Disclaimers, etc. as in Part 1.
Part 2/2
**
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Donna spat at Josh after a few tense moments of staring angrily at him. "Oh, wait," she continued acerbically, "that's right, you're my boyfriend. At least, you are according to Blane."
"Blane?" Josh asked quizzically, finally meeting Donna's eyes and seeing them full of fire.
"The guy at the bar, Josh."
Josh smirked. "His name's Blane?" The fierce look Donna gave him told him he wasn't helping matters.
"You told him you were my boyfriend," Donna accused furiously.
"I didn't."
"He says you did!"
"I didn't, I never said that," Josh defended firmly.
"But you warned him off, right?" she asked, her anger increasing as Josh lamely shrugged his shoulders.
"Not as such, no. I might have pointed a couple of things out to him, but –"
"Do you know what he *said* to me, Josh?" Josh swallowed hard as he heard the hurt in her tone. "I went to the bar for more drinks and asked how he was doing. He…he turned to me, and…" Donna's voice cracked and she dipped her head for a moment before returning blazing eyes to meet Josh's. "He said, and I quote, 'you are the type of woman that gives your gender a bad name. You're nothing more than a tease. You use people. I talked to you because I thought you seemed nice and then I find out you're just using me to get back at your boyfriend or something…using me to make him jealous. There are words for women like you.' That's what he said to me, Josh." Donna was blinking back tears and she gripped Josh's shoulders tightly as she regained her strength. "What the hell did you say to him?"
Josh let out a long sigh; not wanting to answer her question but knowing it was one she wouldn't let him avoid. He dipped his head and kept his voice low and controlled. "I never said I was your boyfriend," he restated. "I just asked him if he'd noticed where you had been sitting all night and that you'd been sharing my food. I guess he drew his own conclusions."
"Oh yeah," Donna shouted, unable to control her voice, "he drew conclusions alright. But you said more to him than that, didn't you?"
Josh looked at her but remained silent; however, his eyes told her what she suspected and she stared at him fiercely again. "I didn't say anything else, he said something to me," he finally admitted.
"What?"
"He said if he'd known you were mine he'd have backed off sooner." The words left Josh's mouth before his brain kicked into gear. When he realized what he'd said he tried to step away but Donna dug her nails into him.
"And what did you say to him about *that*?"
"I didn't say anything, I thought it was better not to. Look Donna, I'm sorry. I thought I was helping," Josh said lamely.
"Helping? How the hell did you figure that?"
"Well, he was hitting on you; I didn't think you'd want that. C'mon, his name's *Blane* for God's sake."
"Josh, I didn't *ask* you for help. I'm more than capable of handling things on my own; if I'd wanted him to back off I'd have told him." Bitterness was oozing from Donna's tone and Josh couldn't think of anything to say to diffuse the situation. He glanced over to the table and saw his friends watching them closely but making no attempt to help him out.
"You can't seriously tell me you're interested in *him*," he stated incredulously, looking back at Donna.
"He's nice, Josh. Or, at least he *was*. If what you say is true though, he thinks I belong to *you*," she snapped.
"I didn't tell him I was your boyfriend," Josh said with irritation.
"No, but when he said that I was *yours* you didn't tell him differently. Is that what you think, Josh? That I'm some kind of…possession?" she yelled.
"Donna, –"
"Forget it, I need to cool off," Donna said coarsely, letting his shoulders go and pushing him away before heading out of the bar.
Josh took off after her. "Donna?" he yelled, pushing his way through the crowded dance floor towards the exit. Sam started to get up from the table to follow them but CJ stopped him, telling him to give them time to sort it out their way.
*
Josh found her leaning against a wall just outside the bar; her face slightly illuminated by the glow of the single streetlamp.
"Donna?" he said quietly as he walked towards her. She turned away. "Donna?" he repeated, now standing beside her. "I…I'm sorry. I don't think of you like that, you know I don't."
She whirled round to face him and he was shocked; he had half-expected to see her crying but, although her eyes were bloodshot, it was due to anger, not tears.
"Why did you warn him off, Josh?" she asked pointedly, turning again so that her back was against the wall. Josh leaned his own back against the wall, his left shoulder almost touching her right.
