I'm dedicating this story to one of my best friends and former roommate, Candice. She gave me the idea to write a Sam and Josh one-shot.

It was raining, Sam's favorite weather. It had been six months since the night on the mountain, when Hannah and Beth had gone missing. It wasn't uncommon for her to be outside, in the rain. She loved feeling the water splash on her arms, legs, body... So when it started raining, and she went for a run in the neighborhood, Josh wasn't surprised to see her run outside his house. Once. Twice. Three times she passed the large mansion. She would have to pass a fourth time in order for her to get back to her house. He knew this, and acted accordingly. Putting on his rain-boots and grabbing his umbrella, as well as setting up his coffee maker, preparing to brew a hot tea. He went outside and went to stand in the rain. Sam would be running by any moment. When he saw her appearing down the block he gave her a kind smile. She slowed down and stopped, taking out her headphones. She was completely soaked, but she didn't mind. Neither did Josh, if he was honest with himself. Sam's clothes clung to her body, accentuating her curves. He looked her up and down, his eyes linger on her breasts. He shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking of Sam like that. She was Hannah's best friend. He just had to ignore the feelings he was having, ignore the tightening in his pants... "Hey stranger!" he called to her.

Sam gave him her usual friendly smile. "Hey. What are you doing out here?"

Josh smiled. "I saw you running. Thought you might get cold. I mean, I know it's August, but rain, you know... it gets chilly. Do you want a hot tea?"

Sam nodded. "Sure, why not?" She would never turn down a hot tea, not even in the middle of summer. She looked at Josh, a charming smile on his face. She knew there was some ignored feelings between the two of them. She and him were close before Hannah and Beth's disappearance, and now they were even closer, finding more and more activities in common, depending on one another whenever one of them had a bad night.

Sam followed Josh into the house, not caring if she dripped all over the foyer. She had dripped in the Washington house more times than she could count. Josh was ready for her, though. He got her one of the bug fluffy towels that the Washington's loved so much. She ran the fluffy material over her body, pausing to brush the fluffy fabric on her face. She was glad she had skipped makeup today, not that she normally wore a lot. She knew it would smudge off. As soon as she got most of the water off of her, Josh passed her a mug. It had a picture of a chihuahua on it. This was the mug that was designated as Sam's at the Washington household. She loved that the mug was still here. "Thanks," she told him.

Josh smiled. "No problem." They stood there in silence for a moment, not awkward, but uncomfortable, at least. Josh wondered why he invited Sam in, really. He knew his subconscious reason for doing so, his pants reminded of this, but why did his brain ask Sam over? "So, is everything going alright with you?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I'm headed back for my sophomore year at college next week. Ash, Jess, Em and I went out and had a get together before we all leave, you know? Have you hung out with the guys, at all?"

Josh shook his head. "Not really. I've hung out with Chris a bit, but I haven't seen Mike and Matt in a while."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, well, I heard Mike and Em are kinda on the rocks at the moment, anyway. Emily wasn't in a particularly good mood last night, and I doubt Mike is any better. It's probably better, if I'm completely honest."

Josh nodded. "Yeah, probably. But still, should we all go our separate ways and never talk to each other again?"

Sam shook her head. "Of course not! We managed to all stay friends while Mike, Chris, you and I were off at college last year, and we managed to all stay friends even after, well, you know. I know it's not the same, but I think we're all connected in a way that we'll never be able to forget. We can't ignore each other, you know?"

Josh felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, revealing a text from Matt on a group text all of them were on. It was a picture of Matt standing in front of his car, completely pack up for college. "Speaking of..."

Sam nodded. "Well, I guess it's too late for us all to have a last get together before the end of summer."

"So when are you headed off?" Josh asked Sam suddenly. It was too late for all of them to get together this year, but it was possible for him and Sam to go to the movies or something maybe later this week.

"I'm actually leaving this weekend. Why?"

He wanted to ask her if she wanted to go catch a movie with him, or go to dinner with him. Dammit! He gave Chris so much shit for not being able to not talk to Ashley. He was a hypocrite, he guessed. He couldn't muster up the nerve to talk to Sam. "No reason. I was just wondering."

Sam nodded and took another drink of her tea. "Well, as great as it was to talk to you, Josh, I need to go. I have to finish packing, you know?"

Josh nodded. He understood. He opened the door for her and started to see her out. She passed him the towel and mug, but he shook his head. "Keep the mug. It's practically yours anyway."

Sam smiled, but shook her head. "What would I drink out of when I come over to see you then?"

This made Josh smile. Sam wanted to see him. Maybe he could actually be with her one day, one day when they were both healed.

Shoot a review and let me know what you think!