Work Text:
A late night, probably under the influence.
"I love you, Sadie," Sam says.
"I know, Samson. I love you too."
"I'm sorry I didn't know how to tell you. I think… I thought the words felt short, somehow. But I should've told you."
The words float between them. The air stirs with things unsaid.
"It was hard, sometimes," Sadie admits.
"I don't think I could bear the earnestness of it," Sam says. "The scope of you - of us. There's so much of you in me."
"Maybe if our collaborations weren't so all consuming, we would've understood each other better," Sadie ponders. "But I can't find it in me to regret how things went."
"Me neither."
"Maybe we would've been happier, though."
They fall silent.
"I miss Marx," Sam says, quiet, head turned away.
A pause.
"I do too."
"I was awful to him."
A faint smile. "On occasion."
"I didn't care about him enough, I was too focused on everything else."
"He knew you loved him, in your own way. He was the best of us."
"I was a shitty friend, huh?" Sam says with an empty chuckle.
"We were young."
"Not that young."
Sadie shrugs. "We can't change it. But you were his best friend, all the way through."
"He deserved better," Sam lets out. "He was too kind."
"He loved so easily."
"He did."
Memories flood. They let themselves be carried away for a moment.
"Sometimes, I try to be more like him," Sam confesses.
"Me too."
A deep breath.
"Do you remember that promise we made to each other when we were teens?" Sadie asks. "To always forgive one another, no matter what?"
Sam turns his gaze to meet hers. "Of course."
"I don't know if we can keep it, exactly-"
"We have a bad track record."
"We do," Sadie agrees with a smile. "But I hope that at the end of it all, there's more good than bad... I want us to have loved each other more than we made each other miserable."
"It barely matters if you make me miserable," Sam says. "I'll still love you. There's no helping it."
Sadie takes Sam's hand in hers. They hold onto each other.
"The best things I've made were with you," Sam says. "And the best things I've ever done were for you."
Sadie studies Sam, and in him she sees so much. She sees her passions and Unfair and Marx and Naomi, and ultimately, she sees herself.
"I look forward to our continued partnership, then," Sadie says softly, her eyes lit with a playfulness that makes Sam's heart swell.
He grins. "I do as well."