Author: Kathleen
Characters: Josh, Donna, CJ, Toby, and the moms - which I made up, so I guess they kind of belong to me!
Pairing(s): Josh/Donna
Category(s): Romance, Post Season 6
Rating: TEEN
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, but thank God to Aaron Sorkin for creating them. My life would not have been the same without them.
Summary: Josh, during some down time, runs into Donna, following the convention.
Spoiler: 2162 Votes (but if you have read or seen ANYTHING, this isn't much of a spoiler!)
Author's Notes: Call it a follow up to "Always Something There to Remind Me". You don't necessarily have to have read that story, but I make some references, so it might help. Yeah, I've got a song title thing going on here. This one belongs to John Mayer and anyone else responsible for this song! Also, I've had some people critique other stories – saying they don't think it's a likely scenario that Josh and Donna won't at least be working together at the start of the new season, so if you are looking for that kind of story, I suggest my "A New Day has Come" series!
He was bored. The convention had ended on Thursday, well, ok, basically Friday morning, and it had taken them all day to get events set up. Now that there was just one candidate, the DNC was starting to plan the events and the travel schedule. That meant that the entire campaign had three days of down time, since the DNC hadn't schedule anything till Wednesday night, which was a black tie fundraiser in New York City, which meant he was going to have to go home and figure out where is tuxedo was.
When he got home on late Saturday afternoon, he opened the door to the smell of cleaning supplies, fresh laundry, and pot roast cooking in the oven. 'OK, who could possibly be… she wouldn't be…". He got his answer when his mom stuck her head out of the kitchen.
"My prodigal son returns."
Anna noticed the quick look of disappointment on his face before he returned her smile. 'My son, so transparent' she thought to herself.
Josh dropped his bags and walked over to hug his mom.
"What are you doing here?"
"Cooking, cleaning, the things a mother does."
"I have things for you to get any of that accomplished?" Josh was sure he didn't have so much as a broom in his townhouse. That's what cleaning services were for, not that he had had them come since before Christmas. He could only imagine the dust bunnies that his mother had to tackle.
"Yeah, I had to go buy a few things."
Josh opened his fully stocked fridge and opened cabinet after cabinet. He couldn't even remember the last time he saw food that didn't come in bags or white containers.
"Geez, mom, you buy out the whole store."
"Not quite."
He turned and looked at this mom as she got plates out of the cabinet.
"How long have you been here?"
"Came in early this morning."
"Why?"
She turned and smiled at her son. "Thought maybe you could use a friendly face and a decent meal."
Josh sat down at the dining room table and watched his mom work her way through mashed potatoes.
"A decent meal will be nice. How much longer?"
"About a half hour – gotta get the potatoes mashed."
"I'm going to jump in the shower then."
"Go ahead, you've got time."
He gave his mom a peck on the cheek as he made his way toward his long forgotten bedroom. He stopped short when he noticed crisp white sheets and a new navy comforter.
"Umm... mom?"
She stuck her head in the bedroom. "Yeah, new stuff. I can't believe you were still using that god awful thing you had with you in Cambridge."
"MOM! That was my favorite."
"Well, it's in the dumpster out back now, so feel free..."
"Forget it."
"I'll start washing the clothes from your bag, so hurry up and get in the shower so I can add what you are wearing."
"Yeah." He knew better than to try to fight his mom. He spent many years being railroaded by… 'nope, not doing that, not now'. He grabbed boxers and headed to the shower.
After he was clean and dressed, he headed back out to see the table set and the food ready to eat.
His mom was bringing out a couple of beers. "Perfect timing, Joshua."
He sat down and dove into the food. There was nothing better than his mom's cooking. He took a long drink of the beer before he realized what kind it was. He sat the bottle down and stared at it.
His mom noticed. "Something wrong with the beer?"
"No, it's just… well… it's not really my favorite… its fine."
"Not your favorite? You always keep this kind around. You had a couple of bottles in the fridge when I got here."
He continued staring at the bottle. "Yeah… well, it's… it's the beer she likes…"
His mom smiled at him – "and that's why you keep it around."
