A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first published work, so please bear with me while I figure all this formatting whatnot out. I'd really appreciate any feedback or constructive criticism, but I'm very much guilty of ghost reading so please don't feel bad for not leaving any reviews. This story starts a few months before the events of Season 4, but will still contain plenty of spoilers so read at your own risk. This won't be a slow burn by any means, but the progression of Sam and Eddie's relationship will take a (hopefully) natural length of time as they go from strangers to friends to more. There will be a few chapters of exposition before she meets Eddie, so fair warning with that. Please let me know if there are any major issues! Rating is set to M because there will be quite a lot of cursing, smoking, and other related adult themes throughout the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things, nor do I own any of the musical groups mentioned or any branding present throughout the story.
Chapter One:
"New Moon On Monday" (Duran Duran)
Hawkins, Indiana had to be the single-most boring town in all of America- Samantha Anderson was utterly convinced of it. Not only boring but unforgivably cold, her southern Virginian bones were used to sunshine and the balmy Atlantic breeze. Hawkins only afforded harsh winds whipping through barren trees and entirely too much snow on the ground. It seemed a permanent glare would be the only thing to keep her company through the transition. Her parents certainly weren't focused on consoling their only daughter, taking every opportunity to claim it was "for the best" and that a fresh start was what they all needed.
Sam thought it was bullshit.
It was all bullshit. From the fancy new house that was far too big for three people, to the fake smiles and loving looks her parents would shower her with whenever they were in public. Pretending like there was nothing on this earth they would rather do than spend their time wasting away in the tiny Indiana town, saying it was a breath of fresh air and a much-needed change. Bullshit. The only thing her parents wanted to do was forget, and Sam was sick of it.
She had been sick of it for the past year, but after months spent smoking and partying her way into flunking her senior year it seemed her parents finally grew a backbone and decided to do something about it. The one time they decided to take an interest in their daughter's life and it was only to cause more misery and torment. Karma, she supposed, had finally caught up to her.
She had only been in Hawkins officially for 2 days and Sam already felt like she was losing her mind. She had refused to move with her parents at the start of December, instead couch surfing through countless acquaintances and generally attempting to keep any sort of rational thought of what the future holds at bay with binge drinking and copious amounts of marijuana. She was, quite frankly, a mess. But it had been that way for more than an entire year, ever since the early morning of December 23nd, 1984 when her world was ripped to pieces.
A long breath blew through her lips and Sam physically shook her head like a wet dog to rid herself of the thoughts about to spiral out of control. Her fingers twitched at her side and she longed to roll a joint to calm herself down, but she only had a limited supply since the move and was desperately trying to wean herself from her biggest vice in anticipation of her new Hawkins persona.
Her hands instead ran through her messy brown curls, tugging at the roots for some sort of stimulation as she flung her body up from her reclined position and stood from her bed. She examined her new bedroom with distaste, to the barren light purple walls and the numerous cardboard boxes still unopened and laying near her dark wood bookshelf and desk. She had unpacked her clothes and toiletries, but all her personal belongings seemed too difficult a task to tackle. Sam rationalized that she would start tonight with her trusted BFFs Jack and Mary Jane, it was too much hassle to get started alone after all.
It was December 30th, and Sam knew the grace period for her anti-social behavior was quickly coming to a close. The Anderson family was never very good at patience at the best of times, and she knew that her father in particular was well and truly done with her so called rebellious phase. She tugged one last time at the roots of her waist-length hair before letting out a small sigh and moving to her open closet to grab her well-worn jean jacket in anticipation of a day out. She briefly paused by her desk chair to lovingly run a finger over the leather jacket draped over the back, a small smile tugging at her lips for a moment. Sam didn't allow herself to linger, grabbing the jean jacket and patting the pockets to assure she had both her pack of cigarettes and a light ready to go.
