tTitle: Gravitation is Not Responsible (33/36?)
Author: Aerial312
Rating: PG-13
Category: Humor/Fluff/Angst/Romance (a little of everything)
Spoiler Info: Post Rosslyn.
Disclaimer: I own nothing…I just borrow.
Feedback: Greatly appreciated. Sure. Just let me know where its going.

A/N:. Sorry for the long delay between chapters. Work has been INSANE this week. A chunk from the chapter is directly taken from The Midterms. Visit my archive: http://aerial312. .

"You're leaving?"

Josh stood in the doorway to his living room, watching Donna slide on her shoes.

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"You knew that I was planning to go home tonight."

"Yeah, but I though you'd say goodnight."

"You were asleep."

"You should have woken me."

"Josh."

"You should have."

"You haven't been getting enough sleep—"

"I wake up disoriented."

"Hmm?"

"I woke up just now, it was so quiet in my room—I like the TV on, you shut it off, when you snuck out."

"Wastes power."

"It's my bill."

"Fine then."

"I like to say goodbye."

"You like to persuade me not to go."

"I've given in"

"After—"

"I have."

"If you're not asleep, it takes me an hour to get out of here."

Josh plopped onto the couch beside her. Donna stood and put her coat on, causing Josh to sigh and click on the TV.

"You're not going to watch TV out here now, are you?"

"Yes, I am."

"You need to go to bed."

"Later."

"Josh."

"If you're going home, go."

"I—"

"You're going to stand there and argue with me, thus delaying your own departure. I don't want to argue. I'm relaxing in front of my TV. If you're going home, just go."

He didn't look up from the TV. Donna blinked hard.

"You're…you're all set?"

"Yeah."

"Anything you want me to—"

"Obviously you didn't care about that befo—"

"Josh!"

"What? You were sneaking out!"

"And now you're up, so—"

"So now you care?"

Donna took a deep breath, and turned away with him. There was no way she was letting him see her cry in these circumstances. Josh sat back against the cushions, putting his feet on the coffee table. He was staring through the TV. Donna turned back to look at him. He didn't look up. A moment later he did, though, as he heard the door click shut behind her. Frustrated, he flung the remote control at the door. Several shards of plastic broke off and scattered all over the hardwood floor.

Josh paced around his living room, with his cordless phone, caught up in his speakerphone conversation with Leo and Sam. "Not only that, we stand by him, this is a national thing. It could drag down black turn out in districts where we're competitive."

"I told him--" Sam argued

"Yeah," Leo sighed.

"I told him we would stand by him. I told him he would have our full support. I was the one who asked him to run. I was asked to ask him."

"I know."

"We walk away now, that's it. He's a racist! The White House just said so!"

"We can't afford all the things we want, Sam. It's over."

Josh perched on the arm of his sofa, sighing as he heard Sam slam the door upon his exit from Leo's office. He'd need to give him a call later on at some point to smooth the ruffled feathers. The television caught his eye.

"Hey, Leo. You know, there's a—something called the Super Ttring Theory. Which at its most basic level says that the universe consists of these tiny loops of string that vibrate at different frequencies."

"How did that bullet not kill you?"

"Just lucky, I guess."

"Yeah."

Leo clicked the button to hang up with Josh, who was left staring at the latest in a series of physics documentaries he'd been watching. The TV had been on since Donna had stormed out the night before. Josh stared down at the pieces of the remote control. There was no way he'd be able to lean over long enough to pick them up. He hadn't heard from Donna all morning. Lunch had come and gone, and still nothing.

He stood slowly, and peered out the window. It was a beautiful fall day out. The deli down the street struck him as a lovely place to get some food. He hadn't so much as walked down his front steps since the last time he'd had a doctor's appointment. Josh pushed the curtain all the way open, and made his way to his room to change out of the sweaty t-shirt he was wearing.

Toby sat at his desk, chucking the rubber ball at the window.

"Will you STOP that!?" Sam bellowed from his office.

Toby shook his head and continued to thrown the ball. CJ appeared in his doorway and caught the ball. "Don't torture him."

"What do you want?"

"Have you heard from Josh?"

"Not in the last hour."

"But this morning you did?"

"I'm on the phone with him every morning. I have a lot of policy I want his input on. Why are you asking?"

"He's not answering his phone?"

"He had a conference with Leo and Sam."

"Which is obviously over. Sam's moping next door."

"The Tom Jordan thing?"

"Yeah."

"No other way out of that."

"I know."

"Maybe Josh had a doctor's appointment?"

"But Donna's here."

"Maybe you should ask her, since its her job to know what he's up to."

"Not while he's out."

"But you know she does."

"I'm just concerned about worrying her…"

"Just ask her."

CJ threw the ball back at Toby, and wandered over to Donna's desk, which was covered in files.

"Busy?"

"Filing tracking polls."

"Hey! It's lunchtime and you're actually here."

"I have a lot to do today."

"What's Josh working on today?"

"Uh…the Jordan thing, I think?"

"Did he call you when the conference call was over?"

"He had—no."

"Really?"

"I haven't talked to him—much—today."

"Oh, okay," CJ sighed.

"Why? What do you need?"

"I was just looking for him, to try to get a gage on Sam's mood—which I've since learned is terrible—but I couldn't get a hold of him."

"He's not answering his phone?" Donna asked, swallowing back a sick feeling in her stomach.

"No."

"Which phone?"

"House. He hasn't been using the cell…"

Donna frantically began to dial his home phone.

You have reached Josh Lyman. I'm not—"

"Fuck!"

"He's probably just taking a nap," CJ tried to reassure.

Donna frantically pounded out another number. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

"You have reached—"

Donna quickly ended the call and hit redial. Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Yeah?"

"How come you didn't answer—"

"I..uh…"

He had been at the register, paying for his lunch, when she's called the first time. But he didn't want to tell her that.

"I, uh…was in the shower."

"I heard it. But it took me a while to get to, ya know?"

"Oh. Okay," Donna sighed.

"What's up?" Josh settled at a table outside the deli, and opened the bag.

"CJ was just telling me she couldn't get a hold of you—"

"Shower."

Just then a car blaring particularly loud rap music drove by, and Josh tried to clamp his finger over the mouthpiece.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"That noise."

"I didn't hear anything."

"I heard music."

"Hmm…" Josh mumbled through a bite of his sandwich.

"You eating?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Uh…sorry, I uh—"

"No problem."

"What are you—"

"Sandwich."

"You ran out of bread last night."

Shit. He didn't know that.

"Found some."

"Josh, there's no bread in your house."

"Well, I've got to—"

"Where are you?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Josh—"

"I'll talk to you later."

"Josh—" she began, but he had hung up.

"Where is he?" CJ asked.

Donna looked up, startled. She forgot that the other woman had been perched on the side of her desk.

"I don't know, but I—"

"He sounded fine...your volume's up pretty loud, so I heard—"

"I need to go check—"

"He said not to worry."

"He's not at home, CJ. See?"

She dialed his home again, jabbed the speaker button and let it ring. The machine picked up before long. Donna shook her head and replaced the receiver in the cradle.

"I need to go check on him. I'll have my cell phone on if anyone needs me."

Donna quickly grabbed her purse and dashed out the door.