He finally looked at her. "Yeah, she likes her favorite beer after a long day. I don't mind it... it's just not my favorite. It's fine mom."
He took a long swig of the beer and kept eating in silence. Anna put down her fork and just watched her son.
"Have you talked to her?"
He didn't look up as he answered, content with pushing the green beans around on his plate. "Not really – I mean, I saw her as the convention ended, took her and Will a couple of beers, but I got called away before we really had a chance to talk and…"
"And what?"
He looked up at her with a smile plastered on his face. "Nothing. How did you know when I would be home?"
It was her turn to take a special interest in the green beans. "Well, funny thing we should be talking about her cause…"
He about choked on his beer. "You… you… you talked to her?"
"Joshua, don't…"
"When in the world did you talk to her? What did she say?"
"OK, first of all young man, it's not like we called each other to gossip. When CNN started reporting that it looked like the convention was going to go Mr. Santos' way, I called her. I thought she could use some encouragement, a friendly voice."
"How was she?"
"Honestly, not as upset as I thought she would be."
"How long did you all talk?"
"Not long, at least not the first time."
"WHAT!"
"Ok, you and the yelling aren't working out so well for me, so you need to stop it right now."
"Sorry."
Anna chuckled to herself as she took a bit of the pot roast and a drink of her beer. She chewed very slowly as her son watched her expectantly, waiting for her divulge anything. She was about to take another bite when he yelled at her – "MOM!"
"Oh, right, right, the second time I talked to Donna."
"Well, look Mom, you know… you don't have to tell me… if you two talked about something… if she asked you not to tell me…"
"She's the one who suggested I come."
"WHAT!"
"Don't sound so surprised, schmuck. She called me yesterday, early afternoon, saying that you would be back sometime today and would probably have a few days of down time. Then, she started rambling about the disaster this place would be because of how long it had been since someone had been here to clean it – which she was completely right about. Then, she started in on how you were probably not eating right and had no clean clothes and could use some family time. I think she was worried about you."
"Nah… she was just… well, I guess…"
"She was worried about you. Josh, you know if you would just pick up the phone…"
"MOM!" He buried his head in his hands and ground the palms of his hands into his eyes. "Can we just please talk about something else?"
"Sure, honey." They sat in silence, eating their food, until Josh started a new conversation.
"When are you going back?"
"Not sure. I've got an open return date."
"You should come to New York with me on Wednesday night."
"Really? You sure your mom wouldn't be hampering your swingin' single lifestyle."
He just laughed. "Yeah, mom, that swingin' lifestyle I manage to carry on while working 20 hours a day."
"Well, Joshua, I also didn't bring my pretty party dress with me."
"I'll take you shopping tomorrow."
"Well, then, how can a girl refuse!"
He just laughed. "Oh, hey, you didn't happen to find my tux while you were cleaning."
"Yeah, it's actually where it should be – in a dry cleaner bag in the back of your closet."
"Really, I don't remember taking it to… ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Anna watched her son, frustrated, get up and pace around the small dining area.
"There's always something, isn't there, Joshua."
"Mother, you have no idea."
"Sit back down and finish your food. Then, you are going to get some sleep in a real bed."
"No, mom, you take the bed, I can sleep on the couch."
"My son, the idiot. You didn't even look in that guest room you use as a storage room did you."
He sat back down in his seat. "Let me guess... I just got some new furniture, didn't I?"
"And it's very nice, if I do say so myself. You have excellent taste."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah" he said, waving her off while he dug back into this dinner.
So, this is where Josh found himself – laying in bed at 11 PM with absolutely nothing to do. Usually, if he was home at this time, there were files to read and well… someone to talk to over Chinese or pizza and beer. He wasn't even sure if he could force himself to try to go to sleep before 1 AM, which is why he was laying in bed, watching some Meg Ryan movie on TBS. He got up at the next commercial and wandered the house. His mother had already been asleep for an hour. He went and looked in the fridge for no reason. He noticed the new container of Rocky Road in the freezer and the new bag of carrots in the bottom drawer and the new bag of Hazelnut flavored coffee sitting next to the coffee maker. He shut the door and leaned his forehead against the freezer. "Maybe a lobotomy isn't such a bad idea" he said to himself.
