A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has already favorited and followed this story, it really means the world to me! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please don't hesitate to leave a review. I'd love to chat with y'all :) Next chapter will be Sam's introduction to Hawkins High, and rest assured Eddie will be entering the narrative shortly after. I have a pretty solid outline for how I want the story to progress so far, and it's looking like there will be about 25 chapters or so by the end of season 4 (depending on how volume 2 goes, of course). The events of season 4 won't begin until probably chapter 12ish, so there will be plenty of time to catch up before running into potential spoilers.
Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Two:
"Shout" (Tears For Fears)
The morning of New Year's Eve started just the same as Sam was used to in Hawkins. A dry throat and pounding head, coupled with the general exhaustion that had become her constant companion throughout the past year. She rolled to her side, squinting into the sunlight that filtered through her balcony door unhindered by the curtains she forgot to draw closed the night before. The digital clock on her bedside table read 10:27am, and with a small groan she reached past it to grab the well-used bottle of Advil, popping two pills into her mouth and swigging them down with the waiting half-empty glass of water.
As Sam laid in bed waiting for her head to stop spinning, she observed the progress she had made in unpacking the night before. Her drunken focus was impeccable, and she was pleased to see she had gotten through most of the boxes strewn about the floor. Posters, ticket stubs, and photographs were haphazardly taped to her walls in her typical chaotic fashion. In contrast, her collection of cassette tapes was neatly displayed in a well-organized box placed within a repurposed television stand that held her stereo, shoved under the window next to her balcony doors. Her bookshelf pushed into the corner of the room still had two untouched boxes laying at the base- her next project. Her desk along the opposite wall to her bed was much the same as it had been, the only change being her school supplies dumped unceremoniously on top alongside her most favorite bong.
Sam avoided looking at the last addition from the night before, sucking in a deep breath as she forced her eyes to skip past the navy-blue electric guitar which had been shoved in the corner of her closet since her arrival in Hawkins. Her drunken self must have decided it was time for it to be displayed, but sober Sam most definitely did not agree.
Rolling to her other side, she was pleasantly surprised to see she had managed to set up her telephone sometime in the night as well. Her parents had tried to bribe her into being happy about the move in various ways, but allowing her to have her own phone line to contact her friends from Virginia whenever she wanted was probably her favorite method they had tried. Other than letting her have the balcony room, that took number one for sure. It was good she had set it up, she would need to give Steve her number that night when she went over to celebrate the New Year.
Luckily, she had plenty of time to recover before another night of drinking, and Sam was nothing if not experienced. Okay. First, shower. Then food. Definitely coffee. Unpack my books and then it should be close enough to 6. Anticipating the slight nausea that always accompanied her mornings if she didn't smoke it away, Sam took a deep breath before sliding out of bed to start her day.
When 5pm came around, Sam had just finished the final touches of her bookshelf. She took a few steps back and tilted her head with a critical eye, observing the arrangement of books and knickknacks to see if she was finally satisfied. Nodding to herself and allowing a smile to grace her lips, Sam finally turned away from her task and lifted her arms in a long stretch.
"Damn." She huffed as she felt her back pop. I must've been at that a lot longer than I thought. Fuck, what time is it?
Sam's eyes widened as she caught sight of her alarm clock, cursing again as she stumbled over to her closet. "Shit, shit, shit. Clothes, I need to change."
Hands tore through the hanging clothing with haste as Sam tried to sort through the mess of pastel and lacey silks that her mother had purchased for her small-town restart. Those were strictly reserved for Hawkins High; she couldn't bring herself to wear them any more than absolutely necessary. Besides the fact she knew Steve wouldn't mind her normal clothing, she didn't want to feel stuffy and uncomfortable all night.
A noise of triumph escaped her as she felt denim on her fingers, and Sam quickly shoved the rest of the clothes to the side as her eyes found what she was looking for in the very back of her closet. She pulled out one of her favorite pairs of jeans, skin-tight with rips throughout, and a worn, oversized Led Zeppelin shirt to go with it. It was the dead of winter, but Sam figured they would be inside Steve's house for the most part. Her jean jacket would be warm enough for the short walk a few houses down.
