Hi guys! This story will follow cannon… with a few twists. I'll be working on my other story, I'll Be Waiting, at the same time as this one. This will be a little heavier on the fluff though. As always, I would LOVE your feedback. Hope you enjoy it!

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"Bartlet for America." The voice was clearly distracted, which wasn't exactly a stretch considering the amount of commotion in the background.

"CJ? What are you doing answering the phone?"

"Donna? Is that you? Oh thank the heavens." CJ did nothing to mask her overwhelming relief.

"My sister said you called- CJ, is she everything alright?"

She could hear a loud crash in the background and then the unmistakable sound of Josh's yelling.

"Oh, everything's fine here. Perfectly fine," CJ lied.

"You're going to have to work on your presentation when you're spinning," Donna told her. She could hear a door close and silence finally resonate from the other end of the line.

"Donna, listen, I don't want to push you into anything you don't want to do, but what would we have to do to get you to come back?"

"Is he okay?" The shouting had resumed in the background. Donna wondered if it had followed CJ.

"He's, uh, in rare form lately." CJ didn't want to get into it and completely terrify Donna, but the truth was that he'd been nothing short of falling apart since she left to return to that asshole boyfriend of hers in Wisconsin.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Donna told her.

"Donna, you're a goddess. When can we expect you? I'll leave a key to my room at the front desk. You can stay with me until they put you on salary."

She smiled. Never before has she become such fast friends with a group of people.

"I'll be at the office in 20 minutes."

"Great. Wait- what?!"

Donna bit her lip. "I'm calling from a payphone at a gas station outside of town. I left yesterday to come back. I drove all night. I would have been here sooner but there was a... thing. In Wisconsin."

"Be careful, Donna." Though she'd only known her a few weeks, she was forming a fast friendship with Donna Moss. "I'll see you in a little bit."

CJ ended the call and walked back to her makeshift office, past the disaster area that was now Josh Lyman's space. He was in the corner with Leo, rambling on about who knows what, and Leo and the Governor both looked like they were about at the end of their rope with him.

She hoped Donna would do the trick and get him back on track. No matter how annoyed she could be with Josh, she had a soft spot for him. And she also knew the campaign couldn't survive without him.

OooooooooooO

Donna sat on the floor beside Josh's desk, sorting through the apparent explosion of paperwork that had occurred while she was gone.

Everyone had been so warm upon her return, welcoming her with open arms, most of them literally. But she was still nervous- she hadn't seen Josh yet. He'd been in a meeting all afternoon, and given the fact that he was supposed to be back about two hours ago, Donna was fairly sure he'd have himself worked into a later by the time he made it back to headquarters.

She wasn't sure what his reaction to seeing her in his office would be, though she'd played all the possible scenarios through her head on the drive from Wisconsin.

Readjusting her injured ankle, Donna moved slightly on the floor, stacking a few papers into an organized pile. Only one more box to go. She glanced around, almost amazed at the work she'd accomplished in a few short hours. The office was so tidy now he could actually take a meeting or get something done.

Pulling the last bit closer to her, she heard the front door close with a bang and heavy footsteps coming towards her. The outer offices went a bit more quiet than usual, and given the absence of conversation, or yelling, for that matter, she knew Josh was here, and he was in one hell of a mood.

Entering his office he forcefully threw his backpack into corner, and rounded his desk, grabbing a portfolio out of his middle drawer, throwing a new stack of paperwork onto his newly organized desk and starting to storm off again. It was only then that he seemed to notice that his office was tidy. He looked up and glanced around, eyes landing on Donna, sitting in the far corner.

"Oh thank God," he muttered. "There's a pile of things on the desk."

And with that, he was off to his next meeting, leaving Donna in a stunned silence on the floor.

OooooooooooooooO

The tiny hotel didn't have an elevator and of course CJ's room was on the second floor. So after an exhaustive 15 minutes Donna had finally made it to the doorway from the car, CJ patiently walking beside her, Sam following closely with her bags.

Once they were finally settled into the room, the stress and uncertainty of the day melted away and Donna felt immediately at home again. She was among friends.

"Get settled in, ladies. I'll be back in 20 minutes with Toby to take you to dinner," Sam announced, walking to the door. "Welcome home, Donna," he told her, flashing her a bright smile.

"I'm taking a quick shower," CJ announced. "Need anything?"

"No, go ahead. I'm just going to take a little nap," Donna told her, propping her ankle up on a pillow.

It wasn't more than a few minutes, however, before Donna awoke to a pounding at her door, her name being bellowed from the other side. Sitting up, she grabbed for her crutches and began to make her way to the door.

"Donna!"

"I'm coming."

Knock, knock, knock. "Donna!"

"I'm coming, Josh."

"Donna!"

She swung the door open on the third bellow and he stood there, his nose buried in a folder of polling statistics.

"What took you so long," he spouted, sauntering through the doorway without ever looking up. "I need you to set up a meeting with the Senators from Indiana and Illinois. I'm also going to need 15 minutes with... What in the hell happened to you?!" He'd finally looked up, noticing her ankle, and every other thought he'd had left his mind. "You should sit down," he offered her a little help as she made her way back to the bed.

She laughed, shaking her head. Only Josh could go from so unaware to so concerned in such a short amount of time.

He stared at her ankle. "What happened," he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"I slipped on the ice. It was a late thaw..."

"You should put down kitty litter," he told her. "Do you need anything? Can I get you something?"

"I'm fine. We're getting ready to go to dinner with Sam and Toby," she told him. "You coming?"

