Characters: Josh and Donna, mainly.
Spoilers: 6th season as a whole.
Disclaimer: You have a right to know, I do not own the show nor any characters that grace TWW, in any way shape or form. NEW VERSION!
Can This Be...?
Reposted: Mar, 2006
"We are here to announce the next President of the United States. To do the honors, President Josiah Bartlet."
The room was big and spacious and lit up with a dozen gorgeous crystal chandlers. This was a celebration to bring in the new administration. Everyone was in his or her best formal wear. With as many people in it, it seemed so small. Toby, C.J., Leo, Will, Charlie, Jed, Abbey, Kate, Donna and Josh, they were all in attendance. This was the first time that everyone was together in the same room in a long while dancing, drinking, laughing and talking about old times, something that was scarce in D.C. these past months. But just for tonight no one thought about work, didn't think about his or her next chapter of their lives, just having fun supporting the Democratic nominee. Some were there to celebrate; some not so much. Two in particular were focused on something else. Donna and Josh were in reaching distance to each other yet not able to make a move toward one another. No one made a move, but they were eyeing each other from time to time. He was looking her way when she was pretending to look the opposite direction. Things between the two were still awkward. The winner was already announced and instead of cheering and celebrating with everyone, all Josh could do was glance her way. No one else was in the room to him at that moment. No one but her and him, though he still couldn't muster up enough guts to get closer, not yet. He contemplated taking her out to the other room to speak to her alone. Everyone else was celebrating and focusing on having fun, which was what Josh should've been doing as well. He just couldn't have fun with her in the same room. He sighed; 'it's now or never', he thought. He strolled over to her, finally. She looked at him squarely into the eyes. He didn't want to get too close in fear of her not wanting the same thing he did. He finally spoke.
"Can we talk?" he asked.
"Sure," she agreed.
"Let's go out into the hallway, where we can be alone."
He took her with his hand in hers, just enough to touch her, just enough to bring her with him.
She followed him without any resistance.
They reached the outside hall of the convention center. He looked around the room to make sure no one would interrupt their private moment. She continued to look at him, scared; yet excited at the possibilities. She tried to define his every move, as he paced a tiny circle over and over. It was more like a figure eight form. She sighed waiting for the words. He was having a hard time figuring out what to say to her and the way to say it. It was too quiet for way too long. 'Now or never'. She was losing patience standing, waiting for a reason to not run. He was still working on putting his words together when it happened.
In unison they opened their mouths.
Josh: I miss you.
Donna: I still love you.
'Did he hear me?' she wondered. He wasn't responding in shock, yet.
"I wish we could…wait, what did you just say?" he asked.
She turned bright red while his eyes grew wider.
She grabbed him by the arm and walked her fingers up to his neck. Slowly to make sure she read him right. He didn't resist.
"I said, I love you, still," she repeated.
He couldn't breath, he couldn't see straight. Was he going blind? At that moment he grabbed around her waist and gazed into her beautiful blue eyes, so lost into her. He'd never ever really looked so deep into her eyes before. In all these years he knew he was feeling more than just platonic feelings for her, but never realized them till now. Her eyes, they read true love, true lust. Their faces were so close together they could taste each other's breaths. His was a mix of alcohol and salsa. Hers was about the same. He came in closer till their lips were about touching. 'This' they have never done before yet it felt so natural. They were like a magnetic force. First the kiss was to experience each other, go to place they never had before. Then it was to feel the lust, and taste the alcohol they both consumed just moments ago. They were breathing harder and harder into each other. The kiss grew more and more passionate with every second. For that moment, nothing else mattered, absolutely nothing, that even if someone came out and saw the scene, they wouldn't even notice. If the building caught fire they wouldn't move. Just glow with the flame. What felt like heaven soon turned to hell when they parted. Breathless, on both their parts, they finally spoke.
"Wow," is all she could get out. Her throat grew tight.
"Yeah," he whispered. He was barely able to speak.
For just a minute the room went completely dead. They still couldn't take their eyes from each other but they were now standing at a distance.
"Maybe we should talk about what just happened." he finally found his voice.
"Yeah," she agreed.
Silence again.
"Ok seriously, we've never done that before."
"No, we haven't. You know how many times, I've wanted to do that though?" she exclaimed.
"Can this be, I mean can this really be? You and me?"
"Can we be together? I mean before it would be scandalous, but now…"
"Can we stop talking and do that again?" he smiled.
They both chuckled.
How long have they been out there, away from the party?
"We probably should get back before…"
His lips squarely on hers quickly interrupted her. She didn't resist one bit. She didn't stiffen. She softened to his touch. Falling further into him. Her knees shook.
The fire was back. The room blazed again.
