CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE.
4x06: The Dive

They'd been walking through the woods for so long that it was night now, and Sam didn't even want to know how many hours it had been. She was way too unathletic for this shit—her feet hurt, and she was so tired that she feared she would collapse in the next breath.

She was so tired that she was pretty sure she was hallucinating Eddie Munson hanging back just so he could talk to her.

"You know, Apollo-Zeus—"

"It's Sam," she grumbled, though it came out more as a growl this time.

"—the 'wanted criminal' life has really made me stop and think about the past," Eddie ignored Sam's complaint, throwing his arm over her shoulder despite her squirming and grimacing. "You know, back when I wasn't aware your small, little, adorable ass could be Zeus—"

"Sam!"

Eddie waved the hand around Sam's shoulder. "Gesundheit," he dismissed. "Anyways. You've got a lot of backstory to yourself, don't you, Zeus?"

"I'm—" Sam exhaled very sharply, trying not to lose her temper, "not going to keep entertaining you."

Eddie grinned, as if all previous statements had just been a test. He was so much taller than her, that Sam had to crane her head up to even see his smile.

"Your friends told me you don't hate anybody," Eddie cut to the chase amidst a horrible segue.

Sam pulled a face. "Okay?"

"But you hate me."

She just stared at him, a blank expression on her face.

"Why's that?" he finally asked.

Sam refrained an eye roll, knowing it wouldn't help her point. "I don't hate you. I mean, sure there are people I hate, but... you're not one of them."

What? Sam knew it was hard to believe, but it was true. Eddie was too irrelevant in Sam's life for her to hate. Sure, a part of her subconsciously blamed him for losing all her friends, and yes, she wasn't the happiest when Eddie pulled her party into his. But that wasn't hate.

It was just... mild dislike.

"You sound unsure," Eddie pointed out.

"I'm not un—" Sam threw her head back and groaned. "This is weird."

But Eddie didn't stop his badgering. "Ever since your first day of high school, when I tried rescuing from the depths of loneliness, you didn't want anything to do with me."

"I didn't want anything to do with your club," Sam corrected, finally giving him something to work with.

Eddie hummed, amused.

"Yet I hear you're quite the D&D fanatic. A Druid, am I right?"

Sam didn't like that he knew anything about her.

"...Yeah."

"Elemental powers, coincidentally. Into preserving the balance, nature, and... protecting your friends?"

For some reason, she felt a malicious urge to turn Eddie into the police.

"Something like that," she gritted out through clenched teeth.

Don't blame Sam. It was a known fact she hated feeling called out.

As an underlying tease, Eddie wondered, "So is Hellfire too freaky for the Druids, or...?"

"Look it's not about you, okay?" Sam finally snapped. "It never was. You being a freak is just a subsequent factor."

Eddie wiggled, so Sam underneath his arm was forced to do the same. "Ooh," and he was openly teasing now, "she knows big words."

"Shut up," Sam scoffed.

Eddie laughed.

"So if it's not me," he continued, "then what is it about?"

Sam didn't know if it was easier or harder to talk about her less-than-selfless feelings to a (for the most part) stranger. She actually didn't like talking about her deeper feelings at all, so it was a hard decision to make.

Sam sighed, finally calming down a little. "I'm... I'm already part of a party," she confessed. "We were already part of a party."

"You, Henderson, Wheeler, and Sinclair?" Eddie guessed.

"And Will," she added.

"Who?"

"Will."

"Who's—?"

"He's our friend," Sam cut him off, knowing Eddie was too slow to get it, and now knowing the boys hadn't even mentioned a whisper of Will to him. "He's our Cleric, and he's in our party, but... but he moved. And before he moved, he promised he wouldn't join another party."

Then Eddie realized the rest. "But no one else in the party did the same."

"No," Sam confirmed, sounding a little wounded. "They didn't. I don't get how they can play without Will, it's—it's not right! It's not right when we're not all doing it together."

Eddie looked down at her condescendingly. "Aw," he began ruffling her hair, "you're just a little softie, aren't you, Zeus?"

Sam began swatting him away with meeping protests. She got out from under the depths of his smelly armpit, glaring at him furiously—at least, it was furious by Sam Hughes standards. She remained a good distance away in case he tried anything again.

"And you wonder why you have so many people hunting you," Sam murmured, fixing the hair she could feel Eddie rubbed out of place. She crossed her arms, always closing in on herself these days.

Eddie inhaled a sharp breath at that. She'd accidentally stumbled upon a conversation that was deeper than she wanted to go.

