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Summary: Donna decides it's time to turn a new page in her relationship with
Josh.

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The West Wing and its characters are the property of Aaron Sorkin, John
Wells Productions and Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement is
intended.

Please do not post or distribute this story without the author's permission.

******

Rain pounded the car’s windshield in a staccato beat that blended with the
synthesized pop pouring out from the radio. The monotony of the music was
annoying, yet it was preferable to the gushing love songs that had been
playing on the other station.

Donna was not in the mood for love songs. Particularly not in the mood for
the kind that told of the happily ever after a couple found when they
finally recognized their feelings for each other. In love songs, people
always had their hearts' desires fulfilled; they discovered their unrequited
loves really did return those feelings.

Such was the realm of love songs. Reality was another thing altogether.

Pressing down on the accelerator as the light turned green, Donna tried not
to cringe at the warbling of a trio of adolescent boys that was coming from
the speakers. She tried humming along to the song but kept getting tripped
up by the computer-enhanced repetition of the lyrics. This was just not her
kind of station.

Unfortunately, her musical choices were pretty much limited to the gushing
love songs stations, this teeny bop pop, or country. Country would be even
worse. It was a musical diet rife with songs of love and loss, loving and
leaving, and loving from afar.

Not the best music to be listening to when she was on her way home after
begging, pleading with and otherwise cajoling Josh into coming over for
dinner that night. She was having him over for the express purpose of
telling him that he had somehow, somewhere along the line become much more
to her than boss or even best friend.

The thought of telling him made her nervous, as such declarations really
were best left to gushing love songs. But she’d gotten to the point where
she couldn’t stand it anymore, having to work with him day in and day out,
often socializing with him, just having to be with him all the time but not
being able to be with him as she’d like to be. And as she was pretty sure he
’d like to be with her as well, if the night of Sam’s birthday was any
indication.

As traffic slowed to a crawl as a result of the inclement weather, Donna let
her mind return to the events of that night…

******

They’d gathered early Thursday evening at the out-of-the-way little pub to
celebrate Sam’s birthday. They’d been there a long time. A very long time.

Josh was drunk. But, then again, so was Sam and CJ seemed awfully giggly.
Toby, Leo and Kathy had had the good sense to go home hours ago. Donna had
stayed sober in order to take care of Josh. It was her job, after all.

She waited until Sam and Josh had finished performing their rather unique
rendition of a well-known Irish drinking song and then she stood up and
grabbed her coat.

Josh noticed her actions and directed his somewhat bleary gaze at her. “Are
you leaving?”

“Yes,” she said, “and it’s time you did, too. Come on and I’ll drive you
home.”

Josh looked at his empty glass and then at Sam. “The party’s over.”

“The party’s over,” Sam confirmed solemnly.

Josh stood up, wavering slightly. On the third try he got his arm in the
sleeve of his coat. Then he thrust his hand toward Sam.

“Happy birthday, buddy,” he said, shaking Sam’s hand. “You are a great
friend. You are my best friend. My best, best friend of all my friends.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Donna interjected, turning Josh toward the door and
pushing him along by his shoulders as she walked behind him. “Night,” she
shot back to Sam and CJ at the table.

They made it half way across the room before Josh stopped and drew Donna up
beside him.

“You are a great friend, too.” He told her, pointing at her. She put a hand
to his back to prod him into motion again. “You’re also my best friend.”

When they reached the short flight of steps leading out of the pub Josh
stumbled slightly, bumping into a man standing nearby. The man muttered
something profane and unkind.

Josh shook his head at Donna. “He’s not my friend.”

Donna got Josh into the passenger seat of her car and ran around the vehicle
to hop in the driver’s seat.

“Where are we going?” Josh asked her as she started the ignition and put the
car into drive.

“I’m taking you home.”

“To my home, or to your home?”

“To your home.”

“Can I go to your place?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You hate my roommate’s cats.”

“I’ll be nice.”

“The cats hate you.”

“I don’t want to go to my place,” Josh frowned. “Please can I please go to
your place?”

“Why do you want to go to my place so badly?” asked Donna.

“You have coffee and I don’t. And I think I’ll be needing it in the
morning,” Josh said in a moment of lucidity, pushing a hand through unruly
hair.

“You can go to a coffee shop,” Donna advised.

“No,” Josh said, waving his hand in the air. “Besides,” he continued,
leaning his head back against the seat but turning to look at her with a
baleful expression, “I can’t deal with the child safety lid on the bottle of
ibuprofen alone.”

Donna glanced over at him and the hangdog look did her in. “Fine,” she said
in defeat. “You can come home with me.”

Fortunately for Donna they were not far from her apartment building so she
had only to endure three performances of the Irish drinking song
interspersed by Josh offering observances about automatic transmissions,
constitutional amendments, and beer, before making it home.

The three tequila shooters Josh and Sam had opted to have as nightcaps must
have caught up with Josh during the drive. When he got out of the car in the
parking garage he was more than a little unsteady on his feet. Donna held
onto him and helped him from the garage and up the elevator to her
apartment. By the time they got in her door she was tired from having to
bear a portion of his weight and they were wavering madly. Donna propelled
Josh toward the sofa where they did a mimic of a two-step dance before Josh
tripped on a cat toy and fell, pushing Donna onto the couch in a sitting
position, himself sprawling along the length of it with his head pillowed on
her lap.

“Comfy,” Josh professed.

“For you, maybe,” retorted Donna, at that moment too weary to move.

Josh turned slightly so that he was on his back. He gazed up at Donna in
speculation.

After a moment of this scrutiny went by in silence Donna asked him, “What?”

“You’re beautiful,” Josh announced.

“So are you.” Donna patted his head.

