relic that I had especially been interested in. Leaning down with my elbows pointed outward, I squinted my eyes as I gazed at the small object. Already, I had typed out a whole documented theory on this specific one, but I couldn't help but think there was something more to it.

"Lara!" Sam's voice startled me and I flinched more than I should have, then took a deep breath and closed my eyes when I realized it was just Sam and no one was going to attack me. "Did you hear me?" She asked, annoyance in her voice.

"Sam, don't you know not to scare me like that? You're lucky you weren't hovering over my shoulder or something or I would of-" I quickly spun around in my chair to face her but when I saw her expression I figured there was no use in continuing.

Sam had lowered the magazine to her lap, and her eyebrows were pressed together with her lips parted. The biggest brown eyes were popping out at me, looking disappointed.

I sighed. "What did you say?" I asked calmly, feeling a little bad for not paying attention to her.

Sam pursed her lips for a few moments. "I said when are you gonna give that up?"

Ofcourse, by now, I had been used to her telling me to put down my work, which I couldn't blame her for. But when you're the first person to ever successfully return home from searching for the the lost kingdom of Yamatai, you can't just pretend as if it never happened.

She must've taken my silence as a sign that I wasn't gonna put it down, then leaned back in the pillow as she raised the magazine back up to her face. "Seriously, you're just stressing yourself out over it."

"Oh, Sam," I said. "I can't be the only one who finds great interest in things that may not be appealing to the other person." I said it teasingly, clearly referring to her interest in clothes and partying.

She looked up at me and gave an 'oh please' look before looking back down. I could tell she knew that I was absolutely right, though. "Well, yeah, but you do know that only I'm allowed to do that, right?" A wide grin grew on her lips as she peeked at me from underneath her eyelashes.

Escaping a breath of laughter, I rolled my eyes at her but couldn't help returning the smile. "Sure thing, Sam."

Before I could turn back around, I heard her shift on the bed and sigh lightly. "At least take a break?" There was an innocent tone in her voice, and it made me grin because I knew she always used that tone on me.

"Alright," I began, a heavy sigh in my voice. "What do you suggest we do?" I craned my neck to the side and folded my hands in my lap as I watched her.

She sat up completely, and then looked up at the ceiling, twisting her mouth in all directions. My eyebrows raised as I waited for her to answer. "We could go out?"

"No." I said bluntly, and spun around to face my desk.

She groaned. "Come on, Lara." The bed creaked and I could hear her getting off of it from behind me. "It's Friday night, and you're telling me you just wanna sit in that desk for the rest of it?"

I craned my neck over my shoulder as I heard her start walking around behind me. "Well, with the occasional getting-up-for-a-snack, but, other than that... yes." My gaze returned to my laptop, before I saw Sam's figure approach me in the corner of my eye. I stopped and folded my arms in front of my chest.

She put a hand on the back on my chair. "Listen, I know all this Yamatai stuff is pretty cool, but can't you just enjoy a night out with your best friend for once?"

I laughed. "Sam, you make it sound so terrible."

"Okay, maybe I do." Her admittance made me smile. "But, really." She finished.

I didn't look up at her and just stared at a spot on the desk before she spoke again. "Besides," She lowered herself on her knees and gripped the end of the desk, resting her chin on it. "You owe me."

I supposed she was right. It was easy to list all of the times I had taken down one of her offers, but it was also easy to list when I hadn't. Either way, it had been weeks without some good quality time with Sam that I knew she craved, and so did I.

With her face basically level with mine now, I couldn't help but look at her. She was basically giving me the puppy eyes.

"There's this new bar that I'd really like to go to." Her voice was slightly softer now. "I hear they have great cocktails." As I leaned back in my chair, I watched her desperate attempt to persuade me, which I found hilarious. She could probably tell I was actually considering it because her face started to light up. "Martinis..." She uplifted her voice and dragged the last syllable. That made me laugh.

"Alright, alright. I'll go." I held up my hands in defeat, and Sam immediately stood up and started squealing.

I watched her run into the bathroom as I stood up, much slower than she had. Adjusting my clothes, I lightly tugged the hem of my cargo pants and pulled down my tank top over it. I could hear Sam moving things around in there and I began to move toward the bathroom. My hand pointlessly raised to my forehead at her squealing excitement, but it was still pretty amusing to watch.

