Sam/Josh/Ainsley
LONG OVERDUE FIC!
Sam never did leave them.
Not permanently, at least.
This was the last thought Ainsley had before she saw him returning to the Compound in the light of twilight. She and Josh had been sitting around on a long wooden swing, swaying back and forth and drinking lemonade from the kitchen (on Ainsley’s insistence) and discussing the rights of citizens in a community that worked on the majority of the public and democracy. She’d lit up and Josh had noticed the change in her demeanour, but didn’t associate it with anything until he realized that Sam was standing in front of them and immediately sat down on the other side of Ainsley.
“What,” he said, almost hurt, “no cookies?”
It took about two seconds before Ainsley and Josh pounced on Sam with eager hugs.
They continued on for a long time, the three of them arguing and debating bipartisanship and when Sam realized that Cordelia had moved on to a man named Doyle it was Josh who clapped him on the shoulder. “Sorry, buddy,” he said. “But hey, with that mug and your charm, it’s just a matter of time.” Ainsley had kept her gaze lowered on the table as her fingers nimbly fixed herself something to eat.
She didn’t want to have to explain that she would be very much willing and that she knew a man by name of Mr. Lyman who would be happy to help, too.
*
It wasn’t planned, exactly, but Josh had spent the night with her, sleepless and without anything interesting. Sometime in the last few months, more mattresses had appeared, so they’d started bunking in her room if they needed to sleep, but since Sam had reappeared, they hadn’t slept much.
She lay with her head on his stomach, staring up at the ceiling and he kept his hands behind his head. “Do you think he knows?” Ainsley asked.
“What, that we’re fairly hopelessly head over heels for him?” Josh sputtered out in disbelief. “Seeing as I don’t think Sam went gay, I think we should maybe keep that from him.” She sighed and twisted her hair in her hands, glancing up to see Josh’s face and she debated breaking up the conversation with talk about the latest edition of the paper or how she was going to turn down her nomination this go-round, but she never said anything because she just kissed him instead.
It was something else they did sometimes, the sex.
They didn’t get that far this time, because there was a knock on the door before Sam’s oblivious tone entered the room. “So, is this where you two have been avoiding me, because CJ just told me, and I quote, ‘if I talk about my teeth to her one more time…’” He’d trailed off, catching Josh with his hand on Ainsley’s lower back, inching lower and her nearly straddling him. “Huh,” was Sam’s educated response.
Ainsley backed off of Josh so fast she almost considered whiplash as a condition and Josh was on his feet to stop Sam from beating a retreat. “Okay, whoa, hey,” Josh laughed nervously, blocking the door. “This is totally not what it looks like.”
“Really?” Sam asked, sounding distant now. “Because to me, it looks like you were either teaching Ainsley CPR or maybe you were kissing her.”
Ainsley just sat there, biting back a single word from escaping because if one got out, that was it; that was the ballgame. “We’re sorry, Sam,” she spat out, and it just bubbled over and Josh sighed, knowing they were doomed now. “This is just a weird thing between the two of us because we get along, but not as much as you and I did and you and he did and we’ve settled on this sort of common ground and sometimes, yes, yes, it involves kissing and you know what? We are grown-ups and we can kiss whomever we so please and if I want to kiss Josh, then why can’t I?”
Sam just stared at Ainsley dubiously, then glanced to Josh. “Is the kissing to keep her quiet?” he said with an incorrigible grin.
Josh looked stunned himself and stared at Sam. “Wait, you’re somehow okay with this. You’re not yelling and you aren’t bolting.”
Instead, Sam just made sure the door behind them was locked. “If this is where you avoid me, I think I want in on the club.”
*
She lay in the middle in a pair of Sam’s boxers and one of Josh’s sweat-stained white t-shirts, hair tumbling off the bed as she stared at the ceiling. Sam’s head rested on her stomach and Josh had one hand on her upper thigh and the other on Sam’s hip. They were all catching their breath, yet, and having a time of it.
“If anyone tells Toby,” Sam said, more than just a note of fear in his voice, but rather, a whole symphony. “I think we’re fairly screwed.”
Josh let out a loud laugh at that, braying and delighted. “Ya think, Norman?”
“Norman?” Ainsley latched on with delight.
“Oh, God…”
“Yeah, it’s Mr. Sam God’s-Gift-To-Women Seaborn’s middle name.”
“Norman,” Ainsley repeated with grinning delight and didn’t even stop her laughing when Sam made to swat lazily at her. Instead, she just giggled a little harder. “Oh, you’re so right. Toby is gonna kill us.”
“And Ceej is gonna be pissed we left her out,” Josh agreed.
Ainsley was still laughing all the while and didn’t even stop until Sam tried the method Josh had employed earlier, kissing her until she was silent and watching Josh over Sam’s shoulder was a sort of comfort that she never expected to feel. After all, they were Democrats. Who felt safe around them?
end
Sam never did leave them.