An unexpected visitor quickly interrupted their bliss.
"Josh, they're asking for you…" Toby yelled from the distance.
As he reached the hallway he caught the end for their kiss. They both backed away from each other rather quickly but obviously not quick enough. She straightened her dress. He raked his wild hair with his hands.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I can come back." Toby felt he was invading.
He turned away and accelerated his pace back to the ballroom.
"Toby," he called after him.
Josh left Donna's side and ran after Toby. He reached him in time before he was able to get into the door. He spun him around by grabbing his arm.
"Look, we… um, it just happened." Josh explained.
"Hey, it's none of my business. But it's about damn time you two figured out what we all knew all long." He smiled towards Donna.
Josh smiled back. He and Toby haven't always been the best of friends since he left the White House and since their recent knock down fight they barely spoke or saw each other. They could barely look each other in the eyes.
"What I was going to say is they are asking for the man of the hour, or should I say second man of the hour."
Was it time for a change of scenery? Should he get back to the party?
"Tell them… I… tell them…"
He looked over at Donna, who looking on. Once their eyes met, it confirmed his decision.
"Tell them something came up and I can't be found," he said without looking back at Toby.
Toby looked towards him in shock.
"What?" he questioned.
Josh turned his eyes squarely on Toby.
"If I have to choose between being up on stage or finishing what I was just doing, can you guess what I would choose?"
"Okay, I'll cover for you but you better get out of here and fast before a search party is formed. I'll just say you had to go back to your hotel for a phone call. But Josh, you need to be back soon. I don't know how long I can pull this off…"
Josh was already out the door with Donna in tow, before Toby could finish.
Over his shoulder "I owe you Toby."
2
Toby smirked at their swift exit. Congressman, Sam Seaborn, who knew he saw his friend run out to the hall earlier, shortly joined him. He was watching Donna and Josh from a distance before and thought maybe he could come over and greet them but saw that they were swallowed up into their own little world.
"Hey, have you seen Josh?"
"Why?"
"They are asking about him." Sam explained.
Toby laughed.
"Um, not lately."
Sam studied his friend.
"You're lying. I can see it in your face. Where is he?"
He glanced around.
"Come to think of it, where is Donna? I also saw her come out here, too."
Toby couldn't lie anymore. He wasn't good at fibbing to his friends.
"Toby? What's going on?"
"Sam, can you keep a secret?" he thought about what he just asked, "What am I thinking?"
"Hey! You know I can." he assured.
"Yeah. Okay, well, Josh and Donna have discovered their feelings for each other. So as we speak, they are on to plan b of their discovery."
"No way. Oh my god, that is so great! We should tell the others about it." he suggested.
He was about to make his way back to the ballroom, to share the news but Toby halted his plans by grabbing him by the arm.
"No, you don't. He doesn't want to let the world know about this, yet. If he did, he wouldn't make me cover for him."
"Well, Toby. You are too good at keeping a secret." He laughed.
"You should talk!" he accused.
"Hey! That was one time! You just had to tell someone, didn't you?" Sam corrected.
Toby smiled in the direction of the door.
"That's what I thought. Face it, Toby, you are happy for Joshy boy, aren't ya?"
He turned and glared at Sam.
"You say a word rookie and I will deny we were ever friends," he warned.
"Yeah, yeah. So when will they be back?"
"I have no idea. If you could see the look in his eyes when he left, you would think they would never return."
Sam and Toby started back to the ballroom, when C.J. came running out.
"Ok, where is Josh? President Bartlet is getting pissed, waiting." she huffed.
Sam and Toby looked at each other, waiting for the other to break. They didn't answer but Sam was gleaming with such a guilty grin on his face, she just knew something was up. C.J.s gaze turned onto Sam.
"Hey spanky, I know you know something. Why don't you tell aunt Claudia all about it?" she said seeking.
She knew she could get something out of him, with very little try. It's been a while since they worked together though, would it be easy?
"Mmmm, mmm, you ain't gonna get anything out of me." he stood his ground.
"Hmmm..."
C.J. figured she needed to turn on the charm so she moved in closer, touching his neck and blew in his ear. He squirmed a little, as if he unexpectedly got the chills. Toby laughed at the way Sam was reacting to C.J.s touch. This would never work on Toby but Sammy boy couldn't resist a woman's touch. She looked squarely into his eyes.
"Oh, Sammy, please tell me," she stuck out those puffy lips like a hurt puppy.
He relented.
"Okay! Okay!"
Toby suddenly stopped laughing.
"He is with Don.." he was stopped by Toby's hand over his mouth.
C.J. backed away in complete shock.
"Don? Don who?"
'Here it comes'. Toby thought.
