He stood in the middle of her office, like he was trying to decide where he was going to put his stuff as soon as she got hers the hell out of his way.

"Joshua." She said blankly.

"Claudia Jean." His tone was far more formal than hers. It made her nervous.

"Can I help you? Or are you just circling my office like a vulture waiting for a gazelle to die?" She dropped the pile of files on her desk. "Margaret!" She watched the tired woman's puffy face pop around the corner. "Go home. Kiss the baby and don't come back until after the funeral. You need time." She looked like she was going to protest, but all she did was nod. She looked back at Josh. "Well? Where are you going to put the couch Josh?"

"I could use your help with something CJ." He said coolly.

"I think it looks nice there but Leo always liked having it-."

"Explain to me why you thought it was your place to tell Donna that I wasn't worth it? Part of the sisterhood CJ? Messing with peoples lives?"

"Her life looks like it turned out okay to me Josh." She snapped.

"Did you ask her how it's been? Did you ask her what this year was like?" His tone never dipped or rose. She knew this Josh. This was the Josh that their opponents had feared. Unrattled, personally invested hard core in for the kill Josh.

"She looks like she'd doing fine. She went from errand girl to incoming press secretary-."

"ERRAND GIRL?" Josh yelled cutting her off at the knees. "Well it's good to see you haven't let being Chief of Staff go to your head CJ."

"I just thought maybe she didn't want to sit around ordering your lunch-."

"Damn I'm glad you sent Margaret home before you started your defense." He shook his head. "And I was the arrogant one." He muttered. "Do you really think it would have ended different if she'd stayed with me? If she'd never gone to work for Russel? Do you think I would have kept her at a desk?" He walked closer to her, looking feirecly into her eyes. "That's what you think of me?"

"She deserved to hear another opinion Josh."

"And it just had to be yours didn't it?"

"Josh."

"So you told her I wanted her order my lunch for the rest of her life?"

"That's not what I said."

"Enlighten me CJ. What did you tell her when you were trying to convince her to leave me?"

"I told her the truth, that you weren't giving her every opportunity to grow. That you needed someone as capable as her to-."

"I needed her." He shot towards her. "It didn't have a damn thing to do with her filing capabilities."

"That's what I told her Josh. She wasn't staying for the White House or her career. She was staying for you. I told her she should date, sleep around even. Branch out, look for other opportunities to do something with her life that didn't revolve around you! All she had was you and her job, Josh."

"What the hell did the rest of us have CJ?" Josh shouted bringing up his hand and pointing his finger at her. "What the hell did you have besides your Job and a stalled relationship with Danny Concannon? What made you so different than her? You're impressive job title?" He shook his head before letting it fall back towards the ceiling. "It was what we all had, the job, the White House and each other." She tried not bend with the weight of his words. "You made her feel useless. Like I thought all she was good for was-. Like I didn't love herand need her more than-. You made her question the fact that all that kept us apart was what you were afraid the press would say. How a scandal would effect the brutal morality of the Bartlett White House." The last words sent a defensive shiver up her back. She stood up straight and looked at him sternly. He just shook his head.

"Josh I am-." She began looking down at the rug.

"You owe Donna an apology. I don't want anything from you."

She'd already left the West Wing when he went to look for her. He'd finally weaseled it out of Debbie that she'd over heard part of his discussion with CJ.

"Was she upset?" He whispered. Debbie winced.

"Where did she go?" The panic rose to his chest as he breathed out the question.

"She said she'd meet you at home Josh." The woman gave him a haphazard smile and he grinned back, kissing her on the cheek as he rushed out the door.

She was outside on the steps of the townhouse when he got there.

"Donna? It's cold out here." He pulled his coat off and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"I shouldn't have listened to her then. I just-" He waited for her to continue.

"Tell me about it." He whispered softly when it became clear she wasn't going to.

"Josh." She was pleading with him and it broke his heart..

"Donna. Baby, you need to tell me." He whispered holding his hand against the side of her neck. "I don't want this to be a thing..."

"Has it been a thing?" She looked at him in alarm. He grimaced at the expression and her eyes welled up with tears.

"Donna.." He whispered pulling her tight against his side.

"Josh. I-." She stopped again pressing her palm to his chest.

"I wish you would have come to me." His voice broke in the middle of the sentence and she whimpered at him. "If you would have just-. Why didn't you just-?"

"I don't know." She smashed her eyes shut and Josh brought his forehead to hers to comfort her. Squeezing the back of her neck. "I don't know.. and then the president made Charlie move on and-. He didn't expect him to hold his-."

"His what?"

"Coat. Josh he didn't-."

"Is that what you thought I-?"

"No!" She whimpered again. "Not until everyone-."

"Why didn't you just.."

"I don't know! I don't know! I-." She looked at him. "I'm so sorry. So sorry. I believed them Josh. How could I possibly-?"

"Shh.." He pulled her against his chest. "Shh.. Donna.."

"I left you. I walked out on you and I never even-."

"Stop." He whispered. She lifted her lips to his and kissed him softly. He brushed the tears off of her face. "Stop."

"I'm sorry." She kissed him sweetly with each quiet whimper. "Josh, I'm so sorry. I should have just trusted you."

"They weren't all wrong." He said pulling back and pressing his head against hers. "I'd been a total jerk. I wasn't trying hard enough to let you-. You know that right? You did deserve better than what I gave you. I was just..."

"Afraid." She nodded against his head. "I know."

"It's-. It wasn't all-. I wanted you with me. You're amazing Donna. You're going to be three times the press secretary CJ was. I mean that."

"You're just mad at CJ." She laughed, making Josh sigh in relief.

"No. I'm not. Not after tonight. Now I just feel sorry for her." He shook his head. "She was just trying to survive you know? Like we all were. It's not an easy place to be." He chuckled. "Yet we both run right back in."

"We'll have each other remember? Everything was fine as long as we were together."

He nodded.