Before I could take a few steps, she raced out of the bathroom which made me step back a bit at the suddenness of it. I don't think she noticed.

"So, I heard this place is like, really fancy. But, you can step out of your comfort zone for one night, right?" She said as she brushed by me, a smirk on her face.

I made a sound, a grin plastered on my face. "Do I really have a choice?"

"Nope." She started foraging through the drawers of her dresser on the other side of the room. "Oh, my God." Sam began as she continued to dig through her clothes. Some pieces were even falling over the edge of the drawer and she didn't notice. "You do know this means I get to dress you up, right?"

Without thinking about it too much in the moment, I was aware that was something I rarely let her do, and I also knew it made her happy, so I shrugged. "I suppose that's fair."

Sam giggled at my reply, pure happiness written all over her. "Wow," She said. "You're feeling generous today, aren't you?" To be honest, I was. She turned around to face me with a handful of colorful attire draped over both her arms. "Better take advantage of that." She walked over to the bed and dropped them on the mattress.

Stepping closer, I scanned the clothing from where I was, before Sam picked up a couple of them and held them up to her body. "Okay," She said, looking down at them. "Which one should I go with?"

I observed the dresses while she puckered her lips at me and did weird eyebrow movements, posing a few times. One of them was a strapless light beige color with a thick black belt around the waist. I remember seeing her wear that when we went to a party once last year. The other was a dark blue with tight long sleeves.

I made a face at them, scrunching up my nose. She took that as a 'no' to both of them but nearly showed no reaction, and simply grabbed two more from the bed. "Wait, that one is..." She mumbled to herself, switching one of them out for another. I giggled at her, and she was too busy picking dresses to notice.

Her head swiped to the side as she straightened herself up again and flicked the hair out of her face. She was now holding a high-neck, sleeveless yellow dress and a strapless, tiny black one. My eyes immediately focused on the second one, though. She must've noticed because she looked down at it, too.

"Sam, that thing is tiny!" I gestured to it, disbelief in my tone.

She took a second look at it. "Awesome!" She said, and dropped the yellow one back on the bed next to her. "This one it is, then." She quickly glanced at me with a proud smirk on her face.

Sometimes, I just couldn't believe that girl.

I escaped a breath of laughter as I turned my body to watch her strut past me again, carrying the dress with her. My eyebrows nearly raised to my hairline. It's not like I didn't expect that coming from Sam, anyway.

Now, she was scouring through the closet behind me. Wow, I thought. She really had clothes everywhere. Watching the back of her, I waited for what she was planning to pull out of there. "I have just the dress for you." She said.

"Oh, God." I braced myself and turned away, raising my chin to the ceiling as I positioned my hands on my hips.

When I had turned back around, I was suddenly welcomed with a garment to the face, surprising me and making me flinch, before it fell into my hands. I blew the loose strands of hair out of my face and looked up to see Sam had already traveled to the bathroom again. Her eyebrows jerked, gesturing for me to look at it. I watched her for a few moments then unfolded it and held the garment out in front of me.

My eyes were met with a short and slim looking, bright red dress that was almost as tiny as the black one, but at least this one had straps. I gaped at it. Looking over through the open bathroom door again, Sam was smirking at me as she began sliding out of her clothes.

I drew my attention back to the dress. It really was pretty, but I never imagined in a million years anyone would catch me wearing something like it, even me.

I really didn't know what to say. I definitely didn't want to disappoint Sam by saying I wasn't going to wear it. She must've really wanted me to since she said she had the dress 'just for me'. Then I realized that I actually had never seen her wear this one before.

Sighing, I dropped the dress and began pulling down my cargo pants where I was standing, then crossed my arms and pulled my tank top over my head. Placing my hands on my hips, I stared at the dress at my feet one last time. I couldn't believe I was actually about to go out in public in one of Sam's skimpy partying dresses.

"Looking good, Lara." Sam's voice startled me, and I turned my head to see her slyly leaning against the bathroom door frame, wearing the dress.

The sight of her in it caught me off guard. Ofcourse I had seen her in less than that, but man, she looked sexy. I could say that black was her color. The hem of it only reached to her mid-thighs, and it was so tight I could actually see all of her curves. Since her hair was short, and the dress was strapless, I could also see the creases of her breasts. Push-up, I thought.