"He looks like an idiot. You're not supposed to be dating gomers anymore."
"That's not the reason," she stated, pulling away from the wall and looking at him again. He blinked in surprise and moved away from the wall as well, turning so that he was side-on to it and making Donna turn so that she was still facing him.
"It's not?" he asked, trying to figure out where she was going with the conversation.
"You were jealous," she said, not so much an accusation as another statement.
"What?" he replied, giving his tone an air of incredulity while he tried to hide the large gulp he was taking.
"You don't want me dating anyone. You think things have just got back to normal after Jack and I broke up and you don't want them to change again; you don't want me leaving at a reasonable time so that I can have a social life. You want me to stay late to help you work. You think that if you're single I should be as well; misery loves company after all." She had moved closer to him during her tirade, subconsciously trying to gain the upper hand as it forced him to step backwards, meaning she had control.
"That's not true," he shot back. "I'm not jealous of that."
"Really?" she replied with total disbelief. "Josh, I saw you."
"What?" He was confused.
"When I told you Jack and I broke up; you said you needed me to work late and that you'd call Jack and apologize. I told you there was no need because we'd split up. You tried to hide it, but I saw it; there was a smile on your face, and in your eyes. It was only for an instant, but I saw it. You were glad," she yelled, her voice getting louder with every word. "You thought, 'great, she won't complain about working longer hours again'."
"You're wrong," he defended, raising his voice to match her yell. "I never thought that." Donna's eyes showed she didn't believe him and Josh didn't know how to convince her. He stared at her in silence for a moment, anger and frustration pouring from each of them.
"You're lying," Donna accused. It was the last straw for Josh and he grabbed her arms, pulling her roughly to him and placing his lips on hers. Donna's eyes widened in shock and she instantly pulled back from him, bringing her right hand up to slap him hard across his left cheek.
Josh reeled back, stunned, and he brought his left hand up to cover his stinging cheek. "Wow, that's…that's not the reaction I was expecting," he said in shock.
"Just what the hell *did* you expect?" Donna demanded. Before Josh had a chance to reply, they were both startled by a voice from the shadows.
"Donna, you'd better put this on, you're going to freeze out here," CJ said quietly as she approached them both. She handed Donna her coat and purse as Josh turned around.
"CJ, what are you doing out here?" he asked with obvious irritation.
"I saw you both leave the bar and decided to give it a few minutes. When you didn't come back in, I figured you'd be going home, one way or the other, and I didn't think you'd want to come back inside for your stuff," CJ replied calmly, handing Josh his coat.
"Thanks," he said gruffly. "Now, if you don't mind, Donna and I have things to discuss."
"Really?" CJ asked, raising her eyebrows and motioning behind Josh with her head. He whirled around and saw Donna getting into a cab.
"Donna," he yelled, starting to run after her; CJ placed a restraining hand on his arm. "CJ, let me go, I need to sort this out," he yelled angrily, trying to pull his arm from her grasp.
"No, Josh, you need to let her calm down. She's in no mood to talk to you right now."
Josh stared at her. "What do you mean? How long have you been out here?" he asked agitatedly.
"Long enough to know the reason she slapped you. Do you know the reason though, Josh?" she asked pointedly.
Josh hung his head and replied quietly, "Because I kissed her."
"No, that's not the reason, Josh." He lifted his head to stare at her in astonishment. "She slapped you because of what *she* thinks is the reason you kissed her."
He walked back to the wall and slumped against it, shrugging on his coat along the way. He looked at CJ with pleading eyes, begging her to explain her meaning to him.
"What do you mean, CJ?" he asked quietly; he sounded lost and confused.
"Josh, why do you do this?" she asked gently, standing in front of him. "You're a smart guy but you do really stupid things sometimes. Why?"
"It's part of my charm," he said bitterly with a shrug of his shoulders, his eyes full of sadness. "Why do *you* think I kissed her, CJ?" he whispered, his voice beginning to crack.
"Oh, I *know* why you kissed her, Josh," she replied. "But I doubt Donna is thinking the same way I am."
"Okay, why does *she* think I kissed her?" he asked through a sigh.
"To shut her up."
"What?" he asked sharply. "I don't…I don't understand. Why would she think *that*?"
