Spoilers: In the Shadow of Two Gunmen
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Archive: Sure, just tell me where
Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue, I have no money. Song's not mine either
Author's Note: A pre-administration Josh/Sam story (friendship only), Sam POV. Not related to my POV series.
I was on the outside, when you said, you said you needed me.
I was looking at myself, I was blind, I could not see.
�If I see the real thing in Nashua, should I tell you about it?�
A boy tries hard to be a man, his mother takes him by the hand,
If he stops to think, he starts to cry.
Oh why?
I was seven years old when I met Josh. Our fathers had met some way or another and one year our two families decided to vacation together. Josh was twelve and not at all thrilled with the fact that he was stuck with a seven year old kid following him around. I thought he was so cool, he was in middle school and read complicated books that I couldn�t yet begin to understand. After a few days, Josh kind of got used to me bugging him and started being more patient with me, explaining things he was reading about and telling me what it was like to be older. Even then, he was excited about politics. I remember him telling me about a friend of his dad�s who was in politics, a man named Leo McGarry.
If you walkaway, walkaway
I walk away, walkaway - I will follow.
I grabbed the phone when my mother called for me to take it, saying it was Josh. I was a senior in high school and Josh had been at Yale for about a year.
�Sam, hey, what�s up?�
I was immediately wary. Although his greeting sounded innocuous enough, I knew from experience that he only started conversations this way when he had some hare-brained idea he wanted me to go along with-�Oh, come on, it won�t hurt jumping off the roof, we piled a bunch of leaves on the ground.� I earned a broken leg for that one, Josh got off easy with a sprained ankle. I had learned my lesson, and so I responded with a cautious, �Nothing really, why?�
Josh laughed, immediately sensing my hesitation, �Relax, Sam, I�m not gonna ask you to jump off a roof again.� Not literally anyway, I thought. I waited for the other shoe to drop. �I was just wondering what you were doing after high school.�
I relaxed and let out a breath, maybe I was wrong about why he was calling. �I got accepted into Princeton.�
�Really? That�s awesome. What are you gonna do after that?�
I pondered what he�s asking me. How the hell should I know? I hadn�t even started college yet and he�s asking me what I�m gonna do after that?
�I don�t know, I thought I�d, you know, start college before I worried about what I�d do when I finished it. Why?�
��Cause I think you should go to law school afterwards.�
I sat, stunned. Was he insane? All I�d heard from him since he started law school was how much he hated it, and he wanted me to go through it too? �But why, I thought you hated it?�
�I do, but I think you would like it.�
�Yeah, okay�, I said. I had at least four years before I even needed to start thinking about this, I wasn�t gonna worry about this now.
I was on the inside, when they pulled the four walls down,
You were looking through the window, I was lost, I am found.
I of course did end up going to law school. I found myself enjoying Duke and Josh didn�t let me forget that he was right. After law school, I practiced law and eventually met Lisa.
If you walkaway, walkaway
I walkaway, walkaway - I will follow.
I�m just entering my apartment when the phone begins to ring. I rush over and grab it, �yeah�
�Sam, hey, what�s up?�
Not again. I sigh, �nothing much, why?�
�Have you heard about a guy named John Hoynes?�
This seems innocent enough, but I don�t let my guard down. I don�t even want to know where this is gonna go. �Yeah, he�s running for president. Some people think he might actually have a chance. Why?�
��Cause I�m working for him, and he�s got more than a chance. He�s gonna win.�
I grin, �You�re gonna work in the White House? There goes the country.�
�Ha, ha, very funny. Besides, you�re gonna work there too.�
I freeze. �What?�
�Come work for Hoynes, Sam. I told him I knew this great speechwriter he should hire.�
�I can�t.�
Silence. �What?�
�I can�t, Josh. Things are going good here. I can�t follow you this time.�
�Yeah�
�Josh-� he hangs up before I can continue.
Your eyes make a circle, I see you when you go in there
Josh assures me that Hoynes has the nomination sewn up. But as I look at him, I know something�s wrong. As he begins to leave, I call out, "Josh! Hoynes...he's not the real thing, is he?" He tries to make excuses, but we both know I�m right. "Josh...what are you doing?" He looks at me and confesses he doesn�t know. We talk some more and then just as he gets ready to leave again, he stops to ask me a question. �If I see the real thing in Nashua, should I tell you about it?� I assure hime he won�t need to, �cause his poker face sucks.
If you walkaway, walkwaway
I walkaway, walkaway - I will follow
Later that night, while lying in bed with Lisa, I'm kept awake by the thoughts in my head. What if whatever Josh sees in Nashua is the real thing? Am I willing to drop everything to follow him again? I already have everything a person could want, a beautiful fiancee and a well-paying, fast track career. Am I insane? And yet, Josh was doing what deep down I wanted do, work in politics. Wasn't that how it always was? Josh would be living the life I wanted and would invite me to come along and every time, I would follow.
I will follow
Don't these people get it, it's better to pay more for a better ship if it's going to keep said ship from causing an environmental disaster. No one's listening to me! What the hell am I doing here?
What's that tapping noise?
Wow, Josh look like hell. I look at his face, and I know. He's found it, he's found the real thing.
"Sam, Sam! Where are you going?!"
"New Hampshire!"
I will follow...
Finis
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