𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, stranger things

Season Two Epilogue

It'd been about a month since El closed the gate, and the entire party, including Max, was hanging out in Mike's basement. Mike had warmed up to the girl quite a lot.

Sam's wrist was fractured from that night with Billy, but it was healing quickly. She also ended up needing stitches for the cuts she'd gotten.

It was late and Sam had fallen asleep with her head on Max's lap. She was woken up by Max shaking her shoulder, saying, "Hey, wake up. I gotta go."

Sam sat up and rubbed her eyes. "You have too?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Max smiled, standing up. "See you guys later." She grabbed her things and walked up the stairs, waving at her friends again before closing the door.

When the redhead was out of sight, Lucas looked back at Sam and smirked, raising his eyebrows. She glared at him and flipped him off.

"What's going on?" Will spoke up, confused by what Lucas was doing.

"What do you mean?" Lucas questioned. "She likes —"

"Lucas!" Sam yelled, the boys looking at her.

"What?"

"Stop it."

Realization spread on his face. "Shit. He doesn't —?"

"Stop it!"

"I don't what?" Will asked. "What's happening?"

Sam looked at Lucas, Mike, and Dustin. Dustin looked mildly upset. He knew his sister liked Max at this point, but he still liked her too.

"Can I talk to him alone, please?" Sam asked.

"This is my house," Mike said.

"Please?"

Mike rolled his eyes and the three boys got up and began to walk up the stairs. Before Dustin walked out the door, he looked back and smiled at his sister. Even though he still had a crush on Max, he wanted her to be happy. And if that meant ending up with Max, he was okay with that.

"What is it?" Will turned to her.

"Uhm. Okay. I'm just gonna come out and say it. I like girls. And Max, clearly."

"Oh. Okay."

"I promise you were the first person I wanted to tell. I just didn't know when the right time was."

"Well, thanks for telling me now. I kinda had a feeling. I saw how you always looked at her."

"So, you're not mad?"

"No. God, no. I.. actually wanna tell you something too."

"What is it?" Sam asked, though she already had an idea of what he was getting at.

"I like boys. And I don't know how I feel about girls, but I like boys."

Sam smiled and hugged him, almost knocking him over.

"I love you," she said quietly.

"I love you too," he laughed.

She was so happy. Now, she didn't have to feel so alone. Someone understood.
—
About another month had passed, and it was time for the winter dance. Sam's wrist had completely healed, but her nerves were higher than ever as she got ready.

She'd bought a new dress the week before, and she loved it. She got a long sleeve, knee length, purple dress with a black bow tied around the waist. Sam didn't do much with her hair, loving the way it always looked. She applied light makeup then walked into her room to put on her slightly worn out, black Converse. She wanted to look good for Max, but she wasn't gonna wear any other shoes.