I chuckled, standing there in only my bra and underwear. "I haven't even put the dress on yet."

"Too bad." She teased.

I shook my head. "Thank you for that very perverted comment, Sam." I bent down to slide myself into the dress.

"Oh, please. I'm not even drunk, " She paused. "yet."

Once the dress was on, I immediately felt awfully bare, and it was insanely tight. I wondered how Sam managed to wear these sorts of clothes all the time.

While I was pulling down the hem and adjusting the straps, my eyes glared over at Sam who was leaning over the bathroom counter watching herself in the mirror as she touched up her eyeliner. It made a grin tug on the ends of my lips.

I sighed, then made my way over to the full-size mirror on the other side of the room. As I approached it slowly, I took a deep breath, before standing completely into the frame and stopping in my tracks. I barely even recognized myself. Just like Sam's, the dress fit tightly around my body, and it was such a bright red color that I was sure it would make me stand out in a public place. I could see the dramatic curve in my waist, and I absentmindedly started rubbing my palms on my hips. Swallowing, my hands soon moved up to my chest where I tried to pull the dress up as far as it could go so my cleavage wouldn't show so much. I felt so different, but in a way, I liked it.

The sound of high heels were clicking on the hardwood floor somewhere behind me, but I couldn't take my eyes off my reflection. Soon, I saw Sam in the mirror as she approached me. I watched her expression intently: she was smiling, and she looked absolutely pleased.

"So," She said softly. "What do you think?"

I chuckled nervously as I tried to think of an answer, still watching in the mirror. "Sam, it's..." I finally turned my body and looked over at her. "It's great." I said, nodding. That was all I could think of in the moment, but I really was happy with it. Sam was still smiling excitedly after my dull reply, which relieved me.

I noticed that she was almost taller than me now that she was wearing shimmering silver stilettos and was standing awfully close to me. Soon, she held up a lipstick bottle that I didn't know she had been holding, and twisted it until the red stick peeked out. "Okay," She began, flicking the hair out of her face. "Pucker up."

Following her instructions, I let her apply it to my lips. "Just as a final touch, you know." Sam knew I had never been too big on makeup, and I was glad she considerately didn't insist on giving my face a full makeover too.

Her face was so close to mine now. I watched her as she slightly raised her chin, clearly concentrating on what she was doing. I had only worn lipstick a few times in my life if I was going to a wedding or something. She then began patting around my lips with her middle finger a couple times, then stepped back to get a full look. "There." She said proudly. "Now, you look almost as good as I do." She joked and made me giggle. "You're gonna make so many heads turn tonight, Lara." I realized I was never used to compliments, and Sam was actually making me feel very good about myself.

Gripping my arm, she leaned use further into the frame of the mirror as she looked at our reflections. "Wow," She sounded shocked. "We look hot." I observed the sight of the lipstick on me now. The color matched my dress almost perfectly. Sam had always been good at that stuff.

I was once again completely dumbfounded, but when Sam pushed off of me and headed toward the door I snapped back into reality. I stood there for a few moments, watching her, before I followed. I didn't notice earlier that the back of her dress was open, exposing the entire middle of her back. I could see the crease of her spine. The opening had strings of fabric crossing over top of each other. I decided that was the final thing that could make that dress show any more skin.

She had pulled out a pair of one of her high heel shoes from the closet by the door and handed them to me. "Here, you can wear these. They'll look great with your dress, trust me." She turned around to collect her keys on the table.

"Thank you." I said, looking down at them. Although they were only pure black, they looked awfully expensive. I felt a little bad that Sam was letting me wear all of her fancy stuff, or maybe I just wasn't used to it. Pursing my lips, I then leant a hand on the wall next to me as I somehow successfully put them on my feet. I could hear her keys jingling somewhere around me.

Sam turned around to face me again, sighing gleefully. "You ready?" She asked me with a wide grin, before looking down at the shoes on my feet. I noticed and followed her gaze, wondering if there was something wrong. "Okay, I'm kinda regretting giving you all of my best things." She joked. "At least leave one guy for me."

"No promises." I chuckled to myself then soon followed her out the door, tripping on my shoes.