Notes: Big thanks to Cindy for reading this for me. And to Chelle for
reading some of it. And, can't forget DC for encouraging me to write it.
Thanks, guys!

Spoilers: I can't think of any, so you'll just have to read.


Time can never mend the careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind, ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find

Should've known better


      Some relationships happen over mere seconds.  People meet and are
instantly attracted to another.  Other relationships develop over a much
longer time frame.  And in that time frame, many struggles are usually easy
to find, that helped to bring the relationship together.

      In the time that it takes to bring a couple together, many things can,
and do happen.  It is possible for the woman to go through a period where she
is in love with the man, but he doesn't return the feelings.  Then, maybe the
man goes through a similar phase, and the two struggle to actually share the
same feelings at the same time.  This describes the relationship of Josh and
Donna.

      And through the times when they've known they loved the other, they
would accidentally let things slip.  Careless whispers that they thought no
one would here.  Or maybe they just wanted to be able to think no one heard
them, for ignorance is a kind thing.  If you can lay claims to not knowing,
then you're all protected, just like that age-old saying, "What you don't
know, can't hurt."

      But, it can.  In the long run, it can hurt.  Especially where love is
concerned.  To loose out on love because of ignorance, that can hurt.

I feel so unsure
As I take your hand and lead you to the dance floor
As the music dies, something in your eyes
Calls to mind the silver screen
And all its sad good-byes


      Party fundraisers are always the same.  You go to someone's house, or
to a big hall or where have you, and you stand around and schmooze with a
bunch of people, because you need their money.  There is usually a live band
there and always a dance floor.  People, though, tend to not dance.
 Everyone's so busy schmoozing that the dance floor is empty.  But, not
always.

      This particular fundraiser, many people were dancing.  Why this
fundraiser was different, no one would ever know.  But, it was.

      Being only a handful of people not on the dance floor, Josh got this
bright idea and so he headed over to where his witty assistant stood chatting
with a few other ladies.  He nodded to the others, then turned his attention
to Donna and asked her to dance.  Donna blushed as she excepted and he led
her to the dance floor.

      Nearly every other person there that night had stopped everything they
were doing to watch Josh and Donna dance.  Both of them were so very
graceful, and just glided all over the floor.  A definite chemistry present
between the two.

      When the song was over, and the music ended, Josh and Donna step aside.
 They were both smiling at each other, having had a wonderful time dancing.
 At that moment, Josh noticed something in Donna's eyes.  At that moment, he
realized he didn't want to leave her side.  He didn't want to say goodbye to
her.

I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know your not a fool


      When the dance ended, Josh was definitely confused.  He looked at Donna
and he knew he was in love, but was this one of those times where he was, and
she wasn't?  Josh's answer came when Donna excused herself to go back and
talk with her friends.

      Josh watched Donna walk away.  He felt guilty for not telling her how
he felt.  He never told her how he felt.  He, instead, would pretend to feel
differently.  To allow himself to go on thinking they were just friends.
 But, Donna was no fool.  She knew.  And deep down, he knew she knew.

Should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I've been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you


      Josh retired to a conversation across the room from Donna, where he
paid more attention to her instead of whatever the gentlemen in front of him
were saying.

      As he watched her, he knew it was wrong to not tell her how he was
feeling.  It was as if he was cheating her.  They were friends, but could be
so much more.  He wanted more.  Josh wanted a future with Donna, and so he
told himself that he was going to save himself until she was ready for him.
 And, this time, he wasn't going to screw up the lines of communication by
flirting with anyone else.

Time can never mend
The careless whispers of a good friend
To the heart and mind
Ignorance is kind
There's no comfort in the truth
Pain is all you'll find


      On occasion, Josh would receive a glance from Donna.  She would smile
at him, and then turn her focus back on the group she was surrounded by.
 Ignorance is kind, they say.  But, it is also a very tricky subject.  Could
there be comfort in knowing?  Perhaps if both parties felt the same way at
the same time, then yes.  Or else, pain would be the end result.

I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know your not a fool


      The group Donna was conversing with began to scamper away and form
different groups among the many guests.  And so Donna did as well, but she
kept her eyes focused on one man.  As she looked at him, she wondered how she
could continue to go on pretending that she didn't really love him.  But, she
was convinced that he didn't reciprocate her feelings, and so she resolved
herself to her little game of make-believe until she knew he felt the same.

