Post Ep: The Cold
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters…I'm just playing with them for the time being.
Reaching his room, Josh looked down the hall in disdain. He knew one of these rooms was Donna's. Which one, he had no clue. He could be in that room right now if he hadn't stared at that key like a deer caught in the headlights until it was too late. Josh fished around in his coat pocket for his own key. Finding it, he opened the door. A nice, old fashioned key. He could do those, he laughed to himself as he threw his jacket on the bed remembering all the times that Donna had had to help him with his key card.
His cell phone had fallen out of his jacket pocket, and lay beside it on the bed. Josh sat down and picked it up. He could just call her. Explain. He flicked it open, and pressed '1'. "Donna Moss" appeared on the screen. She was still speed dial #1. He shook his head and flopped back. For a few moments he stared at the screen, then clicked the phone closed and let it fall to the bed. Explain. Who was he kidding? He couldn't even explain how he felt to himself.
The TV flickered on about Kazakstan, but Donna wasn't watching it. She held her key in her hands, turning it over and over. Had she been unclear? No, he saw her push the key toward him. He had to have known what that meant. Josh wasn't known for being good at this type of thing, but he had to have known what it meant.
He wasn't interested. She had tried and failed. So much for the attempt. Now things would just get 'odder' between she and Josh. Had she misread the signals? No. There was definitely something there in that kiss. It was the moment she had been imagining over and over for the last eight years. In each scenario the situation was different, but the result was always the same. Utter elation. Being struck speechless. This kiss had done that. Of course the kisses in her dreams did not end in jumping apart guiltily as the entire campaign came barging into the room. The kisses in her dreams ended in clothing being torn off.
Donna dropped the key on the bedside table and crossed to the closet to extract her pajamas from her suitcase. Josh's Harvard t-shirt. She had had this shirt for years, ever since she'd spilt coffee down her blouse one day in the bullpen. She had always made sure he had extra clothes in the office, after the incident following the bachelor party, but had not taken the same precautions for herself. He hadn't let her forget it for a long time. He had smirked at her for what seemed like forever, before going to his drawer she had put the extra shirts and pulling out his old Harvard tee. He'd never asked for it back. It had become a regular part of her pajama rotation.
She had just finished changing and was about to crawl under the covers when a knock on the door startled her. Could it be he'd changed his mind and come after all? He could have inquired at the desk about her room number and come. Donna took a deep breath and looked through the peephole. It was Edie. Donna pulled open the door.
"Hey! Sorry to bother you"
"What's up?" Donna leaned against the door frame.
"Lou wanted me to remind you that we're not briefing the press about any of the new decisions about the Kazakhstan situation until after staff tomorrow"
"I know that. I--"
"She just asked me to remind you. She wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page, clear headed, with a good night's sleep"
Clear headed? What did Lou mean by clear headed? Did Lou notice her distraction too? Was she really that bad at hiding it?
"Well, I'll let you get to sleep now. You look beat." "Thanks, Edie. Oh…and, uh…thanks for bringing me my key earlier"
"Sure, no problem. Ronna saw it first, then Josh was going to take it to you, but I was like 'I'm right next door to her. I can do it'. Then I ended up catching up to you right outside anyways, so it didn't even matter. No trouble. Good night, Donna"
"G'night"
Ronna saw it first. Josh was going to take it. Josh hadn't sent it back because he wasn't interested. He just hadn't picked it up quickly enough. Donna smiled and looked down the hall. Edie had gone into her room. Josh was in room #811. She could just walk down the hall and knock on his door. Say hi, see what happened. She stepped hesitantly into the corridor. The door clicked shut behind her. She took a few steps. No, she decided. This was silly. She couldn't do this. It would be too weird. She turned around and twisted her doorknob. It was locked. Her key was inside. The had to be a sign. Slowly she walked down the hall towards room 811.