"It looks like we have one thing in common," Eddie mused, though he didn't sound pleased. "Would you look at that?"

Sam laughed humorlessly.

"Would you look at that?" she echoed.

For the first time, in possibly ever, Sam and Eddie fell into a relative silence. She knew he was processing the whole hunted thing, because she was too. Here they were—real people—being hunted for crimes they didn't commit. Eddie was fucking on the run from the cops. It was all so insane that it sounded like information made up from a show.

"You know," Eddie spoke up again, because God forbid he stayed quiet for longer than a couple seconds, "I really am sorry that your ex-boyfriend and the girl he was possibly getting with the entire time he was with you want you dead, by the way."

Sam raised a suspicious eyebrow at him.

"How'd you know all that?"

Eddie shrugged.

"Word travels fast."

Sam's head was still craned up at him, staring a little longer in incredulity. Eddie looked to her, wondering why this short little blonde girl was watching him with such an analytical stare.

Eventually though, Sam laughed in disbelief. "You're a gossipy bitch," she realized, shaking her head in amusement.

Eddie snorted out a laugh of surprise at her abrupt statement; although, he took it with stride and shrugged, because Sam was right. He couldn't even try and deny it.

"And you're totally metal," Eddie said, and it took a lot for him to call someone that—especially little blonde chicks. "I didn't think you could be."

Sam thought she might be unable to deny that too.

"Dustin!"

Their conversation was ended by the sound of Auggie's voice, exclaiming fervently.

"Can you slow down?! DUSTIN!"

Sam and Eddie shared one last look before they were following their speedy friends. Apparently Dustin had found something, and now he was following that something so quickly that Auggie and Steve were muttering about getting a backpack leash for him.

Sam picked up the pace as everyone else did, jogging lightly and pushing past branches that were jutting out. She had to hop over a bush, shove one more branch away, but after she did, she was the last one to stumble upon where Dustin's compass was leading them.

Dustin whipped his head back to the group with an excited grin, though he was still running forward. "I think we're getting close!" he cheered, but he didn't account for the vast body of water he was heading towards.

Auggie grabbed him by the back of his collar before Dustin could fall in, stopping him in motion. "Watch your step, Curly."

He pulled Dustin into his chest, patting the boy's front to keep him stationary.

"Oh, man," Steve groaned, when he too spotted where they were.

Lover's Lake.

Dustin's compass had brought them to Lover's Lake.

"You gotta be shitting me."

"Yeah." Eddie frowned, sounding a little dead inside. "I thought these woods were familiar."

"Lover's Lake," Robin pointed out.

"This is... confounding," Dustin said, voice breathless and shocked.

"There's a Gate in Lover's Lake?" Max questioned.

Sam's hand that wasn't holding her flashlight moved up to clench at her chest when a fresh cold moved in.

"I think so," she admitted quietly.

"Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening," Nancy suddenly recalled, mind working hastily.

Sam's hand fisted the front of her shirt, before shakily letting go. "Vecna's the same way," she realized.

Auggie looked to Sam, then he threw his head back miserably.

"Oh, God, we've gotta check it out now, don't we?"

"Whatever Zeus says goes," Eddie muttered, passing Auggie up.

He began walking over to where he hid the dingy boat (rather poorly, might Sam add). Everyone stood around as he grabbed a tarp that just casually happened to be lying in the woods, yanking it to reveal the form of transportation he'd evaded Jason, Carrie, and Justin with last night.

It wasn't much, but it would do.

Eddie, Auggie, and Steve proceeded to band together and shove the boat back out on Lover's Lake so they could investigate further. Sam tried not to think about how, just twenty-four hours ago, Patrick McKinney died in this very spot. It was morbid and horrible.

"Here you go." Steve offered out a hand for Robin to take.

Unfortunately, Robin just placed her hands on both of Steve and Eddie's heads, using that to step on into the boat.

"Yeah, that works too," he muttered.

Eddie stood up to climb in after, and Steve held out another hand to try and offer aid, but was ignored again. Nancy stepped forward next, and Steve's hand went up again, but he put it down passive aggressively when Eddie was the one who helped her in.

Auggie followed her, and Steve tried offering his hand a fourth time. This time, Auggie pretended he was about to take it, but yanked his hand away and hopped into the boat right after. The force caused water to splash onto Steve, and Auggie laughed, terribly amused.

"Oh, very funny, Smiths. Yeah, thanks for that!" he snapped, shaking off the water from his hand.