“No, I mean it, you are really beautiful. You have beautiful hair.” Josh
reached up and pulled his fingers through some unbound strands. “I would
love to see this hair lying against that creamy skin of yours. Naked.”

“I have alabaster skin,” Donna reminded him.

Josh ignored the interruption.

“You have the best smile,” he continued. “It really does light up a room.
Like the sun. When I walk into work in the morning and see you there it’s
like seeing the sun. Did you know that, Donna? You’re my sun.”

Donna flashed him the smile that lights up a room. “I know I’d like to get
some sleep before we see the sun.” She tried to wriggle out from under his
head so she could go to her room.

“Wait!” Josh cried. He grabbed her hand which had lain loosely on his chest.
“Wait, I have to tell you something. I have to.”

“What is it?”

“I love you,” he declared in complete seriousness, but with a measure of
surprise in his tone.

“That’s the second time you’ve said that to me tonight. You also said it to
Sam and CJ and Toby,” Donna informed him.

“But I don’t love them like I love you,” explained Josh. “You’re beautiful
and I love you. Like a man loves a woman kind of love.”

Donna scooted away so abruptly that Josh’s head flopped to the sofa.

“Time for bed!” she said firmly.

“Do you love me too, Donna?” Josh mumbled.

“Yes. Now go to sleep.”

Josh’s mouth curved up in a smile as his eyelids fluttered shut.

******

The next morning Donna made Josh coffee, opened the jar of painkillers and
talked very quietly. No mention was made of the previous night’s
declaration. Donna doubted Josh even remembered his words as his first
comment in the morning was to ask what he was doing on her sofa.

******

Donna tried a hard rock station. Naturally they were playing a ballad.
Great.

She wasn’t so guileless as to think Josh was in love with her. That had been
drunk talk. But the way he had said it and a couple of other things had led
her to think her suspicions of how he felt about her were confirmed. She’d
had her mind on Josh for months now, ever since she had started noticing a
subtle shift in their relationship. Josh now seemed to study her an awful
lot when he thought she wasn’t looking. He was unusually solicitous of her
opinion. The lighthearted endearments she threw his way gave him pause. Most
incriminating of all was the carefully worded inscription in the book he had
given her for Christmas, and what it had said between the lines. She was
pretty sure Josh returned the feelings she had for him. Tonight she’d know
for certain.

She changed the radio to a classical station. Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Perfect.

******

Josh was sopping, soaking, dripping wet when Donna opened her apartment door
to him.

“It’s still raining,” she said needlessly.

“Yes, it’s still raining, and before you ask, no, there was no visitor
parking available. I had to park down two blocks,” Josh told her testily.

“Don’t you have an umbrella?”

“No.”

“I’ll remember to get you one.” She took his coat from him and hung it on a
rack inside the door.

Following her into the kitchen, Josh asked, “What’s for dinner?”

Donna turned from the counter and thrust a box into his hands. “Barbecue. It
’s on the balcony.”

Josh eyed the package of frozen burgers. “Do I have to remind you that it’s
raining?”

“I have an umbrella.”

Josh sighed. “I had an opportunity to go home early for once, get Chinese
take-out, put my feet up and watch Monday Night Football. Instead you tell
me you need me to come over here to help you with something you won’t tell
me about and I end up barbecuing in the rain.”

Donna pursed her lips. “Okay, nevermind the barbecue.” She took the box back
from him. “Just go sit down in the living room.” She waved him away.

A fire had been lit and Josh noted an inordinate amount of candles burning
in the living room. There were no lights on but as it was still daylight the
windows quelled the dimness.

A moment after Josh sat down on the sofa Donna appeared and pressed a glass
of wine into his hand. She knelt beside him and stretched her hands to his
shoulders, kneading his tense muscles.

Slowing exhaling a long breath, Josh let his eyes fall shut.

“That…feels…good.”

He wasn’t sure he’d spoken aloud until Donna answered him. “Does it?”

Her voiced whispered close to his ear, sending a slight shiver through his
body. It must have been the way she was positioned to give him the massage
that caused her to be so close.

Her thumbs moved to circle his spine. “Does that feel good, too?” She
breathed in a hushed tone. That time he felt her lips move against his ear
lobe.

He was feeling too mellow to find anything odd about that. He murmured
something in the affirmative in answer to her question. Right then he hoped
she’d never stop.

“Do you like this?” Donna asked huskily before pressing her lips to his
neck.

“Yaaaag!” Josh yelped, jerking upright. He set his wineglass down on the
table. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to seduce you,” she answered.

“Seduce me? What… Donna!”

“Is it not working?”

“Actually it is, but nevermind that! Why are you doing it?”

Donna shifted so she could sit looking directly at Josh. Her eyes met his
with a look of intensity.

“Because we mean more to each other than friends and I thought it was time
we moved our relationship forward.”

Josh sighed and reached out to brush his fingers along her cheek.

“Donna…”

“Am I wrong?” she asked, her eyes wide.

“No,” Josh admitted quietly. “But it wouldn’t be right for us to act on
these feelings.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m your boss.”

“You can transfer to another department.”

“*I* can transfer?”

“Well, I don’t want to transfer. I like my job.”

“Donna, I’m the deputy chief of staff.”

“Okay, okay, fine. I’ll transfer.”

Josh had moved his hand to rest it loosely at the back of Donna’s neck. She
reached over and trailed her thumb along his lower lip.

“We can’t.” Josh sounded a lot less convinced of his words.

“We can,” Donna proclaimed, smiling. She leaned toward him.

“Donna, no.”

“Josh, yes.” She touched her lips to the side of his mouth.

“Oh hell,” Josh groaned. “You’re right.”

He kissed her.

******

Much later, Donna relaxed in Josh’s embrace with her head resting on his
chest.

“Joshua,” she murmured drowsily in her contentment, “when will you learn
that I’m always right.”

******

The End