Title: Tomorrow Is Much Too Late (1?)
Author: Trish
Rating: PG-13
Category: AU - Angst/Romance
Spoiler Info: Transition, but goes completely off cannon.
Disclaimer: Not mine, but how I wish they were. LoL.
Feedback: Very much appreciated.

Archiving: Sure. Just let me know where it's going.
A/N: This is my first venture into writing fanfiction and I'm extremely nervous. I have been reading so many great Santos Administration stories lately and going back and reading more angsty stories. I was inspired to combine the two and go completely AU. I've changed some of the dialogue and events that happen in Transition to suit this story line. All thoughts and feedback are greatly appreciated, but please be gentle.

Donna stretched out across the bed, reaching over to cuddle up to Josh. Some how they had untangled in their sleep, which was something that never happened. When she reached across the bed, however, Josh wasn't there. She got up and peaked into the living room and saw him on his laptop. She got dressed and decided she might as well just go, but she needed to tell Josh a few things first.

"Morning ... almost." Donna said as she walked into the living room. "How long have you been up?"

"Oh, you know."

"I don't actually. Why I asked."

"Uh ... couple of hours. So, last night was--was nice. Nice... it was--it was... really nice. On the nice scale, it was way up there in terms of, you know, niceness." Josh stumbled.

"Be still and listen to me. I don't know what this is." She took a deep breath. "And you don't either, which is perfectly fine and understandable. Whatever the build up, it's all happened amid absurdly heightened emotional circumstances--the election, Leo's death. There's been... not a moment to so much as... take a breath, much less figure any of this out. And now this rollercoaster's plunging into the transition, with its time-pressure demands and then the inauguration and it's hit the ground running and the first hundred days, and before you know it, the midterms and the new Congress and then we're running again and four years becomes eight, and... we've never had the talk. And you can lose that look of panic in your eyes--we're not going to have it now; we don't ever have to have it. But there's a window. I'd say four weeks. If we can't get it together in that time to figure out what we want from each other, then clearly, it's not worth the trouble. And while last night was lovely, I've already called a cab. You should put on some coffee, and I'll see you at the office." She gave him a firm kiss, as to reassure him, and then walked out of his apartment.

"Bye!" He called after her.

At the office, Donna was concerned. Had she been too open with Josh? Could he really handle her needs and her demands with all the other things on his plate? She decided that he would just have to. He needed to learn how to juggle the professional and person life if he wanted to have a relationship with her, or with anyone, she thought sadly.

Josh was thinking similar thoughts to Donna's. He didn't want to be with any other woman, but Donna. She deserved everything. She deserved to come first in his life, but with his job and responsibilities how could she? Before he could think about this further he remembered calls that needed to be made and began frantically searching for his blackberry.

"Otto. Otto. Otto!"

"Yes, Josh?" Otto rushed in.

"Where in the hell is my blackberry!"

"I took it. I was updating it and putting your sche…"

"And you didn't think that was something you could inform me of before I began to tear apart my office!"

"I… I'm sorry, Josh. I—I didn't thi…"

"No, you weren't thinking!" Josh screamed back.

Otto scurried out of Josh's office and almost ran smack into Sam.

"What the hell was all that screaming?" Sam asked.

"Otto decided…"

"I heard the whole thing, Josh. You were screaming pretty loud."

"Yea." Josh ran a hand through his hair and popped a few Tums in his mouth.

"Listen, buddy, you're burning the candle at both ends and you're gonna end up killing yourself. Now tell me is that something you want to put on the administration?"

Josh didn't reply, but in his silence, Sam had a moment of clarity.

"Or Donna?" He added.

"No. Absolutely not. I just don't know how to do this, to slow down with all this going on, ya know."

"Maybe you could take a vacation?"

"Hah!" Josh laughed. "Cause that's realistic! We're in the middle of transition for God's sake. I'll figure something out, Sam. Thanks for the concern, man."

Later that night, Donna let herself into Josh's apartment to make dinner for them. With the amount of Red Bull Josh had been drinking and the amount of Tums he'd been eating, she figured his body could use something of substance.

She was so busy cooking, Donna didn't even hear Josh walk in.

Josh came up behind her and put his arms around her waist. "Hi there."

"Hi yourself. How was today?" She asked cryptically.

"So I take it you heard about me screaming at Otto?"

"Good luck finding someone who didn't. I think you scared half the staff."

"What can ya do? Whatcha cooking?"

"Chicken. Why don't you go get changed and we'll eat and talk."

"Talk?"

"Talk."

"That can't be good." He muttered under his breath.

Ten minutes later dinner was on the table and Donna figured now would be the time to talk to Josh about her job. There would never be a right time, so there's not time like the present, she thought.

"So, I wanted to talk to you about my role in the administration." She blurted out.

"Um. Ok. I was thinking Deputy Press Secretary. Lou is gonna be heading up…"

"Actually, I was offered another job. The First Lady asked me to be her Chief of Staff. One thing I know for sure is I can't work for you. If something's happening with us personally, it won't work, and if something isn't--well, that won't work so good, either."

"Yeah, about that... um... things are insane. There's no way I'm going to be able to get a handle on what's going on between the two of us in the time frame you laid out."

"Three weeks, six days to go... we'll see." Donna added with a frown.

The two at the rest of dinner in silence and went to bed that way too. The next morning, Donna told the First Lady that she would take the job as her Chief of Staff and began to look for an apartment that would be available in four weeks.