Chapter 7: Moving On (Together Or Apart)

The 29th Infantry crew got back to base on the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Nobody said much on the ride back. Charlie still had his mind on Zoey and the Bartlets; Carol, Toby and CJ had their minds on work and what they needed to do back at base; and Josh and Donna...well, Josh and Donna were thinking about their kiss. And what they were going to do now.

They had kissed. In the rain. Outside the Bartlet farmhouse. And, oh, uh, yeah, they had admitted their feelings for one another. That wasn't something they could just take back. Josh opened his eyes from his restless sleep and looked at Donna, who had unconsciously dropped her head on his shoulder. She blinked as she sensed that she was being watched. She picked her head up and looked around wildly. Luckily, nobody else in the car seemed to notice.

"You know," Josh murmured when he was sure no one else was listening, "when we get back to camp tonight, we're going to have to talk about what we're going to do."

Donna scoffed a little. "And where are we going to do that? In my barracks room?" she whispered, careful not to attract any attention to her voice. "At 11 at night, when people will wonder why you're in my room? No, thank you, that's a conversation I do not want to have with my superior."

"Well, we'll have to find someplace else to talk then." Josh said calmly, quietly.

Luckily, CJ was about to make that decision even easier, if possible.

"We need a breather. We need to relax. After we check in tonight, Ziegler and I are going to Woody's. You're all welcome to join us."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, CJ." Charlie spoke up. "Who else is in?"

"I'll go." Carol replied. "Lyman, Moss, you in?"

"Yeah, we'll go." Donna said. "Just remember we all have to work in the morning." She meant that more for Josh than anyone else, since she knew firsthand what even two drinks could do to him.

Two hours later, they were all at the pool hall, making small talk with their drinks and trying to relax. But it was hard when three of the group's minds were elsewhere.

Finally, Donna spoke up. "You know, there was this one time during our last year at West Point, that Ellie decided we all needed to learn to loosen up during our off time. So, she took us out to this bar in downtown Peekskill. And of course, Zoey begs to come along, and Officer Bartlet makes Charlie go with us to chaperone her. So we're all there-Ellie, me, Carol, Zoey, and Charlie-when a couple of grad students come over when we've all had a couple of drinks and tries to pick us up. And of course, Charlie doesn't react well to the idea that Zoey is flirting with another guy. So, next thing you know, Charlie has this guy pinned to the corner of the bar, and before you know it, Ellie's got the other guy pinned down to within an inch of his life. And Ellie says to him something I will never forget: 'You're lucky. Tonight you're dealing with a couple of tough kids, but just wait three months and you'll be dealing with officers of the US Army.' That pretty much scared them off."

The whole table was howling at the idea of Ellie coming to the rescue of her sister, but then sobered into a respectful silence upon remembering that the woman had paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Finally, Toby broke the silence by saying, "Okay, it's me, Moss, and Fitzpatrick against these two goons", referring to Josh and CJ.

"You're on, Ziegler." Josh said.

They started playing, and were quickly involved in a rousing game. Donna was getting better and better, and managed to beat Toby and Carol.

As the evening continued, Josh pulled Donna aside into one of the backrooms. Luckily, no one else seemed to notice that they had slipped off together.

"We should probably talk about this weekend." Josh said in a serious tone.

"Yeah." Donna agreed. She wasn't sorry about what she said, but she did need to think about logistics. She took a breath and decided to speak up.

"Josh...I'm not sorry I said what I said. I do have feelings for you, and I do think they go far beyond that officer-enlisted relationship. But that doesn't change the fact that that relationship is still there. So what I think we need to decide is how to go from here."

"That's...what I was going to say." Josh admitted. "We need to figure how to make this work. Because I do want this." He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. To the outside eye, it looked like a friendly social kiss, not a big deal since they were out of uniform. But to Donna and Josh, it was an expression of love that they had not dared tread since that afternoon outside the Bartlet farm.

"When we're on base, we'll keep it professional." Donna started, wanting to take the lead. She outranked him, after all. "But when we're off, let's slowly start spending more time together. Maybe one night a week at first, and then see how it goes."

Josh nodded. "That sounds more than fair. But I also don't want this to be purely a physical relationship either. I want us to be able to really get to know one another."

"I want that too." Donna agreed. She paused, gathering her thoughts. "How about this Friday night, we go out to dinner?"

"Or, we could do dinner at my place. Make it less obvious at first."

"Wouldn't that make it more obvious?"

"Not if we don't leave together. The COs don't really care what we do on our evenings off anyway. They probably won't bat an eyelash if I left and came back to the barracks after 11."

And nobody did. When Friday night came, Donna was a little antsy for the evening. She hadn't brought a ton of formalwear with her, since for official functions she wore her dress uniform. What she did have was an evergreen strapless gown, a shorter black velvet dress, and a fire-engine red pantsuit. She finally decided on the black dress, black pumps to match, and a small gold necklace. She was just finishing getting ready when Carol walked in.

"Whoa! Where are you going all dressed up?" Carol grinned. Even on the numerous occasions she had gone out of uniform since they started, usually she was wearing sweats, not a dress.

"I have a date." Donna said, barely keeping the grin off her face.

"When did you have time to get a date?"

"Just earlier this week."

"Okay, I'm gonna need details." Donna paused. Should she tell Carol everything and swear her to secrecy? Or should she keep this to herself until she knew whether or not it was going to work?

Finally, she decided to just cut her losses. It wasn't as if Carol didn't already know their history.

"It's Josh."

