After the events that took place in July, the town had gained the attention of the nation, and at some point the world's, media. In the weeks that followed the Battle of Starcourt (which Mike and the rest of the Party was referring it to), the reporters and news crews decended on them like vultures to a corpse.
They held special segments, interviewed almost everybody in the town and followed them in the aftermath as the they tried to come to terms with how and why this happened...they even filmed the many funerals of those who lost their lives.
Jonathan had been right, they were using the lie of a ruptured gas line underneath the mall but with that explanation, came even more questiong. Between this, Will disappearance and the mysterious deaths of Barbara and Bob, people were starting to wonder how one small town could be so unlucky. Cursed.
It had gotten to the point where people, families with multiple generations, were upping and leaving.
And the Byers family was one of them.
With all that had happened; almost losing Will, losing Hopper, Joyce had understandably wanted to get the hell out. Samantha just wished that it wasn't California. And she was selfishly wishing that Jonathan didn't have to go too.
She's making her way through the empty living room, frowning at the lack of furniture, the absence of Will's drawings on the wall and when she reaches Jonathan's room, she hears Lucas and Max poking fun at Dustin and his girlfriend's impromptu radio concert - something they had missed because they were running for their lives but they had been assured that it had been incredibly funny.
Jonathan's stood in his almost empty room. All that was really left to be put in his car was a couple of boxes of tapes and a bunch of photographs.
She leans against the door, staying silent until he realises that she's there himself, wanting to give him his moment.
"Seventeen years of my life," he speaks quietly, startling her, "Packed up in one day."
Samantha crosses the room, pressing her lips to the fabric of his shirt, squeezing her eyes closed so she doesn't start crying.
"What is we hide?" she starts and he turns his head slightly, "Now that your stuff is out, I'm sure we could both fit in your closet."
His laugh disturbs the hairs on top of her head, "I think the new owners might kick us out when they find us."
She wraps his arms around his left one, resting her head on his shoulder, "What if we sneak you into my basement?"
"I'm sure your dad would love that."
She can't help but giggle. It was a known fact that her dad wasn't Jonathan's biggest fan these days. He was absolutely convinced that since she'd been hospitalised twice in the time they'd been dating, that it was somehow his fault.
It was Samantha's turn to look around his room now, eyes burning as she recalls all of the time she's spent here; listening to the mixtapes he'd made for her, making out when his mom and brother weren't around...the morning's she'd wake up beside him after spending the night.
Hearing her sniffles, Jonathan is quickk to wrap her back up in his arms, lips pressed against her forehead.
"I'll miss you," she chokes and his arms tighten around her.
"I'll miss you too," his words are mumbled against her forehead, "But it won't be long till you come visit."
She nods, it was only three months until Christmas and her parents (well, her mom) had agreed that she could travel to California to spend it with him and his family.
They look to the doorway when Will knocks on the wood, giving them a sad look when he sees Samantha's tears, "Mom says we're pretty much done out here. Are you ready?"
Jonathan nods as she hides her face in his chest, looking at his brother, "Be there in a minute."
Will nods and leaves them be.
"Samantha?" he whispers, letting out a quiet laugh when she shakes her head, "Babe."
"We're going to be okay, right?"
She speaks so quietly he barely hears her but when it registers, he softens and makes her look at him.
"It's gonna work?" she asks again.
He nods confidently, "We've gone through so much shit. Are you really worried about a little bit of distance?"
A smile tugs at her lips, "It's not a little bit of distance though, is it? It's almost two thousand miles."
"Samantha," he whispers, cupping her cheek once more.
"Jonathan!" his eyes close when his mom calls his name, "We gotta get on the road!"
"I'm coming!" he yells, looking down at Samantha when she takes his hand.
"Come on," she whispers as he runs his thumb gently underneath her eyes once more before she's picking up one of the boxes.
"Is that everything?" Nancy asks when they reach his car, opening the back door for them so they can set the boxes down and Jonathan looks back at the house, watching his mom lock the door for the final time.
"Yeah," he murmurs, feeling Samantha's forehead against his shoulder once more, "'m ready."
Saying goodbye to Joyce was horrible but the woman wraps her in her arms and kisses her cheek, assuring her that they'll see her at Christmas.
Saying goodbye to Will, that was even worse; he holds her tightly as they both cry into each other's shoulders - it was as if she was saying goodbye to her little brother.
