Donna's Apartment

Sun shone on Donna's face and she winced at the headache it was giving her. She turned away and found herself face-to-face with an angelic-looking, sleeping Josh. What the hell had happened last night? Slowly memories flittered into her head; a bar, dancing, Josh, her bed and a certain conversation before she fell asleep.

"Crap," she said aloud, forgetting for a minute that Josh was asleep.

He stirred and slowly his eyes opened and a smile came on his face.

"Hey," he said tiredly, moving a hand across his face and then through his messy hair.

"Hi," she said awkwardly, trying to get her hand from under Josh's side. He obligingly lifted himself up a little to ensure its release.

"How's your head?" He questioned her, ignoring her nervous smile.

"Hurts," she answered simply. "I thought it was the sun, but I guess it was the drinks, huh?"

Josh smiled widely, showing dimples and some teeth. "Yeah, I'd have thought you'd know better, the amount of times you've had to deal with me the morning after."

"And the night," she said as she got up, unable to stand being so close to him in her own bed. She shrugged, "I just really needed it, I guess." She was looking out of the window, not at him.

Josh nodded understandably. "Donna?" She didn't turn around and she made no sign of acknowledgement. "Donna, look at me."

Against her better judgement Donna turned to face her boss, there were small tears trailing down her cheeks and she wiped away furiously. Josh was immediately on his feet and wrapping his arms around her in a big bear hug.

"Hey," he said lifting her head up so that they were looking into each others eyes. "It's alright to cry, you've been hurt it's what you're meant to do." She nodded weakly in his gaze. "But I want you to promise me something."

"What?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"If you need help again then you come to me, not some rundown bar, especially if it's because you've been hurt by a guy so I can deal with him, ok?"

Donna gave him a wry smile but made no such promise. 'I would,' she thought sadly, 'If you weren't the guy.' Instead she wriggled out of his grip and walked away telling him she needed something for her head and that he should go, he had a meeting at nine and he still needed to get changed.

- - - - - - - -

CJ's Office

"Donna, there you are, come here," CJ called as Donna passed by her office to get to Josh's.

"CJ, is everything alright?"

Donna only asked this because CJ looked like she'd had no sleep, was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday and had a rather smug grin on her face. Normally she wouldn't bat an eyelid at this, except possibly the clothes, CJ never wore clothes two days running no matter what the emergency, but as she entered CJ's office, Donna saw Toby sat on the couch in a similar condition.

"Yes, everything's fine. How are you this morning?" CJ seemed ready to burst with excitement and despite the major headache Donna was experiencing, she couldn't help but smile at her friend's energy.

"I'm good, you?" Donna questioned back curiously and amused.

"Well I could be about to get a whole lot better," CJ answered before Toby interrupted.

"Just get on with it CJ, some of us have jobs to be doing."

CJ sighed, "Fine," she rolled her eyes at him before taking on a serious look in Donna's direction. "So what happened last night?"

"It was alright, nothing out of the ordinary happened," Donna answered, pretending to have no idea of what the Press Secretary was referring to, even though it was obvious she did.

"Liar, tell me what happened."

"How do you even know anything happened?" Donna asked a little too quickly.

CJ grinned and was about to answer when an impatient Toby cut across her once more.

"She got a phone call about you being wrecked last night and sent Josh to pick you up, now can you please tell her so I can get out of here?"

Donna nodded, she knew better than to argue with Toby. "Alright, he helped me home, put me to bed and stayed over to make sure I was alright, just like I do with him from time to time. Okay?"

CJ looked slightly crestfallen before she perked up again. "Where'd he sleep?"

"What?" Donna asked in shock.

"You said he stayed over, where did he sleep?"

"Look, is this going to be a thing with the press? Because I'd rather everyone didn't know."

"No, just for me and Toby," CJ answered, her face and voice stayed level but inside she was bursting to find out.

"Fine, he slept in by bed…Or rather on it…Nothing happened," she added at seeing their faces.

CJ looked like all her Christmas' had come at once, Toby just seemed in shock. When neither said anything Donna started to leave. "I'm going, I have to sort Josh's schedule out," she didn't seem enthusiastic about the idea but it was better than staying in this silent room. "Nothing happened," she repeated before they left.

"I don't believe it," Toby muttered when the door closed.

CJ's already wide grin grew. "I told you, didn't I tell you?"

Toby put his head in his hands, "CJ was right, I'm never going to live it down."

CJ hit him across the back of the head teasingly before heading to her phone.

"We have to tell Sam," she said as she dialled his number.

- - - - - - - -

Josh's Office

Kim didn't question where Josh had been all night, she just seemed relieved to see him. She helped him get ready and then saw him off to work before going to her own workplace in the opposite direction. Josh himself was thankful she didn't push it, how was he meant to tell her that he'd spent the night in another woman's bed? Alright, so nothing happened, but that wouldn't matter, she'd just hear the words and not listen for the reasons. It wasn't that he wanted to lie to her, he was glad he didn't have to deal with that. So instead he let her help him get ready and then drove to work. After another check with Donna that she was alright, which he supposed she must have been to be in before him in the first place, Josh went into his office and began the day's work.

