CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.
3x01: Suzie, Do You Copy?

Sam Hughes would like to say she was a patient person—very patient, in fact. When her friends needed time, she gave them both that and space for them to accomplish what they needed first. She didn't like pestering them in fear they'd just feel attacked or cornered. So, yes, Sam would say she was a patient person.

Or she usually was when Mike Wheeler wasn't involved.

Don't get Sam wrong, she loved her best friend. But recently Mike was getting a little... frustrating to handle, for lack of better words. Not only was he late every single time the group wanted to hang out, but he was late because he was making out with El, his new girlfriend. Again, Sam loved them both; she shouldn't have a problem with their rather codependent relationship that was a little too obsessive to seem genuine.

But, well, she had eyes. And Sam would also like to say she was a good cousin. So when Corey Gray looked absolutely distraught every time Mike appeared late, breathless and hair messy, Sam honestly cared about that more than a little relationship. A relationship that, honestly, Sam was sure wasn't real, but Corey was too stubborn to listen to her reasoning.

It was all really difficult for Sam, because she was close with both boys. She didn't want to put herself in the middle of their issues, but Mike had already once called out Sam's unhealthy urges to help. She felt if she didn't help them resolve whatever was going on, she was useless and both of them would be in pain for eternity.

That might have been dramatic, but after everything they'd been through, it was better to be prepared.

Anyway. The whole point was that Mike was late again, and nobody was surprised.

"Can't we just go without him?" Max groaned, throwing her head on Sam's shoulder dramatically.

Lucas and Will nodded, wanting to go inside before it was too late, but Sam pat Max's head in comfort and shook her own in denial. "Just wait a little longer, guys. He'll be here."

"You have too much faith in him," Lucas grumbled. "Among others."

Sam shot a glare Lucas's way. "And what does that mean?"

Luckily Mike showed up just before Lucas could respond. He rushed to put his bike on the rack, his friends walking up to him with annoyed looks on their faces.

Besides Sam, who cheered, "Hi, Mike!"

"Hey, Sam." Mike sent a little fond grin. Then, immediately, "Where's Corey? Is he not coming? Why isn't he coming?"

Sam huffed a little at Mike's badgering, but it wasn't that funny, or else Corey would be here right now. "Chill out, he's just working."

Since turning fifteen, Corey was required to find a job, because that was the rule in the Gray-Hughes household. Corey's choice of work was found at Josephine Foster's father's auto-repair shop (Fostering and Repair). Since Jo was one of Stephanie's best friends, Stephanie landed him the job. Apparently Corey's calling was fixing cars, because he actually loved doing it.

That's why he'd totally coincidentally been scheduled to work right now, when he was supposed to be hanging out with Mike.

"He's always working," Mike muttered. He deflated a little, which didn't go unnoticed by Sam.

Everything was a mess.

Lucas walked up to him with folded arms and a scowl, not letting Mike off the hook. "You're late. Again."

"Sorry," Mike dismissed, not really seeming to care.

Will frowned, worried. "We're gonna miss the opening."

"Yeah, if you guys keep whining about it," Mike said, rushing for the mall doors. "Let's go!"

"If you guys keep whining about it. Nyeh-nyeh-nyeh," Lucas mocked, and Mike sneered, pushing Lucas to follow him.

They all walked inside Starcourt Mall in a fast pace. So fast, Sam didn't even have time to take in the flamboyance and brightness of it all. The mall was the newest and hottest thing in Hawkins—it was large and, ever since summer started, every kid in town was always here. It had everything anyone needed: food, games, movies, shopping. You name it, and Starcourt had it.

The downside was that the large corporation of the mall was putting smaller stores out of business, but none of Sam's friends cared much when she tried speaking on the topic.

"Let me guess," Lucas began, making kissy noises, "you were 'busy.'"

Mike rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Oh, yeah, real mature, Lucas."

"Oh, El! I wish we could make out forever and never hang out with any of our friends!" Lucas mocked as Will laughed.

Max saw Sam was getting upset again—always worried the Party was falling apart in her hands—so she warned, "Lucas, stop."

"Will thinks it's funny," Lucas defended himself, gesturing lazily towards the sound of Will's laughter.

"Because it is," Will said through his giggles.

Sam sighed. "Come on, guys, stop. Can we just have a good time?"

Lucas rolled his eyes, another tease falling silent on his lips. Will quit laughing, sending her a half-hearted shrug.

"Sorry, Sam."

"Sorry, Sam," Lucas and Mike echoed.

Sam smiled, pleased. Max sent Sam an amused look, barking out a laugh as she had everyone in the party wrapped around her finger.

"Thank you," Sam cheered, mood rising. She got in front of them all to lead them towards their destination in the fastest way possible. "Now, come on!"

The party rushed down the escalators, pushing by a bunch of people.

"Excuse us! Sorry! Totally my fault!" Sam apologized.

"Sorry!" they kept saying, finally getting off. Their speed had them bumping into a group of girls.

"Hey, watch it!" one of them spat as Mike pushed past her, the two girls behind her following suit with shouts of annoyance.

"Yeah, watch it, nerds!" Erica Sinclair called from where she was sat with a group of her friends on the bench, snarling at her brother in distaste.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" Lucas scoffed.

"Isn't it time you died?" Erica spat.

"Psycho!"

"Butthead!"

"Mallrat!"

"Fart-face!"

When Lucas ran out of things to say, he frowned and blew a raspberry at his sister. Sam grabbed the bend of Lucas's elbow, pulling him away.

"Oh, now that was mature," Sam said, bringing his attention off Erica.

Finally, they'd made it to the place they'd been speeding towards: Scoops Ahoy, ice cream shop.

Sam dragged Lucas past a familiar Hispanic boy by himself in a booth—she was pretty sure he'd been in here every time she'd come. They ended up at the front counter, all five kids with expectant faces. Robin Buckley leaned on the counter, just like she did every time they came.

