no strings attached - j.b

Idiot

"Oh, good, you're here. I need to talk to someone" Joe exhaled in relief as Sam opened the door for him and pushed past him into Sam's house, Sam looking after him a little surprised before following. "y-yeah, come on in?"

"everything okay? You look pretty upset" Sam asked, sitting down on the couch a little unsteadily as Joe paced restlessly around the living room. "Nothing's okay. When was the last time you heard from Phoebe?" he asked sighing.

"Phoebe? Last Wednesday. She texted me that she's pretty busy studying for the next few weeks. That was the last I heard from her. Why? Did something happen to her?" Sam seemed concerned.

"I don't know. She didn't answer me and when I went to look for her at the facility today, Paige just told me she wasn't coming in all week because she had to study and everything was getting too stressful for her. Damn, I need to talk to her" Joe sighed in exasperation.

"Wait, Phoebe's not answering you? Since when? Is everything okay with you guys?" Sam looked at Joe in surprise. "Nothing's okay, I haven't heard from her since we talked last week and...I need to talk to her" Joe ran his hand through his hair.

"When was your talk?" Sam asked. "Tuesday" Joe sighed, "Tuesday?! That was a week ago Joe. What happened that you haven't heard from Phoebe in over a week?" Sam gasped.

Joe sighed. "what happened?" he asked gloomily. "I acted like a complete idiot. I screwed up" he took a deep breath. "I...I don't understand, what did you do?" Sam seemed concerned.

"Phoebe...she asked me to come to her office last Tuesday so we could talk. I thought it was kind of about the pictures and how we were going to move forward, I don't know why. But..." Joe sighed again. "She told me that she wants to end everything between us."

"What?" Sam stared at him, startled. "I mean, why? What happened? What did you do, Joe?" he asked, looking skeptically at Joe.

"I didn't do anything" defensively Joe jerked his arms in the air. "It was...Luca. He asked her out and apparently Phoebe wants a relationship and now wants to see if it works out with Luca" he shrugged.

"Luca? Phoebe wants a relationship with Luca? Since when?" Sam was totally confused. "What do I know, Sam? I was just as surprised as you are. But what was I supposed to do?" Joe sighed.

"So you just let her go? Just said you were okay with it and you guys called it all off?" Sam raised an eyebrow questioningly as he shook his head, almost disappointed.

"What was I supposed to do, Sam? What? Tell her that there's no way I want her to leave because..." Joe interrupted himself. "Because?" Sam looked at him promptly. Joe sighed. "Because I have feelings for her. Because I want to be the one to take her out on a date"

"I knew it. You have feelings for Phoebe" Sam triumphantly raised his fist in the air. "Of course I'm into Phoebe. I mean, look at her. She has her quirks and flaws, but she's still....perfect" Joe sighed.

"And why are you telling me and not her? Why didn't you tell her you didn't want it?" Sam asked. "Do you really think it would have helped anything?" Joe slumped his shoulders.

"Was she convinced then that she wanted to go on a date with Luca?" Sam asked. "I don't know....no? She talked about it all the time, that it might work out. That she guesses it's the right thing to do" Joe sighed.

"so she doubted and you still didn't do anything to maybe win her over? You do realize that Phoebe is someone you might have to fight a little for, Joe" Sam shook his head.

"I've been way too busy suppressing my anger and not snapping at Phoebe" Joe mumbled. "Did you at least manage to do that?" Sam asked sighing. "Not really" Joe muttered softly. "Joe, you fucking idiot, what did you do?" Sam looked at him, startled.

"I was hurt, okay? She always said I didn't have to worry about Luca and then she dumps me to date him? She said she couldn't use a relationship in the beginning and then she dumps me to start a relationship?" Joe sighed.

"is that what you told her?" Sam asked. Joe nodded. "Yeah, I said I thought it was pretty funny. She apologized and said that the last few months with me just showed her that a relationship would do her good"

"She basically told you that the last few months with you felt like a relationship and she realized what she was missing because of it and you idiot still didn't think to maybe tell her that you felt the same way?" Sam looked at him almost in disbelief.

"I was pissed off. I couldn't really think" Joe shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Then what happened?" Sam asked, sighing. "She asked me if we could stay friends, for you" Joe explained.

"Given that she hasn't contacted you since, I don't think you just said yes and you guys parted on good terms, huh?" Sam looked at Joe, who shook his head. "I jumped up, I said what we had was never more than sex and we're not friends. Then I left."

"Please tell me that's not true" Sam growled as he wiped his face. "You're an absolute idiot and be glad I'm standing between you or I'd probably be at your throat right now for this" he sighed.

"I know I should never have said that. It...it just came out that way. I was angry, disappointed, hurt....even if those aren't excuses" Joe muttered as he dropped down on the sofa next to Sam, sighing.

"What are you going to do now? Talk to her so you can apologize for that asshole statement?" Sam looked at him questioningly. Joe nodded. "And..." he took a deep breath. "I...I want clarity. I want her to know how I feel about her. I can't let her go into this relationship with Luca without her knowing that I'm falling for her. No matter who she chooses" he explained.

"Okay, I'm in. I'll help you, Joe" Sam put a hand on his shoulder encouragingly. "Even though I acted like an idiot?" Joe asked uncertainly. "Even though you acted like a complete asshole" Sam agreed.

"I saw the way you looked at each other last week at Ja'Marr's party. I saw how comfortable she is around you. How good you make her feel. She's my best friend. I want her to feel good and if I have to help you straighten some things out to do that, I'll do it" Sam clarified.

"Thanks. We're both pretty lucky to have you as a friend, Sammy" Joe grinned at him. "Don't ever call me that again" warningly Sam raised his finger but laughed.

"Now let's figure out how to get Phoebe to talk to you" he changed the subject. "She's not in the facility, not all week" Joe explained. "Yeah, you said that already" Sam mumbled as he pulled out his phone and pulled up the chat history with Phoebe.

"...So much studying...not that much time...ugh, I'm just stuck in my rooms all the time, hate it" he mumbled the message. "Ha, she's home" he stated triumphantly. "So what do you say you and I take a quick trip to Tris and Phoebe's apartment?" he looked at Joe.

"You think we can just show up there? What if Luca is there? What if we just keep Phoebe from studying?" Joe asked uncertainly. Sam sighed. "Do you want to tell her how you feel and have this all sorted out?" he asked.

"Yes, of course, but..." Joe stammered, but Sam interrupted him. "No but's. Grab your keys. You're driving" without waiting for a response from Joe, he got up and walked to the front door.

One more day till the game, cant wait, really excited and a bit scared but looking forward to it!!!

WHO-DEY 🧡