Airport

"You would think that with over ten years in this business I'd be used to planes by now, wouldn't you?" Josh asked Sam as they went to collect his suitcase from the luggage terminal at the airport.

"Now, now Josh," Sam teased. "Even the most seasoned flyers get airsick."

"I don't get airsick, I just hate landing. They could definitely be smoother."

"Sam rolled his eyes at his friend's defiance. "Whatever, hurry up. I parked funny and there's still someone we need to meet."

"Who?" Josh asked, grabbing his suitcase.

As he gripped the handle another hand clamped down on his.

"This is my case you –" Josh began but stopped when he saw who was holding onto him.

Long blonde hair and shining green eyes, she looked as beautiful as ever.

"Donna," Sam cried, interrupting the breathtaking silence that came over the other two when their eyes met.

"Hey Sam," Donna greeted warmly before turning her attentions back to Josh with a glare. "It's my case, let go Josh."

"It is not. Mine has the green cross in the corner so I can tell it apart from all the others."

"Because they all look the same," she mimicked a phrase she had heard him use several times. "I know and you also put a green cross on mine but I, unlike you, can tell the difference between brown and black."

She looked at the conveyer belt of cases and grabbed the brown one with the green cross in the corner.

"See, this one's yours." She spoke brusquely.

Josh recoiled at her tone and busied himself with studying the two cases before him. It was then he realised they really did look nothing alike. Donna's was black, modern and round, his faded brown and square. The only thing they had in common was the green cross.

"So it is," Josh answered smoothly. "Good thing you noticed," he finished speaking by flashing her a charming smile that only served to make her roll her eyes.

Ignoring him she turned to Sam, who had been watching the scene with fascination and amusement. His grin faded when he saw her glare.

"We ready?" She asked him.

He nodded and set off, Josh at his side, Donna bringing up the rear. "Moron," she huffed quietly about her ex-boss with a silent afterthought, 'Adorable but a moron all the same.'

- - - -

Sam's car

"I thought you sold this heap of junk?" Josh questioned about Sam's car, a blue Buick 1976.

"I did, about a year after college. You remember? We needed a deposit for a flat but we ended up blowing it all that weekend in Vegas." Sam unlocked the car and the three of them got in before Sam drove off.

A smile crossed Josh's face at the memory. "Oh yeah, that was a good weekend. You remember those girls, the ones who –" There was a small cough of irritation from Donna that made Josh stop quickly. "So what's it doing back?"

Though focussed on the road, Sam shot Josh a quick look that clearly showed he was stupid for asking.

"Are you kidding? You know how much I loved this car, I told you I'd buy her back when I had the chance. So I did, but not before I had to fight with some spotty-faced teenager to get her."

"Please tell me you're joking." Donna begged wearily from the back seat.

"No way, I never joke about my baby."

"He's telling the truth," Josh agreed. "You should have seen him when he had to sell it, crying his eyes out. He'd have walked through fire to get it back."

"Her," Sam corrected. "But luckily I didn't have to, the kid was a wimp, it was like fighting you, Josh."

"A difficult fight then," Josh said pompously

A derisive laugh escaped Donna on the back seat and Sam chuckled.

"Josh, Donna could beat you," Same said in a not-so supporting tone. "Hell, Ainsley, too."

"At the same time maybe," Josh claimed. "I've been working out."

"Whatever," Donna muttered making Josh turn to face her.

"You want to fight and see?" He challenged her.

"No," she gave a fake yawn.

"Scared?" He taunted.

"No," she repeated. "I just don't want you crying when I beat you."

"Don't worry," Josh answered cockily. "It won't happen."

"Is that a fact?" Donna countered, humour in her voice.

Neither noticed that they'd slipped back into their own bantering ways, Sam did though.

"Ladies," he interrupted their flirty arguing. "There's only one way to sort this, a fight, when we get back to the house," he suggested jokingly.

"You're on, how about it Josh?" Donna announced seriously.

"A fight?" Josh squeaked at the idea now that it was a real possibility.

"What's the matter Josh?" Donna teased in a taunting voice. "Scared?"

"No way!"

"Good, it's settled then."

And once more the bickering started up and lasted for the rest of the journey.

- - - -

Sam's House

Sam pulled up into the driveway of a large house painted a peachy colour with a lush garden of a variety of plants.

"It's beautiful," Donna gasped. "I would love something like this. It was Ainsley's choice?"

"Of course," Sam answered in a resigned tone before continuing teasingly. "Come on, I'll show you inside then we'll set up an arena for the two of you."

He gave a small laugh at his joke as he unlocked the door. "Honey, they're here," Sam called as he closed the front door behind hi guests.

Ainsley appeared from a door off to the side. Her blonde hair, currently pushed back with a pink Alice band, was matted together with a red substance at the ends.

"Donna, hi," she greeted, hugging the woman warmly.

"Hey, your house is beautiful."

"Isn't it?" Ainsley gushed as she took Donna's hand and began leading her away for a tour.

When both women were gone Sam turned to the oddly silent Josh only to find him deep in thought.

"Trying to think of some good realtors in Washington?" He guessed.

"What? No, why would I? I don't plan on moving any time soon." Josh spoke a little too quickly.

"Not even for you and Donna to move into that dream home?"

"No," Josh said, his cheeks tingeing slightly. "We're not together, remember?"

"Why is that again?" Sam asked rhetorically. "Oh yeah, because the timing's not right," he said in a scornful tone.