"Hey, Robin!" Sam greeted, beaming. She always got excited every time she caught Robin working; after their interactions, she would go back home to Stephanie and tell her sister all about it.

(Robin was, of course, the girl Stephanie's had a crush on since the seventh grade. It was perfect luck that Robin ended up working here, in Sam's opinion.)

"Hi, Goldie," Robin said less enthusiastically, sending Sam that suspicious look she always sent her, perpetually convinced she was up to something.

Sam's face even got more mischievous, which freaked Robin out increasingly more.

Their interaction was cut short though, by Mike starting to ring the bell rapidly. It annoyed Robin and made Sam remember what they were actually here for.

Robin turned her gaze to the back room behind her with the roll of her eyes."Hey, dingus, your children are here!"

The white slabs of paneled glass parted to reveal the frowning face of Steve Harrington, who leaned his elbows on the counter with a small huff of disapproval.

"Again? Seriously?"

Mike smirked, hitting the bell once again.

"Are you gonna let us through or not?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're lucky I even let you walk through the front door." Steve glared for a long moment, still begrudging. Somewhere, alone in a both, a boy was watching the interaction with a smile. Then, Steve let out a sigh and gestured to the door behind him. "Alright, hurry it up, you little cretins."

The party shared victorious grins as they were led into the back and towards the steel door hid away from the rest of the customers, for staff and delivery use only. They forced themselves through it once Steve gave the all-clear and began ushering them through.

"I swear, if anyone hears about this—"

"We're dead!" the party chimed in unison.

They'd heard him say it hundreds of times now, and it was getting old. He said it every time they needed to sneak around, which was a lot more than they'd admit, not even counting the times they hung out in pairs.

The group walked down the hallway, and when they reached a familiar door, Mike opened it first, peering his head out. He looked both ways before whispering, "All clear."

They rushed out and snuck into the theater room playing The Day of The Dead.

"See, Lucas, we made it," Mike told him as they all tried to find open seats.

"Sorry," Sam whispered to a couple she squeezed between. "I'm sorry!" she mumbled when she stepped on a middle-aged man's foot. "Sorry!"

"We missed the previews," Lucas hissed.

Lucas sat next to Will in the two spots that were open in that row. One row behind them sat Max and Mike, as there were also only two available seats there. Sam didn't care much, because one row behind them, there was one lone spot she had been aiming to sit in anyway.

When she sat in the vacant spot to the left of Justin Zimmerman, he didn't even seem to notice her at first. His head was turned to the right, talking to someone else Sam couldn't see due to the combination of the dark light of the theater and her horrible eyesight.

"Hey," she whispered, announcing her presence.

Justin's head whipped over at the sound of her voice, the corners of his lips quirking up at the sight. "Hughes. I was wondering when you'd show."

"Here I am," she said, grinning.

"You know, actually," Justin whispered in a playful tone, "I was just about to go and buy more popcorn. Wanna come with?"

Sam's grin turned into a smile. "Yeah, sure, I'd love to go get popcorn."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Justin locked the bathroom door before kissing Sam against it.

They were dating now, if that part wasn't obvious.

After the Snow Ball, Sam thought Justin was lost hope—that he liked Carrie, and Sam should give up before she embarrassed herself. But that night honestly should've been a hint he liked her back, because she was dumb enough to think he didn't reciprocate her feelings. On the last day of eighth grade, Justin finally mustered up the courage to ask Sam out, and they'd been dating since then. A little over a month, if anyone was counting.

Justin tried kissing Sam furiously, which only made her slam her head against the door uncomfortably, so she tried pushing him away. "Jay, we need to get back."

"I know," Justin said, but he was distracted and trying to kiss her again.

Sam indulged him for one second before she pushed him away finally. "Alright, Justin," she blurted. "The whole point we came here was to see the movie. Shouldn't we be doing that?"

Justin finally stopped pressing her, taking a moment to breathe and stare at her.

"I missed you," he confessed, and Sam's heart squeezed.

Sam tried to fight down a smile. "You just saw me."

"Yeah like, three days ago," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I feel like I don't see you anymore."

"Oh my God," Sam laughed, throwing her head back onto the door. "Are you listening to yourself? You're such a drama queen."

"You like it," Justin teased, dipping down to kiss her quickly.

Sam half-heartedly shoved him away again, but Justin took that hand and laced their fingers together.

"Maybe," she muttered.

Justin grinned in self-satisfied victory. "Now," he said, playing with her fingers. "When are we seeing each other next? Tomorrow?"

Sam rolled her eyes with a grin, though she couldn't deny her cheeks were flushed. Justin was just really clingy. She tried clearing her throat to seem unaffected.

"I already told you, I can't tomorrow," Sam said, because really, he should have known that already. "Dustin's coming back in town, remember?"

Justin looked confused at the mention of Dustin, and Sam knew then he'd already forgotten about this despite having being told three days ago. She found herself getting frustrated before remembering he just had shoddy memory like this.

"Right, yeah," he muttered absentmindedly so that Sam wouldn't get upset. "Science camp. Sorry." Then, "What about the day after that?"

Sam frowned apologetically at this. "I'm hanging out with Max that day."

Justin's face screwed up, and he did not look pleased. He unlaced their fingers and took one step away. "What do you have to do with him?"

Sam's face hardened, and her eyes narrowed at Justin. She didn't look pleased either.

"Max is a girl," she defended, "and she's my friend. I talk about her all the time—you should know that, Jay."

"Shit." Justin's eyes widened, and he grimaced to himself. "No—no, sorry, I knew that, I just—"

"Forgot?" Sam finished, raising an eyebrow.

Justin sighed, trying to come up with something that wouldn't make him look like a shitty boyfriend. "I know who Max is, Hughes. She's that redhead who you're best friends with. I'm sorry, my mind just went like, blank. I'm stupid, remember?"

