𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐒

twenty-three

"sam!" the kids exclaimed as nancy sped off to the hawkins hospital. "what?" she asked. "what do you mean what? that was amazing! you were a total detective badass!" they cheered, as sam let out an airy laugh. "don't thank me yet, this is about to be a dead end or a whole new beginning to something we most definitely don't want to mess with." sam said.

they all nodded, facing back the way they were originally. "yeah, yeah, she's right." they all mumbled. "we're here. let's go." jonathan ordered, everyone quickly rushing in behind nancy.

the last time sam had been here was for steve's beat up face. he needed stitches from billy's blows. that was several months prior to this, same circumstances oddly enough.

"no, that is not mean. that is honest." the lady at the front desk said. "she won't find out. see, you're the only one who gon' tell...whoa, whoa, whoa! excuse me!" the clerk finally stopped her gossiping just in time to stop everyone from going back and seeing mrs. driscoll.

"where do you think you're going?" she asked. "oh, um...i was just going to visit my grandma again. and...and this...this is my family." nancy lied. "extended." lucas added. "i don't care who they are. you know the rules. two visitors at a time." she stated. "yeah, but-" nancy tired. "two!" she interrupted.

"girl, this child had lost her mind. she brought a whole zoo in here." the lady said, sitting back down. sam looked over to nancy and jonathan. "i'll stay here with the family, you go see grandma." sam winked, dragging everyone back to the waiting room.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

sam took this as an opportunity to finally sit and have a breath. a stress and anxiety free breath. a breath without the constant fear this week something bad was going to happen. at sam's relaxation, the kids took this as a moment to chill out too.

"sam? do you have 25 cents?" mike asked, lucas by his side. "yeah, here." sam smiled, grabbing the quarter out of her pocket. he went over to the vending machine and began punching in the keys.

"oh, come on, you piece of shit!" mike groaned.

"there you go complaining again." sam teased. lucas and mike ignoring her, beginning to hit and shake the machine. suddenly, all of the snacks burst out of their slots, falling to the bottom.

"thanks!" mike called over to eleven, who had been holding a magazine. cute, sam thought.

"dude, i think that was it." lucas mumbled, just loud enough for sam to hear as close as her seat was to them.

"that was what?" mike asked.

"the olive branch." lucas mumbled again. "the what?" mike said not following his thought.

"oh, my god. you're hopeless"

"okay, i'll distract max, get you an opening. and then talk to her. all right?" lucas offered.

"very sweet, lucas." sam smirked, earning a flustered stare from the boy.

sam watched as all the kids began to get along. to finally act like kids again. eating, playing games, talking, laughing, and it was actually enjoyable. it was like everything this week had just disappeared.

it was cute. it was relaxing. sam felt almost complete being the babysitter, but one thing was missing. steve. steve was missing. her partner in crime. she just hoped he was okay. that he was doing alright. having a good day, somewhere mind flayer free.