She didn't look back as she exited her room, shutting the door behind her out of habit even though she knew her parents rarely bother coming to the second floor of their too large house. Her feet thudded lightly on the stairs as she descended to the foyer, glancing at the large grandfather clock to make sure she still had time to grab something to eat. It showed 5 minutes to 2:00pm, which prompted Sam to curse under her breath and book it down the hall to the kitchen. Unfortunately, this brought her past the living room where both her parents were sitting on the couch in silence.
"Samantha, there you are. You did remember the Harrington's son will be picking you up shortly?" her father's voice immediately put her on edge, but Sam forced herself to take a deep breath and pause at the large entryway to the room to answer him.
"Yes, dad. I'm just gonna grab an apple for the road, I didn't forget." The fake polite smile felt wrong twisting her mouth into a semblance of joy she didn't feel, but Sam supposed she needed to get used to it sooner than later.
Her response must have been acceptable because she wasn't bothered further, so she continued her trajectory to the kitchen to grab the fruit. She halfway hoped the Harrington kid would be late, but figured it would be wishful thinking considering how highly her parents had gushed over their new neighbors. If her father approved of someone it was likely the kid would either be some sort of child prodigy or just super lame. Safe to say, Sam was not looking forward to her chauffeured introduction to Hawkins. But she moved to this town knowing her end goal was to keep her parents happy and quiet while she worked her ass off to improve her grades enough to scrape through her last semester and finally graduate.
Before the accident, Sam would've laughed at the idea of flunking even a single class, much less a whole year. She always made decent grades, but nothing like her middle brother Charlie who was the perfect golden child throughout their youth and was now busy getting his degree at MIT. Joey and her often spent their time laughing it up at the resident Anderson square, but truthfully it was always nice to have someone that redirected the attention from their overbearing parents.
Crunching quickly on the apple she had grabbed, Sam moved back to the foyer to grab her trusty Doc Martens. Luckily it seemed her parents were uninterested in engaging in conversation in favor of their chosen reading materials, so she had a moment of peace to scarf down the fruit while simultaneously trying to tug her boots on. Sam never had great balance to begin with, but successfully pulled the first shoe on with the apple secured between her jaw. As she began to pull the second over her ankle the ring of their doorbell startled her enough that the apple fell ungracefully out her mouth. Abandoning the shoe to save her snack, Sam was disgruntled to see her parents both rushing to answer the door.
Seemed like they weren't going to let her get through this without more embarrassing meddling, but at least it gave her a chance to get her other shoe on without seeming rude. Apple half-consumed, Sam straightened and quickly moved to grab her house key off the peg hook by the door and joined her parents.
"Steve, thank you again for offering to take Samantha out to see Hawkins! I'm sure she'll have much more fun with you than with us." Her mom was saying with a beaming smile, her dad's hand coming back to his side from what Sam assumed was the silent handshake of greeting.
"No problem at all Mrs. Anderson, it's my pleasure." Came the charming reply, and Sam discretely rolled her eyes before stepping fully behind her parents who parted to let their guest get a glance at the newcomer.
Sam had perfected the art of a deadpan face over the years, so she didn't let any emotion betray her as she swiftly gave the guy in front of her a cursory once-over. He was attractive, several inches taller than her short 5'3" with the most ridiculously coiffed brown hair she thought she had ever seen. But it was the striped polo top tucked into his light wash jeans and blue Member's Only jacket that made her heart sink to her recently covered toes. Great, I guess my introduction to yuppie society starts now.
A forced smile crossed her lips as she observed him give her the same evaluating glance, but she didn't wait for him to finish before she was pushing past her father to join him on the front porch. Her mom had silently passed her a $20 bill which Sam slipped into her front jean pocket with a quick but genuine smile for her trouble.
"Great! Well, we better get to it. See ya later!" The fake peppy voice left her without hesitation and Sam tugged the door free from her father's grip and promptly shut it behind her. A deep breath, and she glanced back up at her tour guide for the day.