Sam tilted her head at him. "First of all: stop talking so bad about yourself, you know I hate it. And second: you can't use that excuse every time you mess up."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Justin apologized, bending down to kiss Sam again. She stood there and let him, but not with much enthusiasm. "Come on, Hughes, you know I didn't mean to say that. Don't be like this."

Sam exhaled, deflating as her arms came down to her sides. She wasn't really that happy that Justin forgot Dustin's return date, and she was definitely not happy he'd forgotten who Max was, but she always felt bad about getting upset at him for it. She was certainly feeling bad now, essentially ruining their hangout with this issue. Their first hangout in three days.

"Okay, sorry," Sam managed finally, and Justin let out a relieved breath. "I'm being weird. I just... I don't know, I feel like you don't care about anything I talk about."

Justin scoffed, taking a step back. "Of course I do, are you joking?" Then, "Seriously, Hughes, stop being like this. You're just getting anxious again, alright? You know I care about you."

Sam didn't know anything. Once upon a time Justin had told Sam she was the most impossible person to understand, but sometimes she thought that was him instead of her. She wondered if he cared, or if he just cared about dating her—then she realized Justin was right about her anxiousness; there wasn't much of a difference between the two things. He cared about her, he wouldn't be telling her right now if he didn't.

Her lips quirked up in self-loathing, embarrassed by herself. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Hey," Justin whispered. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault you get worried like this. Just trust me, alright?"

Sam's face went serious again. Her eyebrows furrowed firmly. "I trust you," she said.

"Good," he said back softly. "Then everything's okay."

Everything was okay, and Justin placed a hand on her jaw. Everything was okay, and Justin guided her head to meet back with his in a kiss.

Everything was okay, but Sam hesitated to return the gesture.

Everything was okay, but there was a creeping, biting cold in her chest.

Everything was okay, but suddenly the power went out.

Sam and Justin broke apart in surprise, looking up at the darkness surrounding them.

"What the fuck?" Justin wondered while Sam's grip on him tightened.

"Something's not right," she worried. There was a returning, sinking feeling in her gut.

Justin felt Sam begin to shake, and his head whipped down to her, though he couldn't really see her. He shifted his grip so that one hand interlocked their fingers again and the other was free. He used that hand to unlock the bathroom door and walk them out into the hall.

The power was out everywhere—not just in the bathroom.

"A storm, do you think?" Justin pondered, wondering what could have caused a mall-wide power outage. When Sam didn't respond, when Sam just continued shaking, Justin squeezed her hand and pulled her close. "Hughes. Hey. Do you think it's a storm?"

Something felt wrong, wrong, wrong.

Sam shook her head, although Justin couldn't see it. "It's not supposed to rain today," she rasped. "I really don't think that's it."

"Then what is it?" Justin was asking, but his voice sounded muffled in her ears. Her face screwed up and Sam felt like she couldn't breathe. "Hey, Hughes, it's alright. You afraid of the dark or something?"

Sam could only shake her head again.

"I'm just asking what it is," he continued. "What do you think?"

Something was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong—

But then the power flipped back on as if everything was fine. The cold in Sam's chest lifted, but she could feel the ghost of how it shivered through her body.

"It's probably nothing," Sam lied.

And the couple went about their night, as if it was nothing.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

"I told you we were going to be late because of the damn casserole, Tony!" Diane Hughes laughed from the passenger seat. She held her husband's hand over the console as she gazed at him fondly.

He glanced back at her for a moment, smiling back at her. Anthony Hughes squeezed his wife's hand before responding, "We couldn't show up empty-handed! It's okay if we're late, darling."

Stephanie Hughes looked at her sister from the backseat. She pretended to gag, tongue sticking out and finger pointing at her open mouth. Sometimes their parents were so in love it was disgusting.

Samantha Hughes giggled at her sister's revulsion, although she thought her parents were rather adorable. In her lap sat the casserole her dad had baked, and was the reason they were running late for... for...

What were they going to again?

Sam's face screwed up in confusion. Why were they in the car? What were they late for? What were they all doing together?

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Diane turned her head back, looking at Sam with a frown.

"This... This isn't right," she muttered, looking around the car and out the window, growing more and more distressed. "This isn't right! What's going on?"

"Sammy, chill out," Stephanie laughed condescendingly, eyes wide as they looked at her. "What's going on with you?"

Her parents weren't supposed to be here. This car didn't exist anymore. Why was Sam fourteen? She hadn't seen her parents since...

Wait, when had Sam last seen her parents?

What was going on?

        Stars shining bright above you...

"Stop the car!" Sam began yelling desperately, tears in her eyes. "Please, Dad! DAD! STOP THE CAR!"

"Aw, Sammy," Anthony cooed. He was eerily calm. "What's the matter, kiddo? Are you feeling sick?"

"DAD, PLEASE! STOP THE CAR!" Sam was crying now, and she didn't know why, and she didn't know where she was.

        Night breezes seem to whisper, "I love you..."

"I love this song." Diane grinned at Anthony, as if their daughter wasn't screaming and crying in the background. "Remember when we danced to it back at—?"

"At Michael Zimmerman's party?" Anthony finished, barking out a laugh. "God, I was horrible at dancing."

        Birds singing in the sycamore trees...

"You were," Diane chuckled, very fond.

Sam screamed, cried, begged for someone to listen to her. "STOP! PLEASE STOP THE CAR! DAD!"

        Dream a little dream of me—

Out of nowhere, headlights sped straight for them. In the next second, it slammed right into the car and sent the Hughes family flying off the road. Sam and Stephanie yelled, bodies thrashing around like ragdolls.

The scene changed.