Outfit decided, Sam turned to her desk which housed a large mirror propped against the wall. She quickly teased the roots of her curly hair to give it a bit more volume, and lined her eyes with her usual black liner and mascara. It wasn't really a party, just Steve and his friend, so she didn't want to do too much and make it awkward. Nodding to her reflection, Sam slipped into her change of clothes before opening her desk drawer to procure a couple joints to bring along.
It was a distinct possibility that neither Steve nor his friend Robin smoked, but Sam was hoping if nothing else they wouldn't mind her stepping outside once or twice throughout the night. It was so hard to tell the usual moral situation in such a small town. Back home it was considered fairly normal for teenagers of all cliques and stereotypes to partake- especially at parties. But this was Hawkins, not Norfolk. Like I really need to be reminded again.
Another glance toward her clock showed she was running out of time. Steve and Robin would be getting to his house at any minute now, depending on how long it took to pick up the pizza. Sam hummed softly to herself as she grabbed a worn black tote emblazoned with 'The Runaways' from the peg hooks off the side of her bedroom door. She shoved her cigarettes, lighter, and a small Altoids tin that contained the joints into the tote. Pausing for a moment, she considered whether to bring the half empty bottle of Jack Daniels that was still resting by the side of her bed, but decided against it. If Steve's family was anything like hers then Sam was sure they would be consuming his parents' expensive liquor tonight. No need for cheap Jack, and she would selfishly rather keep it for a later date.
Sam made her way down the stairs after grabbing her jacket, grateful that her parents had already left for whatever high society social event they were attending tonight. She had informed them she would be going to Steve's for the night and, unsurprisingly, they were absolutely thrilled with the idea. They clearly assumed Steve to be the perfect gentleman and a positive influence, which was totally fine by her. Less questions the better.
Trusty Doc Marten's laced and ready, Sam grabbed her house key and pushed through the door. After locking up, she briefly lamented the fact she couldn't see Steve's driveway unless she walked to the street. It's close enough to 6 anyways, I'll just sit on his front step if they haven't got home yet.
When she crossed the street, however, Sam saw that the burgundy Beamer was already parked in front of the Harrington's house. Smile growing by the second, she quickened her pace to a jog and excitedly rapped her knuckles on the front door.
It didn't take long at all for her to hear the latch being undone, and the door was pulled open to reveal a smiling Steve Harrington. "Hey Sam! Good timing, we just got back a few minutes ago." He greeted, stepping aside to let her enter his home.
Sam greeted him with a quick smile, attention moving past him to the tall girl standing some feet back. Their eyes met with a wariness on both sides that did not go unnoticed. Steve closed the door behind her and turned with an arm gently placed on the small of Sam's back.
"Robin, this is Sam. Sam, Robin."
She could tell from his tone that Steve was trying to hide his nerves, and it only served to put Sam more on edge. There was nothing worse than dealing with a jealous female, Sam knew that all too well through her year-long bout of drunken bad decisions. Shaking off the foreboding feeling, she shot a small smile the taller girl's way. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that.
"Hi. Thanks for letting me crash your New Year's plans. Would've been kinda depressing just sitting at home alone." Sam offered sheepishly, taking a hopefully casual step away from Steve's hand still resting protectively along her back.
Her eyes fell to Robin's attire and a sudden thrill of relief flew through her body. As much as Sam despised the predictability of stereotypes, she had to admit the simple fact that appearances did matter, at least to some extent. It was the society they lived in, that simple virtues could be determined by something so basic as a style of dress. Sam had a special place of hatred in her heart for Madonna, but what her cursed song proclaimed was unfortunately true. They were living in a material world. And the sight of Robin's loose black jeans and baggy sweater signaled she was definitely not some preppy yuppie that would fly off the handle in jealousy if she lost Steve's attention for a mere moment.
It seemed like Robin had come to a similar conclusion, and a somewhat awkward smile stretched across her face in response. "No problem, it would've been equally depressing to have to hang here alone with this dingus all night, so you're doing me a favor really."
The small jab at their mutual friend was surprising enough that it got a genuine laugh out of Sam. The tired sigh she heard from behind her only prolonged her giggles. Okay, maybe this won't be so bad.
