The streets of LA were alive with its usual activity, as Sam was getting ready to pack things up for the day, after her last client at the tattoo shop.
Sam briefly looked up from what she was doing, at the distant sounds of some sirens passing by.
She decided just to shrug it off, however, and go about gathering her stuff on her way out.
"Alright, I'm off." She told her co-worker, Mia, as she passed by. "Gonna need a ride? Want me to hang around?"
"Three nights in a row?" Mia chuckled. "I fear Kinsey might start to suspect something."
Sam rolled her eyes jokingly. "Don't flatter yourself, Kins knows she's my one and only."
"Fair enough." Mia chuckled. "Anyway, I'm fine, I've got a ride. You ride safe though."
"Always do." She assured her.
As Sam approached the door to her apartment, she was stopped briefly by a young blonde woman who looked to be about her age and who she'd recognized from maybe a handful of appearances around the building.
"Uhh...Samantha?!" She called out somewhat awkwardly.
Sam looked at her and chuckled. "It's Sam."
"Sam." She corrected herself with a nervous chuckle. "Sorry. I uh, think I got some of your mail here, earlier." She handed a couple of envelopes that indeed had her name and apartment number on each of them.
She offered the poor girl a reassuring smile as she took them. "Thanks."
She nodded. "I'm Mandy, by the way. I just moved in, a couple doors down, with my roommate."
"Nice." Sam chuckled. "My girlfriend and I live here with our roommate.
"Niiice." Mandy remarked. "We should all hang sometime."
"Yeah, for sure." Sam chuckled. "See you around."
"Good to meet you."
As expected, Asami's excited barks could already heard from the other side of the door as she rushed to the door at the sound of Sam's keys.
Sam smiled as she opened the door and was met with Asami's usual jumping up to stand up against her, on her hind legs, for some long awaited hugs and head scratches.
"Hi, babbyyy! Ohh, did you misss me? Hmm?" She cooed. "Did you have fun with Kinsey today?"
Asami gave an excited bark as her tail continued to wag.
"Yeah?" Kinsey chuckled. "Wanna go find her?" She gave her another ear scratch, following closely behind her as she glanced around the apartment.
"Hey, Kins?" She called out. "I'm home! Has Asami gotten her walk yet?"
"Sheee stepped out for a bit." Cori answered, catching Sam off guard as she entered the room. "Said she'd be back in a few."
"Thanks." She chuckled.
Cori nodded. "I think Kinsey took her out a couple hours ago."
"Well, she certainly doesn't show it." Sam joked, referring to Asami's usual puppy-like greeting.
Cori chuckled at that as Sam started to head to her room.
"Oh, uh.." Cori called after her. "Before I forget, your dad called while you were out. I guess he tried calling you first."
"Right." Sam chuckled. "Which one?"
"The cu- Billy. Billy, I think it was." She answered, trying...not so smoothly to catch herself.
Sam rolled her eyes "It is still so weird that you call him that." She sighed. "Whatever, I'll call him back."
"Okay, in my defense, you're not even supposed to know I call him that."
"...and in everyone else's defense, Kinsey keeps telling you that one of these days you're gonna slip and call him that to my face." Sam chuckled. "Do you seriously think I don't hear you? These walls aren't exactly soundproof, you know."
"Man, fuck you." Cori laughed.
"Hey, you're the one who's always pointing it out." Sam laughed.
"And now, I'm the one who's regretting it." She joked, as if that wouldn't further prove Sam's point.
"As you should." She chuckled. "Kins say where she was going?"
"Checking the mail, I think." Cori chuckled, relieved over the subject change. "Don't quote me on that though."
"Gonna be a quick trip then." Sam joked. "I just got a couple pieces of it from Mandy, I think her name was, from a couple doors over. She just stopped me in the hall.
"The same one who's been not so subtly checking you out?"
"Which I'll take over not-so subtly stalking my dad any day." Sam pointed out with a smirk.
"I am NOT stalking your dad." Cori scoffed. "I just happen to have eyes."
Sam rolled her eyes again. "Sounds a lot like stalking."
"Okay, you caught me!" Cori teased. "I've been making the drive out to Woodsboro every day while you're at work, in hopes of catching a glimpse of the elusive Billy Loomis." She mustered up an impressively bad fake accent at the last bit, as she switched up her mocking tone to as if she were a wildlife narrator.
"A: That was the worst fake accent I've ever heard in my life." Sam teased, half actually joking. "..and B…"
"I know, I know." Cori sighed. "I'll stop if it's actually bothering you."
Sam shook her head to herself. "It's just a little weird." She scoffed. "Especially with how the last time someone was weird about my dads ended."
"Sorry…." Cori chuckled nervously. "If it helps…"
Sam cut her off, mid-sentence. "If you remind me that you're only weird about one of my dads, I would like to also remind you that I have stabbed someone before."
"In self defense." Cori pointed it out.
