Quintessential | Joshua Washington

Par-tay (part 2) - XIX

The pounding music emanating from the Washington's house could be heard well before the house itself could be seen; it was lucky they didn't have any close neighbours. Sam was very glad they were there; the fresh air had not aided Quinn's already partially drunk state at all, in fact if anything it only appeared to have made her worse. She kept her arm laced through Quinn's to stop her tripping over her own feet as they headed up the driveway, while Jess floated off to the side on her phone - Sam presumed it was Mike on the other end judging from the amount of giggling and hair twirling that was going on. Well, she certainly hoped it was Mike. "Are you gonna be alright?" She asked Quinn, concerned for the alcohol-virgins first proper night out on the ol' razzle dazzle.

"Ohhhh, you betcha." She nodded unconvincingly. "Once I get inside and on the dancefloor, I will tear shit up!" As much as Sam would have liked to see her friend 'tear shit up', she was more worried she wouldn't be able to stand without help, never mind dance. The door opened before the three of them had knocked and Chris stood on the other end to greet them, a beer in one hand and a broad smile on his face.

"Ladies! Welcome to casa de Washington!"

"You make it sound like we've never been here before." Sam shook her head and brushed past him as he moved to the side; there were people everywhere. "Wow...Josh really went all out with the invitations, didn't he?" She raised an eyebrow, some of the faces were familiar but many of them weren't. Who would have guessed he still had so many bridges intact after the events of the past year.

"Yeah well, you know Josh; go big or go home...hey is Quinn ok?" Chris noticed the brunette clinging to Sam's arm with a distant look on her face.

"Ah, I hope so...you see Quinn doesn't exactly drink..."

"And now she does." Jess interjected with a broad smile, "She'll be fine, get her on the dancefloor so she can 'tear shit up'!" She laughed, "Mike!" Jess spied her boyfriend lounging nearby and eagerly made her way over to him. Chris glanced at Quinn again; she was squinting at their surroundings as if she was trying to piece together where she was.

"Quinn, you feeling ok?" He asked her carefully. Josh would not be happy if she ended up K.O'd at the beginning of the evening.

"Aha!" She suddenly became animated, "I'm home!" She de-laced her arm from Sam's and swatted away the blonde's attempts to steady her. "Where's Chief hiding?" Her silver-eyed gaze travelled around the room again.

"He's around here somewhere..."

"Quinn, Sam, you made it!" Speak of the devil... Joshua Washington pushed his way through a crowd of disgruntled looking couples and joined them at door. He grinned at them both before squinting at Quinn carefully, "You a little drunk there, Quinoa?"

"You bet your ass I am." She nodded firmly, "I said I'd drink if they told me to party." Josh turned to Sam for clarification; she looked sheepish.

"Quinn doesn't drink, we made a deal, and she ended up drinking a little too much." She sighed, "Sorry." Quinn suddenly threw her arm around Sam's shoulders and squished her face with her free hand.

"Don't be sorry Sammy, be fun." She advised wisely. Josh rolled his eyes at the pair and proceeded to peel Quinn away from Sam, "Where're you taking me?" Quinn asked suspiciously.

"It's a party, I'm gonna introduce you to other party-related activities."

"Ooooh-ho, how mysterious!" She giggled.

Sam watched their retreating backs with worry written all over her face, "Quinn'll be fine with Josh, Sam." Chris reassured her. "She won't get into any trouble...in fact she's a lot nicer than I thought she'd be." Sam couldn't help but smile.