"Anyways, yeah so uh, we got a couple movies from work. We didn't really know what genres you're into so we got a good variety? Yeah, yeah, and we have plenty of alcohol courtesy of the great John and Miriam Harrington, so..." Steve replaced his hand on Sam's back as he led her further into the house, pointing out the downstairs bathroom and entryway to the kitchen along the way.
Robin's gaze met hers as they passed, and Sam was amused to see her exaggerated eye roll and smirk in response to Steve's nervous rambling. The three teens made their way into the living room where the TV was already switched on and pizza on the coffee table accompanied by a 12 pack of beer.
"I haven't had a chance to get some stuff from the liquor cabinet yet, uh, but yeah take a seat!" He continued, ushering Sam towards the large couch. "Is there anything you prefer, or we got some beers too if you want?"
Sam couldn't contain her face wrinkling in disgust at the thought. She despised the taste of beer, especially room temperature beer. Robin pushed past Steve with a snort of disapproval, plopping herself next to Sam on the couch. Right in the middle. She leaned forward to grab a slice of cheese pizza, unceremoniously taking a big bite and leaning back into the plush cushions with a satisfied groan.
"I'm not too picky, but if we have a choice maybe some rum or vodka? Keep it light." Sam shot a lopsided grin over at Steve, following the other girl's lead and grabbing a slice of pizza.
"Yeah, you know what I like. Grab some Cokes for us too, huh? Thanks Stevie!" Robin dismissed him with a mouth full of cheese, waving him along with her free hand.
The two girls munched silently along to the sounds of Steve rustling in the other room, bottles clinking. It was less awkward than it had been, at least on Sam's end, but there was still the undeniable tension of being total strangers. Small talk was blessedly unnecessary on account of the pizza distraction, but Sam found herself hoping Steve would hurry up for the much needed social assistance both he and the alcohol would provide.
They hadn't even finished the first slice when Steve rushed back into the living room, arms loaded with cans of Coke and bottles of liquor. "Got 'em!" The grin on his face was incredibly proud, and Sam resisted the urge to tease him for it.
He threw himself next to Robin on the opposite end of the couch, setting down the drink selection with haste before grabbing his own slice of pizza. "Oh my God, I'm starving. Work was so boring today, Sam, you have no idea. So boring."
"And by boring he means there wasn't enough cute girls coming in for him to unsuccessfully hit on." Robin's dry tone almost made Sam choke on her mouthful of pizza, but Steve's embarrassed spluttering was what really got her cackling.
"Not cool, Robin, not cool." He muttered, trying to hide his red face by reaching for a beer.
"Yeah, Steve, I think we both know how not cool you are. You unironically listen to 'Wham!', man, there's no coming back from that." Sam couldn't hold it in any longer, the urge to rag on her new friend too tempting.
To her surprise and delight, Robin let out an indelicate snort of laughter next to her. Somehow it was infinitely more satisfying than the fish out of water look Steve was sporting, and Sam grinned at her.
"Oh my God, Sam, you need to come by Family Video and see it for yourself. It's like, actually sad. He tries so hard." Robin could hardly contain herself, the shit-eating grin on her face growing by the second.
"Okay, okay, yes, moving along!" Steve's irritation was clear, but it only sent the two girls into another fit of laughter at his expense.
Sam could feel the tension leaving her body as she realized Robin was exactly the type of person she would typically hang out with. Steve wasn't so bad, and definitely easy enough to get along with, but there was nothing quite like the mutual bonding that occurred when females delight in tearing an overconfident guy into shreds.
"I knew this was a mistake." Steve muttered to himself as the girls' giggling tapered off. "Right, well, anyways. Sam, like I said we didn't know what movies you were into so we picked a couple, uh, that we figured would be good. There's only enough time to watch one before Dick Clark's starts so whatever you want is fine."
Sam and Robin tried to compose their features into some semblance of seriousness, but the occasional giggle kept escaping Robin's lips as she watched her best friend try to recover his pride.
"Yeah we got Back to the Future, 'cos we never really did watch that all the way through. Weird plot, but it's pretty popular, we don't understand it, it's a long story, but yeah." Robin started, waving her hand idly as she explained. "Um, then we got Rocky IV, because Steve is annoying and wouldn't shut up about it. Like, I knew you probably wouldn't want to watch that shit but he insisted so I think he really just wanted it for himself, y'know?"
