no strings attached - j.b

he knows

"Hey man, what are you doing here?" Joe asked in surprise as, with the laundry basket tucked under his arm, he opened the door for Sam who had just rung the bell. "Hey, I'm out of protein powder and I was wondering if you had any left" Sam grinned.

"Oh sure, come on in. You got a minute? I was about to make myself a shake when I was done with this one" Joe nodded at the laundry piled in the basket. "If you wait five minutes, I can make us both one".

Sam nodded. "Sounds good to me. Don't have anything else to do today anyway and wanted to ask if you had time" he explained as he followed Joe into the house. "Oh I do. Nothing planned for today. Well, I wanted to get to bed early. Didn't sleep well last night" Joe lied mumbling.

After all, he couldn't exactly tell Sam that he had to kick him out tonight because Phoebe might call him at some point and he would pick her up to hook up with her. He wasn't sure Sam would understand if Joe decided against him and in favor of his best friend and sex.

"Oh yeah, no problem. Mady's coming over later tonight anyway. So I won't stay too long" Sam patted Joe on the shoulder with a grin as he flopped down on the couch. Since his sister lived in the house next door, the Hubbard siblings spent quite a bit of time together.

"ok, good. Uh yeah...I'll pick up some more laundry and then I'll be back, ok?" Joe looked at Sam, who nodded. "Seeing you with a laundry basket is an unusual sight anyway. Doesn't your mum still make them for you every weekend when she comes to our games?" Sam teased Joe.

Joe rolled his eyes. "Yes she does..." he mumbled. "...But all my favorite shirts are dirty, so I'm forced to wash them myself" he admitted. "Because you sure don't have enough clothes otherwise" Sam laughed.

Joe just shook his head and ran up the stairs to gather the rest of the clothes that needed to go in the load of laundry before he would throw them in his washing machine.

"Hey Sam" his voice echoed from upstairs through the stairwell after a few minutes to Sam who was still sitting on the couch scrolling through Instagram. "yeah, what's up?" he called back.

"is my Nike hoodie laying around downstairs somewhere? You know, the lilac one?" Joe asked, standing at the top of the stairs. The hoodie was one of those pieces that really needed to be washed.

"Wait, you mean the lavender colored one with the white lettering on the chest?" Sam replied. "Lavender, lilac, whatever, is it downstairs?" Joe jogged down the stairs. "No, but I know where he is" Sam hoisted, his back turned to Joe, hands on his hips.

"Did I leave it at your..." he began his sentence confused, before remembering where he had last seen that hoodie, or rather on whom. Furious, Sam turned around and before he had even uttered it, Joe blurted out a loud "fuck".

"You want to explain to me what your Nike hoodie is doing at Phoebe's?" Sam stared at Joe. "Were you with her? Did you leave the hoodie at her place when you fucked again?"

"Sam, it's...it's not what you think" Joe mumbled, nervously wiping his forehead. "Not what I think? Then how is it, Joe? How else does your hoodie end up in Phoebe's apartment, huh? Don't take me for a fool, you've been fucking again, haven't you?" Sam didn't make a face as his voice grew louder and louder.

"Sam, calm down" Joe sighed "Just give me a fucking explanation and I maybe calm down. Tell me what the fuck happened. Tell me that you're still fucking my best friend" Sam was definitely angry.

"I...I don't think we should work this out without Phoebe, Sam" Joe clarified. "Okay, then call her. Get her over here. I want this explained now" Sam braced his hands on his hips.

Joe knew there was no point in telling Sam any lies. Sighing, he grabbed his cell phone and stood in his hallway while dialing Phoebe's number.

"hey Joe, what's up?" she answered after a short while. "Phoebe, where are you right now?" Joe asked without greeting her. "I, uh, I just got in my car. Finished work at the facility and wanted to get home, get some work done before heading to the party, why?" she answered him a bit confused.

"Can you come over?" Joe asked. Phoebe sighed. "Joe, I told you that I..." Joe interrupted her. "Sam's here. He knows, Phoebe" it blurted out. There was a sudden silence on the other side of the line.

"Phoebe?" Joe asked, concerned. "I'm...I'm on my way. Give me five minutes" she mumbled before hanging up. Sighing, Joe put his phone back in his pocket and went back to Sam in the living room. "She's coming" he mumbled.

The silence Sam was punishing Joe with was unbearable and Joe hated every minute he had to spend in silence next to his best friend on the sofa. On the table were the two empty glasses of the shakes Joe had mixed for the two of them to escape the awkward situation at least for a few moments.

"Thank god" he mumbled barely audibly when the doorbell finally rang. It had taken Phoebe just about 8 minutes, but to Joe it had felt like an eternity.

"Hey" Phoebe was clearly nervous when Joe opened the door. She had no idea what was about to be waiting for her here. But she was pretty sure it wasn't positive and Sam wouldn't be overjoyed to pull her into one of his strong hugs.

"Where is he?" she asked as she slipped past Joe into the house. "In the living room" Joe mumbled as he closed the front door. "Okay" Phoebe took a deep breath before heading out.

"Hey Sammy" she tried as hard as she could to smile at her best friend, whose expression looked like he wanted to run through a wall somewhere. "How are you?"

"Cut the crap, Phoebe. I'm sure Joe already told you what happened, right? So now can one of you fucking explain to me how Joe's hoodie ended up in your apartment?" Sam leaned back on the couch and crossed his arms in front of his chest as his gaze wandered back and forth between the two of them. Joe and Phoebe exchanged uncertain glances as they both stood a bit awkwardly in the room.

"Ok, look, Sam, there's something we should have told you a while ago" Phoebe began sighing. "Seems like it to me too" Sam scoffed. "I'm...I'm just going to be completely upfront and honest with you right now, ok?" Phoebe took a deep breath. "Joe and I get together regularly and...hook up".

Sam's jaw dropped and he gasped loudly. He had expected a lot, but not this. "You...both run a friends with benefits act?" he asked, stunned.

"Without the friends part...yeah" Joe confirmed nodding at him. "How long has it been?" Sam asked. "The week after the housewarming party" Joe replied. "So it's been over a month and...and you guys didn't think to tell me about it? You didn't think to tell me that my best friends were fucking on a regular basis?" Sam stood up pissed and turned to the window.

"We...we wanted to see how well it was going before we told you about it, Sam. Because...because we knew you wouldn't like it for sure" Phoebe stuttered. "But Sam, you should trust us. We're adults. We can make decision"

For a few moments, everyone was silent. Joe and Phoebe exchanged uncertain glances while Sam just looked out the window shaking his head.

"Sam? Are you mad?" Phoebe asked quietly, taking a step toward him. "Mad?" she flinched as Sam suddenly turned around. "I'm not mad. I'm...I'm disappointed. By both of you" he clarified.

"I'm your best friend. You guys should know me better than that. I wasn't thrilled that you guys kept ending up in bed unplanned. I didn't like that. That wouldn't have worked out in time. I...I never said that I was against any kind of relationship between you. Even...even if it's just physical" he sighed.

"That...that means you're not against it?" Joe asked cautiously. "No, I'm not against it. You guys are grown up enough. If you think this friends with benefits without friendship is what you need, what will make you happy, then...go for it" Sam clarified.

"I...I don't know how quickly I can forgive you for keeping it from me for so long, though. That I had to find out on my own. That...that's what's hurting me right now" Sam mumbled, giving them both a head-shaking, disappointed look.

"I...I think I should go" he added, storming to Joe's door. "Sammy, wait" Phoebe tried to go after him, but Joe held her by the arm. "Let him be. He needs some time alone right now" he explained.

WHO-DEY 🧡