Sam and Stephanie were out of the car now. Both sisters were bleeding and hurt, badly. They stared at the car before them, completely flipped over. Near the driver's side, Anthony Hughes's head lolled out of the shattered window.

"Dad, wake up," Stephanie begged, cradling his bleeding head. She crouched before him, sobbing. "Please, Dad, wake up!"

Sam stood on the road, watching Stephanie cry for their father. Stephanie was begging him to wake up, but Sam knew. Sam knew he wouldn't.

"Steph," Sam sobbed, hand moving over her mouth to try and stifle her cries.

"What?!" Stephanie's head whipped around to glare at Sam through her teary eyes. Sam flinched back at the anger, and Stephanie stood up with a venomous look. "They're dead because of you, Sam! This is all your fault!"

Sam choked, taking a step back in surprise.

"W-wait. No, I—I tried to stop it! I tried—"

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Steph roared, and Sam cried harder. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

The scene changed.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Will roared. Sam jumped back with a gasp, running into the support beam behind her; she clutched the wood for some semblance of comfort. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Hopper was trying to keep Will still, arms wrapped around him tightly. He wanted to shut the boy up, but there was no way of doing that without Joyce shutting him up indefinitely. It hurt to hear this words come out of Will's mouth, and it hurt even more to see Sam's reaction to them.

"No—w-wait, no," Sam choked, shaking her head without realizing she was doing it. Everyone stared at her, and her vision grew blurry. "I—I-I didn't mean for any—any of this to happen," she cried, looking towards the other occupants of the shed, begging them to believe her. To forgive her. "I didn't want any of this to happen, I—I'm—I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry—"

"THIS IS HER FAULT! THIS IS HER FAULT! Let me GO! This is her fault!"

The scene changed.

Sam heard two voices. "It's gonna be okay," came a familiar voice. "Remember: Bob Newby, superhero."

Another voice cheered, "And Sam Hughes, sidekick!"

But when the scene faded in, it wasn't as happy as the two voices had sounded. They were in a hospital that was covered in blood, dead bodies everywhere. Sam and Bob looked to each other, terrified, the former holding a gun in her hands.

They didn't waste any time. Sam and Bob ran down the dark halls, Sam running as fast as her little legs could carry her. Her chest was on fire, her mind was on fire, her legs were on fire. Sam didn't breathe, she just ran.

She cocked the gun and turned back to the creature. She shot twice—but it barely had any effect on the Demogorgon dog. Her shoulders ached from the power of the handgun, but it didn't stop her from running. Bob pushed the last door open, held it, and waited. With the Demogorgon dog on her trail, Sam pushed her legs faster, right through the last door Bob had held open.

Bob slammed it shut behind them, locking it quickly and keeping the Demogorgon dog out.

Sam and Bob could hear the creature screeching from the other side, slamming into the door and trying to get through. It couldn't. They let out simultaneous breaths of relief, Bob pulling Sam into an unexpected but well-deserved hug. Sam accepted the hug gratefully, returning the embrace with her arms around him. She hadn't been hugged like this since her parents died.

"Bob! Sam!"

Hearing the voice of Joyce, Sam and Bob pulled away from each other. They turned around to see Joyce standing near the doors to the exit. They'd made it! They were actually going to make it out of here alive!

Bob smiled at Joyce, overcome by the fact they'd found each other.

But then his expression went slack with horror, eyes fixed somewhere behind Sam.

"SAM, WATCH O—"

She didn't catch the last word as she turned around, just barely seeing it before it hit her—

Sam cried out as a big gray something barreled through the hospital doors and into her, slamming her back into the ground hard.

There was a second where everything seemed to freeze. There was Bob and Joyce simultaneously yelling out in horror, and there was the Demogorgon dog, claws pressing her into the ground, gaping flower-shaped maw hovering right above her. This only lasted a second though, before everything came rushing back to real speed.

Sam finally remembered she was literally the only one in the lobby with a weapon in her hand. Through her panic, through her cries, Sam held the gun with two hands and just started fucking shooting like her life depended on it. Because it did.

But hot white pain shot through her side, and Sam screamed as the Demogorgon dog's teeth dug into her, clamping down and tearing the flesh with a sickening ripping sound that brought bile to Sam's throat. The gun clattered out of her hands, and Sam couldn't do anything about it.

Her shout was different this time. It was a sob, heavy and emotional, a beg for help.

Her hands came up uselessly to defend herself, gun lying somewhere to her right, but she couldn't move, couldn't do anything but get mauled by a—a fucking literal hellhound.

Sam was screaming in piercing pain, tears running down her face. She'd never screamed so loud in her life. I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die. She was so desperate that her dazed state had her begging the creature to get off.

"PLEASE! PLEASE STOP, I'M SORRY! I-I'M SORRY—" but she was cut off by a blood-curdling shriek that pushed past her lips and came straight from her gut. The sound was laced with pain and horror. The torture had become raw and consuming.

The next part happened in a blur. Suddenly, somehow, someone was tackling the monster in Sam's wake, forcing the creature off of her. The moment the force was no longer pinning Sam to the ground, she was flailing and kicking away, scrambling backwards. Her hands automatically shot to her side, pressing down, and her breaths came in heaving gasps. The pain felt like it was digging into every nerve in her body, and Sam grit her teeth, trying to blink away the colorful spots blossoming across her vision.

She was able to see who had sacrificed himself for her in a mess of blood tears.

"NO!" Sam reached for him. "BOB!"

Hopper was wrapping his arms around her. Sam tried to pull away as she shouted and cried.

"DON'T LEAVE HIM! NO!" she sobbed, fighting back.

"Sam!" yelled a voice, trying to wrench her away.

"STOP! BOB! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"

"Sam, wake up!" the voice wrapped their arms around Sam's waist and pulled.

