Changes
By Heidi H. and Lisa
Disclaimers-These are not my characters and I am making no money off of them.
Summary Info-4th story in School Ties Series, Sam/Donna, reactions to the news that Sam and Donna are living together.
Spoilers- In The Shadow Of 2 Gunmen, 17 People, Galileo. Any episode that mentions Dr. Freeride.
Special Thanks-Lisa who has been the best co-author with all of her suggestions and feedback that is making this series what it is.
NOTE-School Ties Series
1. Back To School
2. Class Act
3. Roommates Together Forever
CJ just watched the scene before her play out. Sam and Donna were friends and she thought it was cute that Josh was so concerned about her.
Toby watched the glares thrown from Josh to Sam. He was surprised at the way Josh was taking the news. He never expected Josh to get so defensive or angry about Donna's living arrangements. Toby seriously wondered what kind of relationship Josh and Donna had.
Leo and the president couldn't believe what was going on right there in the oval office. Josh and Sam were fighting over a girl. They both tried to keep their amusement to themselves.
"What's next?" President Bartlett asked.
"The new members of the House are being sworn in tomorrow." CJ informed the room.
"Is there a thing?" Toby asked.
"Yes and there is a speech needed." Leo said.
"Fine. Sam, here's the stuff. Write remarks that are short and to the point. I want to see it at 4." Toby said, handing a file to Sam.
"Also, the Environment Bill. It has some wrinkles in it that we need to look at." Sam said flipping a file to Leo, who handed it to the president.
"I'll read it and we'll discuss it at the 3 o'clock meeting. What's next?" the president asked.
"Nothing? Everyone else back to work. Josh, Sam, in my office." Leo said.
Josh and Sam walked through the door to Leo's office and stood on opposite sides of the room. Leo knew that he had to do something before there was a knockdown, dragout fight in the office.
"Whatever is going on, I want it settled today. Clear?" Leo said.
"Clear." replied both Sam and Josh.
"Fine then. Get back to work." Leo said and dismissed them.
"My office now." Josh stated and left Sam standing in the doorway.
Sam walked by Donna's desk and flashed her a smile. He stopped and was going to say something when Josh intruded.
"Today would be nice." Josh said from his office doorway as he caught a smile that passed between Sam and Donna.
Sam walked into Josh's office and shut the door. He knew that Josh wasn't pleased about what was just announced in the oval office.
"You had best have a good explanation for living with Donna." Josh demanded.
"She needed a roommate and knew that I wanted out of my apartment building, so she offered it to me and I said yes." Sam explained.
"Wait a minute. Why did she need a new roommate? I thought she had one." Josh said.
"I guess the roommate left Donna in the lurch when she moved out." Sam said.
"How come Donna didn't tell me?" Josh asked.
"Probably because she didn't want you to make fun of her." Sam said in his all knowing voice.
"How long has this been going on?" Josh asked Sam.
"I think from about probably the time she went back to school." Sam said.
"She has been paying full rent for 4 months. She must have been getting desperate." Josh said without thinking.
"Thanks a lot." Sam said dryly.
"I didn't mean it like that." Josh said.
"What is the real reason you have such a problem with me living with Donna?" Sam asked.
"You know about Dr. Freeride. I don't want her to have to live through something like that again." Josh said.
"I am not dating your assistant. I am only living with her and I don't intend to hurt her. She is a close friend." Sam said.
"I guess I should talk to Donna and give her my blessing." Josh said.
"Be kind and supportive. This is a big change for her too." Sam said.
Donna watched Sam and Josh walk out of the office with smiles and looking much better than before. Josh flashed her a big smile when she handed him the file for his meeting.
"Donna, my office." Josh said as he walked back from his meeting.
Donna knew that she was going to get called on for living with Sam. She took a steadying breath and walked into the office with her head held up high. She wasn't ashamed about living with Sam and wasn't about to let Josh demean her for it.
"I heard that you are living with my best friend." Josh said as he shut the door.
"Yes, Sam and I are roommates." Donna said.
"Why didn't you tell me about what was going on?" Josh asked, concerned that Donna didn't tell him anything.
"I know you were going to make fun of me for not being able to keep a roommate." Donna said, a sad look appearing on her face.
"I am sorry that you felt that you couldn't share what was going on with me." Josh said, matching Donna's sad look.
"I don't want there to be a thing with you and Sam over the living arrangements." Donna said, more concerned with Sam and Josh than herself.
"I already to talked to Sam earlier about things. If you are comfortable with it, so am I. I just want you to be happy." Josh said with a smile.
"Thank you for being so understanding." Donna said, giving him a big hug.
"Get back to work now. I need the files for the tobacco lawsuit." Josh said.
