Disclaimer – I don't own any of these characters – they are the property of NBC, John Wells and the fabulous Aaron Sorkin.

Rating – PG, for now

Pairings – Josh/Ellie, Ellie/OC

Spoilers – None

Summary – Josh Lyman meets Eleanor Bartlet during the campaign and falls in love with the young, married medical student. For the purposes of my story, Ellie is several years older in this story and very different than she is on the show.

A/N – The title of this chapter and the lyric contained in it don't belong to me, either. They do belong to songwriters Phillip White and D. Vincent Williams and Lyric Street Records. The song is performed by Rascal Flatts and featured on their self-titled first album.

Three weeks later, Ellie's going-away party was in full swing by the time Josh and Amy arrived at the Georgetown country club where it was being held. He found Ellie on the dance floor with Charlie; flying through some complicated looking dance moves. Curtis was standing off to the side, nursing a beer and talking animatedly to Sam.

"Josh!" the President bellowed, wrapping Josh, then Amy into a hug. "Good of you to join us. My wife throws quite the party, doesn't she?"

"It looks amazing, Sir," Amy nodded, surveying the room.

"You've been drinking, haven't you?" Josh questioned, holding his boss at arm's length.

"Yeah," Bartlet answered with a sly grin. "Lord West is a terrible influence on me."

"I heard that, old chap," Lord West shot back, resting his elbow on the shorter man's shoulder. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with getting snockered on the day before one's children held off to the African wilderness."

"Or any other day for that matter," the President answered, raising his glass.

"Hear, hear," West answered happily.

Josh shook his head and laughed, leading Amy over to the bar. "White wine and a vodka martini," he told the bartender. Sam and Curtis stepped up behind them, laughing. "Josh, Josh," Sam said between spurts of laughter, "you've got to hear this great story Curtis was just telling me."

"No, Sam," Curtis replied, patting Sam gently on the shoulder, "I don't think Josh wants to hear it."

"Why wouldn't he?" Sam asked curiously.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Josh echoed.

"Well, it's about David, Ellie and I when we were kids," Curtis explained somewhat sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah, well that explains it," Josh answered sarcastically, taking his and Amy's glasses from the bartender. He handed Amy her drink and turned to Curtis again. "So, tell me."

Curtis eyed Josh suspiciously and nodded. "Okay, well, you know Ellie's got this genius IQ, right? Not that she could help it with a doctor and a Noble prize winning economist as parents. Anyway, when we were younger, she wasn't always the brightest light in the room when it came to common sense. David and I used to razz her about it like crazy, we even called her 'Blink' – you know, blinking light bulb?"

"Isn't that funny?" Sam interjected, starting to laugh again.

"You're drunk, Sam," Josh answered with a frown. "Shut up and let him finish the story."

"So," Curtis continued, "one day, our parents let David and I go down to the lake together, but under the condition that we had to take Eleanor with us. Rosie was a real pain then and neither of us was the least bit happy about it, so we thought if we could distract her, she'd forget about going. So, David thought of this riddle he'd heard at school. He told Eleanor that if she could figure it out, she could go with us. If not, we'd go alone."

"What was the riddle?" Amy asked.

"Twenty years ago, a plane was flying at 20,000 feet over Germany. If you recall, Germany at the time was politically divided into West Germany and East Germany. Anyway, during the flight, TWO of the engines failed. The pilot, realizing that the last remaining engine is also failing, decides on a crash landing procedure. Unfortunately the third engine fails before he has time to attempt an emergency landing, and the plane crashes smack in the middle of "no man's land" between East Germany and West Germany. Where would you bury the survivors...in East Germany or West Germany or in "no man's land"?" he rattled off.

"You don't bury survivors," Amy said with a laugh.

Curtis and Sam gave each other a high-five. "See, you get it," Curtis explained. "Ellie spent nearly two days trying to figure that one out."

"How old was she?" Josh questioned.

"Ten, I think," Curtis answered. "She was so mad, she didn't speak for us a week. So, not only did we get rid of her for one day, we got rid of her for seven."

"That's because you're mean," Ellie said loudly over his shoulder, "and horrible, and awful and I can't believe you are still telling that story twenty years later."

Curtis laughed and pulled her into his arms, kissing her on the top of the head. "Yes, love, but keep in mind, that was long before you turned into the little hottie you are today."

"You're still not forgiven," she warned, squeezing him around the waist; then directing her attention to Josh and Amy. "I'm glad you guys decided to come."

"Me too," Amy answered, "Your parents throw a great party."

"Yes, they do," she agreed, looking around. She grabbed Curtis hand and tugged playfully on it as a slow song began playing. "I wanna dance."

"Gentlemen," he nodded to Josh and Sam, "Amy, if you'll excuse us."

Josh watched Curtis lead her onto the dance floor, immediately enveloping her in his arms and swaying in time to the music. Jealousy bubbled inside him and he found himself wondering what Ellie was thinking at that moment.

She rested her head on Curtis's chest, singing along to words that had come to mean so much to her over the past few months:

I've dealt with my ghosts and faced all my demons

Finally content with a past I regret

I've found you find strength in your moments of weakness

For once I'm at peace with myself

I've been burdened with blame, trapped in the past for too long

I'm movin' on

I've lived in this place and I know all the faces

Each one is different but they're always the same

They mean no harm but it's time that I face it

They'll never allow me to change

But I never dreamed home would end up where I don't belong

I'm movin' on

"You've heard this song before," Curtis mused, tightening his grip on her waist as they danced.

She looked up at him and smiled. "I'm living this song, Curt."

I'm movin' on

At last I can see life has been patiently waiting for me

And I know there's no guarantees, but I'm not alone

There comes a time in everyone's life

When all you can see are the years passing by

And I have made up my mind that those days are gone

I sold what I could and packed what I couldn't

Stopped to fill up on my way out of town

I've loved like I should but lived like

I shouldn't

I had to lose everything to find out

Maybe forgiveness will find me somewhere down this road

I'm movin' on

The words hit Josh like a brick. He knew instantly that's what they were both trying desperately to do – move on. They didn't belong together, at least not now, he was confident of that. He loved Eleanor and he probably always would, but his relationship with Amy held so much promise. She was everything he thought he'd always wanted and he didn't want to lose her.

He was angry with Ellie, though. Angry with her for lying him, or at least in his mind, sort of lying. She'd told him at the restaurant that she wasn't in love with Curtis, but watching them dance, Josh knew they were, at the very least, falling in love, if they weren't already there.

"They look good together," Amy whispered.

Josh nodded and swallowed hard. "Yeah," he answered, leading her out onto the dance floor as another song began. "They do."

TBC.....