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c h a p t e r t w e n t y - s e v e n
"Are you sure you don't want to see a doctor tonight?" Gianna frowns at Steve as she lets everyone into the house.
"I'm alright, Mrs. Flores. Promise," he nods.
"Okay, but we're going first thing in the morning," she narrows her eyes.
"Yes, ma'am," he smiles softly.
"Why don't you go shower, we'll talk to the girls," Leo points upstairs with sympathetic eyes.
"Here," Sam opens the hallway closet, handing him the necessities. "It's the first door on your right."
"Thanks," he takes it, quickly heading upstairs as the girls sit down at the breakfast bar.
An air of sadness casts itself over the family as they sit around the table, not sure how to begin.
"Um," Leo frowns. "What-What happened?"
The girls share a look, feeling sorry for having lied so much the past few years, but are quickly reminded of what happens when you become aware of the things going on around this town.
Take Bob for example. He was fine, he was safe before they let him on the secret.
Hopper was doomed from the beginning, and honestly? So were they.
"And we want the truth this time."
"What are you talking about? We always tell you the truth," Bianca argues with a nervous smile.
Gianna tilts her head at this, as if to say, "Yeah, right."
"Really, Ma. It was just a fire," Sam sighs, looking down at her torn jeans.
"A fire gave Steven two black eyes and a fat lip?"
"Everyone was trying to run out at the same time. We were getting trampled and Steve took a few elbows to the face. Mike too."
"What was everyone even doing there? The mall was closed."
"Steve had to take a last minute shift, so I decided to wait for him there, and figured we could just reschedule our date," Sam begins to explain.
"Some of our classmates were gonna stay after hours, have a little fun in the mall," Sam sighs before continuing. "Billy invited us."
"The same boy who beat up Steve last year?"
"Yeah, him," she looks around. "He wanted a truce or something. It was like a peace offering. Sorry for beating you to a pulp."
"So there was a party at the mall and you, Steve, Dawn, Nancy, Robin, and Jonathan decided to go," Leo narrows his eyes.
"It's Hawkins, Dad. Nothing to do here without breaking a few rules."
"You mean a few laws."
"We didn't know it was gonna happen, okay? We were gonna leave early anyway. Steve and I wanted to be alone, but then-"
"Wait, what was your 13 year old sister doing at an illegal high school party?"
"I'll be in high school in like a month," Bianca reminds them, feeling bad for Sam taking all the blame. "It wasn't Sam's fault. We overheard Dawn talking about it on the phone and figured it'd be fun to see what a high school party was like. We didn't expect a fire to break out."
"How did the fire break out?"
"I don't know," Sam shrugs. "Hopper and Joyce came, I guess he got a complaint, I don't know. Once they got in, something exploded in the Food Court."
"It was loud," Bianca adds. "And then, the chaos started."
"The fire, it spread so fast," Sam looks down. "One second, Hopper's yelling at us, wondering how you handle us and the next, everyone was running."
She begins to tear up at that, the weight of the events started to come down on her. Gianna reaches out to her, hand brushing over her hair.
"He got us out," Bianca smiles. "But he didn't make it."
"He just wanted to get us home," Sam sobs. "I'm so sorry, Dad."
"It's okay," he pulls them in for a hug. "It's gonna be okay."
"We're just happy that you girls are okay," Gianna sheds a tear. "You should get some rest."
"Yeah, it's late," Leo kisses each of their foreheads. "Get cleaned up and we'll make you some tea."
"Okay."
They slowly walk upstairs, hesitating before going their separate ways. Both wanting to stay strong for the other, they silently glance at each other, before Bianca runs into Sam's arms. "I was so scared. I thought we were gonna die."
"I know, I know," she comforts.
"It was so close, Sam. And-and Billy, he almost-"
"Shh, it's okay, it's over. We're safe. It's over."
"I hate this town so much," she cries.
"Me too," she shakes her head.
"Goodnight, Sam."
Eventually, everyone gets a chance to shower and eat, finally settling into their rooms. Leo took the liberty to make sure Steve and Sam were in their own rooms, of course, but quickly went to bed after, wanting to forget this crazy night.
Once Sam hears the snores coming from her parents, she tiptoes to the guest room, making sure not to wake anyone.
"Steve?" she whispers from outside of the door.
"Come in," he whispers back.
She slowly opens the door, lingering by it even after she closes it behind her.
