𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐒

twelve

steve helped sam up onto the rope, all the kids holding out a hand to help her climb out of the ditch. she reached down a hand to pull steve up, finally turning to see the kids. she was immediately engulfed by a tight hug from max.

"don't do that again." max mumbled into her sister's jacket.

"do you mean almost die?" sam teased.

"you two were just kissing!" max said aloud pointing at the both of them.

steve held up his hands, prepared to deflect the accusation, when the lights of billy's car shined directly in their faces. a high pitched humming heard by everyone. the group held their arms in front of their eyes to shield them from the blinding light, but, seconds later, the lights turned off and the humming was gone. steve looked to the kids. "i think it's over."

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

after nancy and jonathan successfully released tapes calling them out for killing barb, the hawkins lab closed down for good. the small town of hawkins was now the talk of indiana, which was definitely a first for the small town.

sam, meanwhile, had been having one of the best months of her life. now that all of the upside down's problems were gone, she could finally sit down and enjoy a semi-fun teenage life, including steve.

steve had finally asked sam out and she, of course, said yes. the two had officially become 'boyfriend and girlfriend', which is something sam never thought she would be able to say that about anybody just yet.

fortunately, her mother and step-father adored steve. it wasn't too surprising, since he was charming and her mother had no expectations of sam getting a boyfriend anytime soon. steve, however, was seemingly her favorite person in the world. she found him to be one of the most respectable boys in her grade.

max, of course, seemed to have gained more respect for steve. although, at first they didn't share much of a care in the world to know each other, after a while they began to bond. mainly over their fondness of sam.

sam now stood in max's room helping her pick out an outfit for hawkins middle school snowball. she pulled out a couple of options. none of which max liked, so sam and max switched into sam's closet.

"how about this one." sam said, pulling out one of her old sweaters. a sweater that sam remembered max loving.

"are you sure?" max asked, clearly wanting to wear the sweater.

"yes i'm sure." sam smiled, ushering the girl to change.

sam looked back into her mirror, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. her white sweater matching her converse, and her medium toned blue jeans complementing her green eyes.

she grabbed her car keys and a hair brush, meeting max in the bathroom to do her hair. their mother hovering around taking pictures of her girls.

"hey mom." sam spoke.

"yes." her mom answered, still taking pictures.

"will you go grab that...that thing." sam winked at her mom.

"oh yes." her mom, immediately walked into her shared room and back out into the bathroom.

in her hands was a clip. the same clip sam wore to her eighth grade dance.

"ow, ow! sam, that hurts." max scolded as the clip poked her scalp.

"it'll all be worth it. promise." her mother assured her.

"all done. do you like it?" sam asked, brushing her fingers through some loose strands of max's hair.

"yeah. thank you." max replied.

"see pretty." their mom spoke, to this max rolled her eyes.

their mom took over from there, beginning to pep-talk max, hand her some earrings, and other things. max and sam were halfway listening to everything their mom was saying.

billy passed by, out of the kitchen, pausing to look into the hallway at the girls. they both gave him the same look before turning back to listen to their mom.

"mom, we really have to go if max wants to get there at all." sam spoke.

"okay, alright. just a few pictures before you leave though." she insisted.

max groaned while sam laughed at the girl. their mother took lots of pictures. some of just max, some of max and sam, some with the three kids, some with neil, and some with her.

"mom, we really have to go. like right now." sam spoke opening the front door.

"okay. bye! have fun!" she smiled.

sam giggled as max ran into the warmth of sam's already running car. as she slowly made her way to pulling out of the driveway.

"you nervous?" sam asked, looking over at her sister.

"why would i be nervous? it's just a stupid dance." max responded.

"i don't know. maybe because lucas is gonna be there, dressed all nice." sam smirked.

"so will dustin, mike, and will." max added.

"but you don't like dustin, mike, and will like you like lucas." sam pointed out.

"hush." max ordered, causing both girls to chuckle.

the ride was mostly filled with whatever christmas music was playing on the radio, and occasional side conversations.

"you're here." sam said, parking.

"yep." max breathed out.

"have fun. i'll be here at pickup. you need to tell me everything afterwards okay." sam told the younger girl.

"i gotta go sam." max laughed, getting out of the car.

"bye. i love you." sam smiled.

a car pulling up behind her, gave her the cue to leave. as she looked behind, she noticed it was steve's car. she parked in an empty spot, before getting out and tapping on his window. scaring both steve and dustin, who sat in the passenger seat.

"hey what are you doing here?" steve asked.

"dropped max off. no need to ask why your here." sam laughed.

"dustin. looking good." sam winked.

"see i told you. now go slay 'em dead." steve said, ushering dustin out of the car.

"do you wanna go somewhere?" steve asked, as soon as dustin had gotten in fine.

"why not." sam chuckled, making her way to his passenger side.

END OF ACT ONE.