Disclaimers: I do not owe any of the characters in this fic. I wish I did, but unfortunatly, they belong to the guys at NBC.

I would like to thank Jordan, for doing the beta on this fic. She's my life saver, since English are only my second tongue, and have some problems doing everything right... So thank you Jordan. :-D


The Weekend

Pt. 1.

"Donna!" Josh Lyman was standing inside his office, behind his desk, as he called out to his assistant in his busy bullpen. He waited a beat but no one came rushing in to aide him. "Donnatella!" he then yelled softly but still no assistant showed up at the doorstep. 'Where is she?' he thought to himself.He then tried once more, bellowing "DONNATELLA MOSS! FRONT AND CENTER!" Apparently that third time was the charm, because the figure of his tall blond assistant came to a halt in the open office door.

"Joshua Lyman!" she started to scold."Don't shout. I wasn't on the other side of the earth you know," She then said as an echo of the many times, she had scolded her boss before for bellowing for her to appear in his office. She crossed her arms over her chest in protest and took an annoyed position in the doorway.

"Where were you?" he asked her with a voice that was still in a somewhat high-pitched tone."I had called you two times already."

"Shush…!" She shushed at him.

"Donnatella!" he said with a warning tone in his voice. He had luck using that kind of tone on anybody but Donna. She somehow always shrugged it off and ignored it.

"Just went to drop off your memo to Margaret. If you really want to know," she answered him. Sometimes he meant serious business when he used the full length of her first name on her.But it was mostly a never-ending teasing game they played. He would use Donnatella Moss on her, and in return she would use Joshua Lyman back at him. She had to admit it… she loved this name game of theirs. Sometimes too much for comfort, she thought.Josh was the Deputy White House Chief Of Staff and she was his Senior Assistant. So therefore she used to call herself the Deputy Deputy White House Chief of Staff for a laugh, due to her being Josh's assistant."So what's up?" she asked him seriously as she stepped all the way into his office sitting down on the armrest of one of his guest chairs.

"You know tonight…" he began, looking up at her. "I'm afraid that…"

"You're afraid that you have to keep me here again tonight," she finished the obvious sentence for him. She basically knew what he was about to tell her. And staying late wasn't the newest thing to her.

"You mind?" he asked her.

"Not at all," she answered him.

"Okay," he said.

"Okay," she echoed back. She rose from the armrest as they shared a special smile before she left the office to continue her work.

Indeed that day had been long and grueling so when Donna was clearing her desk that late evening, the clock on the wall showed almost 9:15 p.m. That wasn't entirely new, either. Josh was in his office packing his things up and clearing his desk also for the day. It appeared that there was no one else left but the two of them. Well, besides the park police, security guards, the security details of the President and the marines guarding the outside areas. The cleaning personal was also there, of course.

"You ready to go?" Josh asked as he walked out of his office carrying his coat in one hand and his backpack in the other.

"In just a few seconds," she answered him as she turned off her computer. "Now I am."

"Need a ride?" he asked her as he grabbed her coat from the rack and held it out like a gentleman, so she could slip into it.

"Please," she said as he slipped his own coat on after helping Donna with hers. She was on foot that day.

After they had claimed the rest of their stuff, they walked together out to the parking lot behind the White House. Josh's car was, as the only one left, sitting in its usual spot… a spot reserved for the Senior Staff. As they reached it Josh went to unlock the passenger's side. He held the door open for Donna like a gentleman. When he was sure that she was all inside he shut the door gently and then went over to his side and got in. The car ride was silent except for the car radio playing quietly. It was tuned into a station playing soft music that you could easily doze off to. Donna was a bit tired, and sitting in the dark listening to that kind of music, could easily make her fall asleep. Josh was sitting beside her as he carefully navigated the car through the dark streets of Washington.

"This is really drowsing," Donna was thinking out loud as she felt a yawn coming up. She tried to hide it but with no success. Giving up, she yawned loudly.

"Tired?" Josh asked her after hearing her yawn.

