Prologue.

"Lisa, how could you do this to me?" Sam Seaborn, asked his wife, his voice breaking with the very emotion of what was happening; he and Lisa had been together since they had been 18 and they had married 4 years ago-when they had been 21; when they had married, Sam had thought that she would be the only woman whom he would only love.

Obviously, he had been wrong. So very wrong.

Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed his car keys and stormed out of the house. He and Lisa lived in the countryside near one of the entrances to Washington; he knew that his best friend, Josh, or his sister, Donna, would let him stay until he found a place of his own.

He went to Josh's, because it was closer to where he had lived and he was too angry to drive for ages.

With shaking hands, Sam knocked on the door and waited.

"Sam?" Josh asked, as soon as they were inside his flat. "Sam, what's going on?"

Sam sat down on the sofa and Josh did the same. He was trying to find the words to say what Lisa had done.

Sighing, he finally replied, "I found out that Lisa had been having an affair. I'm asking for a divorce, Josh; she obviously doesn't love me anymore."

One of the things he liked about Josh was he knew that he wouldn't ask him questions, whereas Donna, his little sister, would. He and Josh had been friends since university and they had a very strong friendship.

His friend stood up. "I'll set up the guest room for you; you can stay here as long as you need, Sam."

Sam smiled back at his friend, grateful for his kindness before adding, "Er-do you think maybe you could not tell Donna-at least for a while?" Josh and Donna were very close friends and they told each other nearly everything.

Josh nodded, then left to sort out the spare bedroom for Sam.

As he was waiting, Sam pulled out his mobile phone and texted his friends, C.J and Charlie, telling them that, if they wanted to contact them, they should do it by his mobile or by ringing Josh's home line. Instantly, they asked why, so he replied that he was staying with Josh for a while and then turned off his mobile phone, before throwing his head back on the sofa and closing his eyes.

The next morning…

Early the next morning, Donna was on her way to Josh's flat, as she had documents to show him; as a journalist of her calibre, she sometimes had access to information which would be useful to him and he, sometimes, did the same to her. She and Josh had first met after Donna's first term at university, aged 18, and Sam's 20th birthday party. Whilst she had not liked him at first, she had later began to and after his moving to Washington after they graduated, they had become very good friends; they were the same age and had a great deal in common. Now, at 25, they were still best friends.

Sam, her elder brother, was two years her senior and her roommates were named Mallory O'Brien and Ainsley Hayes. Mallory and Josh were old, family childhood friends, but none of them really knew Ainsley and Donna wanted her friends and brother to get to know her. One of her co-workers was a woman named C.J, who was friends with a man named Charlie, who had worked with Josh for a while, and, thus, the seven of them were all connected, either via blood, school, university, work or old family friendships.

As Donna walked into Josh's flat, she was surprised to see her brother sitting at the table in the kitchen with Josh.

"Sam?" She asked, as she took off her coat and sat at the table. "What are you doing here?"

Sam glanced at Josh, who stood up and walked over to the sink. He avoided his sister's eyes and replied, "Oh, you know…I just crashed here at Josh's last night-it's no big deal."

Brother and sister were very close and each knew when the other was lying; Donna took hold of her brother's hand asked, "Sam, what's wrong? If you don't tell me, I'll just ask Josh." She added, smiling to her friend who was doing his best to give them so privacy.

Squeezing her hand and deciding to be honest, Sam answered. "Lisa and I are getting divorced."

"What? Why?" Donna was shocked and stunned. She had known Lisa since she had been 16 and she knew that Sam truly loved her.

"She was having an affair." Sam whispered, trying not to sound too upset.

Without having words for comfort, Donna stood up and wrapped her arms around her brother. They stayed in that embrace for a while, then Sam stood up and said that he was going to go and have a shower.

As soon as he was in the bathroom, Donna turned to Josh and asked, "Do you know anything else?"