"She'd just put you on the spot, Josh. She called you on being jealous and you had no real answer for her, since you didn't want to tell her the truth. You then grabbed her and kissed her, roughly. What was she supposed to think?"
"I don't…" he trailed off, his mind whirring with thoughts but none of them making sense.
"Josh, you and Donna have unconsciously set a level for yourselves, for your relationship. Most people have a line, but for you two, it's like a bar; you raise it every so often and your relationship progresses as you jump it, like a hurdle. Tonight though," CJ said quietly, forcing him to meet her gaze, "you limboed right on under it. You hit below the bar and Donna doesn't understand why. You do too good a job at hiding your feelings, Josh. I thought you'd figured things out." She stopped and looked at him pointedly and he gave her a look of confusion. "Leo told me that you seemed to be realizing the depth of your feelings; he wanted me to be prepared. I thought Donna dating Jack was finally making you face things. When they broke up and you didn't make a move, I actually thought you were gonna do the right thing…that you were going to take things slowly, make her understand how you feel and let her face her own realizations. But instead, you threw all that out the window tonight."
"I –" Josh sighed again and dragged his hands over his face and roughly through his hair. "How do I fix this, CJ?" he asked with desperation.
CJ rubbed her hands up and down Josh's forearms comfortingly. "Go and talk to her. Be honest with her; she deserves it, Josh."
"I thought you said I should wait and let her calm down?"
"That was because *you* needed to figure out why you'd upset her so much. If you'd gone over there thinking she was just mad about you kissing her, you'd have screwed things up even more. Go, now."
"Thanks, CJ," he said seriously, giving her a brief hug before walking towards the curb to hail a cab.
"Josh?" He looked back at her. "Be *very* thankful that there was no-one out here to recognize you and Donna tonight. Who you are doesn't matter as much, now that we're in our second term, but it would still make for very damaging press if…well, you know." Josh nodded and stepped into the cab that had now stopped for him.
CJ watched the cab drive away and wondered what she was going to say to her companions. She didn't think Josh and Donna would appreciate her telling them about the kiss and subsequent slap, but she was going to have to tell them something.
*
Josh fumbled with his key chain as he stood outside the entrance to Donna's apartment building. He had no intention of actually letting himself into her apartment with his keys, but he knew she probably wouldn't buzz him into the building. Someone exited the building at that moment and he sent up a silent 'thank you' as he caught the door before it closed and started to walk up the stairs.
Donna heard him pounding on her door and told him to go away.
"Donna, I have a key, you know. I could just let myself in."
"The key won't do you much good," she said with a harsh laugh, as she opened the door just enough to show him that the security chain was engaged.
"Please, Donna," he begged. "We need to talk. I…I need to explain."
"I don't want to hear it, Josh," she said tiredly.
"Donna."
She let out a long sigh and unhooked the chain, holding the door open for him to enter and then closing it behind him. Josh noticed that she had removed her coat but was still wearing her work clothes; she probably hadn't got home that long before he arrived.
"Is your roommate here?" he asked quietly.
"No, she's at her boyfriend's."
"Good." Josh removed his coat and tossed it over the back of the couch.
"I don't know why you bothered to take your coat off, Josh," Donna said pointedly. "You won't be staying long."
"Donna, you accused me of something at the bar. I deserve the opportunity to defend myself," he said resolutely.
"*You* deserve?" she yelled. "God, you're such an arrogant—"
"Donna," he interrupted. "I…Please, can we sit down and talk about this?" he asked quietly.
"You can sit down if you want, I'm gonna stand," she replied as she turned her back to him and walked to the window.
"I'm not drunk, Donna," he blurted out as an almost pre-emptive strike; something in the back of his brain was telling him that he should make that clear. "I've had a couple of beers, but I am most definitely *not* drunk." She glanced back at him for a moment, raising her eyebrows skeptically and then returning her gaze to the window. "Believe me," he continued, "in a way I wish I *was* drunk, then I could blame what happened on that fact. That would be the easy option though, and I've never been one to do things the easy way."
A snort of contemptuous laughter escaped from Donna's lips but she kept her back to him.
"What do you want, Josh?" she asked quietly, her voice full of forced control.