"You'll have them, as soon as I find them." Donna said with a happy smile on her face before she left the office.
Josh stood in his doorway and thought about Donna. If he had known about the situation that she had been facing, he would have tried to fix it. He would have gotten her a raise, so that times weren't tough for her. He would have lined up a new roommate for her. Josh was jealous and he knew it. He wanted to be the one that was living with Donna and seeing her 24-7. It would take some time to get over it, but he was happy that Sam was her roommate and not some idiot off the street. Sam was a good friend and would treat her with respect or Josh would kill him if he made Donna unhappy for any reason.
Donna was happy that Sam and Josh had dealt with the problem. She didn't know why Josh had such a problem with her living arrangements. Josh was her boss and a friend. He had no stake in her personal life that was away from work. Donna knew that Josh would get over whatever was bugging him and then they would get back to being their old selves.
Sam was glad that he hadn't lost his best friend. Josh was angry with the thought that he would some how hurt his assistant and friend. He wasn't going to hurt Donna in any way. Sam knew that Josh was jealous and for no reason to be. He didn't have any romantic feelings for Donna, they were friends who just happened to be living together because of fate and the like.
Donna was headed out to lunch when she was stopped by Carol and the rest of the west wing assistants.
"Hey. Where are you going?" Margaret asked.
"Just out to get lunch." Donna replied.
"No, you are going to lunch with us, our treat. We want to hear details about your new living arrangements." Carol spoke up with a smile on her face.
"Oh, why do you guys want to know. There is nothing going on." Donna said.
"Yeah, right. Let's go to lunch." Ginger said.
"Fine, let's go." Donna said and allowed the girls to take her to lunch.
After lunches were picked out and paid for, the women settled for a table in the back. A few members of the senior staff noticed the women, but said nothing.
"Why did you pick Sam as a new roommate?" Bonnie asked wanting to hear the good stuff.
"I picked him because he is a friend." Donna said wanting to end whatever gossip was going around now.
"She just wants to see what he's got under that bulldog and baby image." Margaret said with a smile and shocking the women around her.
"I can't believe you just said that." Carol said.
"Well, she got lucky with Sam. He is good looking and available and so is Donna." Margaret explained.
"We were all thinking it, but that doesn't mean you have to say it." Ginger said with a smile.
"So, have you found out any Sam secrets that you can pass along to us?" Bonnie asked.
"Not yet, but do you think I should try?" Donna asked with a laugh.
"Of course you should try. You have a man and the rest of us don't. We will just live vicariously through your exploits with Sam." Carol added.
"He isn't my man. He is my roommate." Donna clarified.
"Whatever." several of the assistants muttered.
"Well lunch was nice, but I'd better get back to work." Donna said, standing up.
All of the other assistants walked out of the mess and headed for their own desks. They all had a pool going on to see when Donna and Sam would be an official couple because these were two friends who were protesting a bit too much to "just" be living together. As they all walked back, the thoughts were all different.
Margaret hoped Donna knew what she was doing. Sam and Josh had already fought about this and she personally didn't want to see two best friends fighting over a girl.
Carol hoped Donna would be happy with Sam. Everyone had assumed Josh and Donna would hook up, but Donna had always been the unconventional assistant.
Ginger was dying to hear the details of what it was like to live with Sam. She adored Sam and knew that Donna adored him too. After the thing with Stephanie Gault, they seemed to be getting closer.
Bonnie was glad to see someone happy for a change. She hadn't been out on a date in months because of her crazy work schedule and knew that it was the same for most of them. Donna and Sam deserved to be happy. She wished them good luck.
Donna couldn't believe it. Even her friends thought she had a thing with her roommate because he was male, a friend, and a co-worker. She wondered if there would be this much gossip is she'd moved in with Josh. There would probably be more talk about that than she could handle. She started making a list about all of the things she and Sam had to talk about that night. It was a very long list.
White House Residence....................................................
Jed Bartlet walked into the study to find his wife, Abbey, relaxing.
"Hey, baby." Jed said.
"Hey yourself. What's going on with members of your staff?" Abbey asked, wanting to hear details.
"What are you talking about?" Jed asked.
"Lily told me that Sam and Josh were fighting because Sam is living with Donna." Abbey explained.
"Yeah, Nancy brought in some paperwork I had to sign off on and I mentioned it in staff this morning." Jed said with a smile.
"Am I correct to assume that Josh wasn't happy?" Abbey asked, already knowing the answer.
"You betcha. I thought he was going to throw a punch at Sam right there in the oval." Jed said laughing hard.
"Sam and Donna would make such a cute couple." Abbey said.