He dug his phone out of his jacket as he made his way through the living room back to his bedroom. He shut the door and plopped back down in bed and stared at Meg Ryan while she stared at her computer.
He flipped open the phone and then realized that he had no idea who he was actually going to call. Number 1 on his speed dial was out of the question – at least until he was more prepared. He knew at least one person who was still up at this time of night, so he hit number 4 (and boy would she kill him if she ever found out she was number 4 on his speed dial, but his mom and Sam had to go somewhere!).
"CJ Cregg."
"Josh Lyman."
He heard her giggle. "Mi amour, what are you doing? Sorry, I thought it was going to be Charlie."
"You still at the office?"
"Nah, the First Lady made it an early night and with the leak and everything… well, let's just saw I saw my chance to make a break for it, so I did. You in town?"
"Yeah, I got back this afternoon."
"You alone?"
'What a strange question' he thought to himself. "Mom's across the hall asleep."
"Wait, your mom's in town?"
"Yeah."
"Did she cook?"
He could hear CJ starting to drool on the phone. "Yeah, she made a huge pot roast tonight."
"Oh God…"
"There are plenty of left-overs. Mom and I will be out tomorrow – we can run by and drop a doggie bag off for you if you are interested."
"You kidding? Anna Lyman's leftovers – songs should be written about your mom's cooking. Yes, absolutely, and bring her by."
"Songs, huh? Well, I guess if this whole politics thing doesn't work out for me, I could start writing jingles about homemade food."
"You're a funny man, Lyman. So, really, what's up?"
"Why did you ask if I was alone?"
CJ paused on the other end of the phone. "Uhh… well… I guess I just assumed… I mean, you two were out there together… I just thought that you and…"
Josh knew where she was going with this. "Yeah… well…"
"I mean, you did see her, right?"
"Yeah, that's where I disappeared to."
"Damn, Charlie was right. I owe him 10 bucks tomorrow. What happened?"
"Nothing. I gave her a beer, we drank, she said congratulations, I got called away and she had checked by the time I got back to her in the morning."
"She's in town."
"WHAT? Have you seen her?"
"Margaret and Carol were meeting her for dinner tonight. Something about catching up. She got back this morning, I guess."
He just sighed into the phone.
"Josh, you really need to…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I already got the speech from mom, could we not do this?"
CJ smiled. She knew that Anna Lyman was much better at dressing down her son than she would ever be able to do, so she just let the subject drop.
"Fine, but you really need to…"
"I will CJ, I will. I'm in town till Wednesday afternoon. I've got some time."
"OK. Did you need something?"
"Nah just bored. I'm watching some silly movie – something about Meg Ryan and mail from the Forrest Gump guy."
CJ just giggled into the phone. Leave it to Josh not to know who Tom Hanks is but to be able to recognize Meg Ryan from a mile away.
"Hey, CJ, come over for dinner tomorrow night."
"Josh, god, I'll have to check the schedule and see…"
"Mom said something about lasagna."
"I'm there, I'm there, I am absolutely there."
He just laughed. No one could resist his mom's cooking.
"Great. Well, I'm sure you've got stuff to do. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight Josh."
He clicked his phone shut and dropped it on the night stand. At least he knew where she was now, that she was just across town and not across the country. He turned out the lights and tried to get comfortable. Finally, he got out of bed and padded through the house to grab her quilt off the back of the couch. He wrapped it around himself and made his way back to bed, finally feeling like he could get some sleep.
With no alarm set, Josh slept till the late hour of 9:30 AM. What woke him was the smell of pancakes and sausage. His mom was busy cleaning up the dishes when he finally emerged from his bedroom.
"Hungry?"
"You spoil me mother."
"Yeah, well, it's my job."
"Oh, by the way, we need to stop by the White House while we are out. I promised CJ some pot roast leftovers."
"Good. I saw her on TV the other day. She looks to skinny. I worry about her and that job, after what happened to Leo."