"Exactly," Josh said, looking around the hall for a subject changer.

"Josh you idiot!" Sam exclaimed harshly. "If you hang around waiting for the 'right time' then you're going to miss it."

Josh opened his mouth to say something but he could find no words. 'I hate it when he's right,' he thought darkly.

- - - -

At this same time, Ainsley and Donna were having a similar conversation.

"So why aren't you and Josh together yet?" Ainsley asked abruptly.

Donna stared at her a moment and, as she began to say something, was cut off by the overly-animated woman.

"I mean, Sam told me about those reasons of yours – don't look like that. I threatened to sing the entire collection of songs from the H.M.S. Pinafore at his next party if he didn't – and I have to say, they're the biggest load of bull I've ever heard."

"What?" Donna asked in shock.

"You heard me, they're bull. Admit it; they were excuses to hide the real reason."

"And what's that?" Donna asked sceptically.

"That you'd just had the best night of your life with the love of your life and you got scared so you ran. You've had bad relationship after bad relationship and the last one you had that lasted more than six months was with a guy that used, abused and cheated on you and while you knew Josh would never do that to you, that last relationship tainted everything for you and so you left."

"Now that's bull," Donna said unconvincingly; they both knew that what Ainsley said was true.

'I hate it when she's right,' Donna thought miserably.

- - - -

"So you know what?" Josh asked after dinner that night; home-made spaghetti Bolognese, which explained the red in Ainsley's hair earlier.

"What?" Donna countered suspiciously.

"We still haven't settled our little disagreement," Josh announced.

"So we haven't," Donna agreed. "Want to go for it now?"

"Sure," Josh said standing up and rolling the sleeves of his sweater up.

"You two were serious?" Sam asked incredulously.

"About what?" Ainsley asked confused and eyeing the three warily. Josh and Donna were stood, eyes locked, like they were about to start tearing chunks from each other at any minute while Sam was looking at the two despairingly. She got no answer as Sam quickly interrupted.

"Maybe you should wait, or better yet, not do it at all."

"My pride's at stake here, we're doing it," Josh said simply.

"Doing what?" Ainsley demanded once more, this time Sam briefly clued her in on the decision reached earlier that day. "Oh no you're not," she said sternly. "Not like you plan anyway."

As one Josh, Donna and Sam turned to look at her open-mouthed. "What?"

"You'll do it in three stages. First you'll arm wrestle, then a little sumo-style wrestle and finally a normal wrestling match."

The shock grew on the other threes faces, none more than Sam who had been expecting her to completely disapprove. Ainsley smiled at their reactions.

"What?" She asked innocently. "A girl needs a little fun somehow."

Ten minutes later the 3 "arenas" were set up and Josh and Donna were involved in their arm wrestling competition.

"So where did they get the idea to fight to see who was stronger?" Ainsley asked her fiancé in a no-nonsense tone.

"Who knows?" Sam answered, avoiding her gaze.

"Samuel," she said in a sing-song warning tone.

"Okay, so maybe they misunderstood when I said the kid I got my car off was a wimp but –"

"The kid you had a spelling contest with? The one who ran off crying when I told him to spell onomatopoeia?"

"The one and the same," Sam answered, giving her a cheeky grin.

She laughed and would have said something had Josh not taken that time to yell out in pain.

"Ow! You cheat! You're not supposed to dig your nails in."

"Don't be such a baby Josh."

"But you –"

"Donna wins," Ainsley announced with a sneaky smile.

"But she drew blood!"

"Donna wins," she repeated. "On to the sumo wrestle."

When both Josh and Donna were stood in a circle of towels Ainsley spoke again.

"Okay, so all you need to do is wrestle each other out of the circle but you're only allowed to push them out, nothing else. The first one to get the other out of the circle wins."

It took 3 minutes and 7 close calls for Josh to be declared winner.

Tying, the last event would be the decider. Four pillows had been set as corner points of a rectangle in which they had free reign to tackle each other to the ground. This was the one Sam and Ainsley had been looking forward to the most.

Donna was winning; there was no doubt about it. She was gripping Josh's shoulders, her nails digging in slightly, and slowly pushing him down and away from her. But she was also balancing precariously on the balls of her feet, a fact which Josh took great, accidental, advantage of. He swung his right leg out to balance himself and ended up taking Donna's legs out from under her. She fell forwards, taking Josh with her and rolling as they crashed to the floor.

Sam and Ainsley were not disappointed; they had wanted to witness a moment between their guests and this was definitely it. Both were breathing heavily, Josh lay on top of Donna, their eyes locked and their faces inches from each other. Neither were moving and they seemed to stay like that forever.

Sam coughed loudly, shattering their moment once more, and embarrassed looks crossed Josh and Donna's faces as they struggled to untangle themselves from each other.

"I think Josh may be the winner," Ainsley stated as though nothing had happened.

Josh simply nodded. "I should be going, room booked and everything. I'll see you guys tomorrow, thanks for dinner." And then he ran from the house quickly.

"I should probably go too," Donna said, more composed than her ex-boss. "Where am I staying?"

"Here," Ainsley smiled, showing her to her room.

A/N: So sorry about the big gap between chapters, I've only just got time alone to type the end of this chapter. Not sure why I chose to have them fight except I thought it'd be fun and I wanted to write about that 'moment'. Thanks for the reviews, they were great. Next chapter Donna has to deal with a battle between her conscience and Ainsley acting like a little devil on her shoulder.