Josh and Donna quickly found their working rhythm. She never ceased to amaze him, anticipating his every need and quickly proving herself to be his most valuable asset. The entire campaign was running on caffeine and hope, bouncing from state to state on an old bus, pulling all nighters and doing whatever it would take to get Bartlet elected.
The bond between Josh and Donna wasn't lost on anyone, but soon it became so common that the others forget it was even abnormal. Where he went she went, and whatever she needed he provided. She sat up with him late at night in the back of the bus, pouring over binders of information, briefing him at all hours of the day, stealing bites of his lunch and falling asleep on his shoulder. If a new staffer raised an eyebrow the rest of the group would just shrug and say oh, that's just Josh and Donna, going on with their days.
They'd both compartmentalized their feelings fairly poorly, but as none of the others were suspicious of anything, they weren't particularly looking for red flags. Late at night, after the bus was quiet and the staffers were asleep, Donna would usually nod off, allowing Josh a moment to just be near her. If he was asked about it, he'd deny it, even internally, but he held on to those moments. He'd cover her with a blanket, kiss her forehead and lay as close to her as he could. It was all that he had.
The road was wearing on them all, a different city every night, a different hotel and more of the same prepackaged food. They were all running on fumes. As they pulled into the Best Western in Tampa, Josh stretched quietly, trying to regain his bearings. He brushed the hair out of Donna's face, whispering a soft 'we're here,' and attempting to pull her from her light slumber.
She muttered something unrecognizable and curled in closer to him. All he'd wanted for the past 10 hours was to not be on a bus anymore, but now he wished they'd drive another 10 with her snuggled in close.
"Come on, " he whispered again, trying to coax her gently to coherency. Eventually she woke, dragging herself into the room with two double beds she shared with CJ, Josh biding her goodnight and wondering if he made a huge mistake those weeks ago in his car. November, he reminded himself, was only 5 months away. He could hold out. He didn't have a choice.
OooooooooooooO
"A day off!" Sam Seaborn was even happier than usual.
"Take it down a notch," Toby stated bluntly over a cup of coffee in the hotel breakfast area.
"Oh, come on, Toby. It's a day off and we're in Florida. The sun! The salt air! It'll be fantastic."
"I sincerely doubt it," Toby grumbled.
"Good morning!" CJ slid in next to them, followed by Donna and a large beach bag.
"Finally," Sam remarked, "two people who know how to relax a bit."
Sam had rented a sailboat for a half day, intending to blow off some steam from the campaign stresses sailing around the bay with his colleagues.
"You two don't exactly look like you're ready for a day on the ocean," CJ remarked, taking in Toby and Josh's appearance.
"I have no intentions to participate in this," Toby stated.
"Too busy," Josh muttered over a pile of briefing memos. "Donna, can you get me the education stats for Arizona? I need them for the..." he trailed off as soon as he looked up and saw her. "What are you wearing?"
Donna looked down at the soft cotton dress covering her blue bikini.
"I thought we were going out on Sam's boat," Donna pouted, seeing her day in the sun disappear before her eyes.
"You are," CJ interjected forcefully.
"I outrank you," Josh muttered.
CJ leaned down to the table to shoot Josh a glare.
"Alright, alright, go out on the damn boat."
CJ perked back up. "Ready sailor?"
Sam hopped up and grabbed his wallet. "Sure I can't interest you two in a fun afternoon?"
Josh and Toby grumbled. CJ picked up the beach bag and Donna grabbed her hat, casually tossing on the floppy rimmed accessory as Josh watched her closely. The memories came flooding back. The beach. The dinner. The gift shop. Mrs. Lyman.
"On second thought," he stated, standing to join them. "Maybe I can find the time."
OoooooooooooO
They'd been having a lovely day when the morning started out, the four of them and a begrudging Toby cruising along the open ocean. She'd lay on the deck with CJ to try and catch a bit of sun and everyone was having a great time. Josh had even begun to slightly loosen up and she'd seen a glimpse of the man she met on the island, not her stressed out boss.
Josh watched her as she lay happily in the sun, his mind wandering to a similar situation with that same blue bikini with a vastly different outcome than he was sure tonight would bring.
"Enjoying the view?" Sam was clearly just poking some harmless fun at Josh, but Josh didn't find it too funny, crossing his arms and looking the other way.
"I'm just saying," Sam commented with a smile, "good genes in that family." Sam had become close to both CJ and Donna over the last weeks, loving both of them like sisters. Still- he wasn't blind.