      Her little game of make-believe, however, wasn't as good as she thought
it was.  Everyone around her could see that she was in love with Josh.  Could
he?

Should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste this chance that I've been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you

Never without your love


      So many chances to tell him she loved him, and not once has Donna taken
advantage of it.  She felt like she was cheating him.  Like she was reducing
him to remain a friend, for she wasn't allowing it to bud into a romance.
 She wanted it to.  Her desire for that to happen was more than anything
she'd wished for as a little girl.  But, she honestly thought that it was not
meant to be.  And so, she made herself a promise that if she couldn't have
Josh, she wouldn't have anyone.  She wasn't going to settle for second best.
 No, she deserved first prize.  She deserved Josh.

Tonight the music seems so loud
I wish that we could lose this crowd
Maybe it's better this way
We'd hurt each other with the things we'd want to say


      The music began to pick up again, and greatly increase in volume as the
dance floor was once again filled with a great crowd.  Josh on one side of
the floor, Donna on the other side.  They kept tabs on each other, just
wishing that everyone else would disappear.  But, that would mean that Josh
and Donna would be alone, and then they would have to confess their feelings
for each other.  That, they didn't want to do.  They managed to somehow
convince themselves that if they did reveal their true feelings, they would
only hurt their friendship.  They could stand to not be romantically
involved, but they couldn't stand to no longer be friends.  That would just
be unbearable.

We could have been so good together
We could have lived this dance forever
But noone's gonna dance with me
Please stay


      Waiting on the edge of the dance floor for someone to ask her to dance,
Donna was met by no one.  She shrugged it off as being no big deal.  But,
what she didn't understand was that everyone had watched her and Josh dancing
earlier.  Everyone saw the love Josh had for Donna and Donna had for Josh.
 And, everyone knew that they were the perfect couple.

      If they were indeed such a good couple, why were they never successful
in coupling up?  Josh would have his moments of love for Donna and Donna
would have her moments of love for Josh, but they were never at the same
time.  Until now.

And I'm never gonna dance again
Guilty feet have got no rhythm
Though it's easy to pretend
I know your not a fool


      From their opposite sides of the room, both Donna and Josh's eyes were
interlocked, and they could have sworn that they caught what might appear to
be love in the other's.  Could it be?  Could these two finally be getting
their act together?  Could they finally see an end to all of the pretending,
and be truthful with each other?

Should've known better than to cheat a friend
And waste the chance that I've been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you


      No such luck.  When Josh thought he saw a sign in Donna's eyes, she
turned around and walked inside the house.  Josh frowned and finally, for the
first time that night, he tore his eyes from her.  Had only he taken the
initiative when he had the chance.  Then things could have been different.
 Things could have been better.  But no, he was convinced things were doomed,
and he decided that perhaps he would dance again, just not the way he did
with her.  He would flirt again, it just would never be the same.

      When Donna caught glimpse of what she perceived to be love in Josh's
eyes, she was determined to do something about it.  She moved inside where
she grabbed her sweater, having caught some sort of a chill from the outside
temperatures.  When she returned to find Josh, he was no longer standing
alone.  He was. . . he was dancing with another woman. . .

      Donna quickly ran back into the house, tears streaming down her face.
 How could she have been so wrong?  She'd spent quite a few years with Josh.
 She knew everything about him.  She could read his looks with ease.
 Certainly she would know a look of love when she saw one.  But, the fact
remained that he was out on the dance floor with someone else.

      In the middle of his dance, Josh looked up and caught glimpse of Donna
running off with tears in her eyes.  It wasn't until that moment that he
began to consider the possibility that his original read of the look in her
eyes might have been correct.  It wasn't until then that he understood what
he just did was so wrong.  He cheated his friend.  He cheated Donna.  His
actions gave her no other choice, but to leave.

(Now that you're gone) Now that you're gone
(Now that you're gone) What I did's so wrong
That you had to leave me alone


      Josh decided right then and there that he was no longer going to fool
around.  He was going to take charge.  He parted from his dance partner
quickly and ran off to find the woman he loved.  He had to fix things with
them.  He had to at least try.

      When he caught up with her, she had just reached her car and was
pulling her keys out so she could leave this fundraiser and erase everything
about the night from her mind.  Until, that is, she heard Josh's voice ring
out through the cold night air, "Donnatella Moss, I love you."

      Donna turned and met Josh's eyes.  "I love you too," she whispered
carelessly into the night as she ran into his arms and the two kissed, for
what seemed to last forever.


The End.