"Yeah, but CJ works out daily and Margaret is watching her like a hawk, so she'll be fine, but I'm pretty sure she drooled on the phone last night when I was talking to her."
Josh watched as his mom pulled Tupperware out of the cabinet and began filling it with leftovers. He about choked on his pancake.
"You bought me Tupperware?"
She looked at him and then at the container in her hand. "Umm… no. It was here – I found it yesterday. I was actually shocked that you had no food but had Tupperware."
Josh looked down at this plate with a sad look on his face. "Oh… it was already here, huh. Well, it must have been left by… she must have left them one time."
Anna sat down across from her son. "That's it. This sad, lost puppy dog look you've got going on is killing me. We are going to find her today so you can talk to her."
"I will Mom, I promise… I'll talk to her… just… just not today. I'm not real sure what I want to say yet and… I just need a little time. OK?"
Anna believed him, believed that he was really trying to work out what he was going to say to her in his head once he finally got her alone.
"Alright, alright. I won't mention it again. Hurry up and finish. We've got shopping to do today!"
Josh just groaned. "You made a list, didn't you?"
"Absolutely! The shopping is so much better up here than in the sorry ass mall down by the condo."
Anna watched as her son finished up his food and went to get dressed. By the time he came back in jeans and a dark green t-shirt, she had the kitchen all cleaned up and they were ready to go.
Josh has never understood his mother's obsession with Union Station. Even as a kid, whenever the three of them came to DC, she had to spend hours in Union Station. They had yet to go into a dress shop and he was already carrying four bags – something about gifts for friends in Florida and things she had wanted to get for the condo.
He stopped to get a drink of water as his mother kept walking, so now he was struggling to catch up as he maneuvered through the food court. Thankfully, his mom had stopped at a table. She seemed to be talking to someone, but he didn't see who it was until he was on top of the table. His eyes got very wide as he looked at her.
"Hey Josh, how's it going?"
"Umm… I'm doing alright Mrs. Moss. How are you?"
Julianne Moss gave him the infamous Moss-once-over before responding.
"I'm fine, and I swear Josh, if you don't start calling me Julianne I'm going to slap you right up side the head."
"Sorry Mrs… Julianne."
Julianne and Anna gave each other a quick glance before Anna spoke.
"Joshua, I'm hungry. I'm going to run over there and get something to eat" she said, pointing at the small coffee and sandwich shop across the food court.
"Yeah, and I need a refill" Julianne said as she jumped out her chair. "I'll walk over with you. Josh, would you be a dear and wait here? My daughter should be right back." With that, before Josh had a chance to respond, the two women were off and halfway across the food court before he realized what had happened and what was about to happen – he was about to come face-to-face with and be alone with Donna Moss for the first time in a really long time.
Josh sat down in one of the four chairs around the table. He could tell he was getting nervous as he wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. He didn't have to wonder where she was for very long when he heard her voice from behind him.
"Can I get some help here?"
He turned and noticed Donna Moss carrying three boxes, obscuring her view of the table. He quickly got up and grabbed the top two boxes.
"Thanks…" she stopped suddenly when she noticed that the person she was expecting, her mother, was not the person she ended up with, Josh Lyman.
She stared at him with wide eyes as he gave her the once over. 'She looks amazing' he thought to himself as he looked at her with her Capri pants and white t-shirt.
Finally, she broke the silence. "Where's my mom?"
He smiled shyly at her and pointed toward the café. "Getting a refill while Mom orders something to eat."
She glanced over at the women who seemed to be doing their best to ignore their children. "Anna's here." It was more of statement than a question.
"Yeah, she got here yesterday."
"Oh… well… I'm glad you are getting to see your mom."
"Yeah, you too. When did your mom get here?"
"Yesterday, too. I called her after the announcement and she said she had already booked a ticket. You know, I should go get her. Would you mind watching…" She had already started to walk away from him.
"Wait, Donna, just wait a minute." She turned and looked at him. "Please, Donna, they'll be right back. Just… just sit here with me for a minute."
She gave him a quick nod and they both sat down in chair across from each other. She watched him nervously run his hands through his hair.