Sam shot awake with a gasp, screaming and crying. She scrambled backwards, but there was a body behind her with their arms wrapped around as she thrashed. Blood poured from her nose as she cried, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Sam, it's just a dream!" Corey shouted, trying to calm Sam down. His back was against her headboard and she was leaned into him. She was curling up in his hold, as if they were five and six again, and grasping at the arms wrapped around her with her hands.

Sam continued to cry, mind still hazy. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean—I didn't want—"

"Sam!" Corey tried snapping her out of it. "You were dreaming! It was a nightmare! You're okay!"

Sam gasped in breaths, pulling down the defenses she had unknowingly forced around her mind, and held Corey's arms tighter. She still cried, but quieter this time as the tears streamed down her face.

"Corey, I—"

"Shh," Corey muttered. "You were just dreaming. It was just a dream. Everything's fine now. It was just a dream."

Or were dreams and reality slowly intertwining?

Sam wiped the blood from under her nose, not knowing the answer to that question.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

As if nothing happened the night prior, excitement crawled through Sam's veins. She pressed her back on the wall, biting her lower lip, trying to calm herself down. She was on her tippy toes, trying her hardest not to be seen.

The entire party save for Dustin hid in the Henderson household for a surprise to welcome him back. Dustin would finally be returning home from his month-long science summer camp. Sam had, of course, been very jealous she couldn't attend, but Aunt Kat was too afraid to let her. Ever since the... incident... last year, she had Sam on constant surveillance.

Nevertheless, Sam stood between Max and Lucas, a smile clear on her face as Max looked over at her with a bright grin. In order, they stood Max, Sam, Lucas, Will, Corey, Mike, and El. El, on the end, had her eyes closed and blood running down her nose as she made all of Dustin's toys come to life. The plan was to lead Dustin into his living room with the moving toys. Sam could tell everything was going accordingly when she spotted Dustin holding his can of Farah Fawcett's hairspray out the corner of her eye.

"This can't be happening," Dustin muttered to himself, "this is just a dream..."

When he successfully made it to the living room, Mike turned his head to Eleven and whispered, "Now!"

Eleven's eyes opened, and Sam heard all of Dustin's toys stop moving.

Each party member placed a noise maker in their mouth while Lucas unfurled the banner that read Welcome Home Dustin! (Sam and Will had made it themselves, and they were very proud of it, thank you very much) while Max led them into the foyer. Each of them came to a stop directly behind their friend as Max held her hand up in a silent countdown.

One... Two... Three—

They all blew into their noise makers, Sam and El pulling the strings on their party poppers to release a color explosion of confetti. All immediately leaped back though as Dustin turned and unleashed a terrified scream, spraying hairspray directly into Lucas's eyes.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Sam coughed out a laugh at the sound of Lucas's pained shriek, dropping her hands from where they'd pushed Corey and Mike away from the line of fire before holding back a gag at the smell of the hairspray.

"Jesus fuck, Dustin, hello to you too!" Corey coughed, waving a hand to try and rid of the hairspray's fumes.

Dustin faltered, canister falling at his feet as he surveyed them. His chest heaved, then he broke into a wide smile.

"Aw, you guys!"

"Help!" Lucas shrieked, digging his heels into his eyes as a girlish wail tore from his throat. "My eyes are burning! I'm going blind!"

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Sam felt bad that she was forcing Lucas's head underneath the stream of the sink's water, but she had to do it to rinse the hairspray from out his eyes. As Lucas muttered, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Sam frowned empathetically and apologized, "I'm sorry, Luke. Sorry. But you gotta keep rinsing."

Her hand was on his neck gently, watching Lucas try and relieve his eyes of the pain Dustin had forced upon them. She sort of wanted to be in Dustin's room, where he was showing everyone else the cool inventions he'd made at summer camp, but Sam could practically feel how much Lucas's eyes stung. As much of an asshole Lucas was being lately, she didn't want him in pain.

Lucas hissed, finally having enough of the water. His fingers pressed into his eye sockets as he rose up from the sink. Sam's hand on his neck fell, and she frowned at Lucas as he stood up straight.

"Better?" Sam wondered, hoping he was okay.

"Still stings," Lucas admitted, blinking rapidly when his hands left his face. Sam watched him slowly register his surroundings again, and his eyes narrowed on her. "You know, you don't have to be in here with me. I know you want to check out what Dustin made."

Sam huffed kindly. "Yeah, well, I also don't want you to go blind. Seems a little more important right now."

Lucas seemed only upset that Sam was keeping the conversation light-hearted. He rubbed his eyes again, but when his eyes connected with Sam's again, they weren't kind.

"Didn't know you thought I was important anymore," he mumbled.

Sam's face screwed up, taken aback and offended. "Excuse me?"

"I just think it's funny you were talking about wanting to have a good time with us yesterday, then you went missing with Zimmerman for 'popcorn,'" Lucas said scowling.

Sam stared at Lucas for a little longer. It felt like her heart had dropped in her chest. Making Justin upset, Sam could handle, at least a little bit, but she couldn't deal with Lucas acting that way. His words were mean, he was being cruel, and Sam didn't know what she did to deserve it all.

She tilted her head to the side incredulously. "What is wrong with you?"

Sam grabbed Lucas by the back of his head and shoved his face under the running sink water against, harsh this time. She kept his head there, essentially waterboarding him, ignoring Lucas's girlish shriek of pain. 

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

"I call it: The Forever Clock!" Dustin announced, showcasing a makeshift analog clock put together from popsicle sticks and soda can metal. "Powered by wind, very useful in the apocalypse."

Will accepted it from Dustin and smiled as he toyed at the mechanics of it, whirring the ride at the back of it for his own amusement and beaming as he watched the contraption come to life. Corey had to admit, he wished he and Sam switched places, because he didn't even care a little bit for Dustin's inventions, and it was very hard to try to.

