[for Josh]

[playingsmart]

A day in this place and he hadn't found Josh yet. Sam had found the other man's dorm, but there'd been no sight of him. Still, he'd hung around the compound, knowing the other guy would show up eventually. After all, it was an island. It wasn't like Josh would be out and about exploring the jungle or anything. Sam couldn't picture that any

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[playingstupid]

Josh heard the voice as he passed by the door of the rec room and stopped dead, his heart pounding. No. No way. It can't- He took the last few steps to stand in the doorway, his lips parted and his eyes scanning the room. He found the familiar figure instantly, and stared openly, eyes blinking wetly. Jesus. Now I'm seeing things and hearing things? Fuck.

He knew when he blinked, Sam would be gone or replaced by someone similar but so wrong, so he just stood there, slouched against the doorframe, and stared.

[playingsmart]

It took Sam a minute to abandon the paper completely, finally looking up to see his friend in the door. It shocked him to see the man there standing so still and just staring, losing his grip on the mug, coffee spilling everywhere.

"Dammit, Josh. Say hello to a guy, don't just stand there staring." He stood, the coffee hot, and his clothes wet, but Sam didn't really care right now. Honestly, he'd been beginning to wonder if Donna and Ainsley had been mistaken. Or if maybe his arrival had meant his best friends' departure. Was it really surprising that with all that had happened in the past 24 hours he crossed the room in a couple of steps, grabbing Josh in a hug? Sam didn't think so, even if it meant getting the other man wet and perhaps looking like a bit of an idiot. "Y'know this island thing you have going here is a bit weird. Couldn't you have picked somewhere closer to civilization to get stranded?"

[playingstupid]

Josh's eyes grew wide as the hallucination acknowledged his presence and then knocked over the coffee. His mouth dropped open and he stared openly at the figure in front of him, which he was slowly realizing was actually Sam. "I-"

In seconds Sam had closed the gap between them, and then Sam's arms were wrapped around him, his face buried in Sam's shoulder, his nose hitting hard muscle and collarbone. Jesus-- He squeezed his eyes shut and just held on for what felt like dear life, his hands fisting in Sam's shirt. God, let this be real.

He took a shaky breath in. "Yeah, sorry about that one. There aren't cabana boys, either, Donna already checked." His voice was raw, and he was testing this out, seeing if talking back would shatter this, make it disappear. See if he'd be left staring at the ceiling in bed, awake from another dream. Let it be real, let it be real, let it be real...

[playingsmart]

After more than four years of working with Josh, being on the campaign trail, or in the office twelve hours every day, well, there were some people you just got used to being around. Josh was more than a friend, he was like a brother in some ways, and Sam hadn't realized until he heard his crack about cabana boys just how relieved he'd been to hear Josh was here.

And just how worried he'd been that Josh wasn't actually here. That maybe he'd disappeared, or... Sam didn't know. He just knew it was good to see his friend.

"She said," Sam pulled back, his hands on Josh's shoulders. Sure he'd just seen the guy less than twenty four hours before, but considering all that had happened, he wasn't ready to let go quite yet. "She also said there are dinosaurs, so I'm not really sure what to think. Maybe she's found all the cabana boys and locked them away somewhere for her own amusement."

"I never thought I'd have to say this Josh, but God, it's good to see you."