"More than I'm used to being, I guess," Donna answered him. Then she yawned once again. "And this music doesn't make it any better," she said as she indicated the car stereo.

"You got a point there," he said. Then he changed the station and tuned into one that played louder music.

That was much better. Donna was still tired, but the new music kept her from feeling drowsy. After about five more minutes more of driving, Josh turned left and headed into the street where Donna was living. After he had pulled up in front of her apartment building, he turned off the car engine.

"You wanna come in for a cup of coffee or tea?" she asked him as she unbuckled her seatbelt. "Or a beer for that matter."

"Sure," he answered her as he proceeded to unbuckle his seatbelt himself. He grabbed his backpack and she her purse.

"What about Kate?" he asked her, indicating her roommate, as they walked up the stairs to the entrance door.

"She's away until Sunday, so for the first time in ages, I got the whole place all to myself," she answered him as they stepped inside. "Not that I'm home that much though. Well, the six to eight hours I come home to sleep, of course."

You would usually never make sleeping remarks in front of your boss. But they weren't exactly the typical example of a boss/assistant type of thing. Not with the amount of time they spent around each other and together. A typical weekday in the West Wing could easily amount to around eighteen hours a day, and the trips they made with the President on the Air Force One could sometimes bring the count up to 24 hours a day, maybe 7 days a week too. Nor would any "normal" assistant invite his or her boss in for coffee, tea or even a beer after driving his or her assistant home. In this case it was because they were very close friends, and the shooting incident at Rosslyn, had made them become even close. So he'd been to her apartment countless times before. Most of the times he had come alone, but sometimes the rest of the senior staff gang from the White House came along too. They did what they usually did when they entered her apartment. They shrugged off their coats and he followed her into the kitchen, to pick up whatever they wanted to drink.

"So what do you want?" she asked him.

"I think I'll go for that beer tonight," he answered her. She opened the fridge door, ducked inside and came out again holding two beers in her hands.

"Here you go," she said as she handed him his beer.

They wandered back into the living room to plop down onto the comfortable couch. When they'd opened their respective beers they took their first sips of them. She reached, as a force of habit, for the remote to the TV set and turned it on. She tuned into CNN so they could follow the latest news from the White House. It was a habit for the both of them. If she hadn't grabbed the remote he would have done it. She turned the volume down so low that the sound could only to hear if you strained your ears.

"I think I'll go change into something more comfy," she said after they had sat there for a while enjoying the silence. She got up from the couch after taking one more sip of her beer and set it down on the coffee table.

"Then I guess I'll make myself comfy as well," he shot after her as she made her way to her bedroom. He removed his suit jacket as well as his necktie. Then he took off his shoes, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and unbuttoned it around the neck.

"You hungry?" she asked him five minutes after she had changed. She had put on a pair of sweat pants and a cute well-worn gray T-shirt with the print of Donald Duck on the front. Her long blond hair was hanging loosely around her shoulders.

"No I'm good," he said smiling as he looked at her T-shirt. She was quite cute in that one.

"What?" she asked him as she noticed his smile. Then she followed his gaze and looked down at her T-shirt.

"Donald Duck?" he asked her.

"Yeah. My cousin Cassie gave it to me years ago," she answered him with a smile. "She went to Disney world and her favorite Disney character is Donald here," she pointed to her front as to explain. She sat down again and scooted back into her corner of the couch and put up her feet. "Mine's Goofy."

"That's my favorite too," he informed her. They had a little laugh over that for a while.

"So, how's it going with Amy?" she asked him when they were done. Amy was his girlfriend and Donna had never really been too fond of her. Amy was one of those modern feminists that, seen in Donna's perspective, always did and said something to Josh to make him feel bad. Donna had always been nice to her though, but that was only because of Josh. She would never be able to handle him being mad at her.

"I haven't been seeing her for two weeks," he began. "I know that I used to tell you about things like that but I never got around to it," he said to her. "It suddenly dawned on me that she did everything she could to put me down the last month we were together. So I was the one to break it off between us."

"I'm sorry to hear about that," she told him as to support him, but inside she was jumping up and down of joy. But that wasn't something she would tell him at that time.