He was still observing her with a slight furrow in his brow, seeming understandably confused by her. Sam couldn't blame him knowing his only information about her came from her parents who likely lied through their teeth about her disposition. She had made an effort not to shock him too much, wearing a simple outfit of tight jeans paired with a maroon zipped hoodie and her signature jean jacket. Still, considering her parents as the only point of reference he was probably expecting a blushing, well-manicured lady in a pastel dress ready for a day on the town. Sam couldn't bring herself to feel pity for him, considering her circumstance.
"Ready to go?" She questioned him after a moment of silence, raising her eyebrow and shifting her weight awkwardly.
He cleared his throat and bobbed his head up and down, gesturing with one hand to the BMW parked in the drive. "Yeah! Uh, yeah yeah of course."
Sam fought the urge to snort in amusement and instead walked ahead, quickly taking the last few bites of her apple before crossing to the trash bins in front of their garage and tossing the core. When she turned it seemed like Steve had finally recovered, and he stood by the passenger side door ready to open it for her like a true chivalrous gentleman. A little smirk crossed her face at the thought, which she transformed into a grateful smile as he did just that and she slid into the front seat. She allowed herself one final sigh as he crossed around the car to join her, and resolved herself to try and enjoy the day despite her misgivings toward the whole situation.
Steve climbed into the driver's seat and wasted no time cranking the ignition to get the heat blasting, which Sam was eternally grateful for. Indiana in the dead of winter was much colder than she had been anticipating. Duran Duran started playing at an acceptably normal volume, leading Sam to nod her head to the beat and thank her lucky stars his taste in music wasn't totally awful. It was no AC/DC or Zeppelin, but not everyone could be as cool as her oldest brother Joey after all.
"So, uh, Samantha... Is there anywhere specific you wanted to check out first?" Steve's uncertain voice broke her musical analysis, and she turned her body to smirk amusedly at him once again.
"It's just Sam. And isn't that like the whole point of me being here, Harrington? It's been 2 days I don't know a damn thing about Hawkins." She rolled her eyes but let the easy grin on her face show she wasn't being too serious.
"Right, yeah, Sam, yeah, for sure. Duh." The awkward nodding was getting to be slightly endearing, and she couldn't lie and say his nervousness didn't make her feel a bit more comfortable in his presence. There was nothing more obnoxious to Sam than over-confident men, especially the preppy ones. So, she took pity on him and decided then and there not to be too much of an abrasive tool for their day out.
"I guess I really just need to know the main streets though, right? Like how to get to school and stuff... Maybe warn me about any super gross places to not eat at, that kinda thing?"
She could see his brown eyes light up and his shoulders relax just slightly from her friendly tone, miles different from the peppy enthusiasm she had spouted in front of her parents but significantly more palatable to teenage ears. Steve shot her a quick smile and continued to nod at her words, fingers tapping the steering wheel a bit before he reached down to put the car in reverse and hit the road.
"Yeah, yeah, solid plan. There's not too many bad places to eat around Hawkins, but I can point out the really good ones when we pass them." He started saying as he backed the Beamer out onto their shared street. He glanced her way before continuing. "Oh, and my name is Steve. I don't know if your parents told you."
A short laugh burst from Sam as she relaxed further into the passenger seat, reaching behind her to buckle the seatbelt instinctively. "Oh yeah, I know. My dad wouldn't shut up about how respectable and polite your family is. I think he has a massive crush on your dad or something, it's been pretty obnoxious."
A strangled sort of noise emitted from Steve in that moment, causing the grin on Sam's face to grow as he seemed to not know how to respond.
"Dude, relax. I'm a pro at telling my parents what they want to hear. Just be yourself, I promise I'm used to a lot worse than you." That said, as they turned out of the entrance to Loch Nora neighborhood Sam dug her hand into her jacket pocket and gratefully pulled out her pack of Marlboros and her light.
"Do you mind?" She asked to be polite, gesturing the pack in his direction as she went to roll the window down and fully intending on pouting and guilting him into letting her smoke in his car regardless of his answer.
