Damn Good Day
By
Kelsey
Disclaimer: They're not mine. If they were, I would have kept Sam on the show, dammit!
Summary: It's President Bartlet's first inaugural address, and the speechwriter is a little nervous, but Josh is having a good day. Sam/Josh friendship.
Author's Note: Could be read as slash, but isn't necessarily. Interpret how you like.
Rating: PG
Josh has a million more important things that he should be doing right now, and none of them can wait, but when he sees Sam looking distinctly green and heading rapidly towards the men's room, he decides they can just deal.
Toby is right behind Sam and shakes his head at Josh, but Josh just ignores him. While Toby has rightly divined that Sam would be embarrassed to throw up in front of anyone else there, Josh has known Sam long enough that the dubious privilege of being present while his nerve-wracked stomach expels its last meal is afforded to him.
Sam has ducked into the first stall in the room and closed the door behind him, but as the draft from Josh's entrance passes, he can see the door sway slightly and knows that Sam hasn't had time to latch it. "Sam?" He queries.
The only sound that greets his ears for a long moment is retching, but then there's a sigh and a groan and Sam's voice, sounding weaker than Josh has heard it since the time Sam had the flu and insisted on coming with the campaign to four stops in one day anyway. "Josh?"
Josh takes this as acceptance of his presence and pushes gently on the stall door. "You gonna be alright?" He knows better than to ask if Sam currently is alright.
Sam scoots over on the floor and lets the door open the rest of the way. His face is paler than Josh has seen in a long time, and he's shaking a little, his back resting uncomfortably against the wall that separates this stall from the next. He has his eyes closed, but he answers Josh steadily enough. "I'll be fine."
"Hey." Josh knows his voice is ridiculously gentle, the way it only really gets with Sam and sometimes his mother, but Sam needs it sometimes, this soft reassurance, and Josh is glad to give it. "You did great. The speech is wonderful."
Sam opens his eyes and looks up at Josh, and Josh is locked in place by the fear and the desperation and the confusion expressed by their blue depths. "It's inauguration, Josh. I never, not once in my life, thought I'd be writing the inauguration speech for the president of the United States."
For a moment, the thought that flits across Josh's mind is that that must have been pretty hard to do, having been on the speechwriting staff of a presidential candidate for close to a year. But he knows that Sam honestly didn't think he would necessarily be included in the move from campaign to White House, because Sam has never known exactly how valuable he is. Of course, telling Sam any of this would do no good, especially not now, so Josh just tries to make a joke out of it. "Well, if the voters don't like something, you can always blame it on Toby."
This, of course, sends Sam diving back into the toilet, and Josh reaches down to pat Sam's back once before looking away and letting him get over the dry heaves as best as he can. "Sorry."
Sam relaxes slightly as the twitching of his sides subsides. He waits another moment and then moves slowly back into the sitting position. "No, it's not your fault."
There's silence for a little while, and Josh watches as color rises slowly back into Sam's cheeks. He's still pale, but not the deathly-white that he was when Josh followed him in here, and the shaking has almost stopped. "You ready to try and get back out there?" he asks.
Sam shakes his head and then nods. Josh laughs. "C'mon," he says, and offers Sam his hand. Sam takes it, and together they lever him to his feet, where he sways for a moment before getting his balance. "You gonna fall over?" Josh asks, only half joking.
"No." Sam is steady enough on his feet now that Josh lets go of his elbow and walks over to the sink to wet a paper towel and hand it to him.
"Here."
"Thanks." Sam wipes his mouth with the paper towel and then turns on the cold water and splashes it on his face. Josh winces-- it's barely 10 degrees outside, and the water in this tap is just barely this side of freezing-- but it does at least help get some color back in Sam's cheeks. He rinses with the freezing water too, and Josh hands him a piece of gum from his pocket. This isn't the first time he's accompanied Sam to a big speech.
Someone knocks on the door now, and Josh assumes it's Toby, since no one else would have reason to knock on the door of the men's room. Sure enough, his head peers through a moment later, and Sam glances up, chewing determinedly on the gum. "You done yacking?" Toby asks bluntly, and Sam nods.