"I'm not," he said honestly. "Not to bad-talk her behind her back, but I would say that I am far better off without her," he admitted. "I, in turn, realized that there's another woman in my life, that appreciates me for who I am, and for what I am, in every possible way and that's no matter what's going on."

"Who's that?" she asked him.

"You," he answered her.

"Me?" she asked him, confused.

"Yes you silly," he answered her. "You always support me in whatever I am doing."

They sat there again for a while following CNN, while their senior reporter was reporting from outside the White House. A clip was shown of CJ at a briefing earlier that same morning.

"I have a pair of your sweat pants," she suddenly remembered. "From the time when the rain was pouring down so much that I had to borrow them from you. I just never got around to returning them to you."

"Oh yeah," he remembered. "To tell you the truth, I had actually forgotten about those."

"I figured that much," she said. "Well, could you use those right about now?" she asked him.

"In matter of fact I could use those," he answered her.

"Then follow me," she said to him as she got up again from the couch.

When she had pulled him to his feet he trailed behind her down the hall to her bedroom. When they had reached the open door into the room, she went straight inside as he halted just outside, not sure whether he should enter or not. Of all the times he had been to her place, he had never been in her bedroom before, because knowing from experience that a woman's, or a young girls, bedroom was a sacred place, he had never dared to boldly go there. He had learned that the hard way, so he just remained standing outside, as he watched her rummage through her closet in search of his sweat pants. She noted his hesitation. She was puzzled, but kind of grateful though, that he had the sense to not enter her bedroom without permission. She didn't know why but all she knew was that he hadn't been that close to her bedroom before. So he just stood there outside in the hallway, waiting with absolute patience as she tried to find the said sweat pants. She found them at the bottom of the pile of her own sweat pants.

"You can just change in here," she said as a permission granting for him to enter her bedroom. She handed him the sweat pants after closing the closet door.

"Okay," he said as he carefully stepped inside her domain, accepting his sweat pants on his way. She left him in there as she went back to the living room. He took a quick look around her bedroom. Not to snoop around but he had to admit it he was a tad nosey. The bedroom was as womanly as Donna and the beautiful faint scent of the perfume she wore to work, was still hanging in the air. He then quickly changed from his suit pants and into the sweat pants. He also took off his white shirt. Then after he had picked up his clothes he exited the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He deposited the suit pants and shirt on top of the pile of his other clothing that he had shed earlier. Then he sat down beside her again and they sat there in silence for a while.

"Why wouldn't you enter my bedroom before I told you it was okay?" she asked him. She had been wondering about it ever since she had left him in her bedroom.

"It goes back to my childhood," he answered her. "I learned not to enter a teen girls or woman's bedroom, without permission, the hard way when I was six years old," he said. Not sure whether to continue he shot her a glance. She smiled her little half smile for encouragement. "About a month before school was out for summer that year Joanie turned twelve. At that time she slowly started to change into a typical preteen. Most of it happened over the summer, when she suddenly had all these new sets of rules for me. I couldn't enter her bedroom before knocking, I wasn't allowed to be in her bedroom when she wasn't at home and her door was always closed. I of course was way too young to understand what was happening with her, because before that I could always enter without knocking. She also had my dad helping her paint and remodeling her room. She began plastering posters of idols on her walls, and a lot of her toys went up into the attic. Of course I couldn't stay out of her room, even if my mom, dad and Joanie had explained to me to stay out, she caught me in her room for maybe the hundredth times in October of the new school year. She was then fed up with me always breaking her rules, so instead of calling for my mom or dad, she started to yell at me and then shoved me into the corner of her desk." He got a lump in the back of his throat and his eyes got misty. "I had to get stitches in the back of my head and she was grounded. And had to baby sit me, as an extra punishment, the following weekend…" He wasn't able to go on because if he did he would start to cry. Instead he took a shaky breath and just looked into her eyes and saw the light of recognition in them. "Let's just say that I learned the most important lesson of my life then and there. Never to enter a teen girls sanctuary, or a woman's place without her permission."