Auggie sent him a careless wink right back, and Steve rolled his eyes to hide the rising smile.

After Auggie, Dustin tried getting into the boat with an eager smile. Before he could even take a step though, Eddie pushed him on the chest and he stumbled back.

"Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us?"

Dustin retracted, sharing an exasperated and offended look with Sam.

"This thing holds four people tops, okay?" Eddie finished, Dustin's frown growing.

Eddie didn't care much for Dustin's breaking heart, as he walked towards the front of the boat away from Dustin.

Nancy looked apologetically to him and Sam. "It's better this way, okay?" she said. "You guys stay here with Max."

"As much as I love Max," Sam started, "I would love it even more to maybe—oh, I don't know—find the Gate and stop Vecna so that I could actually help her?"

Auggie rolled his eyes. "Dude, come on. Just keep an eye out for trouble."

"You keep an eye out!" Dustin glared. "It's my goddamn theory! And she's the only one who can save your asses if anything happens!"

None of the older teens were deterred, staring at Sam and Dustin with unimpressed faces.

"You heard Nancy," Robin dismissed.

Dustin gestured incredulously. "Who put her in charge?!"

"I did."

Sam crossed her arms, anxiety rising. "I don't like this idea," she protested. "I should be there with you. What if something happens to you guys? What if you get hurt?"

"Sam, come on," Nancy tried soothing. "We're just going for a little boat ride, okay? We'll be fine."

"Oh, like 'It's A Small World' where they kill you in your sleep?" Sam challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Robin's face wrenched up in confusion. "I don't... think you've actually been to Disney."

"No, I haven't! But still!"

"Sam," Nancy said.

Sam groaned, head throwing back in an admission that said she knew this was a losing battle for her. Dustin pat Sam on the shoulder empathetically, glaring at the older teens like they'd just upset his child.

Nancy didn't care much for his look. She stepped closer to Dustin with a victorious look, holding out a firm hand.

"Compass."

Dustin's eyes narrowed, although eventually, he pulled the compass from his hoodie pocket and placed it into Nancy's awaiting hand.

Nancy sent him a smart-ass grin before she walked back to the middle of the boat. She took a seat next to Eddie while Auggie was sitting next to Robin.

Steve stood up and chucked Dustin's backpack at him. "Hey, there you go."

"Ow," Dustin muttered quietly, only being heard by Sam, Lucas, and Max.

Steve began pushing the boat for the group of four to start off on the journey. But, catching them completely by surprise, he hopped into the boat with them. Sam watched the old metal wobble hazardously with his weight, and she and Dustin immediately broke out into protests.

"You said four!"

"Dude! Not cool!"

Steve shrugged and faced them, but there was no hint of guilt in his eyes. "Sorry," he whispered, before sending the two an unapologetic shrug.

Eddie and Auggie began paddling the boat further away, and their boat slowly began a silhouette consumed by the fog until Sam couldn't spot them anymore.

The only sign of life she had was the voice of Robin's taunting voice, shouting, "Bedtime at nine, kiddos! Miss you already!"

Dustin glared furiously, throwing all five of them the middle finger. Sam wrapped her arms, hands moving up and down her biceps in attempt to provide herself some semblance of comfort.

"Fine," she muttered under voice passive aggressively. "If they want to get themselves killed, fine. I'm done failing to try and help."

Sam turned on her heel and began stalking off to the left. The sudden mood change had Lucas's eyes widening in worry, and while Max and Dustin started talking about what they were going to do while they waited for the other group's return, Lucas was jogging after her.

"Sam?" he asked.

But Sam continued walking away, shoulders tense.

"Sam. Sam, you good?"

"I'm good," she dismissed.

"Sam." Lucas kept up the pace as he followed her quickly. "Hey, can you look at me? Sam? Are you good?"

"I'm fine!" Sam snapped.

She whipped around to face him, stopping her marching to stare at him with eyes that read the opposite of fine. Her fists were curled, and her body language was coiled, ready to spring.

Lucas's gaze softened.

Quieter, he muttered, "Are you okay?"

"I'm—" she tried again, but she felt caught like a deer in headlights under his gaze.

She began calming down the longer she stared into his eyes. Her shoulders were slowly dropping.

"I'm okay." She nodded softly, before shaking her head. "Sorry. I know they're probably going to be fine. I just thought... You know, I thought I could control this."

He tiled his head, confused but wanting to understand. "Control it?"

Sam shrugged cluelessly, not truly knowing herself. "I don't know," she huffed. "Everything in my life is just going to shit, and I don't know. I can't even keep a few boat-riders safe, how am I going to keep you safe?"