"I think so."
"Good. Then get out here, the thing's about to start." Only Toby could call the inaugural address a 'thing' and not make it sound ridiculous. Later Josh will realize that even the most important things can be reduced to a 'thing' when there's something more important waiting for that thing to be over, but for now, he is clueless.
At the mention of the actual speech, Sam pales again and actually takes a single step backwards before Josh takes his elbow and grins at him. "C'mon, buddy, president's that way." He gestures towards the door with his free hand, and Sam takes a deep breath and then nods with firm resolve.
"Let's go, then."
Toby pushes the door the rest of the way open and Josh catches it. He lets go of Sam's arm as they pass through the doorway, and then falls into step behind Sam, who is following Toby down the corridor and towards the room where they'll be watching the address from. It wasn't done consciously, but Sam is now sandwiched between them, and it makes Josh feel irrationally better.
Despite the fact that Sam is a grown man who can take care of himself, he exudes something that makes other people want to protect him, and Josh isn't immune. In fact, he often feels it more than the rest, since he's known Sam the longest, and he was the one who got him onto this campaign. Sam is an odd mix of fiercely intelligent, strangely naïve and passionately fiery about things that are important to him, and a lot of people fail to see all the sides to him.
When they reach the side room filled with cameras that the west wing staffers will be watching from, Toby goes through the door without hesitation. Sam's only hesitation is the momentary hitch in his gait, and then he straightens out and follows right behind. Josh smiles a little to himself as Sam seems to get himself really back together, and then remembers all the millions of things he was supposed to be doing before he got sidetracked by Sam's pre-speech nausea.
"Uh, guys? I gotta…" he trails off, gesturing blindly towards the door, and Toby just nods at him curtly without even looking over. Sam flashes him a quick, if still nervous, smile, and nods. "Yeah. Get back when you can."
"Will do." Josh heads out of the room at a fast walk, and barely misses plowing into Donna, who is coming towards him. She's grown on him a little over the course of the campaign, and she certainly is competent enough, so he brought her along to the administration. She was wildly thankful for about a minute and a half, and then they got back into their usual routine of insulting banter.
"Where have you been?"
Josh shrugs. "Sam had pre-speech anxiety and I had to talk him down." Actually, he didn't do much talking, but he knows Sam appreciates that he was there.
"Oh. Well, you've got to straighten out this thing with the Congressional Office of…" Josh hears the rest of what she says, but doesn't process it instantly. Not even in office yet, and his workload is overwhelming. It's to be expected, though-- he has the most political experience of any of them except the President himself, now that Mandy has left.
"Josh, were you listening?"
"Yeah. Meeting with the Congressional Office of Whatever. What's the problem again?" Donna sighs, and starts to repeat herself, but just then one of the nearby TV's starts to blare out Bartlet's address, and Josh stops to watch for a moment. Donna continues to walk until she realizes that he's not with her, and then she stops and takes three steps backwards to be next to him again.
"Josh!"
"Shh!" Bartlet's voice is strong and sure, and Josh is certain for the thousandth time that this man is the real thing, but it's Sam's words coming out of his mouth that he's focused on at the moment. "…there are reasons that people help each other, and they aren't always the best ones. But if a few good people help a few others, then eventually the cycle will be endless and there will be help for everyone who needs it." The audience applauds wildly, and Josh grins.
"What?"
Josh glances at Donna. "Sam's brilliant."
She gives him a puzzled look. "Okay."
"Really."
"I didn't say anything."
"Yes, you did."
"Josh? Meeting?"
"Oh. Yeah. What was that about?"
"Josh!"
He just grins, enjoying baiting Donna and hearing The Real Thing, that he's helped get into office, speaking the words of the best speechwriter he's ever known, while Josh is working his ass off to bring together a vision of a better presidency than any he's ever known. It's been-- and it's going to be-- hard work, but it's all worth it. "Donna?"
"Yes?"
"It's a damn good day."