Standing up, Josh replied, "No, I'm sorry; he didn't say much last night. I don't think he wanted to tell you or your parents." At the mention of her parents, Donna's face dropped and Josh took her hand and let her over to the sofa. "What's wrong?"

Clearing her eyes, she whispered, "I haven't told Sam yet-and I shan't for a while now-, but Madre called me this morning and she that she and Papa are getting a divorce; it turns out they've been separated legally for a while, and now, they just want their marriage to be over. But the worst part is that-Madre is going to move back to Spain and Papa is going to move back to Canada." Tears fell down her face and she whipped them away, forcing a smile. "I just-I always thought that, as an adult, Sam and I wouldn't have to worry about this, you know? I thought they loved each other."

After a moment of silence, Josh remarked, in a low voice, "My dad was an alcoholic-he's stopped now-but after"-he suddenly broke off and Donna saw a haunted look in his eyes. "-Something happened to my family and my dad drank and he and my mum separated for a while. I was 12 and I'd already—been through stuff. You'll be fine, Donna, and so will Sam."

Josh very rarely spoke about his parents; they were Jewish, both from Germany and they had both survived the Holocaust, but that was all his friends knew. Mallory knew more, but Donna had never asked her, because there must have been a reason why Josh didn't speak of his childhood.

"Thanks, Josh." Donna smiled. They hugged and she whispered, "I don't know what I'd do without you." With that, she stood up and left the flat.

A couple of minutes after Donna left, Mallory came in and sat with Josh on the sofa. "What's wrong with Donna? She looks upset."

Josh knew that he could trust the person whom he loved like a sister not to tell anyone, so he replied, "Sam and Donna's parents are getting divorced-Andrew's gonna move back to Canada and Marie back to Spain."

"Well, my parents are divorced-Mum lives in Boston and Dad lives her. Do you see me crying?" She sighed, then added, "I'm sorry; I know that sounded really bad. I guess I've always been jealous of people with parents living together, because mine separated when I was a teenager."

Nodding, Josh sighed. "Yeah, I know, Mal." He smiled affectionately.

"I think Dad's staying with your parents at the moment. I bet you miss him at work." She laughed, then kissed Josh on the check. "I guess I'd better go and check on Donna."

Just then, Sam walked out of the bathroom, with only a towel around his waist. Once he saw that it was Mallory, instead of Donna, he was mortified.

Josh burst out laughing and Mallory was too embarrassed to even make a smart comment; she ran out of the flat, as Sam ran into his bedroom. Josh texted Donna to tell her what had happened.

When Sam remerged from the spare bedroom-fully clothed-he asked, "How is that funny?"

"The look on your face and the look on her face-it was priceless!" laughed his friend.

Sam walked over to the kettle and poured himself some more coffee, before adding, "Had I known it was Mallory, and not Donna, I would've worn a dressing gown." He sat down next to Josh, sipping his coffee, glad that he was clothed, but mortified that Mallory had seen him in such as position. "How long have you known Mallory?"

Still smiling, Josh answered, "Since I was about 4-she could've been 8-she was the same age as my sister."

"I thought Rebekah was 8 years older than you?" Rebekah Lyman was Josh's elder sister who lived in North Carolina; she and Josh weren't very close, although Sam had a feeling that they had been when they were younger and now he had apparently forgotten her age.

Looking down at his hands, Josh muttered, "I wasn't talking about Rebekah."

"What dye mean? Do you mean you have another sister, whom I've never met?" As Sam asked the question, he could see the same haunted look in his friend's eyes, which he sometimes saw, so he changed the subject. "I'm glad you introduced me to Mallory-she's about my age, isn't she?"

For a while, Josh made no response, but then he smiled and remarked, "You're still married, Sam. I don't think you should be thinking about other women yet." He was joking, but there was a serious tone in his voice.

Placing his cup of the table, Sam replied, "I've always had feelings for Mallory-ever since the first time we met. You know that, Josh."

