Disclaimers and info in Part 1
Donna rested her head on Sam's shoulder and heaved a deep sigh, taking
comfort in the warmth of his arms around her.
"You okay?" he asked, noticing her mood.
She straightened up for a second to look him in the eye. "Yeah. Fine." She
settled back against him and hoped he would drop it.
He didn't. "You seem kind of . . ."
"Kind of what?" she asked from his chest.
"I don't know. But something's wrong."
"It's really not." Even she didn't think she sounded convincing.
For a second he lifted one hand to the back of her hair. "If you wanted to
talk - you would tell me, right?"
Donna smiled. "You're really sweet, you know that?"
He sighed now. "Tell that to Mallory," he said, referring to the topic of
their earlier conversation.
"Are we back on that?" Donna teased. "Seriously, Sam - call her."
"I can't call her - she's dating someone else!"
"Don't call and proposition her - call and say you just wanted to apologize
again for not calling her after the picture."
"What if the hockey player's there when I call?"
She smacked his chest fondly, completely unaware that Josh saw her do it and
tightened his grip on CJ's waist. "Sam, you are such a weenie."
"I am not."
"You are too."
He laughed with her and hugged her a little closer. "So tell me something."
"Sure," she replied immediately.
"How's Josh?"
She gave him an odd look, which of course he didn't see because she was under
his chin. "Sam, you're his best friend."
"Yeah, but he hasn't talked to me about this and I haven't wanted to push."
"What makes you think he talked to me?"
"Well, you took him to the hospital."
Donna frowned. "That doesn't mean we had to talk. He could have been
completely silent all night."
"Could have been, but wasn't?" he pressed.
Too late she realized she should have phrased that differently. "We talked a
little, but not much. He's doing better. I think."
"Hey, wait a minute." He pulled away so that he could look at her. "Did you
say 'all night?'"
"Oh, for God's sake." She tried to play it casual, but she couldn't stop the
color from rising in her face. She could feel the heat spreading across her
cheeks. "An entire window in his living room was knocked out. He spent the
night. On the couch."
Sam grinned. "You are so red right now."
She could do nothing but smile embarrassedly. "Sam . . ."
"I know, I know. I was teasing you." He frowned. "Donna, is he still mad
at me about the thing?"
"What thing?" She looked up, her eyes serious now. "The oil thing?"
"Yeah."
"No." Her brow furrowed in thought. "Why?"
"Because he's been glaring at me for the last five minutes."
Across the room CJ squeezed Josh's injured hand just hard enough to make him
wince. "Ow, CJ. What was that for?"
"You're breaking ribs," she complained, physically using her hand to loosen
his grip on her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"That's why you're glaring at someone back there and trying to kill me?"
Taking control she danced him around in a little circle and examined the
room. "All I see is Sam and Donna - Josh!"
"What?"
She gave him a combination knowing smile and shocked expression. "Are you
jealous of Sam?"
"That's ridiculous."
"Of course it is. So why don't you know that?"
"CJ . . ."
Before he could stop her she was dancing him over to the other couple. "Hey,
you guys."
Sam and Donna, who had been talking quietly and looking intently at each
other, broke away and greeted Josh and CJ distractedly. CJ held out her
hand. "Donna, I'm cutting in. Spanky here and I have some things we need to
discuss." Ignoring Sam's panicked expression CJ took Donna's hand and placed
it in Josh's. "Take care of Josh, would you?"
As they moved away Sam turned his frightened eyes on his new dance partner.
"What have I done?"
"Nothing," she replied.
"Then what did you have to talk - wait. We're just pretending to be talking,
aren't we?"
"But I am talking to you, Sam."
He glared at her. "Funny. Seriously, what's up?"
"What do you mean?"
"I doubt you were just suddenly seized with the uncontrollable urge to dance
with me."
"Sam, I think you underestimate your cuteness."
"Really, CJ. Why was Josh glaring at me?"
She laughed merrily. "You noticed?"
"Yeah. Is it funny? Please tell me it's funny."
"Don't worry. It's funny. Well, sort of." She leaned close and whispered
conspiratorially. "It's Donna."
Sam frowned worriedly. "I knew something was wrong with her."
CJ was startled out of her story. "What?"
He nodded. "She's just - not right. She's upset about something but she
wouldn't tell me."
"Oh, God." CJ reached up and brushed the bangs off her forehead. "It has to
be the same thing. Damnit, I knew this was going to be bad someday. I was
just hoping it wouldn't be today. Things were looking so good with Josh a
minute ago."
"CJ, what are you talking about?"
"Josh and Donna."
"What about them?"
She gave him a look.
"Is this about him spending the night at her place? Because -"
"No." She sighed. "You haven't noticed Donna's little . . ."
His eyebrows lifted. "If you're actually asking whether I've noticed that
she has a thing for him, that's not exactly a breaking newsflash."
"No."
"She's always had a thing -"
"Yeah, but he hasn't always had a thing for her."
Sam stared back at her.
Meanwhile, CJ's revelations making him overly conscious of what he was doing,
Josh held Donna in a delicate and very formal dance position. "So," he
asked, trying to sound casual, "what were you and Sam talking about?"
"Mallory," she replied innocently. "I told him he should call her."
"You told him to call her?" he echoed in shock, his problems forgotten. "Are
you crazy? She's dating a hockey player!"
"Sam says he's a bad hockey player," Donna pointed out.
"That doesn't mean he can't use a stick," Josh countered.
Donna's eyes, locked on his, widened. Then she realized what he meant.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, blushing furiously.
"Oh, what?"
She shook her head. "I really don't think he's going to beat up a guy who
works at the White House, Josh."
"You'd be surprised to know that some people are not deterred by that."
"No, I wouldn't," she reminded him softly.
He paused. "No, you wouldn't." Remembering his conversation with CJ now, he
looked at her carefully. She looked - upset. Not about being reminded of
the shooting - not momentarily saddened - but really upset. He rubbed the
back of her hand with his thumb, and her tiny, almost imperceptible gasp of
surprise sent an answering jolt of adrenaline through his body.
Oh, my God, he thought. We have chemistry.
It was too scary to dwell on. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Everyone keeps asking me that," she said, faking cheerfulness. "Sam, you.
Everything's fine."
"You're sure?"
She nodded. "Positive."
He didn't believe her, but he figured she would talk when she was ready.
"Okay."
The music stopped, and he stepped away, trying to give her the space she
needed. "We should go back in," he said, gesturing toward the room where the
President still was.
Her eyes darkened and he could have sworn there was a catch in her voice when
she replied, "Yeah, we probably should."
He hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked back into the other room,
waiting for her to follow him. She watched him go for a few seconds before
she went as well. He had asked what was wrong, which was a first, but she
was positive he didn't want to hear about this. He'd been very clear about
his interest, or lack thereof, in her personal life.