"Sam, you don't have to worry about me—"

"But I do, Lucas!" Sam cut him off, expression desperate and voice squeezing his heart. "You worry about me too, and that's just what we do. I've never been able to help it," she admitted. "And I worry about you, and I worry about Max, and I worry about everyone, and now..." She swallowed harshly. "Look where that got me. Justin wants me dead. How am I supposed to be okay with that?"

Lucas's eyes saddened, or maybe Sam was just feeling all the poignant emotion radiating from him. It was a certain type of concern that Sam only noted when his gaze was on her, when Sam said something mildly worrying about her well-being that she probably shouldn't have said.

He shook his head firmly. "You're not, Sam. It's not okay. He is not okay."

"I just—I feel like I knew that, but," she scoffed, but it just sounded wet, "wanting me dead?"

"He never knew you," Lucas stated furiously, with the upmost confidence. "We've already been over that."

Then, with even more confidence, he abruptly placed his hand on Sam's shoulder, his grip firm on her.

"And we're going to figure all of this out, okay? We're going to kick Vecna's ass, and then Justin's, and then anyone else who's ever hurt you, because they suck. They just fucking suck." He promised, "You're going to be okay."

Sam hadn't felt that was possible in a long while.

She sniffled, a soft notion. Her hand found the golden B necklace.

You know. A lot of people get you wrong, Samantha Hughes. I think I have. I think you do.

I don't know what that means.

No. You wouldn't.

Sam's fists finally unfurled. The red crescent marks receded.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

The group of five was slowly making their way across Lover's Lake. Auggie had passed his paddle to Steve long ago, too unathletic to get them a few feet. They rode in relative silence—Nancy directing, Steve and Eddie paddling, and Auggie and Robin content with not having to do anything.

Nancy's eyes widened on the compass when she spotted something peculiar. "Woah, woah, woah, woah, slow down. Slow down, guys" she said.

They immediately stopped paddling, listening to Nancy's request. Auggie peered over Nancy's shoulder, shining his flashlight down on her and wondering what had her so urgent.

The compass, in question, was whirring around like mad. It was making a tiny, flickering noise as it flittered in circles, unable to choose a northern direction.

"Woah," Steve muttered, peering over Nancy's other shoulder.

Over by the shore, Lucas was checking on the group of five through his binoculars. He knew how worried Sam was about them, so he promised he'd keep a close eye.

"Woah, woah, wait," Lucas said, gaining the attention of Sam, Dustin, and Max, who were trying to skip rocks. "They're stopping. What are they stopping for?"

Dustin clicked on his walkie, asked, "Guys, what's going on...? Come on, guys, talk to me. What's going on?"

"Uh, Dustin," Robin's startled voice crackled through the speaker, "your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital AaAaHh!"

"What the hell does that mean?" Max asked.

Sam let out a shaky exhale. "They found the Gate."

And so back in the boat, Steve had begun taking his shoes and socks off without any heads up.

"Steve, what are you doing?" Auggie questioned, although a part of him knew, and that was the reason he sounded so concerned.

Steve continued slipping his socks off. "Somebody's gotta go down and check this shit out. Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then... it's gotta be me. No complaints, alright?"

"I have many complaints," Auggie protested.

Steve scoffed, albeit fondly. "I don't think radio and movie expertise are gonna help you here, Smiths."

"I don't think stupidity will help you."

"Auggie," Steve said, softer, and Auggie was listening now. "Just let me go, okay? I'll be fine."

Auggie could feel everyone's burning stares at the two. He was thankful it was so dark out, because they couldn't note how flushed he was at the earnestness of their little moment. He grumbled in annoyance to cover up affection.

"Fine."

Satisfied, Steve stood up in the boat, preparing to jump in. While he did that, Eddie huffed.

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Eddie interjected. "I do not wanna go down there."

From the inside of his leather jacket, Eddie pulled out a plastic grocery bag. He emptied it and began stuffing the flashlight inside, so Steve could take the flashlight under water alongside himself without the electronic getting ruined. Auggie was paying absolutely no attention to confirm that theory however, because Steve was taking his shirt off right in front of him.

Auggie's eyes were glued onto the sight.

Nancy and Robin's eyes were glued onto Auggie, sharing amused smiles.

Lucas's eyes felt permanently scarred.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust from the shore. "Ugh," he groaned. "When'd Steve get so hairy?"

"Right?!" Dustin exclaimed. "I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle, but he claims the ladies 'dig it.'"