After a beat of silence, Sam sits next to him on the bed, looking over the bandages and gauze now covering his once pristine face.
"Couldn't sleep?" he raises his eyebrows, very familiar with the look in her eyes.
"Nope," she shrugs. "I just can't get that image out of my head."
"I didn't think it'd be that big," he shakes his head in disgust.
"And all those people..." Sam sighs. "When will this end?"
"I don't know," he wraps an arm around her. "Maybe this time it's over for good."
"Maybe," she leans her head on his shoulder, unfortunately not missing the wince he makes.
Immediately, she lifts her head, guilt in her face as she turns to him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you and Robin."
"Hey, woah, what are you talking about?" he reaches out for her, grabbing her face. "I told you to go."
"I know, but I shouldn't have listened. I should've found a way," she cries. "I'm sorry."
Steve was no stranger to Sam's never ending guilt. It came from a place of fear, really. Fear of being alone, fear of losing the people she loves, fear of making mistakes. He knew why she was so upset, and it wasn't because she left him and Robin, no.
It was because she almost lost them.
"You came back, okay? That's hell of a lot more than most people would do," he assures. "Hell, you drove for me."
"Shut up," she chuckles.
"There's that smile," he grins. "Wish I could've gotten kidnapped after we already had our date, but I guess beggars can't be choosers."
"Yeah, I was really looking forward to that kiss on the top of the Ferris wheel," she agrees. "Seems like something is always in the way."
"Best things never come easy," he shrugs.
"Yeah, I guess not," she taps her fingers along the bed. "Do you mind if I sleep in here tonight? I can't-"
"Come on," he scoots over, making space for her to lay next to him, as he turns off the lamp.
"Hey Steve?" she questions as he wraps an arm around her, letting her lay on his chest.
"Yeah?"
"What'd you get in Spanish your sophomore year?"
"B+, why?"
"No reason," she smiles to herself, closing her eyes.
Bianca wasn't much better off, having given up on sleeping once she realized there was no way she'd ever get more than an inch of sleep after the night's events.
Instead, she decided to read a little, work on her model rocket, and write in her journal. She gets interrupted by her comm going off, accompanied by a faint whisper of a familiar voice.
"Bianca?"
"Mike?" she mutters to herself, before grabbing the walkie. "Hello?"
"I figured you probably couldn't sleep," he explains.
"You were right," she sighs. "Were your parents pissed?"
"No, my dad barely realized we were gone," he laughs. "Yours?"
"No, just sad. They're gonna miss Hop. So am I."
"I'm sorry, I know you were close."
"Yeah..." she looks up, trying not to cry again.
He notices the crack in her voice, recognizing the sadness in her tone, and quickly tries to think of something that might calm her down. "Hey, I think I finally can see that constellation you're always talking about."
"Sagittarius?" she looks out her window.
"Yeah. You know, it does look like a teapot," he marvels, chuckling.
"I told you!" she laughs as well.
"Tell me the story about it again?" he asks, knowing it'll take her mind off of things.
"It's a zodiac sign," she explains. "And before you try and say that astrology is a pseudoscience, explain why you act so much like an Aries," she argues.
"You can't describe 4.8 billion people by twelve archetypes, it's just impossible."
"My mother was an astrologer when she lived in California, there's more to it than that," she explains.
"She was?"
"Yeah, she was trying to save up for her cosmetology license, and people on the West coast were obsessed with astrology in the 60s. Always wanting to get their horoscope, it's a very lucrative business."
"Wow."
"Yeah, but she had to keep it a secret. Her parents are very Catholic, they'd probably disown her for it," she shrugs.
"Yeah, I don't think parents like it very much when their kids are different."
"Nope. Anyway, the Sagittarius is known as the Archer, which is ironic. My mom said when I was a baby, I had a really tough time falling asleep. The only thing that helped was this mobile she put over my crib, it looked just like a starry night."
"And now you want to be an astronaut," he smiles.
"Yeah, I know, it's a big dream," she admits. "And nobody ever makes it out of Hawkins, but-"
"You will," he assures. "And when you go off and get famous, I'll get to tell everyone the story about the amazing Bianca Flores."
"Maybe we'll be able to tell it together," she yawns, unbeknownst to the growing grin on his face.
"Yeah, that'd be pretty nice," he nods.
"I'm getting tired, Mike," she yawns again. "Thanks for staying up with me."
"Yeah, of course."
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a/n: two more chapters til s4!!
early update bc why not