"So, Donna, what have you and your mom been up to today?"
She sat there for a minute, looking at him, wondering if she should be honest about what they had been doing. Seeing the look in his eyes and the slight smile on his face, she decided that she owed him the truth.
"Meeting with the head of the political science department and the dean of the college over at Georgetown."
Josh was stunned. "Georgetown?"
"Yeah. I want to get my degree, so CJ and the President made a couple of calls and got me a meeting with them. Since Mom was going to be here anyway, she decided to tag along."
"God, Donna, that's… that's great, but you know that you have more experience than any…"
She smiled at him. "Yeah, CJ said the same thing, but when it comes right down to it, I still don't have a degree and that could very well come back to bite me in the ass one of these days, so I decided to just get it over with. Besides, with CJ and the President pulling strings, the head of the department got me set up on some kind of accelerated independent study program. They are going to accept my credits from UW and give me credit, well, for life experience. They've got it worked out to where, if I take classes during the summer sessions, I should be able to get done in about a year and a half."
Josh looked at her in awe, that she had managed to get that accomplished. "Wow, Donna, really, that's fantastic. I'm… I'm proud of you."
Then, she graced him with a full on smile and he felt that all was right in the world.
"So, what about you, Joshua – what's going on?"
"Well, we've all got a couple of down days. Have to be in New York on Wednesday night for a fundraiser. Mom's coming with me – that's why we are in a hellish state of shopping today. Apparently, she needs a dress and to buy out all of Union Station."
Donna laughed at that. He always complained about his mother and her obsession with Union Station. One time, Josh just threw his card at her and told her to buy whatever his mother wanted, as long as he wasn't forced to go along. She giggled to herself.
"Something funny?"
She looked up at him, seeing warmth in his eyes. "Yeah, I was just thinking about that time you made me bring your mom shopping so that you didn't have to. Gave me the afternoon off and didn't make me come back in or anything. It was great. You bought me the greatest pair of shoes that day."
"Did I? Aha! I KNEW I never bought anything at Nine West!"
That made her laugh out loud. "Did you even know what Nine West was at the time?"
"Well, no, but I knew I had never been in a store called Nine West. I'm not Sam!"
That made her laugh louder. People were starting to look at them, but neither one of them cared about people staring. They were just enjoying their conversation. Nor did they notice their mothers, watching them from the coffee shop across the way.
She finally stopped laughing and looked at him, really looked at him.
"Well, I must say, you don't look as bad as I thought you might look, considering how you've been living the last few months."
"I'll have you know, Donnatella, that I have been eating salads for lunch."
"Bullshit!"
"Seriously, just ask Ned or Ronna. They make sure that I am…" he stopped short when he saw the smile fade from her face, realizing what he was about to say. She had her hands, clamped together, and stretched out in front of her. He put his hands on either side of hers and she looked up at him.
"You know, Donna, you took much better care of me than they will ever be able to, and there are two of them. I know I never said thank you for all that back then, but I want to say it now. Thank you for… well, just thanks."
She smiled at him, unable to speak. Just as she was about to put a sentence together, their mothers reappeared.
"Donnatella, we have dinner plans for tonight."
"Yeah… wait… what?" She tore her eyes away from Josh to concentrate on what her mother was saying.
"Yes, Anna is apparently making a monstrous lasagna tonight and graciously invited us."
When she felt Josh squeeze her hands, she looked back at him. "Yeah, absolutely, you and your mom should definitely come over for dinner."
"You sure?"
"Definitely. I'll be offended if you don't. The place is clean, everyone needs to see it and enjoy it while they can!"
She laughed again. "Yeah, ok, we'll be there."
"Great!" Anna tapped her son on the shoulder. "Let's go Joshua. We still need to hit the dress shops and the store before we go home."
He groaned as he got out of the chair. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." He picked up the bags as his Mom gave Julianne and Donna a quick hug goodbye. "I'll see you all tonight."
She started off toward the shopping area as Josh whipped around to find Donna staring at him. "Donna."
"Yeah" she said, smiling at him.
"See you tonight?"
"Yeah!"
He gave her a dimple smile and started to walk to catch up to his mom.