"To sort things out."
Donna finally turned around as she heard the determination in his voice. "There's nothing to sort out."
Josh rose from the couch and walked towards her but Donna raised a hand to stop him. "Donna, please, let me explain what happened earlier."
"Oh, I *know* what happened, Josh. You kissed me." Her tone told him that she was still angry and that she still didn't understand his reasons.
"Donna," he took another step forward but she turned her back on him again and he retreated to the couch in an attempt to put her more at ease. "You've got this all wrong," he said quietly.
"Oh, so this is another *dumb Donna* moment, is it?" she snapped.
"What?" Josh yelled, leaping from the couch and moving to stand behind her at the window. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she flinched at his touch, stepping to the side and away from him. "Donna, when have I *ever* said you were dumb? Or treated you that way? Please, tell me, because I honestly have no recollection of it…at least, not in a serious way; you know I tease you though, right? You know I never mean it…don't you?" He sounded panicked and Donna felt her heart beat a little faster.
"I know, Josh. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that; you didn't deserve it," she admitted, glancing at him briefly. "I know why you did it tonight, Josh. Why you warned off Blane."
Josh's eyes grew wide and he swallowed hard before speaking. "Wh…What do you mean?" he asked shakily.
"You didn't want me getting hurt," she said simply; however, there was no softness in her tone, nothing to indicate she appreciated his attempts to protect her. "You think I've just gotten over being dumped by Jack and anything else could tip me over the edge or something."
"No," he said forcefully. "That's definitely *not* the reason." Donna finally looked at him, raising her eyes to meet his. "I never thought Jack dumped you, I think *you* were the one to end it."
She raised her eyebrows but gave no hint as to whether his thoughts were correct. "What makes you think that?" she asked neutrally.
"I don't know. Just something…I don't know. I'm right though, aren't I?" he replied quietly, dipping his head to meet her now lowered eyes.
"Yes," she whispered. "How come you never asked me before? About who ended it?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I figured you'd tell me when you were ready, if you wanted me to know. Can I ask now though? I mean, why did you end it? What happened?"
"Nothing happened." She stared out the window again. "There was nothing there. He's…he's a nice guy but he's kinda…boring," she confessed. "I need someone who challenges me; he didn't."
Josh felt his heart beat faster but he ignored it, not wanting to assume anything. "When I said you were wrong, I meant…when you accused me of being jealous earlier, you were wrong."
"I wasn't," she immediately retorted. "I could see it in your eyes, Josh. I was right."
"No, you were wrong. Well, you were half-right. I was jealous, but not for the reason you said."
Donna thought for a moment, repeating his words from earlier in her mind; he'd said, "I'm not jealous of that". "So, what *are* you jealous of?" she demanded suddenly.
"I…" Josh didn't know how to answer her; he was still afraid to voice his thoughts. He scrubbed a hand across his face and realized that his hand was trembling due to his emotions. His hand fell to his side and he walked back to the couch; he suddenly felt very tired and knew he had to sit down and think about what he was going to say.
"Are you alright?" Donna's question, and the concern in her voice, surprised him, although he knew it shouldn't; she was always concerned about everyone.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said softly. "I think it's time I got some things out in the open." Donna looked shocked and Josh closed his eyes for a moment, opening them again to find her standing in front of him.
"What do you mean?" she asked hesitantly. He waved towards a chair and she sat down, staring at him intently.
"Remember at Christmas, when we thought you were going to miss the first night of your ski trip…" he trailed off, not wanting to mention Jack's name and their romantic getaway. Donna nodded. "Well, remember I said it wasn't what it looked like and you asked me what I'd meant?" She nodded again. "Well, I wasn't entirely honest with you in my answer," he admitted. "The reason I said that is because I thought you knew."
"Knew what?"
"That I try to sabotage your dates."
"What?" she asked in a very controlled tone, staring at him. "What do you mean?"
"I didn't do it on purpose, or at least I didn't *think* I did, but…The thing with Jack, that definitely wasn't anything to do with me," he clarified. "However, in the past, I have made you stay late, or come back to work, or whatever, in an attempt to sabotage things," he continued, sounding guilty and repentant.