A noise of protest left Steve at that, while Sam laughed through her second slice of pizza. "Makes sense." She agreed, winking over at the boy at the other end of the couch.
"And then we got Fright Night, which is horror but it's not totally scary, it's more, like, cheesy than anything. At least that's what our boss Keith said, we haven't seen it obviously." Robin continued, finishing her explanation with a flourish, cracking open a can of Coke. "But whatever you want, just please don't pick Rocky to be nice to Steve, I will puke."
Finishing her second slice, Sam stood to go grab the VHS laying by the Harrington's television set. She laughed again, waving a hand back toward Robin. "Don't worry Robin, I would never take Steve's happiness into account on an important decision like this." She teased, hearing the boy groan in exasperation in tandem with Robin's wheezy chuckle. "So, my friends, we will be watching Fright Night!"
Whipping around with said VHS box in hand, she grinned widely at them both. Neither looked particularly enthused, but Robin clapped sarcastically to keep the energy. Rolling her eyes, Sam turned to insert the tape. "I've seen Back to the Future, it's good but if you want to actually understand what's going on you should probably do that shit sober. Which we most definitely will not be, so Fright Night it is! I haven't seen it but I heard it's pretty good."
The other two shrugged in response, accepting her explanation without fuss, and Sam settled back in on the couch. She accepted a full cup of what she discerned to be Rum and Coke from Steve, and the three of them clanked their drinks together in cheers as the opening music began to play.
About halfway through the movie and Sam was feeling decidedly tipsy. The group of three had started drinking slowly, which was new for Sam but not entirely unwelcome. As the movie went on their attention spans began to falter, so they decided to make a drinking game out of the over-the-top cliches that Fright Night provided. Despite the ridiculousness of the plot, they were having a good time.
Suddenly, the movie stopped.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Robin and Sam protested in unison, making eye contact and giggling at each other.
"Keep your pants on ladies, I just have to take a leak." Steve grumbled, heaving himself from the couch with a grunt and stumbling a bit before he regained his footing.
"Try not to get lost Harrington." Sam heckled as he made his way unsteadily from the living room. Robin apparently found that hilarious, slumping into Sam's side as she wheezed out another laugh.
As they waited for Steve to come back Sam found herself furtively glancing down at her tote bag every so often. She must not have been as stealthy as she thought, or Robin was just particularly observant, because she called her out on it almost immediately.
"Uhhh you got a bomb or something in there, Anderson?" Robin asked, exaggeratedly waggling her eyebrows.
"No, no," Sam ran a hand through her hair nervously, "Just uh, a couple joints actually. I brought them just in case, y'know, y'all wanted to smoke, I dunno. Uh, if not it's totally cool, totally cool, just figured better safe than sorry."
Her nervous rambling could have rivaled Steve's in that moment, but Robin must have taken pity on her because she didn't tease her for it. Instead, she straightened up and nodded a few times, then took another long drink of the alcohol in her cup. The silence made Sam more and more nervous by the second, her fingers twitching in her lap as she longed for a smoke. Weed or a cigarette, she wasn't feeling too picky.
Finally, Robin returned her gaze to Sam, and she couldn't contain the smirk any longer. It was then Sam realized she was fucking with her. A deep breath blew out of her lungs and she pushed Robin's shoulder with a glare. "You bitch, oh my God."
Robin laughed, "I'm not sorry. Holy shit, you were so awkward about that. I'm not a total loser you know, just a band geek."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Sam mumbled, reaching down to pull out the Altoid tin and a lighter from the depths of her tote. "You never know with these small towns, okay? I don't know how repressed y'all are, sue me."
"Repressed? Who's repressed?" Steve's confused voice drifted over from the hallway, followed by the sound of glass clinking and water pouring from the tap.
"Nothing, Stevie! Just talking about your sex life!" Robin called back, both girls cackling at the offended shout that came as a response.
"What the hell, Robin. Stop telling lies to the new girl." Steve appeared back at the opening to the living room, glaring at the back of the taller girl's head. Robin and Sam giggled together at his annoyance, before Sam took pity on the boy and waved the joint in the air at him.