Anna was putting the finishing touches on the lasagna and was sticking it in the oven to cook when she heard her son yell from his room – "MOM!"
She laughed to herself and she walked to his room. She leaned against the door jam, watching her son tear apart his room in his boxers and white undershirt.
He turned and looked at her. "You have to help me!"
"With what, Joshua?"
"What to wear!"
She laughed out loud now at her nervous son. It had been a very long time since she had seen this side of him. "Just put something on."
"Nope, can't just do that. I want to look nice."
She smirked at him. "And why is that dear boy?"
He stared at her for a second, realizing what he had said. "Um… it's just that… we are having… company, Mom, yeah that's it… we are having people over and I want to look decent."
She just continued to smirk at him.
"God, Mom, are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me?"
Anna strode through the room and grabbed a dark green short-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. "Wear this. It's not a state dinner, just casual. Why does this have you all worked up?"
He looked at his feet, having a sudden interest in his toes. "No reason, Mom."
She walked over and grabbed his chin so that he had to look at her. "I'm not an idiot young man, just remember that." She gave him a smile and headed back out to the kitchen to finish cleaning up while he got dressed.
Josh shot up off the couch when the doorbell rang. "I got it, I got it" he yelled to no one in particular.
Anna stuck her head out of the kitchen. "I didn't hear you, Josh, you got the door?" She smiled at him.
"Shut up!"
She went back in the kitchen as he opened the door to CJ and Toby.
"Mi amour, how are you… oh my GOD does that smell good!" CJ strode into the apartment and into the kitchen to try to get a taste of dinner.
"Josh."
"Toby."
Toby looked around for a minute before focusing on Josh. "Thanks for the invite for dinner… I wasn't sure…"
Josh gave Toby a quick pat on the shoulder and shook his hand. "Water under the bridge, Toby. Sorry it was last minute, though."
"Not a problem. I'd drop anything for your mom's food."
Josh was about to shut the door when he felt something stopping it. He turned and saw Donna and Julianne Moss, the latter with a large bag from the liquor store down the street. Julianne walked into the apartment and straight to the kitchen as she announced "I brought the refreshments!" Josh and Donna, left alone in the doorway, heard a whoop go up from the kitchen as CJ rattled around in the bag to see what had been brought.
Josh gave Donna a once over as she did the same to him. Once they met each other's eyes, they giggled nervously.
"That new?" Josh said, motioning to the dark red sleeveless blouse and light khaki capris she had on.
"Oh this…" She couldn't believe he noticed! "Well… umm… I mean we were out anyway… I guess…" She finally just stopped and stared straight into his eyes. "Yeah, it's new. I got it today."
He was mesmerized so it was out of his mouth before he could stop himself. "Mom picked this out. I was struggling to find something to wear."
She took a step toward him and ran her fingers down the right sleeve. "I really like this color on you. It's one of my favorites."
He took a step toward her and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Thanks. You look really good too!"
They just stared at each other, Josh's hand on Donna's shoulder, Donna's hand on Josh's forearm until they heard CJ.
"Donna, Josh – you all want a drink or what!"
They both looked at CJ, who had stepped out of the kitchen but was concentrating more on filling her wine glass than on the two of them.
Josh leaned over and whispered in Donna's ear "after you, Donnatella."
It took all of Donna's will not to collapse right there, but she managed somehow. She gave him a smile and headed off toward the kitchen with Josh right on her heels.
It had been a long time since Josh had been that relaxed and had had that much fun just sitting and having dinner. The campaign and being on the road had been hard, a lot harder than the last time or even the first time. He hadn't realized how stressed and unhappy he had been until he was sitting with these people, sharing stories and laughing about nothing in particular. Even Donna, who had seemed to be the same way he was when they had crossed paths, looked relaxed and happy. He has started to see it the night of the convention, but he got called away so quickly, had to leave so abruptly, that he hadn't had the chance to delve deeper into the reasons behind their behaviors over the last few months.