Donna couldn't believe what she was hearing and she was stunned into silence for a moment, trying to comprehend what he was saying. "Why would you do that?" she asked in confusion.
"I…I *thought* it was for the reasons you mentioned earlier; because I wanted you to help me when I was working, so that I wouldn't be alone. I never really gave myself time to think about the *real* reason," he admitted.
"Which is?" she asked pointedly.
"That I didn't want you dating anyone because I was jealous. I only figured this out a few weeks ago, well, about a couple of months ago…when you asked me to get Jack to ask you out. He pointed some things out to me and they got me thinking. I then –"
"What did he say?" she interrupted to ask.
"Huh?"
"Jack. What did he *point out*?"
"Oh. He said that I kept talking about you and that he thought he might be getting in between something if he asked you out." Donna sat silently in her chair, waiting for him to continue. "I told him he was wrong, but…he got me thinking. I soon realized he was right; I *did* keep talking about you but more to the point, I kept *thinking* about you, constantly." He looked at Donna's stunned face and tried to lighten the atmosphere by adding, "Well, you know, when I'm not running the country or doing anything important."
"Josh." Her tone told him that he had to continue, she needed to know more and he had to be open with her; she wasn't confident enough to assume anything.
"Yeah. Anyway, I thought back over a lot of things and I realized that I was jealous, I'd always been jealous. Not because you were dating *someone*, but because you were dating *anyone*. Not because I was on my own, but because I wasn't with *you*." He looked at her and sighed deeply; the sound made her look up at him again. "You accused me of being glad when you and Jack broke up; you were right. I thought that, finally, I was going to get a chance to show you how I felt. When you went away with him for Christmas, it hit me how much I was going to miss you…how much it hurt that you didn't say goodbye before leaving, that I didn't get a chance to wish you a Happy Christmas. I knew I couldn't tell you that I finally understood things; it wasn't fair to lay all that on you, especially not when you were in a relationship with a decent guy. When you told me you'd broken up, I…I almost told you, but I'd thought about things *a lot* by then and I decided I couldn't tell you without finding out how you felt; I was scared. Believe me, I had *no* intention of telling you all this tonight."
"What *did* you plan to do?" she asked quietly, her voice surprising him.
"I was going to try and 'test the waters', see if there was anything there, on your side. You know, buy you flowers in *February* for once and see what reaction I got." He smiled wistfully and Donna felt a smile pull at her own lips. "I figured that, if things were meant to happen, they would, eventually." He let out a chuckle, obviously annoyed with himself. "I didn't count on not being able to control my jealous streak," he admitted. "I mean, I've had it under control for this long, I thought I'd be able to handle it. Tonight though, I just…Sam made a remark and…we'd had such a good time, we were so close; you were sharing my seat, practically sitting on top of me. We were sharing food, laughing, and talking. I wanted more moments like that to happen between us, gradually, to get us to where I wanted us to be. Then, you got hit on by *Blane* and my plans all went to hell."
"So, if you intended taking things slowly, and you had plans, did you ever figure out *my* feelings? What *I* might want?" She was looking at him pointedly but he could see traces of a smile in her eyes.
"I think I did, but you're really the best person to tell me if I'm right or not."
Donna stood and walked to the window again, absently crossing her arms across her chest. "What exactly are you *saying*, Josh? What do you *want*?"
He was tempted to walk towards her and force her to look at him but he remained seated while he answered. "I want to go out with you, have a relationship with you," he said honestly. "I just…How would you feel about that?"
"I don't know," she admitted, turning around to face him again and rubbing her hands over her face. "Maybe too much has happened for us to work. I…The last thing I'd want is to lose you as a friend, Josh, to ruin what we have now."
"What do you mean 'too much has happened'?" he asked apprehensively.
"Cliff. Amy," she replied quietly, almost afraid to mention their names.
"What do they have to do with anything? They're in the past Donna, I want to know about the future, *our* future."
"Josh, they have *everything* to do with this," she stated firmly, meeting his eyes. "You were so mad at me about Cliff, have you ever *really* forgiven me? As for Amy, well, you guys didn't exactly have the best relationship; I wouldn't want us to end up like that. I mean, sure you still talk to her, but only if you *have* to; I couldn't handle that happening to us."