"Relax, Harrington. I brought joints, that's all." She grinned over at him, enjoying the look of shock on his face until he caught his wits and smiled back.
The trio made their way out back to Steve's heated pool, lounging on the chairs laid out as Sam lit the joint. As they passed it between them, they chatted about the movie, made fun of Steve some more, and listened to Robin complain about how obnoxious band practice was about to get now that basketball season was ready to start.
Afterwards, they stumbled back inside to resume Fright Night, filling up their cups once again and giggling. It seemed Robin was the responsible one, to nobody's surprise, as she stole the remote and forced the other two to down a large glass of water before she would turn the TV back on. Sam was grateful for her, even if she would never allow herself to admit it.
They finished the movie with no other interruptions, and they all agreed it was far more entertaining when they were stoned out their minds. Steve flicks the TV over to Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve as it's just starting, and the three of them let out a drunken cheer when they see the time on the screen. Just about 30 minutes until 1986, and Sam was feeling on top of the world.
"I'm tellin' y'all!" She slurred over the sound of 'The Temptations' singing on the TV. "I'm tellin' ya! 1986 is gonna be my year Stevie. Robin and I, we're gonna take over the world! Or just Hawkins High... probably just Hawkins High."
Robin cackled her agreement, shoving her cup in the air as a salute while Steve just shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought your master plan was to go unnoticed, huh? Be like, normal and shit, and just snatch that diploma, right?"
Sam scoffed, waving an airy hand at him. "Fuck. That. I mean, yeah, that's the plan. But Robin and I could totally do it!" Her red eyes whipped over to the taller girl, who gave a cheesy thumbs up and a goofy smile.
"Hell yeah we could!" Robin cheered, Sam whooping along with her.
"Oh shit, this song is awesome!" The alcohol and marijuana were clearly doing wonders for Sam's attention span. She jumped up off the couch and attempted to pull the others with her, but Robin groaned and resisted. Letting her go, Sam focused all her attention on getting Steve to join in with her corny dance moves. He indulged her, rolling his eyes and pumping their joined hands back and forth in an awkward shimmy as she sang along with the television.
"Shout, shout, let it all out!" Sam sang, giggling as Steve spun her around in a circle. "These are the things I can do without, come onnn, I'm talking to you so come on!" She pointed dramatically at Robin, who pretended to fall over on the couch in shock.
Riding her burst of energy, Steve and Sam continued to jump around the living room. Sam mimed the guitar solo while her two new friends cheered her on, and they all let out loud sounds of disappointment as the song came to a close. They joined Robin back on the couch and gulped down some more of the mixed drinks in their cups, thoroughly breathless from the impromptu dancing.
"Not long now." Steve said, running his hand through his thick hair to tame it back into his usual style.
The girls nodded in agreement, and Robin silently handed Sam her glass of water to rehydrate. Sam smiled a thank you as the attention was brought back to the broadcast. "No fucking way, a wedding? Imagine being so pretentious you have to get married on national television on New Year's Eve." Sam scoffed bitterly.
The other two scrunched their faces in disgust out of solidarity. "So fucking awkward." Robin muttered, rolling her eyes as the priest finished his spiel and the couple started kissing.
"Right? Midnight kissing is awkward enough, I'm just gonna shove my head in the fridge so I don't have to witness you both going at it. A whole wedding is totally overkill." Sam teased lightly, shoving Robin in the side.
A distinct choking sound came from next to her, and Sam watched in horrified delight as both Steve and Robin went pale as ghosts at the very thought. It was curious, the way that Robin suddenly refused to meet her eyes and Steve spluttered something that was definitely not in the English language. She raised a challenging eyebrow at him, and he shook his head wildly at her, hands raised in denial.
"No, no, no. Uh, definitely don't need to worry about that happening. Totally not, nope, not happening."
Robin looked almost sick to the stomach at the thought, which confused Sam's alcohol ridden brain greatly. Steve wasn't ugly by any means, and it seemed like they were great friends. Truthfully, she hadn't thought anything more was going on between them, but it only made sense considering the circumstances.
