**Two Days Later***

"Thanks for dinner J, too bad you don't want me to stay so we can have some fun." Amy's voice is full of mirth as she buttons her coat and straightens her white fluffy hat.

"Yeah, sure, anytime." Josh ignores her suggestive comment. Dinner had been all right for the most part. Amy mostly talked and he listened half heartedly, chipping into the conversation here and there.

But at some point, the conversation had turned to bickering, not playful banter, just old fashioned arguing. It put a sour taste in Josh's mouth. He lost his appetite after that, and found himself aimlessly moving his orange chicken around the plate.

Now as she's ready to leave, he places a chaste kiss on her lips and when Amy moves to deepen it, to show him what he's missing, Josh finds himself recoiling. He steps back and gives her a lukewarm smile, then makes a weak joke about how the memo he had been trying to read all day from a prominent highway lobbyist group isn't going to read itself.

"Have fun with the Road Gang, J. I'm sure that makes for some interesting reading." It's the last thing she says before she winks and leaves his townhouse.

Josh shuts the door and leans against it, lightly banging his head in frustration. The truth is he doesn't have to read that memo, he just wants to be left alone. Donna has been on his mind all night, hell she has been on his mind more than ever lately. The still unopened dessert box from two days ago still sits in the staff fridge, a constant reminder that his peace offering hadn't been accepted. The more time that passes the more Josh despairs of them ever finding their way back to what they had. And while if pressed, he couldn't explain what exactly it was that they had, but he knows that he misses it terribly.

Things with Amy had gone cold. Josh figures that by this point he should be into it, but at the end of the day their relationship just isn't clicking. Something doesn't feel right. Weeks ago, the idea of a sleepover would have enthralled him, but back then he had been ensorcelled. The spell has since worn off.

With a heavy sigh, Josh rubs his hands roughly against his face. He stills for a moment and takes a deep breath before pushing himself off the door and making his way over to the table to clean up. He tosses everything in the dishwasher and grabs a Heineken from the fridge. As he shuts the door, his eyes land on the one photo he keeps pinned up. He's got his arm wrapped around Donna and they are both laughing hysterically, without a care in the world. The photo had been taken on the tail end of the campaign trail. At that moment, it occurs to Josh that it's been a long time since he'd seen that smile. The thought causes a deep pang in his chest.

He rubs the pad of his thumb over the bottle cap of his beer while his other hand comes to rest delicately on the photo. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a distant memory makes itself known as the words effortlessly spill out of him:

"If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer."

***The Next Day***

Josh looks through the papers on his desk one last time to see if he can find the damn memo himself, even as he takes a deep breath to bellow for Donna.

He's about to let loose, when he sees the corner of the light grey folder sticking out under a stack of olive green ones.

"Aha!" He mutters to himself, snatching it up and making his way towards his door with every intention of informing Donna of his impending victory.

When he gets to the doorway, he spots her in her cubicle, her back to him, bent over, filing papers in the lowest drawer. Just as he's about to announce his great prowess, she jerks upright.

"Ouch, dammit!" She cries out softly, while grabbing at her side.

He starts forward but stops in fascinated horror as she yanks her sweater out of the way to examine the waistband of her skirt.

The fluorescent light flashes off the large metal safety pin holding together a large amount of material. He can see that it had popped open causing a deep scratch in her alabaster skin. The sight of her blood leaves him a little light headed but he rushes to her side.

"Donna! Are you okay?"

Startled, she jumps, turning toward him while shoving her top back into place. "I'm fine! Just a scratch."

"Let me see." He insists, reaching for her. But she stumbles back, horrified at the thought of his hands on her.

"NO!"

He has to admit, the vehemence of her refusal hurts him. She didn't used to shrink away from his touch. He thought they were friends, but every day he feels like she's slipping further and further away. Almost like she's fading, right before his eyes, and he doesn't know what to do.

But he does know that he'd never touch a woman without her consent. So he takes a step back himself, furthering the distance between them until he sees her relax a bit, his heart breaking as he does. He just wants to help her.

"You should go down to the medical office. Have someone clean that up and put a bandage on it. You don't want it to get infected."

He turns away to gather his coat so he can get to his meeting on the hill, but his heart isn't in it. It just isn't as much fun to storm the castle if it doesn't impress Donna.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

***The Following Day***

Josh hurries into the West Wing lobby, eager to breakaway from the freezing January air. It had been nice catching up with Matt Skinner over lunch and discussing a bi-partisan agenda. Unfortunately, both men knew that with this current Congress, that's all it would ever be: just talk. Josh is dead certain that Matt is the only reasonable republican in Congress.

Matt made it no secret that he was fond of Donna, so of course he had asked how she was doing, and it absolutely pained Josh that he couldn't give Matt an answer. Because really, Josh had no idea how Donna was doing. But based on what he had noticed lately, it was a safe guess to say that something was going on. So being the operative that he was, Josh gave Matt the political answer, stating that Donna was busy keeping his office running like a well oiled machine.

Josh pauses as he rounds the corner of the Operations bullpen. Donna's at her desk, giving Ginger and Margaret her best fake smile. She's been wearing it too much lately, and he hates that.

Josh didn't intend to listen in on Donna's conversation, respecting her privacy of course, but when he hears Ginger ask Donna if she was still seeing the guy that Ainsley set her up with, he freezes:

"No, I'm not seeing him anymore. We only went out twice." Donna's response is firm, making it absolutely clear that she wasn't seeing Cliff anymore. Josh lets out a long slow breath. And for a moment he feels ashamed, how could he doubt for even a minute that she wasn't telling him the truth about Cliff? It had been more than a month ago that she'd told him that it was over between the two of them and yet here he was worrying that maybe it wasn't.

"Okay so then you must be seeing someone else, because why would you skip out on girls night three weeks in a row, Donna?" Ginger's tone is playful as she pushes, and again Josh finds himself holding his breath. Was Donna seeing someone? Why was she skipping her girls night every week?

"No. I'm not seeing anyone. I'm just really busy with work." Again, Josh feels inexplicable relief. But he's confused. Why is Donna lying to them about work? Hell, with how Donna has been going above and beyond lately, they were actually ahead for once.

"What's wrong with Josh? He's overworking you. Leo and Toby aren't even making us stay late tonight." Ginger folds her arms and raises an eyebrow.

"It isn't Josh." Donna's vehement response causes Josh to smile. It's like a balm to his soul hearing her defend him like that. Maybe there is hope after all.

"I just want to get ahead on a few things. Josh's schedule next week is ridiculously overpacked," he hears her continue.

"That man is so lucky to have you," Margaret adds as they leave Donna's cubicle.

"Don't I know it," Josh thinks to himself as he sneaks off towards his office.

But once there, he spends most of the afternoon worrying about Donna. Every once in a while, he looks up from his desk to catch a glimpse of her, but she keeps her head down and eyes glued to the task at hand. It pains Josh Lyman to know that Donna Moss isn't just isolating herself from him. It's all of her friends.