"Yeah, sure, go ahead." He replied quickly, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to the music as he thought of how to react around his strange new neighbor. "My dad's pretty good at impressing people like him, I guess. He's kind of a dick though."
A genuine laugh escaped Sam's lips at his admission, wasting no time with lighting up the cigarette hanging from her lips and taking a deep pull. As she exhaled it was a sigh of relief, finally feeling her uptight muscles unclench as she realized the guy she was stuck with all day wasn't totally boring.
"You want one?" She offered the pack in his direction, but when he shook his head she shrugged and slipped it back in her jacket pocket. "Yeah, my dad's a dick too. Probably why they get along so well. My mom is alright most of the time but she just like desperately wants me to be something I'm not, which can be annoying. But whatever."
Steve nodded in agreement, flipping his indicator on to turn on the next street before replying. "Yeah my parents are both like that. Got super mad when I didn't get into the colleges they wanted, so it's been kinda tense. I think that's why they were so excited to meet your parents when they moved, so they can make the story seem better than it is or something. Like their son is just taking time off from school working at Family Video for fun instead of me just being too dumb to get into college."
Sam was slightly surprised he was being so honest with her, but the bitterness laced in his tone was understandable. "That's bullshit. Fuck college, I'm not going either. You're not dumb, higher education is a corrupt institution anyways. All they really care about is money."
A grateful smile from Steve encouraged her to relax even more, and they lapsed into a comfortable routine as he continued to drive. Sam smoking her cigarette out the window and Steve pointing out a few significant streets on their way to downtown Hawkins. Over the next couple hours they managed to drive around the entirety of the small town, Steve pointing out the best places to eat out and taking her to see the joint campus of Hawkins Middle and High Schools. They got out his car at one point to walk around the downtown area, and he showed her the Hawk movie theatre and public library as well as the best places to park to avoid getting your car scratched up.
Luckily it was a Monday afternoon, so there weren't many people out and about. Sam wasn't ready to meet the rest of the Hawkins teenage population just yet, even if her first experience with one didn't turn out to be so bad after all. Steve and her got along surprisingly well once the initial awkwardness of being forced together by their unlikable parents wore off. It ended up being a bonding moment, realizing they both couldn't stand to be around their dads longer than a few minutes at a time. Once her stomach began growling, they stopped at a small diner just outside downtown called Molly's that Steve insisted had the best milkshakes in town.
As she sipped on her strawberry shake and listened to Steve give her all the details on Hawkins High that he insisted were necessary to know before her first day, Sam realized with great surprise she was actually having a good time. The revelation gave her hope that the transition to this new life wouldn't be so bad after all. If she could find just a few people like Steve at the high school to hang around it would make life much simpler. Despite his somewhat preppy appearance, Steve was actually a pretty down to earth guy. When she pointed that out to him, he just laughed and told her it was all his ex-girlfriend Nancy's influence. Which led to another long-winded story that Sam was realizing to be the norm for him, not that she minded at all. Sam wasn't the type to talk much, absolutely hating small talk with a passion, so she was more than happy to let him do all the talking.
By the time their burgers were consumed and the last couple sips of milkshake were sucked up the sun had already begun to set. Steve insisted on paying for her meal, which Sam was perfectly happy to agree to. Once they made it back to his BMW, he once again opened the door for her and continued his latest tirade on how basketball was the sport at Hawkins High and that most of the guys on the team were way too intense about it. Sam laughed and nodded at the appropriate moments, lighting up another cigarette to smoke on the way home, but cataloging the information in her brain to formulate her master plan for optimal socialization when she inevitably had to start school in a week's time.
"Oh by the way, my parents left this afternoon for another one of my dad's work conferences. Won't be back for like, two weeks. My friend Robin is coming over tomorrow night for a New Years thing, nothing crazy but you're welcome to come if you want."
Sam's eyes shot over to Steve at that comment, surprised but grateful at the offer. Despite having a good time that afternoon she was half convinced he really was just being polite.