Around midday Donna popped her head in the office. "Sam's on line two for you."

Josh nodded and picked up the phone, shooing Donna away.

"Samuel!" He said brightly.

"Joshua!" Sam answered equally as happy.

"So is this a business or a personal call?" Josh asked.

"No business today, I gave everyone the day off since they've been working so hard. How are things going?"

Josh was a little surprised, this was weird; Sam never called in the middle of the day just for the sake of it because he was always working.

"I can't complain. I have a job, friends and the love of a good woman, what more does a man need? How about you? How's sunny California?"

"Not so sunny," Sam answered with a laugh. "I'm sure there's a storm headed but no one believes me."

"Maybe they know how you actually listen to what the weatherman tells you?" Josh suggested teasingly. "How many times do you need to be told not to?"

"Uh, Josh? That's you," Sam pointed out in laughter.

"One time," Josh cried defensively. "It was one time."

"Time enough," Sam quipped. "All it takes is for you to go out in shorts and a t-shirt in the pouring rain…"

"I was ten!" Josh moaned. "I wish I'd never told you that story."

Sam's laughter grew before it settled down and died away. "So look, I called to see how you're coping with your new living arrangements."

"Good," Josh answered. "I got in this morning and there was a suit waiting for me and Kim was there making breakfast for the two of us. I tell you, a guy could get used to it."
Josh leaned back in his chair, feet on his desk once more.

"You got in? Where were you?" Sam asked casually. Josh, of course, didn't know that Sam already knew the answer.

"Oh, you don't know. The things you miss by being away. Right, so last night I was asleep and CJ called telling me to get down to some run down bar down town quickly. I got there and Donna was there doing her impression of Ten Things' Kat. Scariest thing in the world man, I swear it…"

He went on to tell Sam everything else that had happened the night before ending at the events of that morning.

"You slept with her in her bed?" Sam asked incredulously.

"No," Josh answered. "I was on top of the covers, she was underneath. Nothing happened except for sleep. Nothing."

"Did you want it to?" Sam asked randomly, startling Josh to the point that he quickly answered.

"Don't be stupid, I have a girlfriend who I am very much in love with, I wouldn't want to ruin that on some stupid one-night stand."

"But Donna's more than that isn't she?" Sam asked wisely.

"No," Josh said aggressively. "But it's weird," he continued calmly to show he wasn't really annoyed at Sam. "It's the best night's sleep I've had in a long time."

Sam was quiet on the other end for a moment or two before he spoke carefully. "You ever think there might be something to that?"

"Sam, don't be stupid. Donna and I are nothing more than boss and employee; you can ask her yourself…" He was speaking loudly now.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Donna's head popped in. "Kim's here to see you," she sounded hurt, had she heard what he'd said? He hoped not, he hadn't meant it like that; he just wanted Sam to shut up.

"Send her in," Josh responded with his hand over the phone. He removed it and spoke again. "Kim's here, I'm going to go. Do you want to speak with Donna yourself?"

"No, I already have," Sam answered. "Don't be a fool though Josh, I'll call you soon. Oh, and next time we meet? I'm teaching you to watch some good films instead of that teen chick-flick rubbish you watch."

There was a click and then a dialling tone, Sam had hung up, and Josh placed his own phone down before giving his attention to Kim. She didn't look happy.

"Donna just let slip about what happened to you last night," she said angrily. "You stayed with her all night."

"She needed my help," Josh pointed out to her.

"So you could have stayed on her couch, you didn't have to share a bed with her!"

"Why is everyone so caught up over the bed?" Josh asked, mostly to himself. "Nothing happened." He said these two words slowly, as though he were trying to get a simple point across to an intelligence-challenged person and getting annoyed that it wasn't happening.

"I don't care if you were both wrapped in bubble wrap so that no part of you touched; you slept in another woman's bed with a woman who's completely in love with you."

Josh didn't react to her words at first, they just didn't penetrate, but when they did the trouble really started. The realization hit Josh like a ten thousand tonne lead weight. Donna loved him. Thinking about it he could pin point every little sign that told him this. The looks she gave him, the things she said, her willingness to stay with him even though they both knew she wanted, and could do, more, the way she protected him, had watched over him at Rosslyn, her behaviour over the last few weeks, even last night, the words that had made him feel so sorry for her, "I thought I had but he doesn't love me." It was obvious really; he could even say every single date she'd been on since they met was down to it too. She'd had bad date after bad date and always came crying to him when they went wrong. No one could have that bad luck; she deliberately went out with men who weren't right for her. Why had she never told him?

Even though he knew Kim's words were true, he denied them too her. "Donna isn't in love with me," he said but he was only semi-confident in his delivery of this announcement and he said it just a fraction of a second too late.

"That's not what you were meant to say," Kim told him before storming from his office.