Between the Lines
by angellwings
Chapter 4: Some Things Never Change
"I'm bored, Joshua. I'm still attractive and I'm still bored," Donna said as she found him at Ellie's wedding reception.
"I'm sure there are plenty of gomers out there to entertain you," Josh said with a sigh as he refolded the electoral map he'd been staring at all day long.
"I don't want to be entertained by those gomers. I want to be entertained by this one," she said as he poked his arm gently.
He suddenly turned and glared playfully at her. "Did you just imply that I, Joshua Lyman, am a gomer?"
She tilted her head to the right as she thought and then smirked playfully at him. "Now why would I do that?"
He quirked a brow at her. "I think you were calling me a gomer."
"Really? I guess you'd better prove me wrong then. Dance with me."
"Donna, I can't," he said as he turned the folded map in his hands.
"Yes, you can," she said as she placed a sympathetic hand on his arm.
"Illinois, Donna. I misread Illinois."
"You didn't misread it," she told him. "We were down ten points. I bet even Leo would have pulled out."
He looked up her in shock. "That's what he said."
"See? Listen to him. You make the absolute best decisions you can with the information you've got. That's all anyone can ask of you. It's all you can ask of yourself," She said gently. "Now, put away the damn map and come dance with me."
His grim look slowly melted into a small affectionate smile. "You know I'm not good at the dancing thing."
"I don't care if you're good," Donna said with a chuckle. "I just care that you're willing."
He hesitated.
"Josh, you can't do anything else from here."
"They're talking about replacing me with Leo, Donna. Goodwin doesn't think I can take this down the home stretch."
She looked concerned for a split second before she shook her head and smiled softly at him. "Leo and The Congressman aren't going to let that happen. You're their guy. Without you none of us would be here right now."
"But what if they're right. What if I'm screwing this up and ruining his career in the process?"
"You're not and they're not right. Barry Goodwin can shove it for all I care. You've gotten us this far and you'll get us back here in January," she assured him. "Now, I'm going to ask you one final time…dance with me?"
She held out a hand for him to join her and he smiled warmly at her. He hesitated but folded up the map again and stuck it in his jacket pocket. "Just remember I warned you when there are pictures of us out there somewhere and we both look like idiots."
She beamed at him as he placed his hand in hers and then led her onto the dance floor.
"You look great, by the way," Josh said as he twirled her around in front of him.
"Thank you, so do you."
"No, I don't. I look like death. I feel like death."
"Yeah, you kind of do," she said honestly.
"Gee, thanks. Have I mentioned how much your flattery means to me?" He asked dryly.
"If you'd sleep you'd look much better," Donna offered with a small smile. "Was that better?"
"It was a good try. Solid B minus."
Of course The Congressman and Leo decided not to replace Josh. They knew better. Now the campaign was running at full speed once again. Donna stepped into the car with Bram to leave the Santos's house. They'd spent the whole day working on press and campaign strategy and now she and Bram were headed back to the hotel. As the door closed and the car pulled away her cell phone rang. She glanced at the ID before she answered with a smile.
"Good job lowering expectations for Leo's debate. Should play well for us tomorrow night," she said immediately.
"That wasn't us."
"What? Are you saying we have a leak?"
"Seems like it. What are you doing right now?"
"You're not concerned about the—"
"Trying not to think about it. What are you doing?"
"Bram and I are heading back to the hotel," She answered skeptically. "Why?"
"You spend a lot of time with Bram."
"I spend a lot of time with a lot of people, Josh."
"I'm just saying you two seem to be together a lot," Josh said in a suspicious tone. Was he…jealous?
Her brow furrowed and she wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "He's twelve."
"Twenty four, actually, but I understand your meaning."
"Did you call for any particular reason?" Donna asked primly.
"Distraction, mostly. Hey, how'd you let Mrs. Santos's red lacy thong and tattoo get passed you?"
"I was a little too focused on the Congressman. You know, my job?" She asked with a small grin.
"Oh right, that."
"Yeah, that. Besides, I think it might actually work for us with the youth vote. They'll seem sexy and hip."
"You think Mrs. Santos is sexy?"
She could hear his smirk and she immediately rolled her eyes. "No. I think the general public thinks she's sexy. I'm more of a tall, dark, and handsome man type." She grinned and knew exactly where his train of thought would go.
"Like…Bram?"
"Huh, I never thought about that. I guess he is rather tall, dark, and handsome. Especially in a suit," she said teasingly. Bram gave her an odd, slightly terrified, look and she waved a dismissive hand at him. "You know, I could use a night of alcohol and loose morals. Maybe I should go full cougar."
There was silence on the other end of the line for a prolonged moment. Then Josh cleared his throat and spoke up in a voice that sounded strained. "I don't think Bram is man enough for that."
"This conversation is making me very uncomfortable," Bram said as he blushed and slid over to the opposite side of the car from Donna.
"Are we freaking out the new kid yet?" Josh asked.
"Seems like it."
"We still got it, baby!"
"…did you just call me baby?"
There was another long pause. "Um, no."
"I'm fairly certain you did," Donna said with a chuckle.
"Hey, did you know Annabeth can sing?"
"Yes," she said calmly.
"I mean like really sing. She's classically trained. Did you know that?"
"Yes."
"Oh, okay, well…I'm gonna go. This was a nice little chat…"
"Josh, change the subject all you want but you know what you did and I know what you did. It will live in infamy." With that she hung up and smiled to herself. It was nice to have Josh back. Things were different though. They'd both changed a little bit. It was different between them, yes, but they were better for it. At least she thought so.
"Your conversations with Josh are very strange," Bram said observantly.
Then again maybe things weren't that different.
"I know," Donna said with a grin. "It's what we do."