"Okay, firstly, Cliff," Josh said. "I never really had anything to forgive you for, Donna. You made a mistake and –"
"And you bailed me out," she interrupted to say. "Josh, you could have lost your job. *I* can't forgive *myself* for putting you in that position so how can you not be mad at me for it?"
"Because I know you must have had your reasons for keeping quiet about the diary. Donna, I admit I was pissed. I felt betrayed that you were with a guy who is pretty much an enemy to me; I was hurt that you could do that. But, it never annoyed me to have to help you out; believe me, I would have been mad as hell if you *hadn't* asked me for help. If you'd gone to someone else, or if you'd kept quiet and ended up on charges, I would have felt that you didn't trust me, or didn't have any faith in our relationship. I will do everything in my power to help you with *anything*, I always would have and I always will," he vowed. "The person I was *really* mad at with all that was *Cliff*. He should never have put you in that position. I was also mad at *myself*, I should have done something sooner," he whispered the last part, thinking back to the words of Joey Lucas at the State of the Union. He raised his voice to its normal level again. "But I don't want to dwell on this, Donna. Like I said, that's in the past, it's over, we've moved on."
Donna met his eyes again and searched his face, finding that he was being completely honest with her. She sat down in the chair and let out a long sigh. Josh broke the silence to discuss the other point she'd mentioned.
"You said you wouldn't want you and I to end up like Amy and I did; that would never happen," he assured her. "Dating Amy was about proving a point. With you, I have no points to prove; you know me too well for that. I don't want to forget about my relationship with Amy," he said and Donna looked at him sharply, eyes wide. "Dating her," he continued, "made me realize that I can fight to keep a relationship going; that I don't have to give up as easily as I used to. Amy and I fought *a lot* but we worked through things, well, actually we ignored them, which just caused more problems. Being with her also taught me that she's not the type of woman I want to date. I don't want to spend what little free time I have *fighting* with someone. Sure, you and I have disagreements but we sort them out logically; you argue with me and I argue back but they never develop into fights because we won't let them. We don't need to be that way with each other. You inspire me, Donna. When you don't agree with something, I know it's because I either haven't explained it properly or because I haven't been in a position to tell you everything. I can't stand it when that happens, I need you to be *proud* of me, to tell me I'm doing the right thing. I've never been that way with anyone before, Donna. Usually, I tell someone what I think and don't bother to listen to their answer; I guess I'm selfish that way." Donna snorted and Josh smirked a little before continuing earnestly. "With you though, it's different. I know I don't always listen to you but, when I don't, it's for a valid reason; one of two reasons actually." She gave him a confused look and he explained. "Either I'm incredibly busy and know that I don't have time to devote the attention to you that you need, and deserve - I don't like doing things just halfway, I like to see them through, you know that – or, you're talking about a guy, and I *never* want to hear about that."
"But what if we *did* end up like that, Josh? What if it didn't work?" Her voice was cracking and Josh strived for the words to calm and convince her.
"Donna, I can't make any guarantees, I wish I could; but, I promise you that I will do everything I can to make sure that *never* happens. I couldn't bear to lose your friendship either, but I also can't bear the thought of not giving this, us, a chance. I don't want another regret in my life; I have enough of those already. I've lost too many people that I cared about deeply, I won't give you up without a fight." As he looked at her, he saw the tears welling up in her eyes and it gave him the strength to continue. "Anyway, I don't think we'll ever have to consider that, and I certainly don't want to consider it before we've even had a *date*; that's being defeatist and that's definitely not in my nature, nor is it in yours," he pointed out.
"Yeah. I…Okay, what do we do?" she murmured, not trusting her voice.
"What do *you* want to do?" he asked. "I don't want to pressure you into anything, Donna. Like I said, I had planned on taking things slowly, letting you realize my feelings and giving you a chance to deal with them the way you wanted. Just because things have been brought out into the open sooner, it doesn't mean they're out of your control."
"I just…I don't know where to start," she admitted. "We know each other so well already, where do we begin?"
He smiled at her warmly; she was voicing that she *did* want to try a relationship and Josh felt his heart beat faster again. "Well, how about we go out for a drink tomorrow night?" he suggested.
