Joshua Lyman was perched on non-descript stair in a non-descript neighborhood. Sweat had begun to form at the base of his neck, soaking through his rumpled dress shirt; he didn't much care because it didn't matter anymore. He hadn't changed in nearly two days. Santos had given him three days off, even after he had told him that it would be no trouble to go back to Texas and work out of the office there. The man had insisted that Josh go home, if only to remember what home looked like.
"I have a running mate and I'm the nominee. All should be right in your world, go home and sleep, Josh," Santos had urged before walking briskly away, leaving no room for argument. Josh hated it... because he loved arguing.
Josh had spent four minutes in his apartment before tugging off his tie and leaving, heading down Pennsylvania with a purpose. He had no desire to sit still, to simply be idle and think of her. No, a curtain of blonde hair had him racing in vain to the other side of the city, disregarding stop signs. He ran three red lights... three in total, just to get to her doorstep. Did he even know if she was home?
His finger had been insistent on the bell, ringing it continuously. But it was three in the morning and he was sure that she was probably asleep. Anyone who was sane and over the age of twenty was asleep at that hour, what was he thinking? That thought wasn't enough to tear him from her doorstep; he needed to feel her close again, even if she didn't know he was there. Just being in proximity to her was enough for the moment. It freaked him out just how much the thought of her comforted him.
His eyes darted back and forth up the street; faint sirens were in the distance and he wondered what was wrong with the world tonight. 'Too much,' he reasoned, laughing sadly to himself. There was so much wrong with the world, the country, the state. There was so much wrong with himself.
Placing his hands on his pants, he pushed himself up and began hopping down the steps, one at a time. He didn't want to leave, but sitting on her stoop was creepy... when he thought about it.
He made it to the sidewalk before he heard the creak of metal pressing against metal. "Josh," she whispered, tucking terrycloth around her though the temperature was pushing ninety. "Josh, what are you doing here?"
Her sleepy form clung to the doorway as she squinted out into the night, as if the sun was in her eyes. The smile slid up onto his face before he even thought about reigning it in. She was brilliant in the summer, just like she was beautiful in the winter, and in the rain and the snow... she was so fantastic and perfect and his slow smile turned into a full-fledged Joshua Lyman grin.
"Josh?" she asked again, this time stepping down onto the warm stone of her stairs. A familiar warmth spread delicately through her belly at his relaxed pose, his genuine smile.
He waited only a moment before stepping forward and climbing the first two, inches closer to her. It seemed with the closer he came, the more at ease, as if her mere presence was a balm to his recently tattered soul. He missed her, he missed all of them, but mostly he missed her and her warm smiles and delicate scent. "I just..."
Nodding her head, her actions urged him to continue. "I wanted to see you," he finished, his eyes holding a boyish gleam, the one that made her bow her head due to the flush that always rose on her cheeks. Donna was perfect and supple and he took one more step upward, almost detecting her scent.
Josh swooned, but convered it well. He blinked a few times and licked his lips, balancing himself with a hand on the banister. "You come here to gloat?" she asked in jest, knowing full well that he didn't but well aware that the comment would stroke his ego.
"Oh, I think the press will do that for me," he commented, attempting to brush it off, but taking a smidgen of pleasure at her assumption. "No, no, I needed to see you."
Donna smiled at him, genuinely thrilled that he'd said that. "For what purpose?" She'd missed him, god she'd missed him more than she wanted to admit.
He thought about that for a moment. Why did he need to see her? There was no one reason, no generality that had him at her apartment hat such a frightening hour. No, he just needed, wanted, had to see her. "I just, I really just had to..."
"Why are you sweet when I don't want you to be?" Donna asked, bracing her own palm on the sticky metal of the railing.
He was dumbfounded, he didn't mean to be-oh but then her lips were on his, right out of the blue, kissing and kissing and kissing some more; he forgot where he was, he forgot about the sirens and the campaign and the humidity. Yes, he forgot it all. And when she pulled away to suck in a breath, he remembered the heat and the swamp and how much he'd rather forget it all and simply be in her arms.
Donna shook her head and pressed her hands against the dense robe around her. "Shouldn'ta done that," she murmured and glanced down at the pavement. She felt sticky but delightful, bogged down by the water floating in the air, but floating due to the feel of his lips.
Josh framed her face with his hands for just a moment before kissing her deeply, feeling the terrycloth and her hair and her tongue stroking lovingly over his. Sweat trickled down her neck and reminded her of where they were. So Donna pulled back, still grasping the back of his neck, feeling the moisture tangling with his hair. It was unpleasant on the stoop...
"Come on," she urged. "I have A/C."
And with that, he trailed behind her up the stair, pretending not to admire her ass, pretending like he didn't love her.