"Josh?" Carol looked confused. Then it hit her. "Wait, Josh Lyman? Staff Sergeant Lyman? AKA the guy from Shooters?"

"All of the above."

"When did you two become a thing?"

"We're not. Not yet. This is our first real date."

"So, wait. I thought you said you could never date him because you were his superior. What changed?"

Donna was quiet for a second. Then, she said, "When Ellie died, he was really there for me. I mean, he's been there for me a few times, but especially the last week. And it got me thinking that life is too short. It's too short to be worrying about what people think. And he's...different. I know I dated guys at West Point, but he's different. I feel safe and comfortable around him, like...I don't know, like he can see right through me. And I can see through his tough-guy, immature mentality and I see a guy who's really caring and sweet and just nice. And anyway, after the funeral on Monday, one thing led to another, and we kissed."

"You kissed him?" Carol asked incredulously.

"And told him I was in love with him."

"Wow. So, now you're gonna go out with him?"

"Yes. I told him that we should go out sometimes on our time off, just to get to know one another." She looked up at Carol. "Please don't tell anyone about this. If it gets out…" She didn't need to tell Carol that she could possibly be kicked out of the Army for the relationship she was about to embark on.

"My lips are sealed. Your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks!" Donna told her. And with that, she headed downstairs where Captain Hooper was working the night shift.

"Have a good evening."

"Coming back tonight?"

Donna stopped in her tracks. "How did you…"

"Coming down in a dress like that? You could very well get lucky tonight. Just be careful coming back in too late."

"Yes, ma'am." Donna said sheepishly, and off she went to the parking lot, where she left to meet Josh at the restaurant.

…

"Wow. You look great." was the first thing out of Josh's mouth when Donna walked toward his table. They had picked a modest Italian restaurant in the center of town.

Donna smiled bashfully. "Thank you."

They sat down, and ordered. Donna tried to order the least expensive item from the menu, but Josh quickly stopped by saying, "Order whatever you want. My treat." She softly smiled and ordered Chicken Parmesan with a side salad. Josh ordered lasagna and a bottle of wine.

"Josh, you really didn't have to order wine." Donna tried to protest.

"It's our first date. I want to celebrate that." Josh replied. He picked up his glass and held it up. "To many, many more nights like this."

Donna smiled, clinking her glass with his. "I can only second that."

It seemed that once they started talking, they weren't able to stop. Donna regaled Josh with some West Point stories, even some from her high school years. He talked about his fraternity days at Harvard, and the war stories of his basic training. They talked about what they liked and disliked about Fort Belvoir, and what they wanted to do when they got out.

"I think I want to go into politics." Josh was saying. "Work at the White House or someplace in DC."

"Politics? Really?" Donna asked, curious.

"Maybe not run for office, but work on campaigns. Serve my country another way." He took a bite of his food. "What about you?"

"I hadn't really thought about it. I'm only just getting started with my five years. It'll be quite a while before I can make any decisions."

"But if you had to choose?"

Donna was quiet for a few seconds. "I guess maybe like you. Serve my country through politics. I'd really like to run for local office someday."

"Local office?"

"You know, State Senate, mayor, that sort of thing."

"So, should we be surprised if we see you in the White House 25 years down the line?"

Donna stopped and looked at him. She had never really thought of the idea that seriously, but maybe, just maybe, she could go all the way.

"You really think I could go all the way?"

"Yeah." Josh's voice was serious.

Donna was speechless. No one had ever believed in her like this before. Well, sure, there were her parents, but no one she had worked with had ever believed in her like this. AS the evening wound down, and Josh took Donna back to base, as Donna walked back up to her room evading the watchful eye of Captain Hooper, she was deep in thought.

She thought she was avoiding waking up Carol, but the younger woman was awake anyway. "How was it?"

"Amazing." was all Donna could say to describe it. She had a feeling this would work out.

…

The weeks and months passed slowly on base. The days were long, the nights were short. And sooner or later they all began to blend together. At the end of the summer, Charlie had gotten a letter from Zoey, who was still having a hard time adjusting to Ellie's death. After officer training, she had been assigned to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Donna found him sitting in the Mess hall one day, hand clutching the letter with a forlorn look on his face.

She sat down next to him. "Hey, Charlie."

"Zoey got her orders." Charlie told her.

"Really? Where?"

"Fort Leonard Wood. That's right outside-"

"The Ozark Mountains, I remember." She didn't mention that the only thing she had heard about Leonard Wood was what Josh had told her about basic training. "That's pretty far away."

"She says we'll call and write, but we'll see each other probably less and less as time goes by." He sighed. "I really love Zoey, Donna. I really want to get her through this adjustment-you know she's still having trouble with Ellie's death."

Donna nodded understandingly. She, too, still thought about Ellie often, though she was sure her grief was nowhere as deep as Zoey's.

"I just-I wonder if I should get out when my contract's up." Charlie said determinedly. "I don't want to be apart from Zoey a second longer than I have to be."

"Well, that's your decision, Charlie." Donna replied. "No one is forcing you to be in the Army any longer than you have to be. But just remember that it'll be another four years before you can make that choice for yourself."

Charlie smiled sadly. "Thanks, Donna. I guess I just have to keep reminding myself that this is what I signed up for." He stood up. "I'm gonna go reply to this letter."

"Glad I could help." Donna called after him. She thought about Charlie and Zoey and how on Earth they were going to make this relationship work. Then she thought about her and Josh. Would they have the same problems?

A/N: And there's chapter 7! A shorter chapter, but it moves the story along. Please leave a review, let me know what you thought!