"I give you: The Slammer." Dustin held out a thriving mechanic hammer towards El's face, and she leaned away, not seeming too impressed. Instead she just seemed terrified, and Dustin let out a dorky laugh. "Pretty neat, huh?"

Corey coughed awkwardly. Mike nudged him. Corey sent Mike a glare, and Mike looked away.

"This," Dustin picked up a heavy-seeming duffle bag, setting it on the floor with a grunt, "is my masterpiece."

As Dustin kneeled to the floor, Corey, Mike, Will, Max, and El crouched with him. Corey wondered what was in the bag.

"I would like you to meet," Dustin unzipped the zipper to reveal the contents inside, "Cerebro."

The six of them stared at an assortment of wires, metal rods, and rubber coils.

"What exactly are we looking at here?"

Max reached over Corey to thwack Mike over the head, scoffing as she gestured to the bag of mismatched objects. "Don't be stupid, Wheeler, it's obviously a... an... Hey, Dustin, what the hell is this?"

"An unassembled, one of a kind, battery-powered radio tower!"

"So... a HAM radio?"

"Corey," Will hissed. "Shh. Let him ramble."

"The Cadillac of HAM radios." Dustin grinned, undeterred by Corey or Mike. "This baby carries a crystal clear connection over vast distances."

They all stared back at him, still not comprehending.

Dustin deflated, looking down at Cerebro. "I wish Specks was in here. She'd freak out."

Admittedly, Corey agreed. If Sam was in here, she would freak out, compared to the people who were here that weren't freaking out. Experiencing that uncomfortable feeling of guilt again, Corey spoke up.

"No, we're freaking out too, Dustin!" Corey lied, ears turning red as he did so. "Just—you know—internally." Max, Mike, El, and Will looked at Corey in confusion, so the latter cleared his throat. "Um, like how far does Ceeb actually connect?"

Dustin brightened at Corey's forced care. "Dude, I'm talking North Pole to South! Isn't that cool? I can talk to my girlfriend whenever and wherever I choose."

"Girlfriend?!" they all chorused, a few frantic glances being shared between them.

Suddenly Corey was interested.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

"Wait, so her name is Suzie?"

"Suzie with a z. She's from Utah!"

"Girls go to science camp?"

"Dude. You're literally friends with Sam Hughes."

"Yeah! And Suzie does. She's a genius!"

"Is she cute?"

"Think Phoebe Cates, only hotter."

Sam glared at Lucas with her arms crossed, staring at him as he stuck his head under the sink all on his own. She was leaning back against a kitchen counter, silently sending him a disapproving look that made him regret his earlier words. That was why his head was under the sink—so he didn't have to make eye contact with Sam.

Although, Sam's face was falling as she saw all of her friends trail into the living room and head for the front door. Her arms fell and she straightened off the counter.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"We're going to talk to Dustin's girlfriend," Will said, amused, as everyone filed out of the house.

"Girlfriend?!" Sam and Lucas cried in unified bewilderment. They were so caught by shock that Lucas's head whipped up from the sink, and Sam forgot she was even upset with Lucas. They shared baffled eye contact as the front door closed, everyone leaving them behind.

The duo wasted no time in grabbing their bags and running after everyone eagerly.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Sam hadn't expected Dustin's girlfriend to be located at the top of the highest hill Hawkins had to offer. She thought Suzie would simply show up at Suzie's house, not require them to do extra physical labor she didn't have the endurance for.

Technically, the physical being of Suzie wasn't at the top of the hill. Lucas had thought that at first, but he was only led astray. In reality, Dustin had met a girl at science camp that he'd started dating. Also at camp, he'd created an ultimate HAM radio that could reach far, and Sam was freaking out in excitement. Dustin had found love and he'd made a cool ass invention! Despite how much the hiking sucked, Sam was desperate to see Cerebro and meet Suzie.

"I'm glad camp was good," Sam said to Dustin as they clambered a fair distance in front of their friends up the large hill. "Anything else cool that happened? What other kind of stuff did you make?"

Dustin grinned at Sam for a reason unbeknownst to her. "I knew you would care about what I did!"

"Well, duh," she said, because there wasn't a universe where she didn't care. "I'm so jealous you got to go, dude!"

"Yeah, I definitely wish you went. You would've loved it," Dustin rambled eagerly. "I made the coolest shit! Cerebro's definitely the best though. It took me and Suzie the whole month, but I bet you could've done it by yourself in like, a week."

Sam laughed nervously, looking away at the praise. "No way, Dustin. Don't sell yourself short."

"I'm just being honest," Dustin said, beaming unapologetically. "And I bet you and Suzie would get along great."

"You think?" Sam wondered, adjusting her bag strap on her shoulder now that she began to crimp tiredly.

Dustin shot her a pointed look. "You get along with everyone. I don't even want to imagine what it would be like if you were thrown into a room of girls who also liked science. You'd have an aneurysm."

Sam nudged him weakly with a genuine laugh this time. But she ultimately conceded with, "Probably," before moving the conversation along. "I'm excited for you about Suzie, by the way. What's she like?"

"She's the best," Dustin started his excited tangent. "I mean, she's a genius of course, but she also gets my jokes, you know? We just click. And she listens to me, and I listen to her, and you can feel how much we care for each other, and I... I don't know." He looked down a little timidly. "I didn't think anyone would ever see me like that. But Suzie does. And it's... nice."

Sam almost felt like her mind was transported elsewhere, like his words were making person connections of their won. Having Dustin describe his relationship like that was... a little disheartening. For reasons more than just Dustin's low self-esteem.

She tilted her head, looking up at Dustin with a kind smile.

"Hey, Dustin?" Sam nudged him to get his attention, and didn't speak again until he looked her way. "She sounds awesome," she said, "but you're awesome too. I'm glad Suzie sees that. She's lucky to have a great guy like you."