Josh, already somewhat on edge, bristled at Sam's words, leering at him over his sunglasses. Sam had become very friendly with Donna, and Donna with Sam, and it hasn't escaped Josh's notice.
He tried for misdirection, choosing a new conversation partner. "So, Toby, how did you say you and CJ know each other," Josh questioned.
Toby didn't even look over. "It's none of your damn business, that's how."
Well okay, Josh thought. Another dead end on the quest for delightful banter.
He leaned against the helm silently for a few minutes, just taking in his surroundings before steadying himself, finishing his beer and wandering towards Donna at the bow of the boat.
"Coming about," Sam announced.
Josh, distracted by the blue bikini, took a second to register Sam's words, looking up just in time to shield himself from the boom as it knocked him overboard, and fully clothed, into the Gulf.
He came up sputtering, a proficient swimmer that was simply caught off guard from the circumstances. It was however, a bit unnerving to be bobbing alone in the open water, Josh thought with a sudden panic, looking around to make sure he didn't see any fins circling. It was only a moment, however, before Sam had the boat back and everyone was helping to pull him back on board. Their concern turned mostly to laughter however, when they realized he wasn't injured.
Josh was less than amused, doing his best to ignore the barbs from CJ, Toby and Sam.
"Come on," Donna tugged at his wrist, "I brought an extra towel." She lead him into the cabin where she'd stowed her beach bag, pulling out the oversized towel, which he snatched away from her, still cranky, and rubbed over his hair before tossing it down. "Get out of your wet clothes. I'll hang them to dry."
Josh, who was in no mood to joke," scoffed as he yanked the tails of his shirt of of his suit pants, removing his dress shirt, belt and undershirt.
"Pants," Donna told him, answered only with a roll of the eyes as he removed them and handed them to her, now clad only in his boxers as he flopped down on a bench in the galley.
She handed him a bottle of water, running her fingers gently through his curls.
"Sorry I was cranky," he muttered, almost shocked at his own apology.
She shrugged her shoulders, giving him a gentle smile. "It's almost like deja vu," she told him, kissing his temple and acknowledging their past for the first time since the first day of work so many months prior. "I'll hang these to dry," she told him before he could react in any way, climbing the steps and leaving him alone with his thoughts.
OoooooooooooO
Toby Ziegler walked into the hotel lobby with a smirk on his face. "I have to admit, I did have a great time today.
Josh muttered something under his breath, and though the rest of them couldn't make out the exact words, they understood the sentiment.
"Everyone up for dinner?" CJ too was in a pleasant mood. "Maybe somewhere local? A fresh catch?"
"I'll pass," Josh spat, still in a terrible mood and quite damp.
"Come on, Josh," Donna said softly. "End the day on a high note." She was trying to sympathize with him and convince him to cheer up. She knew if he was going to come out of his mood her soft touch could do it- it had before, on a day very similar to this one.
"Yes, Josh, I know how you like to try new places and eating interesting things," Toby's attempt at ironic, dry humor was largely not amusing.
Josh glared at them.
She tried to catch his gaze and shoot him a look conveying the fact that she knew that wasn't true, but he never met her eyes.
"Some of us have work to do," he scoffed, heading back to his room and slamming the door behind him.
Donna bit her lip, trying to resist the urge to chase after him and not let the situation bother her.
OooooooooO
Josh was irritated, exhausted and stressed. He still had to get through all of the paperwork he'd blown off to spend the afternoon with Donna. An afternoon, he might add, that didn't exactly go as planned. He shook his head and shed his clothing, climbing into the hottest shower he could stand. As he let the water run over his tense muscles, he couldn't help but to wish that this shower would end in the same fashion his last bad day on a boat ended. He wished, for so many reasons, she'd appear in her blue bikini and hop in to keep him company.
All of the things that he'd felt for her that week, all of the things that he thought about her, were nothing compared to the way he felt now. They'd spent time together, they'd really gotten to know each other, and now he was absolutely sure he couldn't live without her. He couldn't upend the campaign and he honestly didn't even have the time to share a meal with her right now, let alone date her, but he wanted to make sure that in November, when he had his real chance, he wouldn't ruin it before he got started. He wouldn't wave goodbye to her after election day, hoping that they'd bump into each other again. He'd tell her what he wanted.
Maybe he would join them for dinner. It could be fun, to tell stories and get CJ just drunk enough to spill her guts about Donna when she was growing up. Plus, he'd get to make it up to Donna for being cranky all day. It would be… poetic.
