no strings attached - j.b

hoodie

"What...what do we do now?" desperately, Phoebe buried her face in her hands. After Sam's leaving, Joe and she had sat down on the couch in silence, far enough away from each other, and had both had to process the last few moments first.

"I've never seen Sam hurt like that. That look...." she sighed. "Joe, we're fucking idiots. We're shitty friends, really shitty friends. Why...why didn't we tell him sooner?"

"Well, we always had...other things to do when we saw each other, so it was...just secondary" Joe shrugged before very slowly scooting closer to Phoebe.

"But hey, don't worry about it..." uncertain and cautious, the mood tense and strange since Sam had left, he put his hand on Phoebe's back, who almost flinched in fright at the touch.

"...Sam needs some time to himself for now, but he'll get over it" Joe assured her. sighing, Phoebe lifted and looked at Joe, guilt clear in her eyes. "Are you sure about that?" she asked him softly.

"we're his best friends, Phoebe. We fucked up, but he said himself he needs time to forgive us. But he will forgive us. So don't worry about it and just let him come down a little, okay?" Joe smiled slightly at her.

"If we were really real friends, we never would have let it get this far. How...how did we let it get this far?" Phoebe mumbled and took her eyes off Joe again.

"It just happened now, Phoebe. We knew it would come to this sooner or later, and we decided to do it too late. On the other hand, we don't know how he would have reacted if we had told him. Probably not much different" Joe stated.

"At least then, though, he would have found out from us and not had to find out himself. How...how did he find out, anyway?" Phoebe asked. Joe sighed. "apparently he saw my hoodie at your place".

"Yeah, but I told him it was Tris" Phoebe clarified. "Well, when I looked for the hoodie before, he probably put one and one together and realized that it probably wasn't Tris's" Joe shrugged, sighing.

"fuck, I...I should have known that fucking hoodie would somehow give us away ever since Sam spotted it at my place" Phoebe groaned in annoyance.

All it would have taken was a few small moments, a few small decisions, to be different and her best friend wouldn't have stormed out of the house disappointed five minutes ago.

Again, the two remained silent for a few minutes. The tension in the room was unbearable. No one really knew what to say or do. Sam's disappointment was in the air and pushed them further and further away from each other, enveloping their bodies like a thick winter coat.

"I...I should go" Phoebe cleared her throat before getting up and walking to the door. Joe just nodded mutely as he followed her. "yeah, I guess so. After all...you have some work to do and...and the party" he muttered as Phoebe nervously played with her keys.

"Yeah, the party...I honestly don't know if I'm really going. Not in the mood to surround myself with drunk college students, overjoyed couples and good vibes right now" she mumbled and ran her hands over her hair tied in braid.

"yeah, I can kinda understand" Joe grinned wryly. "If you do decide to go...my offer stands. Call me, I'll pick you up, ok?" Phoebe nodded. "Thanks. I'll let you know" she smiled slightly before sighing. "Bye" she mumbled, turning and running down the stairs.

Shaking his head, Joe looked behind her. It felt like she couldn't get away from here fast enough. He didn't blame her. Truthfully, he was also relieved that the uncomfortable feeling of being in her presence was suddenly gone.

Knowing that Sam was so disappointed in the two of them made the attraction and dependence Phoebe and Joe felt for each other seem like something forbidden. And not the kind of forbidden thing you break because it turns you on. A forbidden thing you would not break because you didn't like hurting people.