CONNECTION

"Sam…?"

The blonde averted her eyes from her notebook and met a pair of sad grey eyes. Standing in her doorway, soaking wet and looking miserable was Josh; the pain in his features clearly signifying the lack of sleep he was suffering through. Sam was off her bed almost instantly, not even bothering to ask how he had got into her house without knocking.

"Josh, what's wrong?"

Blue eyes glance over his face in a more observant manner, taking in how pale he really was, noting the dark rings under his eyes that almost appear as if he was supporting two black eyes. The heaviness from the burden he was carrying weighed down on his feactures; he couldn't hide it from her.

A light hand fell on his arm before guiding him to the bed. The two of them sat on the edge, Josh's eyes not meeting hers for a moment. Instead, he stared at his hands, turning them over a few times.

"I think I am going insane." His words are light, barely above a whisper. "I - I can't get that night out of me head. How if I hadn't been so fucking stupid and -"

"Stop it, Josh!" Sam interrupts, her face covered in concern. There is a pause of silence before Josh finally lifts his head to meet her eyes. The expression he bares is heartbreaking. Sam knew Josh as Hannah's older brother, the boy who played dumb pranks on them but was more than willing to kick someone's ass for them if they ever asked him too. He was funny, always referencing movies, and never seemed to take anything too seriously. It was easy for him to shrug something off.

But the man looking at her in that moment was broken.

"What happened to Hannah and Beth was not your fault."

The words bounce right off of him, she can tell by his expression remaining the same. It was almost as if Sam could physically see the guilt on his shoulders.

"I remember - vaguely- hearing Beth trying to wake me." He stated, eyes falling again. "I could have gotten up if I had tried hard enough. But I thought she was just bugging me. Ya know? I didn't think it was anything serious, - fuck!"

Soon his head is in his hands, small sobs shake his body. Sam moves closer to him, wrapping an arm around him for comfort. She wanted to keep telling him it wasn't his fault.

In all honesty, she held some of the blame on her shoulders. If she had forced the others to stop, if she had found Hannah sooner, if she had gotten Beth involved. There were a number of things Sam could have done to stop it but didn't.

"You couldn't have known. None of us did…" The last words felt bitter coming out of her mouth.

Regardless of the fact Sam wasn't directly involved, she knew Hannah. The girl was her best friend, Sam knew her in and out. Hannah was sweet but naive, she was over emotional at times;it wasn't a hard assumption that the girl might overreact.

She shook her head. She couldn't think of this stuff, it would bring her own tears to the surface. Right now she needed to consol Josh; keep him from shattering into a billion pieces and being lost to her forever. She could see him crawling into a dark shell, and it was something he wouldn't be able to crawl out of if he recoiled deep enough.

"I just wish I could turn back time and …" he trails off. Sam had heard this rant before. A rage filled Josh came to her one day, fuming about how much he wanted to punch Mike in the fucking face for what he did to his sisters. How he 'never should have invited Mike to the cabin; they weren't even that great of friends anyway.' The only reason he did was because of Hannah.

Sam understood all too well. There were countless times in the past few months she wanted nothing more than to go off at Mike.

But that wouldn't change a damn thing.

"I just wish I had done more!"

"You have to stop beating yourself up over this, Josh."

"I can't…" And Sam said nothing after that because she didn't know what to say. Constantly telling Josh the truth, which was that what happened to his sisters was NOT his fault, wouldn't change his mind. He was stuck with the twisted idea that he was the reason his sisters were dead.

"Can I ask you something?" Josh mutters.

"Anything…"

The dark-haired boy sniffed before lifting his head slightly and looking up at her through his eyelashes. The words that parted his lips next nearly knocked the air from Sam's lungs.

"Do you think they suffered?"

Sam's mouth fell opened slightly. All of them had been trying to hold onto the fact that the two girls could have survived SOMEHOW. But with the six month mark passed, it was evident they had died somewhere on that mountain.

Before she responded, Sam gulped, trying to get rid of the lump in her throat without success. "I'd like to think they didn't."

"Me too."

Then they were silent for a few minutes. Josh occasionally sniffed, his head back in his hands. Sam didn't remember continuously moving her hand, but the next thing she knew, she was soothingly rubbing Josh's back. Ignoring the wetness of his clothes due to the rain. That's all she could think to do.

Seeing one of her best friends in such a state, knowing the pain she felt for the same situation was only a FRACTION of the pain Josh was feeling, killed her. She wanted to take away the pain, bare it for herself because Josh Washington deserved so much more.

"Thank you." Josh finally said, breaking the silence, his body straightened, Sam's hand returning to her side. "I don't feel like I can talk to anyone else about this … not even my parents."

"Of course, I will always be here for you Josh."

Then no more words were exchanged, the two of them just stared at each other for a moment. A connection had forged between them, something that would last well past the stages of grief. The two of them could feel it; it wrapped around them and turned them from close friends into something more. With Hannah and Beth gone, Sam needed Josh in her life more than ever. She viewed the Washington's as family and she didn't plan on losing any more of them.

"Josh … I -" But words were cut off by the sudden action of Josh closing the small gap between them and kissing her.

His lips were soft and wet from the rain, his skin moist as one of his hands reached up to gently press against the side of her cheek. With this action, Sam leaned in, pressing a hand on his thigh. The kiss was slow and the two of them savored it.

Slowly, Josh pulled away, their lips slowly parting. He didn't go far, his hand stayed resting on her face. The blonde's eyes stayed closed a second longer than needed before she slowly opened them to find Josh staring at her.

There was a gleam in his eyes that wasn't there before; but it was familiar. A gleam she'd seen many times when she'd caught him staring at her.

A blush found its way on both of their features, providing them with matching pink tints.

"Thank you." Josh says once more.

"You're welcome."

I actually am kind of proud of this? I like the idea of these two and Josh Washington needs to be protected!

I hope you enjoyed! Please offer feedback!

Thank you!