Josh's daydream was disturbed by a loud pounding on the door. Grabbing a towel, he hopped out and flung the door open, greeting an irritated Leo.
"We need to you in the Governor's suite to talk about Texas," he began without preamble.
"Texas?" Josh's eyebrows shot up. He knew what that meant, and it definitely did nothing to improve his mood.
"Yeah. I've got some numbers and we need to discuss…"
"We've discussed it!" Josh was waiving his arms around and already beginning to yell. He didn't want to have to deal with Hoynes again in any capacity.
"Governor's suite. We have to go over the next couple of days too, and this memo on school vouchers."
"Did you get the polling back on the…"
"Yeah, we'll discuss it."
"K. I'll be there," he surrendered, knowing he wouldn't be seeing the inside of his eyelids for quite a while.
"Should I grab Donna," Leo asked.
"No, she's all excited for dinner with CJ. I won't need her. Just let her go."
"Alright," Leo agreed. "And Josh…"
"Yeah?"
"Put on some pants."
OoooooooooooO
Donna knocked for the third time on Josh's door, hoping he'd let her talk him into dinner at a little place in the harbor. Everyone was having such a good time and she just wanted him to come along.
"Josh?" she tried again, only to be met with silence.
She sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. He had to be in there. If something work related came up he would have grabbed her. He was just ignoring her. That hurt.
OooooooooooooO
Josh finally drug himself back to his room after an exhausting debate about a vice presidential candidate, education reform and how to reach disengaged voters. He just wanted to sleep. The lock had barely latched behind him when there was another knock on the door.
Josh sighed and opened it, Mandy breezing in without an invitation. "Josh, we need to go over the scheduled media appearances for the next 10 days."
"Not tonight, Mandy, I'm exhausted."
He'd been progressively colder to her over the last months, making her patience with him shorter and shorter.
"Yes, Joshua, tonight. I need you to get your head in the game. I know you've been out all day playing Baywatch with your assistant but I need you to focus."
"Watch it," Josh warned.
A mischievous smile began to crawl across Mandy's face. "What? Did I strike a nerve there."
"Leave her out of it, Mandy. Our issues have nothing to do with her." And it was true. They would never have worked- they weren't working- even without Donna in the picture.
She shot him a look that could make a grown man cry. Luckily, Josh was well versed in this game, meeting her stare with one equally as intense, causing her to soon drop the topic.
"Anyway, we need to go over the numbers," she sat down in a chair, removing her blazer.
"Fine," Josh grabbed the file from her, knowing she was right.
OoooooooooooO
They'd gone to dinner without Josh, having a lovely time. Donna could quickly tell these were her people. They just understood he in a way that most of her friends didn't. They were smart and funny and oh so sweet to her. She loved that she'd found a place to fit in. All that was missing from the night was Josh.
CJ had hopped into the shower to rinse off while Donna changed into her pajamas.
It was late, but she just couldn't get Josh off of her mind. He'd clearly not appreciated being the butt of the joke today, and he was stressed anyway. The entire night she'd worried he was brooding in his hotel room. Grabbing the ice bucket for cover, she quickly ducked out of their room and made her way down the hall. She was only steps from his door when it opened, Mandy closing it behind her, jacket in hand.
"Oh," she looked Donna up and down. "Well, hello."
"Hi," Donna nervously tucked her hair behind her ear, trying not to show any of the hurt she was currently harboring, even though she assured herself she had no right to be jealous.
Mandy, always impeccably put together looked Donna up and down as she walked by, making Donna suddenly self conscious of her adolescent feeling pajama shorts and tshirt.
Donna bit her lip and as soon as it was safe to do so, retreated back to her room with a heavy heart, glad she was slipping in before CJ was even out of the shower.
XxxxxxxxX
A/N: So, I can't ever decide what the history is with CJ and Toby. Clearly they know each other but I have no idea how- hence my attempt at humor ;) This won't be a Toby CJ story just because that never really clicked for me in the show. I see them more as very very good friends. Plus, at this point in cannon he's happily married to Andy.
As for our favorite couple, they're in for quite the adventure. But they never have been great about communicating their feelings towards each other. We're off to the races... ;)
I have all of the stories in this series outlined, but if you have something you're just dying for me to throw in (a nod to cannon) let me know and I'll do my best. I always like to hear what you guys are thinking. Happy reading and let me know if you liked it!