Sam shook her head, arms crossed. "The ladies definitely do not 'dig it.'"

Proving Sam wrong though, Max stepped up to Lucas from behind. "Let me see," she said.

Max stole the binoculars from Lucas before he could even move—"What?"—and looked out into them for herself. The other kids exchanged puzzled and bewildered looks as they stood in an awkward silence.

Max didn't stop staring for an awfully long time.

Back in the boat, Eddie was still fumbling with the illuminated flashlight and plastic big, waterproofing it for Steve. Auggie was shamelessly still staring at the shirtless Steve; luckily, Steve was turned away and couldn't notice.

"Here," Eddie muttered when he finished making his contraption.

Steve turned around, and Auggie quickly turned his head in the opposite direction so as to not seem suspicious. He took the bagged flashlight from Eddie with a nod.

"Good luck," Eddie finished quietly.

"Thanks," Steve breathed. He tossed Eddie his yellow sweater that he no longer wore.

Eddie nodded back at Steve before he tossed Steve's sweater to Auggie.

"Here, you probably could probably find a better use to this," he told Auggie with a wink. Auggie's nose scrunched in disgust at the insinuation.

Steve was breathing steadily, one foot up on the wall of the boat. The boat rocked a little as he did, and they all knew he was mentally preparing himself to jump in.

"Uh—Steve?" Auggie blurted before he could stop himself.

Steve looked around and down again, staring into Auggie's fucking soul with his eyes. Auggie swallowed, but he didn't falter in meeting his gaze.

"Be careful," he whispered.

Auggie smiled at Steve, so small that only the older boy could see it. Steve grinned and nodded right back.

Then Steve took the leap of faith.

He plunged into the lake with an expert dive that was, admittedly, impressive; unfortunately though, the remaining four in the boat got splashed by the water that shot up when Steve actually did.

But no one even had the hearts to complain right now. Steve was there, under the water, and all they could do was wait for him to resurface. A million thoughts ran through Auggie's head—concern, attraction, fear, and something a little stronger than that.

The group on the shore was silent too.

Until Dustin, that was.

"You guys realize," he said with an impish grin, "if there's a Gate down there, it's technically a water Gate."

He beamed at the four, who blinked back at him. An owl hooted to fill the blank silence.

"Watergate!"

Sam couldn't hold it in for much longer. A laugh bubbled out of her at the play on words, and Dustin let out a cheeky little giggle. She had to admit, it was funny, even if Lucas and Max looked absolutely unamused.

Back at the boat group however, shit wasn't as funny. Auggie inhaled shakily as the tense silence became enough to drown him instead of Steve.

"Where are we at, Wheeler?" Robin broke the quiet.

Nancy was timing Steve's duration under water on her watch. Unlike Eddie's, hers hadn't been destroyed by any type of water-to-electricity ratio.

"Closing in on a minute," Nancy answered, sounding worried too. Her eyes were glued onto the water where Steve had disappeared last—Auggie, on the other hand, couldn't bring himself to look there.

"Okay," Robin squeaked, letting out a concerned puff of air.

And, yes, Steve drowning was quite a big issue at hand. Sam believed that would be their biggest issue of the night.

But she heard indistinct radio and chatter from behind her. She noted bright lights shining onto their backs.

"Shit!" Lucas cursed, hissing. "Get down, down!"

They all dived behind a tree that had fallen, its trunk big enough to hide under—well, three of them dived. Lucas had wrenched an arm around Sam before she could shoot down. Together, they hid, and Sam could feel his arm curling around her waist; he had Sam under his hold, pressing both of them into the tree.

Sam's breathing was fragile. She turned her head to look at Lucas, a little surprised, only to find out they were much closer than she expected them to be.

He was looking at her too. She could feel his startled breath on her face.

"It was on the shoreline!" Sam heard an officer shout, and his voice was getting closer to where they were.

The boat, she realized. The boat was on the shoreline.

The chief's men were heading towards where they were. They were going to find the group on the boat. They were going to find Eddie.

Aforementioned group on the boat was oblivious to this though.

No one had spoken since Robin did. It was horrible, heart-crushing silence. The longer it went on, the more Auggie's mind whirled. A part of him feared Steve's body would float back up, but it wouldn't be conscious—

Something was shooting out of the water, splashing them and making the water gush loudly. Auggie yelped in fear, and the four teenagers flinched back at the jumpscare. Eddie flew back so hard he almost flipped the boat.

Auggie calmed when he saw that it was just Steve, alive and well.