"I, uh, have to take care of a few things. Maybe I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Yeah, okay." Truth be told she was a little disappointed. She'd missed him. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Oh, no," he recoiled. "Go ahead. It's just some personal stuff. Paperwork."

She nodded her head. She'd been taking care of his personal affairs before she'd left. Maybe he was hesitant around her now. She hated that she'd violated his trust.

Josh checked his watch and left in a hurry, but not before telling her he was glad to have her back.

Minutes later Sam arrived with Toby and the four set out for dinner and drinks. "Ugh, these steps again," Donna muttered.

"Not to worry," Sam jumped in, crouching over a bit. "Hop on, Donna. You can never be too old for a good old fashioned piggy back ride."

"You can," Toby interjected dryly. "And you are."

Donna hopped on Sam's back as she and CJ giggled profusely. They were down the steps in no time, Sam now determined to carry her all the way to the bar. Their laughter and joking continued around the corner where the four of them stepped directly into a now legendary Mandy/Josh screaming match. Sam froze, Donna and CJ's faces falling. The four of them stared at their friend and his girlfriend, unsure of what to say.

Taking a good look at the image of Donna on Sam's back, Josh shot Sam a stare.

Sam gently put Donna down as she took her crutches from CJ.

"Boy, you can sure kill a fun night," CJ remarked towards Josh and Mandy.

"Donna. Welcome back." The fake smile on Mandy's face was obvious to everyone as Josh stretched his neck.

"We're headed out for dinner," Sam stated, wishing to get out of there as quickly as possible. "Across the street. Stop by later, drinks are on me," Sam added with a smile.

The foursome ate dinner and sipped a few drinks, Toby eventually heading toward the bar for another round as Sam and CJ took a trip around the dance floor. Sitting alone with her ankle propped up in the corner booth, Donna barely noticed Josh before he sat down.

"Rough day," she asked him as if she wasn't well aware of the answer.

He leaned his head back on the booth and loosened his tie. "You have no idea," he muttered.

She slid him her beer.

"But it's certainly looking up," he told her.

They were joined by the rest of the senior staff and spent the evening filling Donna in on the last few weeks. Josh remained oddly quiet, as though his mind was anywhere but there.

One by one the bar cleared out and Josh and Donna walked slowly back to the hotel.

"What's on your mind, Josh," she asked. "And don't tell me its nothing, because clearly that's not true."

He sighed. She could read him like a book. "I just got a weird voicemail today. It didn't make any sense and it was very vague. It's nothing to worry about. Probably just a mix up."

"Oh. Well, do you want to talk about it," Donna offered.

"Uh, no," Josh scrubbed his hands over his face. "Actually I don't. I appreciate it, Donna, but it doesn't even warrant my attention, and I'm exhausted."

He helped her slowly up the motel steps. "I'm getting you a room on the bottom floor tomorrow," he muttered. He knew that she was double bunking with CJ to save money but he didn't mind the extra expense. He was just glad to have her back.

Walking her to her door, he didn't hesitate before leaning in and giving her a gentle hug. "Welcome Home, Donnatella. I missed you."

oOoOoOoOoOo

Before she could even blink they were back on the road. Donna quickly re-adjusted to the campaign life, loving the fast pace of the days and the high spirited conversation. She fell back into a familiar flow with Josh, too. They were very much in sync with one another, and that's why she noticed that something was bothering him for the last 12 hours. He was just- off. She'd tried to bring it up but he'd panicked, so she'd dropped it.

Now, however, they were in Manhattan, just having finished a campaign stop and Leo was flagging her over.

"Donna," he began, "Josh has a personal errand in midtown. You're going with him.

Josh's eyes immediately went wide as he began to protest.

"Quiet," Leo immediately silenced him.

"He's going to his father's firm to take care of a private matter. You're going to ride with him and then sit in the waiting room while he handles a few things. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course," Donna didn't hesitate. It wasn't like Josh to keep her so out of the loop, so when he did, Donna didn't want to push.

"Leo…" Josh started again, looking rather out of sorts.

"She's going with you," Leo told him as though it was final, "because if she doesn't you're going to lose it and someone's going to have to drive all the way down there to scrape you off the ceiling and I just don't have time for that today. My driver is waiting for you in the front of the building." And with that he walked away.

Donna silently followed Josh into the waiting town car and rode with him through the crowded streets. She was taking in the city around her, spouting off trivia and asking him a few questions here and there, but Josh was mysteriously quiet. Arriving at their destination, Josh and Donna took the elevator up to a sleekly decorated law firm and Josh was immediately ushered into his father's office where the door closed immediately.

Donna made herself as comfortable as possible in the waiting room, feeling rather out of place. A half an hour had passed before a tall man bearing a striking resemblance to Josh emerged.

"Donna?" he asked.

She stood hesitantly. "Mr. Lyman?"

"Ah, it's so nice to finally meet you," he told her, walking her into his office. The two carried on a casual conversation for a few minutes, Donna stealing glances at Josh, who appeared to be lost in his thoughts.

"Josh tells me it's your first time in the city," Noah commented.

"Yes. And it's wonderful," Donna smiled.

"Good. Well, since the two of you have a free evening I hope you'll join Edith and I for dinner. We have reservations in an hour," he told her.

Josh still remained in a somewhat comatose state in the corner.

"I wouldn't want to impose," Donna told him.

Josh's head spun around to look at her and he shot her a look begging her to stay.

"Oh, um, but it does sound lovely."

"Great. It's settled. Let's go," Noah clapped his hands together, grabbing his briefcase and standing. "And Donna, if you don't mind, we'll just keep this afternoon's meeting between the three of us for the time being, alright?"

Donna nodded her agreement, but she really didn't understand. What was going on with Josh?