"Why didn't you ask her out, then?"

"I was a bit intimidated when I discovered that she was the daughter-and only child-of Leo Thomas McGarry." Leo McGarry, who was an old friend of Josh's father, was one of the most powerful lawyers in the country and he was now sitting in the Senate and Josh worked for him.

Josh laughed again. "Sam, Mal's a teacher, you're a lecturer at a university. You'd do well together."

Sam shook his head. "This is strange coming from the man who's only ever had one girlfriend in his life." Ever since he had known Josh, he had only ever been in one relationship and that had ended badly.

Just then, the door was flung open and Ainsley came storming in and walked over to Josh. "How could you let Mr. McGarry say that?" She demanded, in her strong Southern accent. "How could you let him say that, Josh?"

"Say what?"

"About guns, he declared that the right to bear arms shouldn't be in the Bill of Rights! How could you let him say that on national television?"

Sighing, Josh answered, "Ainsley, Leo doesn't listen to anyone-when he wants to do something, he'll do it."

"Whilst he loses so many votes of people around the world! It's in the Bill of Rights. The Founding Fathers"-

"-Put it in in a time when they were afraid of being attacked by Native-Americans, but that threat isn't there anymore because you people killed them all off!" retaliated Josh, angry.

Ainsley stared at him, incredulous. "You people? I'm sorry, where were your family whilst the Native-Americans were being whipped out?"

"They would've been in Germany; my parents moved to the United States after being held in a concentration camp!" Josh snapped, before standing up and rubbing the back of his neck, which Sam knew he did when he was stressed. "I'm sorry I snapped Ainsley."

She smiled, then asked, in a gentle voice, "Your parents were in camps, with their families?"

"Yeah-my dad was 10 when the war ended and my 8. My dad's mum, Olivia, and his younger brother-who was about 3-years-old-,named Joshua, they were both murdered in the camp. Then, my grandfather and my dad moved to America, and so did my mum's parents and sisters-so, at the time of the Native-Americans, we were not in the United States."

Ainsley stood, in complete and utter shock. With a shaking voice, she asked, "Where were you born, then? America?"

"No, I was born in Berlin; my parents and sisters were there for a couple of days and-" he stopped dead, realising that he had said 'sisters' and he knew that Sam and Ainsley would pick up on that.

Before they could ask him a question, he grabbed his coat and left his flat.

Donna and Mallory came in and Sam told them about what Josh had said; he asked Mallory if he should go and talk to Josh. Mallory said that he shouldn't, but Donna should.

Malloy and Sam were finding it very hard to look at each other without feeling very awkward. Ainsley noted this and rolled her eyes, before rolling her eyes and going back to her flat.

In the park, Josh was sitting on a bench, with his hands in his lap and he was looking down at his hands.

"Josh?" It was Donna. She sat next to him, knowing that he knew why she was there and she was prepared to give him time.

He inhaled a shaky breathe, then began, "I started seeing a physicist after my eighteenth birthday-I'd refused to before that, but my mum and dad convinced me that it was the only way to-to…move on, even though I never really will." He paused, and looked into Donna's eyes, finding warmth and genuine concern, "I had a sister who died. Her name was Joanie-she was 4 years older than me, and Rebekah was 4 years older than her. When we were young, we were all really close, like you and Sam are, but Joanie and I were…especially close."

Donna laughed slightly. "Sam and I fought all of the time when we were kids-like cats and dogs."

Josh looked off into the distance and she saw that same haunted look in his eyes. There were also tears in his eyes. "On my 12th birthday, Becky had a date and our parents had gone out for a couple of hours-so it was just me and Joanie. There was a fire-caused by a pock-corn maker and…she died."

"The house caught on fire whilst Joanie was babysitting you?" Donna asked, stunned by what she was hearing. Josh just looked down at his hands, not wanting her to see the tears which had formed in his eyes.