By 9:00, CJ and Toby had left to head back to the office for about an hour or so, finishing up some paperwork. Anna and Julianne were in the kitchen, doing dishes and finishing off the bottle of wine. Josh and Donna were sitting out front, on the steps, having a beer. They had gone out there to see Toby and CJ off and had just stayed there.
It was a comfortable silence, one that they hadn't shared in a very long time. Josh remembered that night in Iowa, when the silence in the elevator had been so uncomfortable. This was different, and for that, he was completely grateful. He watched her finish off her beer.
"Let's go for a walk."
She looked over at him and smiled. "Alright."
Josh ran back to let their mothers know where they were going.
They started walked, not talking to each other, just taking in the night and being near each other again. Before they knew it, they had passed the White House and were at the Reflecting Pool.
Donna sat down on the edge of the Reflecting Pool and stared at the White House. Josh sat down next to her, not really sure of what to say.
Finally, she spoke. "I never imagined that this would be my life" she said pointing at the White House. Josh was going to respond but she continued talking.
"When I graduated college, I was just biding my time, just walking along, not real sure what to do. I followed my group of friends to UW. They all did the whole sorority thing. I gave it shot for awhile, but it ended up not being my thing. I kind of got cut off when I dropped out – they were all busy with meetings and fundraisers and fraternity parties that I just kind of got left behind in the dust. After the whole Freeride thing, I never imagined much for myself. I just got in the car and drove and found you. It's just not what I ever imagined for myself."
Donna sighed and dropped her shoulders and her head. Josh wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her a little closer to him. He wanted to say something, but he wasn't real sure how to put it into words. Finally, it came to him – "I guess thing never turn out quite how they are supposed to in your mind, huh, Donnatella."
She looked at him and smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. "Nope, guess not, Joshua. Then again, sometimes when things don't turn out quite how you thought they would, something amazing happens anyway."
He thought he knew where she was going with this, but he wanted to make sure. "Like getting a long shot elected President?"
She tilted her head toward him so she could look in his eyes. "Yeah, that too."
He smiled at her and rubbed his cheek across the top of her head as she molded herself to his side. So, there they sat by the Reflecting Pool, in another comfortable silence, content just being with each other.
A little bit later, Josh felt Donna shiver.
"You cold?"
"A bit. I guess this heat wave is over huh?"
"Yeah, it's supposed to rain tonight." He felt her shiver again.
"C'mon, let's go back, get you warmed up."
"Yeah, right, cause your apartment is the place that THAT'S going to happen – seriously, what is it with you and your air conditioning?"
He just laughed as he stood up and grabbed her hands to help her from her seat. They walked back toward the townhouse hand in hand.
A block from Josh's, they felt the first of the raindrops hit their heads. Both of them looked up at the falling water.
"Let's make a break for it."
Josh pulled on Donna's hand as they both started running for his door. They got under the awning just as the sky opened up and the rain came pouring down. They stared out into the rain, breathing heavy from the run.
"Looks like we made it just in time" she said, barely above a whisper. When he finally looked at her, something different was in her eyes, something he just couldn't resist, so he, finally, gave in.
Josh's lips were on Donna's before she knew what was happening. The kiss was light and tentative as he cupped her face with his hands. Once she realized what was happening, she couldn't get enough. She grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him toward her.
Her reaction made him want her more. He backed her up till she hit the wall of the building. He ran his hands down her arms and around her back as she opened her mouth with a small moan and deepened the kiss.
They made out on the porch like teenagers at the end of a date. The wind started to pick up and was blowing the rain onto the porch. He maneuvered her into the corner without breaking the kiss and while managing to untuck her shirt and run his fingers along the small of her back.
Finally, when the need for oxygen began to triumph over the rest of what he was feeling, he broke the kiss. He looked at her, with her closed eyes and kissable mouth and smiled. She opened her eyes in time to see him smile.
"God."
"Yeah."
"Seriously."
"Yeah."
"I mean… damn Josh… God."
"Yeah."
"Is that all you can say?"
"Umm… yeah."
She laughed at him and pulled him in for a hug. She kissed the side of his neck as he inhaled the scent from her hair. He held onto with all he had inside of him.
"Josh."
"Yeah."