"Uh, yeah, definitely not. I thought I was going to have to be the one to go puke while Steve tries to make a move on you, Sam. I would rather die, oh my God." Robin did sound genuinely grossed out, which made Sam laugh good-naturedly.
"Fuck, hell no. I'd rather kiss you, Robin. No offense, Steve." She teased, sticking her tongue out in his direction. Sam felt she may have made a mistake, however, when her proclamation was met with a deafening beat of silence. Robin's face turned bright red, and Steve gave her his best goldfish impression for a solid ten seconds before he finally seemed to come to his senses.
"Hey, hey, hey! Now that's just uncalled for Sam, what the hell. I'm an amazing kisser I'll have you know! It'd be the best midnight kiss of your life, Scout's honor." He pouted at her, seemingly desperate to get her attention away from Robin.
He was unsuccessful. Sam's eyes had been glued to Robin's odd reaction, trying to figure out if she had offended her or not. If it weren't for the marijuana and alcohol diluting her common sense, she probably would have figured it out a lot sooner. As it was, Sam was mortified she seemed to upset her newest friend, and she was ashamed to admit she had no idea how to fix it.
"As Robin put so nicely, I'd rather die Stevie." Sam's gaze finally switched over to the male, sending him a little smirk to show she wasn't fully serious. He mimed a heart attack, almost falling off the couch with his dramatics. It seemed to work a little to diffuse the tension, both girls forcing a laugh at the theatrics.
"Now that my heart is thoroughly crushed, I'm gonna go get the champagne ready. Sit tight, ladies." With that, Steve scrambled up and successfully escaped the still awkward moment.
It was silent for some time before Sam finally got the courage to speak. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Robin. I, uh, I guess I forgot it's such a small town up here. Where I'm from I've known plenty of gay people, I didn't even think about it like that." Her voice was quiet, truly remorseful to have put her new friend in such a spot.
Robin's eyes flashed to her much quicker than Sam anticipated, taking her by surprise. Wide blue orbs bore into her own, and Sam tried to place a smile across her lips that she was sure turned out painfully strained. "No, it's okay... Uh, I wasn't uncomfortable, I guess. Just surprised. I, um..." Robin trailed off, seeming to think better of whatever she was about to say. She cleared her throat, sent an equally strained smile back toward Sam, and downed the rest of the drink left in her cup.
"Right... Well, no kissing at midnight then. Fucking overrated anyways." Sam made a great effort to lighten her tone, also tipping back the last of her drink decisively.
They both heard the champagne cork pop loudly in the kitchen, the sound a welcome distraction from their own thoughts. Steve returned soon after, skillfully holding three flutes of the bubbly alcohol within his hands that he quickly passed off to the girls.
"3 minutes left! Let's go 1986!" He cheered, clearly trying hard to break the already dissipating tension. The girls shared an exasperated look, rolled their eyes, and just like that they were back to normal.
Sam was distracted briefly by the reflection of the TV in the glass doors which led to Steve's backyard, and just like that was struck with drunken inspiration. "Hey, midnight kissing is totally bullshit anyways. I mean, if you think about it, it's really just like, a stupid social construct. Like, just a dumb fucking excuse for horny teens to get laid at stupid parties, right? We should do something actually fun to ring in the New Year."
She turned to the two Hawkins natives with eyes blazing in excitement. "When it hits midnight, let's down the champagne and jump in Steve's pool. Fuck it, right? Let's start the year doing some dumb shit that actually makes us happy, huh?"
Steve was already nodding, a wide grin pulling at his lips. Sam turned her gaze to Robin, ready to beg and pout until she agreed. To her delight, Robin was smiling too. "Why the fuck not?" She said, shrugging.
Sam and Steve let out a loud cheer in unison, both leaping to their feet and yanking Robin up with them. They moved over closer to the TV as the countdown began, all three of them chanting along until the lights on the ball in Times Square blinked out in favor of the bright 1986 sign.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The trio shouted together, clinking their champagne glasses and simultaneously tipping the bubbly liquid down their throats in one gulp. Sam finished first, making a funny face at the sensation before grabbing the other two glasses as soon as her friends were done.
She quickly placed all three flutes on the coffee table before grabbing the other two by the hand and dragging them towards the glass doors with an excited bounce in her step. "Let's go, let's go!"
