Mixtapes & Polaroids | Sam x Deena

9

Deena wakes up alone.

Honestly, it almost slips her mind that Sam should have been next to her. She takes her time under the covers, feeling for her alarm clock when the memories flood back and drown her in a single second. Deena shoots up out of bed, eyes wide and confused because Sam's bag was still on the floor, and her stereo had been shut off, so she definitely wasn't dreaming.

But being with Sam always had such a hazy, dreamy feel to it. It was like existing right by her was holding sunlight in your hands, beautiful but it always had a sense of impossibility to it. So Deena scrambles out of bed, rubbing her eyes as she steps out of her room. She heads for the kitchen first, where there's a single plate of pancakes settled on the table but still no sign of Sam.

With confusion striking her so early in the morning, Deena checks the bathroom. Empty. So she heads down to the basement to ask Josh if he knew where Sam went, but to her surprise the moment she swings the door open, she can hear the onslaught of voices hit her ears. Deena's steps slow with reluctance until she hits the ground, standing at the foot of the stairs to find Sam and Josh in front of the little television, playing one of his dumb video games Deena had never given the light of day.

"That's not fair, you're cheating!" Sam exclaims, tossing the controller down onto the seat as the dwindling sound emits from the television.

"It's called skill, you said you were good at games!" Josh replies, a smug look on his face.

"Yeah like Pac-Man! This is totally new territory." She fires back, slumping into her seat as Deena carefully approaches.

Sam actually hates losing, she hadn't played a game since that summer where an arcade opened in town and it was her only excuse to get out of the house. Of course it closed too, because nothing fun ever lasts at Shadyside but what started as an excuse for Sam became something she actually enjoyed. She even got the high score on the Pac-Man machine once, though someone else beat her the next day but if anyone asks, she held that score for a solid week.

"Good morning?" She clears her throat, and both Sam and Josh snap to look at her.

"Oh hey! I hope you don't mind but I made some pancakes. Did you see?" Sam's got a bright smile on her face that makes Deena's stomach flip, even when she still couldn't quite understand what she had just walked in on.

"I did, yeah. What are you doing?" She looks between the blonde and her brother, brows raised as Josh holds out a hand towards Sam.

"I'm killing it, is what I'm doing." He smirks, and Sam begrudgingly slaps down a dollar into his palm.

"He's cheating, is what he's doing." Sam challenges, getting up amidst a small huff as Josh offers her a playful salute.

"Pleasure doing business!" Josh calls out, returning to his game as Sam comes to a stop inches away from a still very confused Deena.

"We have an hour, come on, I'll eat with you." Sam takes her hand, tugging her towards the stairs before she could say anything more.

"You like... video games?" Deena utters once they get to the kitchen, going to grab some plates and forks that she sets down on the table where Sam had taken a seat.

"I used to go to the arcade. It opened right around the time my parents began falling apart and I just... kept going. It was really near my house too so it was a pretty good excuse, it was the only place they'd let me go alone." Sam explains as Deena takes a seat across her, fascinated and amused because she could take one look at Sam and never guess she would ever have been to an arcade, actually playing games.

"You really weren't lying when you said you got a lot of sides, huh?" Deena chuckles, absentmindedly going to place a few pancakes onto Sam's plate and completely missing the way Sam's eyes were glued to her bandaged hands.