Dustin's face was immediately overtaken by a smile. He shifted his tired shoulders to fix the heavy bag on his bag. "Thanks, Specks."

"Any time," Sam said. She held out a hand, waiting for him to hit it.

With Dustin's hand that wasn't holding a duffle full of Cerebro, he returned Sam's high-five.

"I don't know why you still call me that," Sam admitted.

Dustin shot Sam an incredulous look, because, really, she should know this by now. "You'll always be Specks to me. Glasses or not."

Sam smiled at him softly and nudged him playfully; as much as she tried hating the nickname, she'd grown rather fond of it. It was something that tethered her to Dustin and made their friendship special. She thought the idea of it was cute.

"How's Zimmerman, by the way?" Dustin wondered casually. In the high-pitched teasing tone he always took on, he asked, "Is he dreammyyy?" with a shimmy of his shoulders.

And instead of pinning him down with an annoyed look, Sam just bit at her thumb nail. "He's fine," she said, shrugging, and it made Dustin's act fall. "I mean, I just saw him yesterday. It was fine."

"Oh, yeah," Dustin scoffed. "It sounds fine."

Sam sobered up her less-than-stellar behavior, forcing energy back into herself. "No, I mean—He is fine. We're fine—Great. We're doing great. I just... Sorry. The lights went off at Starcourt when we were together, and I think it creeped me out. Now I'm being weird. Ignore me."

"That's why you're being weird?" Dustin checked, sending a boy in the distance a glance too quick for Sam to notice. "No other reason? You're sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sam said very quickly. She tried not to think of kitchen sinks and burning eyes and angry slights. She tried not to look behind her. It was very hard when she heard the sound of her cousin's complaining voice—

"Dustin!" Corey called out tiredly. "Aren't we high enough?!"

"Cerebro works best at a hundred meters!"

"You know," Max heaved, sweating and craving water, "I'm pretty sure people in Utah have telephones."

"Yeah, but Suzie's Mormon."

"Oh, shit," Lucas hissed as everyone finally caught up to Sam and Dustin. "She doesn't have electricity?"

Sam rolled her eyes, keeping her head forward and not looking Lucas's way. Still, she couldn't help herself correcting him with, "That's the Amish, Sinclair."

"What are Mormons?" Will asked, confused.

"Super religious white people!" Dustin answered. "They have electricity and cars and stuff, but... since I'm not Mormon, her parents would never approve."

"Okay, but can't you just say you're Mormon over the phone?" Corey snapped. His hair was damp with sweat, and his back was flexing tiredly with the weight of the bag he was forced to carry. He hoped that Mike, behind him, wasn't disgusted.

"Come on, Core," Sam interjected optimistically. "This'll be cool. Do you realize how far this radio can reach? Imagine we accidentally intercept some like, secret code or something!"

"Secret code?" Lucas judged.

Sam shot Lucas an unamused look. "Or something. I was just joking, I didn't mean it."

"Hey, guys!"

Sam, Lucas, Corey, Max, Will, and Dustin turned to see that Mike and El were many feet behind them. They held hands, which sort of disgusted Sam in a way, because she knew they were both sweaty.

"This is fun and all, but, uh..." Mike tried to find the words, but he made eye contact with a vexed Corey, and all of the options ran from his brain.

"I have to go home," El supplied.

Mike remembered what the point of him speaking up had been, and he nodded slowly, signaling to his watch. Corey closed his eyes at their stupid excuse to go and make out in El's room. Totally gross... who even wanted that...

"We're almost there!" Dustin exclaimed.

Mike shrugged. "Sorry man, curfew!" he finished, turning around with his hands locked tightly with El's.

"Good luck." El smiled sweetly before turning around with her boyfriend, the two of them rushing back down the mountain.

Totally not jealous.

Sam put a hand on Corey's shoulder, nodding for him to look away. He was definitely being too obvious. She had to know.

"Curfew at 4:00?" Dustin questioned incredulously, glancing at his watch.

"They're lying," Lucas stated the obvious.

Will threw up an annoyed hand. "It's been like this all summer."

"It's romantic," Max argued, the only one who thought it so.

"It's gross," Corey scowled, finally turning his head away from where their bodies grew smaller.

"It's bullshit," Dustin spat. "I just got home."

Sam sighed, eyeing Mike and El suspiciously, then watched her sad friends empathetically. She tried cheering them up with, "Well, their loss, right?" With a newfound pep in her step, she started up the mountain with too much energy. "Onwards and upwards!"

"That's the spirit, Sam!" Dustin cheered, as everyone else groaned and threw their heads back tiredly. "Suzie awaits!"

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

"Made it," Dustin analyzed when they finally reached the top of the hill.

"Yeah, only took five hours," Max quipped, not pleased with the frizziness and wetness of her hair.

Sam threw her bag off of her back, ignoring the sound of metal clashing together and just collapsing onto the grass tiredly.

"Why couldn't we just play D&D?" Will breathed desperately, throwing the red bag holding Cerebro's antenna down.

"For once, I agree." Corey was bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breathing again.

"I'm so thirsty," Lucas panted. He desperately threw his bag off his back, and Sam snatched it when it reached the floor so she could use it as a pillow for her head. He quickly unscrewed their canteen of water and chugged it down to clear his dry throat.

Max stared at him, then up at Corey, then back at Lucas. She squinted her eyes in the sun, watching him gulp down the rest of the water.

"Did you seriously just drink the rest of our water?"

Lucas met Max's disapproving gaze dumbly. He spit some water back in the bottle before holding it out towards her. She shook her head with a glare and walked over to Sam while Lucas walked over to Dustin, Corey, and Will.

"Come on, Sam," Max said, trying to pull her up from the grass. "We still gotta put this shit together."

Sam groaned, burrowing her head into Lucas's bag, too tired to get back up.

