Title: Our Next Life
Category: Romance/Humor/Drama
Rating: PG-13
Summary: "Join me in ten years," the message said. "Then we'll see what happens next."

Disclaimer: Since I own them you all must pay ME for the use of them…oh, wait…that's not me. Don't own them, never will : (
Author's Notes: Feedback Love

Chapter 8

"Hey," CJ said when she noticed Josh standing in her doorway. "What's up?" Josh sat on her couch, shutting the door behind him.

"There's going to be a situation."

"What kind of situation," she asked slowly.

"Well…I think there's gonna be a situation." He thought about Donna saying no, and then figured she would probably be pressing charges if she did say no. "Actually, there's going to be a situation either way."

"Spit it out, Josh!"

"I'm going to ask Donna out." There was silence in the room for about a minute.

"Out where?" He looked at her and spoke deliberately.

"On a date."

"You are going to ask your ASSISTANT on a DATE!" she screamed.

"Not if you ask her first, CJ, jeez, keep your voice down!" CJ glared at him.

"Don't you dare tell me to keep my voice down, especially not now when you're telling me you're going to date your ASSISTANT who's TEN YEARS your junior." His head snapped up. Ten years…Donna had asked him something about ten years the other day…but he was supposed to be paying attention to CJ, stop thinking about Donna, he berated himself.

"When you put it like that…"

"I'm serious, Josh, you can't just have a fling with your assistant."

"This isn't just a fling, CJ, this is the fling!" She smirked at him.

"I wouldn't explain it that way to Donna." That broke the ice between both of them. CJ was no longer yelling at Josh and the nervousness was slowly leaving him.

"Neither would I."

"But honestly, Josh, she's going to go through hell for this and so are you, so if you're not serious about her don't do it." His eyebrows receded into his hairline.

"You don't think I've thought about that? It weighs on my mind every time I think about her! I wouldn't even risk putting her through that if I wasn't in it for the long haul."

"That's what I like to hear. But one more thing before you go, Casanova. You hurt her and you'll not only have me on your ass, but the whole West Wing, including the President." He stood up to leave.

"The plan is to make her extremely happy, but I get it. Thanks, CJ, really."

"Josh." He turned back around to look at her, his hand on the doorknob. "We're behind you, all the way. We'll get through this. No one is going to rip you apart if we can help it." He just smiled his gratefulness at her and then slipped through the door.

A/N: Keep the reviews coming, I love to hear your opinion on the stories no matter what. I may update again today, we'll see. I hope you're still enjoying this.