"What!" she screeched.
Toby shook his head at Sam.
"Way to go, Sam! She wouldn't have guessed it was Donna, if it weren't for you!" he yelled. Then he realized what he just said.
C.J. turned to Toby astonished.
"You knew!"
"I uh… well… I..." Toby stammered.
Donna and Josh finally reached the hotel. Hand in hand. They couldn't get to the room fast enough. They ran into the hotel and soon into the elevator. Only one floor separated the lobby and their rooms. Very short ride. The doors opened and just down the hall they would reach the room. Donna knew they were heading to Josh's room since her room was down the other side of the hall. They finally found the door. He pulled out his key, which of course is a card key. It only took one try to open that door.
"Wow, you've been practicing." she joked.
He laughed briefly before he opened the door. She walked right in after him. She looked around the room before them. It was exactly like her room, clean, spacious and only one bed. She froze.
"Wait, should we be doing this?"
"What do you think I am? You think we're just gonna jump into bed together, just like that?" he asked.
"Well, then why did you bring me here?" she asked disappointed yet relieved.
"So we could be alone. Hey, I'm all for it if you'd like but I thought we could talk alone for a while, before the craziness happens and everyone knows what went on between us. Because let's face it, there is no way in hell Toby can keep his mouth..."
He was abruptly stopped by her whisper. "Shut up." She took over from there. Their lips were in closing distance. They reached the finish line. Their smooth, yet moist lips were entangled with each other once again. They were in trouble now. All sounds shut off and only the heartbeats of both were heard. He pulled away.
"Well, if you really wanna..." he beamed.
His dimples were almost irresistible. She could jump his bones right there and now with those dimples.
"I do, but..."
He couldn't hear it anymore. He moved into her once again. This was something he could get used to. He rotated his kisses to her neck and she moaned loudly at every searing kiss. She didn't want him to stop. Dammit no! He stopped and showed concern on his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked, still catching her breath.
"Nothing. I'm...it's just, that why did it take 8 years to get to this point?"
"You were my boss," she said simply.
"There's more to it than that. I mean I have thought of you like this before but..."
"But what, Josh? What made you stop just now?" She sat down next to him on the bed.
"Honestly?"
"Of course."
"I'm afraid of what could happen. What if this, I mean you and I didn't work?"
"Why would you think of the ramifications now?"
"I just don't want to lose what we had. Our friendship."
"We have hardly been friends lately, Josh." She got up and went into the bathroom.
Her tone had a touch of anger.
"What?" he responded sharply. He couldn't believe she thought that. Haven't they always cared for each other? He started questioning that himself.
He got up and traced her steps to the bathroom door. She came out into the bedroom again, and glared at him. He caught that look and asked again.
"Why did you just say that?"
He was angry. There was no doubt. What once was a heavenly moment, turned into the darkest hole.
She went to the dresser and got a brush out of her purse. She needed a distraction. She started to brush her hair, just to find an excuse to do something, anything. She could see his reflection mirroring back at her and saw he was not happy with her at the moment. She knew she just opened another can of worms as far as they were concerned.
"Donna?"
No answer. His frustration only grew. She was still stroking her hair with the brush, not listening to Josh's plea.
"I'm asking you a question. What did you mean?" he approached from behind her, looking at her through the mirror. His angry dimple was alive again. She thought she better answer him. Suddenly she was forced to meet his glare. His icy glare was enough to make her run away.
"When did you start feeling this?"
"Oh c'mon Joshua, you hate that I work for the enemy." she declared over him.
"What does that have to do with 'us'?"
Frustration grew in her too.
"How many times have you ever called since you left the White House? I thought you weren't going to take advantage of me again?"
"Just a minute ago..."
"Stop it, Josh! I mean it, really when have we really talked?"
She was serious and wanted answers to her longing questions.
He succumbed to her anger.
"I thought you didn't want to be a part of my life anymore. And oh, by the way it works both ways! You just left! You gave up!" His voice was growing louder and more defined with every word. He remembered how angry and hurt he was when she quit.
"I left because you wouldn't take time to listen to me!"
They were shouting now.
"You're still pissed about that lunch?"
"I was gonna tell you about this job…."
"Oh, so you had been planning to leave me for..."
"I needed to grow in my career. See you can't even take the time to hear me out now!"
She moved to the other side of the room. This was the first time they were fully open with each other. The real reason why she left was finally reaching the surface.
He couldn't face her anymore. He knew deep down this was going to emerge, but he never expected to react this way.
She was on the other side of the room, trying to figure out what to do next. She was nearly in tears. All that passion they shared evaporated. Was this the beginning of the end for them? And if not, who was going to make the first move?
TBC