"Uh... thanks but no thanks Steve. Definitely don't wanna third wheel on y'all but I appreciate the offer." She made sure her voice was full of humor as she flicked the butt of her spent cigarette out the window, but she was somewhat serious.
The look on Steve Harrington's face was priceless in that moment. It was frozen in a state of panicked shock so comical that Sam couldn't help the deep belly laugh that burst forth at his reaction to her obviously misplaced comment. She tried to suck in breaths as he started to whip his head back and forth and splutter out denials, but it was a losing battle. Who knew catching Steve off-guard could be so amusing?
"No, no, no. Oh my god. Yeah, no, it's not like that at all. Robin is just a friend, just a friend. Holy shit. I mean she's awesome, don't get me wrong. You'll like her a lot, you'll get along for sure. But no, it's not like that. We're just friends. We're just gonna get a few movies from Family Video and hang out after work, drink a little maybe, watch Dick Clark's for the ball drop."
As Sam's laughter slowly tapered off, she decided to cut the poor guy a break. "Okay, sure Steve. What time should I come over, then?"
The relieved grin on his face was contagious, and as he pulled into their shared street in Loch Nora he pointed out his house to her just a few doors down from her own. "We get off work at 5 tomorrow, we can pick up some pizza on the way home. So maybe 6? If you see my car back home before that feel free to just come over whenever though."
Sam nodded her acknowledgement, and shot him a happy smile as he parked in her driveway. "Sounds good! Thanks for showing me around today Steve, it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be."
Her honesty was rewarded with a laugh from her newfound friend, who nodded empathetically in agreement. Sam sent him one last wave as she made her way to the front door, sliding her keys out her pocket and letting herself back into the massive home. Unsurprisingly, her parents were both waiting in the same spots she left them, probably eagerly awaiting her return to hear how the socializing went.
"Oh honey you're home! How was it? Did you have fun with Steve?" Her mom's voice was blessedly the one to call out, so Sam didn't feel quite the level of irritation she might have if it was her father's judgmental tone.
"Yeah, it was fun! I'm tired though, going to unpack for a bit and go to bed!" She called back without pausing in her stride. Luckily her parents were well used to her not wanting to linger, so she met no resistance in her journey to the sanctuary of her room.
As she pushed open the door to reveal the barren space, a familiar sigh left her lips. Immediately moving to her desk, she briefly touched the leather sleeve of her brother's old jacket, then slid the top drawer open to reveal her weed stash. A smile lit her face as she grabbed one of the pre-rolled joints she prepared before making the long drive to Indiana three days ago. She crossed the room to her favorite feature of the new house- her very own balcony. It was small, barely large enough to fit a large potted plant and a comfortable lawn chair with space to walk between, but it allowed her to smoke in the peace of her own space without worrying her parents would catch the scent in passing.
The night air was even chillier than the day, but Sam was well prepared with a thick throw blanket. As she sat smoking on the chair with the sliding door closed behind her she thought back on the events of the day with Steve. Hawkins still was a miserable little town, make no mistake, but she found herself more optimistic than she had been in a long time. At least she had one friend her age who didn't seem opposed to having a good time, and even if he was graduated already the advice he gave on the different cliques and teachers at Hawkins High was invaluable.
There was only one semester left after all, and even though she would have to work her ass off to fit in and keep her grades above the cusp of failure, she was feeling a new confidence seeping in by the minute. Or maybe that was the marijuana. Probably the marijuana.
Laughing at herself and taking the last puff of her joint, Sam ground the filter into the small ashtray concealed at the base of her potted plant and re-entered the warmth of her bedroom. As the pleasant lightness filled her body, a large grin came over her face and she crossed to her stereo and pressed play on the tape already inserted ready to go. The loud strumming of electric guitars filled her room and she finally set herself to unpacking the several untouched boxes on her floor, singing along with her idol Joan Jett and moving her body in ridiculous poses and dance moves all the while.
Yeah, maybe it was just the high and stomach full of delicious strawberry milkshake, but Sam Anderson was feeling optimistic for the first time in a long, long time.