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[ She'd been able to face Beth - and Mike - so it should be easier to speak with Sam. Somehow, though, the call makes her jittery, heart racing, and she chews on her lip for a minute before responding. ]

Hey. [ Comes the breathless reply. ] ... Hi, Sam.

[ Jesus. What do you say to your best friend, after-- ]

... I don't want to talk on these things. [ She says finally. ] I'd rather see you in person, if... you don't mind. I mean, if you want.

[ "If it's not too weird." ]

Where are you?

I'm out on the deck.

[Hearing Hannah's voice feels almost too good to be true. Seeing her in person will be better, won't it?]

I'd like to see you, too.

I'll... be right down.

[ "Right down" is a stretch, since she... sort of wavers and frets about it, but it isn't too long before she appears, inching out onto the deck. ]

Hi. [ Comes the quiet announcement of her presence. ]

Hey.

[Sam can't hold back a smile when she finally sees Hannah, though there's a hint of sadness to it. She's still in her bloodied, singed, torn clothes from the night on the mountain, though the head lamp has been taken off and tucked away in her jacket pocket. She's aware she looks terrible. It's just not important - not with Hannah alive and in front of her.]

God, Hannah - it's so good to see you again.

Shit, Sam... [ Hannah breathes, eyes widening as she sees the state of her friend's clothes. ] What...?

[ Does she want to know? Hannah swallows hard, not quite embracing the other, not yet. ]

It's good to see you, too. [ Though, for Hannah, it's been much less time. ] Um... how are you?

Oh ... yeah.

[Sam casts a downward glance at her clothing, giving the hem of her jacket a quick tug.]

It's kind of a long story. I'm ... I'm fine. Good, I mean. I heard you've been here a while?

[ That "long story" is likely something to do with everything Emily and Chris told her, but Hannah... doesn't want to get into that right now. ]

A few months. [ Hannah replies lightly. ] I'm glad you're good. ... I'm pretty good, too.

[ And alive, in case that was a question. ]

[Better to talk about what happened on the mountain later. Or, you know, never. Never is a perfectly acceptable option as well.]

You look good, Hannah. I'm glad - I mean, I'm not glad that any of us are here at all, but if we have to be here, I'm glad that we're all here together.

[ Never. Never sounds good. ]

Right. Me too. [ Having Josh around is particularly comforting. ] And... it could always be worse, right?

[ Damn. As soon as she says it, she feels the icy hand of having to fucking face what happened to her that night.

Hannah swallows. ]

I mean, it's weird. [ She says finally. ] I just saw you, you know, right before I came here. But, um... for you, it's been a year, or something, right?

Yeah.

[Sam nods, laughing quietly. Three hundred and sixty-five long fucking days, emptier without Hannah and Beth's presence as anything but memory, and for Hannah, it's like it never happened.]

Pretty crazy, right? I guess - I don't entirely understand it, but it also kind of makes sense. It's like - I don't know, a movie or something. A really strange movie, except we're living it instead of just watching.

[ Like one of her own father's movies, Hannah thinks, but doesn't voice. ]

It's more than strange. [ She does say, though, quietly and almost eerily. ] I mean, we -

[ Well, Beth had died. Hannah... not so much, if Emily and Chris are to be believed.

Not for the first time, her skin prickles. ]

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