Josh lay sullenly on the bed. Edie had come to tell him some common sense edict from Lou, that had only succeeded in pissing him off more. The rational part of him knew that Edie had not meant to thwart his chance to get with Donna, but he still wasn't pleased to see her at his door. He'd been a little more curt with Edie than he needed to be, slamming the door shut. He'd taken his pants off and thrown them across the back of his desk chair, before flopping back down on bed in frustration. There was a knock at the door. He looked up, but didn't move. He did not want to deal with anyone. Another knock. Josh turned up the TV. The knocking continued. Josh sat up, and fumbled angrily for the remote control. He muted the TV, then hurled it down on the bed, as he crossed over to the door.
"What!" Josh bellowed as he opened the door.
"Oh" Donna cowered, and backed away a few steps.
"Donna…" he faltered, and stared at her speechless. Why was she at his door? He had seen that look on her face as she got the key back. He'd let her down big time.
"Can I come in? I, uh, locked myself out of my room"
She wanted to come in! But, she locked herself out of her room? That's all she could come up with? Josh smiled in spite of himself, and pushed the door further open. Donna walked in and sat down on the bed. "You're locked out of your room?"
"I…I…oh, God," Donna lay back in embarrassment. " I know how ridiculous I seem"
"No"
"I see that smirk on your face Josh Lyman"
Josh grinned even bigger. "I'm not"
"I was in the doorway talking to Edie, and I stepped out into the hall, and the door closed. My key was inside"
"You've got to hold on to that a little better. Leaving it behind everywhere." Nervously he walked over to the desk and sat on it.
"Josh..."
Josh took a deep breath and went for it. "I…I didn't send Edie to return your key"
"I know"
"You know"
"I know. I thought for sure you had, but"
"—What changed your mind"
"When I was talking to Edie, she said that after Ronna noticed the key, you'd gone to take it for me, and that she'd said it would be much easier for her to do it, and snatched it up"
"Yeah"
"You were going to take it"
"Yeah"
She turned on her side and looked over at him. "Really?"
"Really"
She was surprised. But she was glowing. She was trying not to, but she was glowing.
"Nice shirt"
"Oh, uh…" Donna looked sheepishly down at his Harvard shirt.
"Never thought I'd see that again"
"Its comfortable"
" Uh huh. You've had that for what, six years now?"
"Yeah, something like that." Donna flopped back on the bed, and turned away from him.
What was he doing? He had seemed surprised to see her, and didn't know what to say, and now he was teasing her? Silence had fallen in the room after she had turned away. Josh sat down on the bed and lay his hand on her shoulder. Gently he stroked her arm. It felt so good. Donna turned over to face him. He looked at her in silence, and pulled his hand away, then Josh stood up and paced back and forth between the door and the desk.
Calm down, Josh. Calm down. He was so nervous. It was clear he wasn't going to make a move. That was going to be up to her. Donna stood up and walked over to him. He paced by her, She grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled him back toward her, reaching up with her other hand and grabbing his face and pulling it toward hers. They kissed.
"Donna, I--"
"Shhh"
"Is this a good ide—" She cut him off by kissing him deeply again. She had pinned him against the wall and was frantically unbuttoning his shirt. Josh was in great shape. She traced her fingers up his well defined abs to…his scar. She'd never really seen it before. Not as a scar. When she was taking care of him after the shooting she'd seen it, helping him change the bandage, but there were still stitches then. Now it was a faint, raised line down his chest. Just like hers. At that thought she paused, and lay her head on his shoulder. Josh awkwardly rubbed her back.
"What's wrong?"
Donna blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of the tears that had developed in her eyes. "I've never seen it"
"Yes, you have"
"Not since…right after…not as a scar"
"Oh"
She traced her fingers down it again, staring as she did. She felt him shiver, ashe looked down at her hand. "It's just like mine"
Josh pulled her chin up, till her eyes were looking straight into his. It seemed to her almost as if he was fighting back tears as well. But before she could ponder that he'd pulled her against him, and was kissing her hard. They backed slowly to the bed, and he pulled her down on top of him. Maybe they didn't know if this was a good idea in the long run, but for now they needed this.
FIN