"I don't get involved in the personal lives of the staff." Jed said putting a warning tone in his voice.
"Did I say anything about getting involved?" Abbey asked.
"No, but I know where you are going." Jed said.
"I was just going to say that they make a cute couple, but their friendship is getting in the way of them moving forward." Abbey said.
"You've been reading those psychology books again, haven't you?" Jed asked.
"Not amusing darling." Abbey said.
"Let's go to dinner." Jed said.
"Right behind you dear." Abbey said with a laugh and followed her husband to their private dining room.
Sam & Donna's Apartment.................................................
Donna was eating and studying, all the time waiting for Sam to get home. They needed to discuss the list she had worked on. There were some important things that needed to be talked about.
Sam was glad to be home. It was nice to see clean hallways without the trace smell of beer and pot. He grabbed his keys to unlock the door when he remembered he didn't have a key. He knocked on the door and Donna quickly opened it.
"I am so sorry that I forgot to give you the key." Donna apologetically said.
"Hey, it's all right." Sam said.
"We need to talk." Donna said and walked back into the living room.
Sam went to his room to put his stuff away. Even though they worked together, he didn't feel comfortable leaving work stuff lay around, like his laptop. He trusted Donna, but he was operating on a security mentality.
Donna saw Sam take his laptop into the bedroom. She knew that he still wasn't comfortable being here with her and didn't totally trust her yet. He was operating on the security mentality. She didn't blame him and accepted it. She riffled through her purse and pulled out her trusty notebook and flipped to the pages with her lists.
Sam grabbed a soda and went back into the living room. He wondered what Donna wanted to talk about.
"Here's the key to the apartment." Donna said handing a silver key over.
"Thanks. Now I won't have to wake you up if I get home late." Sam said joking around.
"Now, there is some stuff that we have to talk about." Donna said.
"Okay. What do we need to talk about?" Sam asked.
"There are some rules we need to go over." Donna said.
"What rules?" Sam asked.
"For starters, we agree to never get romantically involved." Donna said.
"Back up. You lost me there." Sam said.
"I had lunch with the girls and they are apparently hosting a pool to see how long it takes us to get together." Donna said.
"You mean to tell me that people are thinking we are going to get involved because we live together. That is just plain ridiculous." Sam said angry at the thought.
"That's why we should agree to never get involved." Donna said, the voice of reason.
"I agree to no romantic involvement." Sam said with a smile.
"Then there is the matter of music to be listened to in the apartment. I am open to all kinds, except classical." Donna said.
"That's fine. I am not a fan of most classical anyway. I only like Gilbert and Sullivan music" Sam said thinking back to the night when he and CJ had to go to the opera at the Kennedy Center. He shuddered at the memory that was an atonal nightmare that definitely was not Gilbert and Sullivan.
"We should also decide what to say about work." Donna said.
"That could be tricky because you don't have as high a security clearance as I do." Sam said trying to phrase it nicely.
"Then we don't talk about work, unless it is general stuff that we both know." Donna said.
"And we don't bother the other one when they are working at home." Sam added.
"Okay." Donna said.
"Are there any other rules that we need to go over?" Sam asked.
"Yes about friends and stuff." Donna said.
"Okay. What about friends?" Sam asked.
"We can have friends over, but they have to behave in an adult manner." Donna said.
"So, no more drunk Josh at all hours of the night?" Sam asked with a smile.
"What is with you guys? Do you tell each other everything?" Donna asked with a smile.
"Usually and I know that you like philately." Sam said with his own trademark smirk.
"Stop talking to each other. About dates coming over is something that needs to be addressed too." Donna said, getting serious and back on track.
"What about dates?" Sam asked.
"If you want to bring your lady friends over, I can disappear into the bedroom and give you your privacy." Donna said.
"I can tell you this, I don't have any lady friends right now and if I did, I wouldn't expect you to disappear and hide in your bedroom." Sam said watching Donna.
"This is your apartment, too and you should feel comfortable doing your thing." Donna said.
"It is our apartment and we will just deal with those things when they come up. No need to worry about it now." Sam said.
"I'm glad we're clear." Donna said.
"Good." Sam said.
Sam and Donna spent the rest of the night in relative quiet. He was working on a speech and she was studying for a test. They were both happy and content with each other's friendly presence.
Donna was happy that there was something to come home to. Even if Sam wasn't there when she got home, he would come home to her. It was something that most people took for granted, someone to come home to....someone who wanted to be there.
Sam watched Donna. She had changed since he moved in. Donna was happy and smiling a lot more. He was happy that she was glad that he was here. It was nice to have someone waiting at home for him. He loved the thought of Donna being there for him. It was a thought he would be keeping in his head for a long time.