"Oh my god Josh!" she said after barely having to put the pieces together. That had been the fatal weekend when he, in an attempt at making his own popcorn because his sister wouldn't do it for him, had started a fire in the kitchen and in that fire his sister had died. He didn't have to explain anything to her. She moved over to him. "Sweetie…" she said as she raised her hand to place it on his cheek. She caressed it only once before opening her arms and bringing her best friend into her loving and comforting arms. She hugged him tight as she felt his arms around her. He held her as tight as she held him. She ran one of her hands up and down his back for comfort. Then she took it up to the back of his head running it through his hair. She didn't want him to go home to be alone that night, so she made a decision then and there. They sat there in silence for a few minutes. When letting go of each other, she took his head between her hands and held it there. After leaning in and giving him a kiss on his forehead, she looked into his eyes. They were full of tears. "You are not going home tonight. I don't want you to be alone."

"Okay," he said as he looked back into her eyes and a tear fell down his cheek. He was ever grateful that she had done this thing for him… comforting him. He was grateful that she knew the rest of the story so he didn't have to explain further… that she knew him the way she did. He was grateful to her for being the best female friend a man could ever have. She was his best friend.

"So how you doing?" she asked him holding his hand.

"I'll be fine," he answered her truthfully. "But now I am tired."

"So am I so let 's get tucked into bed," she said as she grabbed the remote with her free hand and turned off the TV. Still holding his hand in a firm grasp, she got up from the couch and pulled him to his feet. Tugging him after her all the way into her bedroom. "We will both sleep in here," she informed him motioning to her bed.

"Are you sure?" he asked her a bit surprised and overwhelmed too. "Because I can easily use the couch."

"Yes I'm sure that I want you in here," she stated. She saw a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. "You are my friend so we should be able to pull this off. I'll go find you a brand new tooth brush," she said and went into her private bathroom. She emerged a minute later after having brushed herself, with the said thing in hand. "Here you go," she said as she handed it to him. "Go brush your teeth. The toothpaste is on the shelf." She watched as he disappeared into the bathroom. She used the time to change into a pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top. She was turning down her bed as he came out of the bathroom only wearing his T-shirt and his boxers. He was carrying the sweat pants in his hand. She wasn't unfazed by the fact that he was in that state, cause she had seen him like that many times before. He had also seen her like she was now in the month after he had been shot, when she stayed at his place to take care of him. So he was used to seeing her in sleeping attire too. She scooted under the covers and patted the other side of the bed, as an invitation for him to join her, which he did a few seconds later. She turned to face him and he did the same as they both made them themselves comfortable under the covers.

"Thank you for letting me stay in here," he said to her.

"Don't mention it," she said back to him. "I guess we both need the company tonight."

"I do indeed," he said as he reached over and removed the strand of hair that was on its way down to her eye. "Have I ever told you, you remarkable woman, that you are my best friend?" he asked her.

"No you haven't," she answered him. "I guess I have never told you, that you are the most amazing best friend a girl could ever ask for."

"Would you take it the wrong way if I told you," he started. Taking a deep breath he went on. "That I loved you?"

"No," she answered him. "Because I would tell you, if you wouldn't take it the wrong way as well, that I love you too." They shared smiles. "Let's get some sleep," she suggested and he nodded in agreement. She turned to switch off the light. She then scooted back to spoon him. She felt him hesitate a little over her bold action, but than he wrapped his arm around her. She grabbed a hold of it.

"Good night and sleep tight," he said to her as he kissed the back of her head. "And thank you for being here for me and thank you for your friendship Donnatella." He also marveled over how good he felt having her in his arms. But it was also a whole new context of them being in contact with one another.

"Good night and sleep tight too," she echoed back and kissed the palm of his hand. "And thank you for your friendship too Joshua. And also for being here for me when I need it." He felt great and she liked being in his strong arms. And the little time she had had to get used to the closeness that they now shared.

They fell silent and soon they fell into a quiet sleep.


Next chapter will be up in time.

Please review.