Not permanently, at least.
This was the last thought Ainsley had before she saw him returning to the Compound in the light of twilight. She and Josh had been sitting around on a long wooden swing, swaying back and forth and drinking lemonade from the kitchen (on Ainsley’s insistence) and discussing the rights of citizens in a community that worked on the majority of the public and democracy. She’d lit up and Josh had noticed the change in her demeanour, but didn’t associate it with anything until he realized that Sam was standing in front of them and immediately sat down on the other side of Ainsley.
“What,” he said, almost hurt, “no cookies?”
It took about two seconds before Ainsley and Josh pounced on Sam with eager hugs.
They continued on for a long time, the three of them arguing and debating bipartisanship and when Sam realized that Cordelia had moved on to a man named Doyle it was Josh who clapped him on the shoulder. “Sorry, buddy,” he said. “But hey, with that mug and your charm, it’s just a matter of time.” Ainsley had kept her gaze lowered on the table as her fingers nimbly fixed herself something to eat.
She didn’t want to have to explain that she would be very much willing and that she knew a man by name of Mr. Lyman who would be happy to help, too.
*
It wasn’t planned, exactly, but Josh had spent the night with her, sleepless and without anything interesting. Sometime in the last few months, more mattresses had appeared, so they’d started bunking in her room if they needed to sleep, but since Sam had reappeared, they hadn’t slept much.
She lay with her head on his stomach, staring up at the ceiling and he kept his hands behind his head. “Do you think he knows?” Ainsley asked.
“What, that we’re fairly hopelessly head over heels for him?” Josh sputtered out in disbelief. “Seeing as I don’t think Sam went gay, I think we should maybe keep that from him.” She sighed and twisted her hair in her hands, glancing up to see Josh’s face and she debated breaking up the conversation with talk about the latest edition of the paper or how she was going to turn down her nomination this go-round, but she never said anything because she just kissed him instead.
It was something else they did sometimes, the sex.
They didn’t get that far this time, because there was a knock on the door before Sam’s oblivious tone entered the room. “So, is this where you two have been avoiding me, because CJ just told me, and I quote, ‘if I talk about my teeth to her one more time…’” He’d trailed off, catching Josh with his hand on Ainsley’s lower back, inching lower and her nearly straddling him. “Huh,” was Sam’s educated response.
Ainsley backed off of Josh so fast she almost considered whiplash as a condition and Josh was on his feet to stop Sam from beating a retreat. “Okay, whoa, hey,” Josh laughed nervously, blocking the door. “This is totally not what it looks like.”
“Really?” Sam asked, sounding distant now. “Because to me, it looks like you were either teaching Ainsley CPR or maybe you were kissing her.”
Ainsley just sat there, biting back a single word from escaping because if one got out, that was it; that was the ballgame. “We’re sorry, Sam,” she spat out, and it just bubbled over and Josh sighed, knowing they were doomed now. “This is just a weird thing between the two of us because we get along, but not as much as you and I did and you and he did and we’ve settled on this sort of common ground and sometimes, yes, yes, it involves kissing and you know what? We are grown-ups and we can kiss whomever we so please and if I want to kiss Josh, then why can’t I?”
Sam just stared at Ainsley dubiously, then glanced to Josh. “Is the kissing to keep her quiet?” he said with an incorrigible grin.
Josh looked stunned himself and stared at Sam. “Wait, you’re somehow okay with this. You’re not yelling and you aren’t bolting.”
Instead, Sam just made sure the door behind them was locked. “If this is where you avoid me, I think I want in on the club.”
*
She lay in the middle in a pair of Sam’s boxers and one of Josh’s sweat-stained white t-shirts, hair tumbling off the bed as she stared at the ceiling. Sam’s head rested on her stomach and Josh had one hand on her upper thigh and the other on Sam’s hip. They were all catching their breath, yet, and having a time of it.
“If anyone tells Toby,” Sam said, more than just a note of fear in his voice, but rather, a whole symphony. “I think we’re fairly screwed.”
Josh let out a loud laugh at that, braying and delighted. “Ya think, Norman?”
“Norman?” Ainsley latched on with delight.
“Oh, God…”
“Yeah, it’s Mr. Sam God’s-Gift-To-Women Seaborn’s middle name.”
“Norman,” Ainsley repeated with grinning delight and didn’t even stop her laughing when Sam made to swat lazily at her. Instead, she just giggled a little harder. “Oh, you’re so right. Toby is gonna kill us.”
“And Ceej is gonna be pissed we left her out,” Josh agreed.
Ainsley was still laughing all the while and didn’t even stop until Sam tried the method Josh had employed earlier, kissing her until she was silent and watching Josh over Sam’s shoulder was a sort of comfort that she never expected to feel. After all, they were Democrats. Who felt safe around them?
end