Sam gave her an, albeit, only half serious glare.
"Touché." Cori chuckled.
"...aaand if you must discuss your weird little fantasies further, you can take them up with your little gossip buddy in like two seconds." Sam chuckled with a smirk, noticing how Asami had perked up and was now looking towards the door, as she went to set the mail down.
"What are you- " Cori started to say with a chuckle, stopping mid-sentence when Kinsey walked in the door.
"I'm baaack!" She announced, just before noticing Sam was here, and smiling when she did. "Hi."
"Hey you." Sam grinned back at her, just before leaning in for a kiss. "Find the rest of our mail?'
"The rest of it?" Kinsey chuckled.
"Yeah, girl from a couple doors over stopped to give me some of it in the hallway, apparently she got it by mistake.
"With the mullet?" Kinsey asked. "One who's always checking you out
"Looked more like a wolf cut to me." Sam chuckled. "Why, is someone jealous?"
A devious little smirk grew on her face.
"Should I be?" Kinsey teased back.
"I think you know the answer to that." Sam chuckled.
"You know it, Babe." She kissed Sam again.
"Alright, well I'm gonna be in our room for a bit." Sam told her after they finally paused. "I guess my dad called, like right before I got here. I gotta call him back…..and yes, Cori did say it to my face this time." Sam chuckled at that last part when she caught Kinsey looking over at Cori.
"Cori!" Kinsey blurted out, at that, when Sam started to walk away.
"Started to!" Cori laughed, trying to defend herself. "I started to. Give me a break over here."
Sam chuckled and shook her head to herself as she walked off.
"Hey." Sam greeted when Billy picked up her video call. "Sorry, I just got in."
"Yeah, I figured." Billy chuckled.
"Mmhmm…" Sam chuckled, somewhat more serious now. "Look, no offense, Dad, but I don't think I need to tell you of all people why that's why I didn't exactly rush to pick up a voice call."
"Hey, I didn't say anything." Billy chuckled.
"Yet." Sam scoffed, half chuckling in an attempt to just brush it off. "So, what's up?"
"Ohh, shit. Did you tell her?" Stu's voice, in the background, could be heard shouting from another room.
"Hi, Dad!" Sam answered, raising her voice a little more so that he might hear. "Tell me what?"
Billy turned to look behind him, shaking his head to himself and sighing, before he turned back to Sam.
"...Everything okay?" She finally asked, her tone growing a little more serious when he did look back up at her.
"We're fine." He reassured her. "But your dad heard a name on the news, right before we tried you. Thought you might've known him."
"...and why's that?" She asked, simultaneously a little more sullen and somewhat concerned now.
From the look on her father's face though, she figured she didn't even have to ask.
"...I'll look into it." She finally said with a sigh.
"Just be careful, okay?" He reminded her.
"I never stopped." She sighed.
He nodded. "Still got your buck knife?"
"Of course."
He nodded, half smiling back at her. "Love you."
"You too." She sighed. "Tell Dad I said bye too."
"You got it." He chuckled before hanging up.
Sam sighed to herself, placing the phone back in her pocket as she got up to head back out into the living room.
"Oh, there you are." Kinsey said when she looked up from the couch to see Sam re-entering the scene. "I was gonna come get you, but I didn't wanna interrupt."
"My dad just wanted to check in on me." She sighed. "Why? What's going on?"
Cori, who was standing off to the side, pointed to the TV which was showing a News report of what Billy must've been referring to during their call.
"What?" Kinsey finally asked when she saw the way Sam was looking at the TV, as a reporter was recounting the details of a recent murder.
"...Nothing." Sam sighed, turning to walk away. "My dad mentioned it was probably someone we knew, but.."
She trailed off when the reporter on the TV went on to mention the name of the guy's apparent girlfriend….and sister to Natalie Hahn….
"...Who, along with her girlfriend, Leslie Maddox, was involved in the Woodsboro murders, almost three years ago." The reporter went on to tell.
"I didn't even know she was in LA." Kinsey commented.
Sam shot her a simultaneously curious and suspicious look at that.
"...yeah, she's still not really talking to me either, but she does check in with Seth from time to time."
"Better shoot him a text then, see if he'll check in on her." Sam sighed. "God knows she won't tell me."
"Already on it." Kinsey assured, not looking up from her phone til Sam started to head for the door. "Where you going?"
"Just gonna get some air, take Asami for another walk." She sighed. "We won't be out long."
Asami, who was laying beside Kinsey on the couch, perked her head up at the word walk.
"Want me to come with?" Kinsey asked.
Sam half smiled at the offer. "Thanks, but I really just need the alone time."
She looked over at Asami, who was now on her way over. "...with Asami. Come on, baby girl."
Asami excitedly followed closely behind Sam as she collected her leash from the hook rack by the door.
"Be right back."
"Bye." Kinsey called after her, watching her til she shut the door behind her. "Love you!"