All three of them were giggling as Steve shoved open the doors and they sprinted together to the pool. With a huge splash, they were all submerged. When Sam's head broke the surface, she had a wide smile on her face which was mirrored by her companions. They all laughed, splashing at each other and fooling around in the pool for several minutes until the alcohol and exhaustion finally caught up with them.
Floating on her back, Sam looked up at the peaceful night sky with a blissful expression. "We totally fucked up." She stated serenely. "We don't have any clothes to change into."
Robin laughed from somewhere on the other side of the pool. "Oh shit, you're right."
The two girls were amused by their misfortune, but Steve was mildly offended. "Hey, I'm right here. I can grab you some clean clothes to sleep in, I'm not a total asshole."
"That's nice." Sam blandly replied, causing Robin to let out another wheezing laugh.
They heard Steve huff, and continued laughing as he splashed around to exit the pool. He cursed softly at the cold air as he rushed into the house, and Sam finally flipped around to stand back on her own two feet. Robin joined her at the edge, but they kept their bodies underneath the heated water while they waited for Steve to come back with towels and fresh clothes.
"This was fun tonight, Robin. I'm glad Steve introduced me to you, it'll be nice to know there's at least one person at Hawkins High that's not a crazy bitch." Sam smiled over at the other girl, who acted shocked as she pointed at herself.
"Me? Oh, no, I'm definitely the number one crazy bitch at Hawkins High, Sam, don't get it twisted."
They laughed together again, and suddenly heard Steve's irritated voice yelling at them to get out the pool before he freezes his ass off waiting. They quickly obliged, running to the house to escape the frigid January air. Enveloped in the fluffy towels and back inside the warm house, the two girls gratefully thanked Steve for the sweatpants and shirts he shoved into their arms.
"Holy shit, I can't believe we're getting to wear The Hair's clothes. Imagine the look on all the girl's faces if they could see us now, Sam." Robin snarked, shit-eating grin ever present on her face.
"Wait, wait, wait. The Hair? Shut the fuck up, they do not call you that Steve." Sam had a look like they had skipped a whole year and it was Christmas again.
Steve, to his credit, looked infinitely embarrassed.
"Oh my God, yes! Steve 'The Hair' Harrington, literally everyone knows him by that. Either that or 'King Steve' but not so much anymore 'cos he's kinda a loser now. But still." Robin informed her with barely contained laughter.
Sam had no such restraint, she absolutely howled with mirth as Steve steadily turned redder and redder. He tried to push them towards the bathroom so they could change both their wet clothes and the subject, but Sam wasn't having any of it. "The Hair oh my God, that is priceless. Nope, I'm never letting this go, this is the best start to the New Year ever. Holy shit."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Steve muttered with a dramatic eyeroll. He finally succeeded in shoving Sam into the bathroom, turning his attention to a smirking Robin instead to usher her to another room.
After changing into Steve's admittedly very comfortable clothing, Sam exited the bathroom and returned to the room they had spent most of the night in. Steve had also hunted down spare blankets and pillows from elsewhere in the house, so she gratefully grabbed what she needed to set up a spot to sleep on one of the other couches in the large room. Robin joined her shortly after, rubbing the towel she still carried along her head to dry her short hair.
Exhaustion was quickly setting in, and as the sound of 'The Temptations' last song played out through the TV Sam could feel her eyes getting heavier and heavier. Robin seemed to share the sentiment, a massive yawn cracking across her face as she sunk into the couch opposite of Sam. She would have assumed Steve would have stayed up in his bedroom, but instead he joined them downstairs after flicking all the lights off and collapsed onto the couch they had been parked on all night. He clicked the television off as the program ended, and the room descended into comfortable silence.
"This was fun. I will never forget my first New Year's with The Hair, thank you both." Sam teased, but the other two could tell her gratitude was genuine. Steve mumbled his own niceties back to her, too tired to fight back against the use of his nickname. Robin's only response was a stunted snore from her corner of the room.
A smile crossed her face at the ungraceful noise, and Sam's eyes finally drifted shut. It was a good night, and she could only hope that the hangover they all woke up with in the morning would be wildly out of proportion to the amount of fun that they had.