Swallowing, he whispered, "I ran out of the house, Donna. I left her." A single tear made its way down his check, but he whipped it away, but Donna had seen it and suddenly all of the pieces fitted; it must have been after Joanie's death that his relationship with Rebekha had deteriorated and it must have been the aftermath of her death which had caused their father to drink, and for their parents to separate for a while.

Slowly, Donna reached out and squeezed his hand. Their eyes met and Donna saw that he completely trusted him, as she did him. "Does Sam know?"

"No-I mean, he probably guessed because I always have nightmares, but I've never told him. Mal knows, but that's because she was a friend of Joanie's."

"Thanks for telling me, Josh." She whispered and she meant it. Donna knew that he wouldn't tell her brother or anyone else, because she and Josh had a special bond of trust-a bond which could not be broken.

As they walked back to Josh's flat, Donna asked, "When does Naomi get back?"

Naomi Lyman was Josh's 8-year-old daughter and at the moment, she was staying with her mum, who had once been Josh's girlfriend; the girl lived with her dad half the time and with her mum half the time and Donna, Sam and Mallory were very close to her.

"Amy's bringing her back down here tomorrow, so she'll be back soon." Amy was also the younger half-sister of Charlie and was also Jewish.

Donna smiled, then asked, "How-how old were you and Amy when you had her?" She asked the question very delicacy, because she knew that it was something about which Josh never spoke, but maybe, to her, he would open up.

"We were 19-it was the end of our first year at university. We-we separated about a month after we found out Amy was pregnant and then 5 months later, she came along-born 3 months early. We were so worried we were going to loose her, but we didn't and I couldn't live without her." He smiled and his best friend could see the love for his daughter in his eyes and that made her happy.

Flashback-7 years earlier…

It was Sam's 20th birthday and Josh and Sam were going to the party which Sam's parents had organised.

Upon walking into the house, the first thing that struck Sam was the girl sitting at the kitchen table: Mallory O'Brien-she was in some of his classes and since first meeting her, he had thought that she was the most beafiul girl he had ever seen, despite having a long-term girlfriend, Lisa.

Josh and Mallory ran to each other and hugged and Sam felt a surge of jealously pass through him; he knew that Josh and Mallory had been close since childhood. This feeling must have been evident on his face, as Mallory laughed, and remarked, "Sam, I love Josh like a brother."

Finally finding his voice, Sam asked, "What are you doing here?"

Mallory fixed him with her pierce eyes and replied, in a levelled voice, "I came here to celebrate your birthday. You don't have to bite my head off, Sam."

"I'm sorry-that sounded very rude."

"I didn't sound rude-it was rude!" Mallory snapped back and Sam could see that Josh was feeling uncomfortable.

Smiling slightly, Mallory walked over to him and asked, in a far gentler tone, "So, how's Lisa?"

Remembering about his girlfriend, Sam told Mallory how she was and how her degree was going, as Josh slipped out of the room.

The house in which Sam's parents lived in was very big. Josh knew that Sam had a younger sister, who was his age, but he had never met her. He also knew that she was at university studying Drama.

He heard crying coming from the sitting room, so he went in and saw a girl of his age, with blonde hair and blue eyes, curled up on the sofa, clutching her mobile phone in her hands. She looked destraut.

"Hey," when he spoke her head whipped around. "I'm Josh Lyman. You must be Donna, Sam's sister?"

Swallowing, she nodded and replied in a shaky voice, "Yes. I'm sorry I jumped; I thought you were Sam."

"Don't you want him to see you cry?" inquired Josh, as he sat down next to her on the sofa.

Donna placed her phone down and sighed. "Well, I was dating this guy, whom I love and I thought he said the same way, but I was wrong."

Frowning, Josh asked, "You tell Sam that, surely?"

"No, you don't understand; I was studying Drama at university and he told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and I believed him and now he's broken up with me and well, he and I moved in together."