"OH, CHRIST!" Eddie cursed incredulously—de didn't commune in Auggie's light heart, annoyed at Steve for spooking them all.

Steve gasped for air, spluttering out water as he continued paddling to stay above the water.

"I found it," he announced.

"You found it?!" Nancy repeated.

Steve swam towards the boat, using his hand gripping the rim to keep himself afloat.

"I found it," he confirmed. "Yeah. I found it."

Steve panted, still trying to find air. Auggie smiled down at him with the brightest grin he'd shown anyone in the vicinity yet. Robin clicked on her walkie, said, "Dustin, you and Specks are goddamn Einsteins. Steve found the Gate—"

Dustin cursed viciously, turning his walkie all the way off. Sirens wailed in the distance, and Sam prayed to God that the cops hadn't heard Dustin's walkie go off. She was breathing shakily, facing the log with Lucas's arm still around her waist.

She, Lucas, Max, and Dustin peered over the fallen tree they hid behind, checking to see if anyone had heard.

"Cops," Max whispered, seeing men holding flashlights and clad in blue uniforms.

"Shit, shit, shit."

Lucas shook his head, and Sam felt his hand flex. "We can't let them find Eddie."

Max went silent, looking between her friends and the cops in a contemplative manner that reminded Sam a lot of her own scheming face—as the party had dubbed it. For a second, she wondered if she was a bad influence on Max, right before Max confirmed her worry.

"Stay with me," she advised, rising up from behind the tree.

Then, Max began to scream and flail her arms around.

"HEY, OFFICERS!" Max yelled, causing the hiding three to send her wide eyes of incredulous panic and utter terror. They all hissed for her to shut up, but— "OVER HERE! I FOUND THE KILLER! THIS WAY!"

Max broke out into a run then, off to the right.

"Shit!" Sam cursed, realizing she'd have to do more running.

Lucas and Dustin began scrambling to stand up too. They were just as panicked and cursing as much as Sam was. They all ran, following after wherever the hell Max was going.

Again, the group back at the boat was still absolutely oblivious to what was going on.

"It was pretty wild," Steve told them what he'd discovered under the water. "It's more a snack-size Gate than the Mama Gate, but still, it's pretty damn big."

Just then, Steve was just suddenly tugged under the water. Both his hands gripped the rim of the metal boat out of instinctive panic. It happened so fast that Auggie didn't even realize something was happening.

Steve's head popped back up from underneath the water, a perplexed face on his features.

Auggie panted, "Dude, are you oka—STEVE!"

Before they knew it, Steve was properly yanked underneath the water this time. Auggie, Nancy, Eddie, and Robin all yelled as Steve disappeared against his own volition. They all called after him, panicking, but Steve didn't return this time.

"STEVE!"

"HARRINGTON, SHIT!"

"NO, NO, NO, NO!"

"STEVE! STEVE!"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, MAN?!" Eddie cried.

Auggie grabbed Nancy's arm hastily, his instinctive fear working him through something he couldn't even understand. "Nancy, really, what happened?!"

Nancy was shaking her head back and forth, panicking just like the rest of them. She was thinking out a plan for the to execute.

Auggie didn't have time to think.

He jumped into the water right after Steve.

He took the leap of faith.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Published: January 24, 2024
Re-published: October 30, 2025

BAILEY YAPS...

What's funny to me is that Eddie fans made me so annoyed by Eddie, but then I started writing this story, and The Long Game goblins wrote through my fingers making me give him and Sam a dynamic. Which literally matches Eddie and Sam's relationship perfectly, because Sam starts off so annoyed by Eddie.

They're just so hilarious like this disgruntled freshman is being harassed by this annoying idiot and she is THIS CLOSE from throttling him and he is stinky. But is she also gonna get a little vulnerable with him ?? Yeah

I kinda love when Sam gets a little mean and moody and snappy because yeah girl I'd be pissed the fuck off if I had your life too. But, at the same time, I also love how much she resists her capacity for cruelty. Like yeah she knows she can be a spiteful individual, but she fights being one every day

But also she deserves to snap a little

Duality

Anyway

This wasn't my original intention when I wrote it, but that Hughclair scene where Lucas tells Sam she doesn't have to worry about him, and Sam argues that she DOES—it immediately reminded me of Season 1 Chapter 5, where Sam and Lucas are walking on the abandoned railroad track. Sam tells Lucas he doesn't have to worry about her, and Lucas argues that he DOES

Shoutout to Auggie being a gay idiotic disaster who everyone clocks