When it comes to saying her final goodbye to her boyfriend, he takes hold of her hand and leads her a few feet away so they can have just a smidge of privacy.
"You'll call when you get there?" she asks, looking up at him, "Call the house line, not mine. That way if I miss you, my parents can take a message." Nodding, he gently cradles her face and she lets out a little laugh, "What are you doing?"
Shaking his head, he leans down to press a kiss to her lips, "I love you."
"I love you too," she whispers, nudging her nose against his as his mom calls his name, "You better go."
He kisses her once more before reluctantly letting her go to climb into his car and she wordlessly follows, crouching down by the open window.
"I'll call you if we stop tonight," he tells her, taking her hand, "You finish at ten, yeah?"
She nods, "Won't be home till around half past."
"I'll call after then." he promises and his mom hits her horn twice to let him know that she's starting the journey.
She kisses him once more before stepping back, biting down on her bottom lip to stop her from crying and she feels Nancy rest her hand on her shoulder.
Jonathan presses his horn twice, sticking his arm out of the window so he can wave as they disappear down the dirt road to the house and soon, they're out of sight.
They were gone.
~~|~~
When Samantha finally got home that night, she let out a sigh as her bag slipped from her shoulder, wincing at the resounding thud it made on the wooden floor.
"Samantha?" she hears her mom call before Catherine appears in the living room door, "Hey, honey."
"Hi," she musters up a smile.
"Did he get away alright? Jonathan?"
Nodding, she picks up the bag and hangs it on the bannister, "Yeah."
"I wish Joyce would have let me come over and help," her mom tuts, "I remember the stress of moving I would not wish that on anybody."
"They had plenty of help mom," Samantha reassures, "Don't worry about it."
She perks up almost immediately when she hears her phone ringing in her room, "Sorry mom, that's Jonathan!"
As she heads upstairs, Caroline returns to the living room to see David shaking his head, "Oh hush you. They're in love."
"Love," he scoffs, "She's eighteen, Caroline. She doesn't know anything about being in love."
With a roll of her eyes, his wife wraps her arms around his neck from behind, "You weren't saying that when we were that age." She kisses his cheek loudly, "Now enough out of you."
Meanwhile, up in her room, Samantha is quick to kick off her shoes and throw herself onto her bed while reaching for her phone, "Hello? Jonathan?"
She hears his laugh on the other end of the line, "Hey Sammy."
With a smile, she lays down and gets comfortable, twirling the chord of the phone around her fingers, "Are you okay?"
"Tired," he sighs and she can picture him rubbing at his eyes, "Who knew that driving could make you tired."
"Where are you?"
"Uhh," she hears the rustling of papers, probably a map, "Just outside Springfield, Missouri. Mom was hoping to cross into Oklahoma by tonight but we had to stop."
"You're making good time though," she murmurs.
"I guess. How was work?"
"It was alright," she shrugs, "They knew you were leaving today so everyone pretty much left me alone. Let me wallow in the office."
"Perks of being the manager," he teases and she laughs.
When she'd gone back to work after having two weeks off to recuperate, Mr Fuller (the man who owned the arcade) had informed her that Keith had gotten another job and he was offering his position to her.
She took it, of course she did and with the extra hours she was working, she'd be able to not only get closer to purchasing her own car, she'd be able to put money towards the flight ticket to see Jonathan at Christmas.
"How's the new girl settling in?" he asks and she hears him stifling a yawn, "Veronica?"
"She's doing great," she nods, "She's working a lot of the closing shifts with me so if I need it, she normally asks Eddie if he can give me a ride."
"That's great, babe," he murmurs and she smiles.
"Jonathan, go to sleep. You're exhausted."
"'m sorry."
"Don't apologise," she scolds gently.
"I'll call you tomorrow night?" he asks, "Same time?"
"I'll be waiting."
"I love you," he murmurs.
"I love you too," she whispers, saying a quiet goodnight before they hang up and after returning the phone to her nightstand, she gets up and moves to the calender, skimming over the pages.
Just 93 days to go.
~~|~~
so for the season 4 fic, i'm not gonna write about samantha and jonathan. i don't think there's much point considering that they're almost on opposite ends of the country and tbh, i found jonathan's storyline a little boring. instead, i'm gonna write an eddie fic but samantha will be in it. just not as a main character. it's going to be a kind of established relationship thing and i am so excited to write it cause i love eddie. anyway, i hope you'll read it!