Corey sighed, watching the sad sight of Max desperately attempting to get Sam up. After living with the girl for over three years, he knew what to do. He stopped helping Dustin, Will, and Lucas unpack Cerebro and walked over to the girls instead.

"Let's go, Sammy," Corey said.

He wrapped two hands around her left ankle and pulled.

"Corey Alan Gray!" Sam screeched, as he smeared her clothes along the dirt and grass.

He laughed in amusement down at his miserable, little cousin. Wiping his hands together, looking at Max, he said, "There you go."

"You're an asshole, Gray," Max said, before bending down to help Sam up.

"Thank you, Mayfield. It's the only thing I'm good at." He mock-bowed before going to help the boys set Cerebro up again.

It took them a good hour or so to assemble the entire thing, so long that the sun officially began to set. But after a few mishaps—including a pole or two rolling all the way back down the hill and falling chunks of metal nearly missing their heads—Cerebro was officially online.

Genius, Sam thought as they all stepped back to assess their craftsmanship, clapping Dustin on the shoulder with a proud grin. "Holy shit, Dustin!"

"Alright, are you guys ready to meet my love?"

"Of course we are!" Sam cheered, at the same time Corey deadpanned, "Your happiness is disgusting."

The group went quiet for a moment, blinking.

"I don't understand how you two are related," Will muttered.

"Beats me," Dustin exhaled. He plopped himself down in front of the radio and took the mic in his hands. With a smile on his face, he pressed down on the device. "Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

He was met with radio static hissing. And while Sam was just impressed that the thing worked, everyone else waited for Suzie to answer in unamusement.

"Uh, one sec," Dustin stammered, "she's probably... she's probably still there—Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

Corey let out a quiet sigh as the silence resumed, and Max and Lucas crossed their arms impatiently. Sam and Will shared frowning looks, only to be waved off as they all continued to watch Dustin.

"I'm sure she's there, it's just—maybe she's like, busy. It's around dinner time there... Suzie, do you copy? This is Dustin. Over."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Time had passed at a snail's pace. It took forever for the sun to fully set, and still, it had been pitch black outside for what felt like just as long. Sam lay down on the grass again with everyone else. Luckily, they weren't sweaty anymore, considering it was nighttime and cooler than it would be in the afternoon.

Her head lay on Max's stomach, and Will was lying right next to her with his head using Sam's bag as a pillow. Together, they hummed to the tune of "Beat It" by Michael Jackson as Sam stared at the stars and the full moon.

"Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man," Sam began to sing aloud as Will continued to hum.

Will laughed. He joined Sam in singing, "You wanna stay alive, better do what you can—so beat it! Just beat it!"

Sam and Will both sat up, the former leaving Max's torso. Sam played the air-guitar dramatically, and Max, Lucas, and Corey laughed in amusement as Sam and Will continued their performance. It might've been the most amusing thing this day, save for Lucas getting attacked by hairspray.

"You have to show them that you're really not scared! You're playin' with your life this ain't no truth or dare!" Will nodded as Sam continued her excellent playing of a totally imaginary guitar. "They'll kick you, then they'll beat you, then they'll tell you it's fair—so beat it! But you wanna be bad!"

The act they were putting on was much cooler than they actually were. Thankfully Max, Lucas, and Corey pretended to be their loving fanbase.

"Just beat it! Beat it! Beat it! Beat it! No one wants to be defeat—"

"Will you two stop it?!" Dustin called from where he still sat next to Cerebro. "I'm trying to contact Suzie!"

"Dustin! She's not there!" Max sat up, finally having enough now that Dustin was trying to ruin the only fun they were having.

"She's there, alright? She'll pick up!"

Will tilted his head at Dustin. "Maybe Cerebro doesn't work."

"Or maybe 'Suzie' doesn't exist," Lucas said, shooting Dustin an annoyed look.

"She exists!" Dustin's voice cracked, offended.

Lucas raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "She's a genius and she's hotter than Phoebe Cates? No girl is that perfect!"

Corey shared an incredulous look with Will and they both pursed their lips, settling in for the show.

Sam and Max wheeled around to face Lucas with almost identical faces. "Is that so?" Max asked, as they pinned Lucas down with looks.

"I mean, you guys are perfect—d—n—like, perfect in your own ways—your special—your own special ways—"

"So I'm not a genius?" Sam asked, at the same time Max questioned, "So I'm not hotter than Phoebe Cates?"

"I—I—" Lucas gaped, trying to think of what he could possibly say in this situation. "No, that's not what I meant—"

He was cut off as the girls broke out into snickers. Max shook her head, said, "Relax, we were teasing. Sam and I are obviously perfect, and Dustin is obviously lying!"

She rolled her eyes, standing to her feet and brushing her hands off on the back of her jean shorts, holding a hand for Sam to take.

"Come on, sunshine. Sleepover at mine?"

Sam blinked, then smiled. "Oh, okay!" She took Max's hand, letting herself be pulled up. "Core—"

"Yeah, I'll tell Mom. No worries."

Sam nodded gratefully, then she spun around for a moment, pulling Dustin for a hug. "I believe Suzie's real, and I'm glad you're back, Dustin. I've missed, you."

She pulled away to find Dustin grinning.

"I missed you too."

"See you around." Sam waved back at him, then ran down to catch up with Max.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Published: January 15, 2024
Re-published: October 30, 2025

BAILEY YAPS...

Hughclair nation (me) is taking a major loss today...

Who's responsible for this? (I am)

So um... Jaysam is a thing... How are we feeling...

STOP PLEASE DON'T HATE ME I HAVE A PLAN. JUST TRUST THE PROCESS AND ENJOY THE ANGST AND PINING COMING YOUR WAY THIS SEASON

There's a reason for everything. Flayedcrank always has something up her flayedsleeve

But this is the season of a Hughclair loss. Sorry.

On the bright side this is the season of a Colorwheel win!