"Seriously, find a new word."
"Umm… ok."
"Can we go inside? We're starting to get wet."
"OK."
"That your new word?"
He pulled back and smiled at her. "Yeah."
"Idiot. Open the door, please!"
He finally let go of her and unlocked the door. The apartment was dark and quite when he opened the door.
"Mom!"
"Mom!"
They got no response from the seemingly empty apartment. Donna flipped on a light as Josh made his way toward the kitchen, which is when he found the note on the bar.
"Well, Donnatella, it seems we've been ditched."
"What?" She walked over and took the note from him
Donna and Josh,
Decided that we were going shopping tomorrow without you two to slow us down – still need to find a dress for the fundraiser. We are getting up early to take the train to Philadelphia, so I'm staying with Julianne at the hotel. I'm at the Holiday Inn just a few blocks over if you need me. Be back in time for dinner – Julianne says she wants to buy for the four of us tomorrow night, so bring your appetite. You two have a good evening!
Mom… and Mom
Donna smiled as she looked up from the note and saw Josh staring at her, leaning against the counter.
"My, my, my Joshua – left to our own devices tomorrow. Whatever will we do?"
"You're creative. I'm sure you can come up with something."
Donna did a half laugh, half yawn thing.
"Tired?"
"Yeah, it's been a long… eight years."
He laughed at that and grabbed her hand.
"It's pouring. I'm not taking you to your apartment in this."
"Well, that's a good thing, since I don't really have an apartment to go to right now and…"
"Wait, what?"
"Cara had a friend who needed a place to stay and I thought I was going to be on the road till November, so I sublet my room till then, but well… I guess that kind of got shot to hell."
"Where have you been staying?"
"With mom at the hotel."
"And your plan after your mom goes back to Madison?"
"Carol's couch till housing at Georgetown opens up. The dean was going to help me get into the graduate student housing so I would have a place to stay."
Well, that was just unacceptable to him, but that conversation was for another time, but he saw no reason for Donna to have to live in a dorm when he had a perfectly good spare bedroom, or bed in his room, for her to use, but he would broach that subject at a later date.
"Yeah, ok, well, we'll talk about that tomorrow. For now, sleep."
She decided to let that subject go, wondering what he meant. She followed him back toward his room. She watched as he pulled her pajama bottoms and his old Mets shirt out of one of his drawers.
He handed her the items. "Here, and your toothbrush and other stuff is in the bathroom and all your shower stuff is in the closet if you want to take a shower. And, Mom stocked up on Hazelnut coffee, so if you want that in the morning…"
She was in awe. "You… you still… you still have all this stuff here."
He smiled sheepishly at her. "Yeah, well… I had an episode after you… anyway, I was going to box it all up and ship it to you but… well, I couldn't because… anyway, yeah, it's all still here."
She couldn't come up with any words to express what she felt, so walked over and kissed him for all she was worth. She broke the kiss and just smiled at him. He returned the smile and pushed her toward the bathroom so she could get ready for bed.
He took his turn when she finished. When he came back, he found her sitting at the edge of his bed, fingering the quilt she recognized as the one she bought that summer.
"What's this doing in here? Don't you usually keep it out front, on the couch?"
He started to fidget. "Yeah, well… I couldn't sleep and… I just brought it back here…"
She smiled at him, which he was thankful for since he didn't know how he was going to finish that sentence. She scooted back on the bed till she had her back against the headboard. She pushed the covers down and crawled under as Josh flipped off the light and crawled under with her. He watched as she pushed the comforter to the end of the bed and pulled her quilt around the both of them. He scooted down on the bed till his head hit the pillows. She molded her to his side and rested her head on his shoulder.
He gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head. "Goodnight Donnatella."
She looked at him and crawled up to give him a searing kiss that was going to leave him was fantastic Donna dreams that night.
"Goodnight, Joshua."
He waited for her to get comfortable again. Once she quit moving, he let out the breath that he had been holding. As he started to fall asleep, he held her a little tighter, promising himself that, now, that they had found their way back to each other after everything they had been through, he wasn't going to let her be very far away from him again.
THE END