"Your boyfriend was older than you." It wasn't a question, Josh already knew the answer. He smiled slightly, then asked, "So, why don't you apply again?"

Looking slightly ashamed, Donna replied, "I don't want to go back to university."

After thinking for a minute, Josh said, "My dad owns a lawyer firm. He's always looking for interns-with little experience. I could recommend you."

Donna shook her head. "No, I couldn't do that; I would be taking advantage."

Smiling at her, he replied, "Well, you didn't ask me-I offered, so you don't owe me anything."

Their eyes locked and Josh tried to communicate that he wasn't doing this because he felt sorry for her- but because he liked her. They sat in silence, then Josh stood up and walked towards the door.

"Josh!" Donna called, in a nervous sounding voice. Josh turned around and looked at her. She smiled faintly, then whispered, "Thankyou."

He nodded, then smiled slightly and went back into the kitchen to find Sam and Mallory, leaving Donna in the sittingroom. Neither of them knew that they had just met their best friend.

Present day…

Late that evening, Sam and Mallory found themselves with only each other in Josh's flat; Charlie was spending time with his Dion and Ezekiel, C.J was working and Josh and Donna were out at the cinema. Sam and Mallory had never really had an in depth conversation.

As they sat down with a pot of coffee, Sam asked, "So, how's your dad?"

"He's good, thanks. He's staying with Josh's parents for a couple of days and then he's going to come back to Washington. Mum's in Boston and she's happy. She has a community there."

"An Irish-Catholic one?"

Smiling slightly, Mallory nodded. "Yes, she goes to church and so do I-Dad doesn't. He hasn't gone for years." She paused, then asked, "Do you believe in God?"

Sam shook his head. "No, I don't and neither does Donna." They were silent for a couple of seconds, then he stating, "Lisa and I are getting a divorce."

Instead of giving her condolences, as people normally did, Mallory looked him in the eye and asked, "Do you love her?"

"I"-

"I only ask because, at Uni, I met a boy, named Sean McCarthy-yes, he was Boston Irish-Catholic, before you ask-and I thought I loved him and we even lived together and got engaged. When he proposed to me, he said that it may be my only chance-this was about a year ago, so I was only 28-but I thought I loved him, so I wasn't offended. Then, a couple of days before the wedding, I walked out. It was before you'd moved here. I stayed with Josh and Naomi and I felt free and I realised that what I'd felt for him was a child's love." She sipped her coffee and for the first time in a while, Sam looked at her; she had pale skin, red, curley hair, she had a great personality and he was going to be divorced. Why not try to make some sort of move?

Sam chewed on one of the biscuits and began, "You know, at uni, I had a huge crush on you. Did you know that?"

A smile spread across Mallory's face and she nodded. "Yes, I knew. I asked Josh once-he denied everything, but I know him so well."

"You two are close?"

"Yes, he's like my brother."

Bitting his lip, Sam continued, "So, hyperthically, of course, if I were to ask you out, would that be okay?"

With no emotion on her face or in her voice, Mallory replied, "Maybe-if you ever got round to it."

Sam was about to say something, but they were interrupted by Josh and Donna coming in. Donna said something about flipping Josh's mattress to give the two of them privacy.

Once in Josh's bedroom, Donna asked, "Can you believe him? He and Lisa aren't even divorced yet!"

Josh sat on his bed. "Donna, Lisa cheated on him, they're getting divorced and also, Sam fancied Mal since. Well, he was 18."

Donna sat next to him and insisted, "That doesn't make any difference."

Smiling, Josh remarked, "Sam has had feelings for Mal since he was 18, okay? That's a long time and if they have a chance now, then why not give it a shot? If you were in that position, wouldn't you do the same?"

His best friend shrugged. "Well, whatever he does, I'm behind him and so are you."

"Yeah, but if he hurts Mal I won't be impressed." Josh laughed, but Donna knew that he was serious; if there was one thing she knew about her best friend, it was that he was fiercely loyal.