"I dunno, Josh," she replied through a small grin. "It depends."
"On what?" he asked quickly, worrying she was changing her mind.
"Well, is it just going to be *us* there, or will Sam, CJ, Toby and Charlie be joining us?"
He let out a laugh and grinned. "It'll just be us," he promised. "Our first date."
"Okay then, count me in." She returned his huge smile and chuckled a little.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing. It's just that this is not exactly what I expected to happen tonight."
"No, me either," he admitted. "But I'm glad it did." Donna nodded her head as Josh glanced at his watch. "It's late, I should get going, although, I really don't want to." She gave him a pointed look. "Hey," he said casually, "I'm not trying to rush you, I didn't mean…*that*. It's just, I'm gonna go home tonight and I know I'll end up thinking about the fact that when I kissed you, I was rewarded with a slap; it doesn't exactly do wonders for my ego, you know," he said with a rueful grin.
"Well, there *is* a way to remedy that, to make you forget about it and replace it with something else for you to think about," Donna said shyly. He looked at her hopefully and she stood up, beckoning him towards her. Once he was standing in front of her, they looked at each other and stood stock still, staying silent. Donna reached out a tentative hand to wrap around his back while Josh extended his hand to place it on her waist. He finally put his other hand around her and pulled her close to him. She laid her head on his shoulder, wrapping her other arm around him and clasping her hands together. Still, they remained silent. Eventually, Josh used one hand to move her back a little, so that she was facing him again. They each saw their own nervousness reflected back from the other and burst out laughing.
"C'mere," Josh murmured, bringing his lips to hers. The kiss deepened quickly but ended just as fast. He pulled her into a tight hug and they listened to their rapid breaths, each letting out contented sighs before pulling apart. "I'll see you in a few hours, Donnatella," he whispered.
"Do you want me to call you a cab?"
He shook his head. "No, I think I'd rather walk." Donna looked at him like he was crazy. "It's been a long, difficult night," he explained, and then rapidly added, "with a fantastic ending. But, I think I need to clear my head a little, get my thoughts together. It's not that far, I'll be fine."
Donna didn't look sure but she nodded her head slowly. "Okay, I'll see you later." He stepped forward again and kissed her temple, then picked up his coat from the couch and left her apartment. Donna locked the door behind him and watched him through her window for a while, until he turned a corner out of her street.
Josh took out his cellphone and flipped through the stored numbers until he found the one he was looking for; he then hit 'send'.
"Josh?" CJ answered quickly, having seen his name on the caller ID and wondering what was wrong; she hadn't expected to hear from him.
"Hey, CJ. It's fixed," he said almost triumphantly.
"What? Josh, I can hardly hear you. Where are you?" CJ practically shouted; falling into the usual trap that just because she couldn't hear Josh, it didn't mean he couldn't hear her.
"I'm walking home," he replied, increasing the volume of his voice.
"You're going *home*?" CJ asked incredulously. "What happened?"
"It's fixed," he repeated; CJ let out a large breath of relief. "I'm going home because we don't want to rush things; we need to take this slowly."
"Good, I'm glad it worked out okay, Josh. I want to hear all about it tomorrow," she instructed.
"Yeah. Goodnight, CJ," he replied. He had no intention of relaying the whole conversation to her, just the bare bones; he wanted to keep the rest private. Snapping his cellphone shut and putting it into his pocket, he drew his coat around him more closely, beginning to feel the cold. "At least it's better than a cold shower," he muttered to himself. His mind wandered back to Donna and he quickened his pace, wanting nothing more than to go home and sleep, having a good idea of what that night's dream would be about.
While Josh was continuing his walk home, Donna was changing into her pajamas and climbing into bed, replaying the night's events to herself and smiling as she remembered the second kiss she and Josh had shared.
CJ, meanwhile, was being hurried along by Toby. He was standing outside the bar, holding a cab door open for her while Sam and Charlie were already huddled inside. She entered the cab with a huge smile on her face and grinned at the questioning looks of her companions. When they couldn't take it anymore, Toby demanded to know what she was smiling about. As she filled them in on her brief conversation with Josh, Sam, Charlie, and even Toby, felt their mouths curve into smiles as well.
**
THE END
