He asked her to stay.
It was the closest thing to a declaration of love that Joshua Lyman ever got and Donna was willing to take it.
He looked so much like a little lost boy, so sure she was going to say no and preparing himself for it.
And even though she shouldn't, even though he was the third most powerful person in the West Wing, if not the entire United States and she was his assistant, she smiled and said yes.
For the first time in days, she saw him smile. Really smile. The smile he gave when he forgot to look for snipers and to stop walking so fast, the smile he gave when he forgot all the demons and baggage he had.
She took their plates, asking him if he wanted to watch a movie.
"I don't know, I guess."
"I got ice cream."
"Not those weird Ben and Jerry's flavors you love."
"Yes. But that's for me. I got you chocolate."
"Nothing with nuts?"
"Nothing with nuts."
Josh was so funny about his ice cream, though Donna supposed she shouldn't be surprised when this was the guy who ate charred burgers and food out of vending machines. She was pretty sure he would eat ramen noodles if it didn't involve boiling water.
She sat down next to him, handing him the ice cream and a spoon.
"Which kind did you get?"
"Pistachio."
"Why is it a weird green color?"
"It's pistachio, Josh."
"Ice cream flavors shouldn't be…nutty."
"Are you proud of your pun?"
"Extremely."
"Just eat your ice cream. What movie? You never said."
"You pick one," he told her.
She flashed him a grin before turning on the tv to surf through the channels.
"I think there is a Lifetime movie on. Or Steel Magnolias."
"God, Donna, do you want to kill me?"
"This is what you get for not taking the chance to choose your own movie."
"Fine! Find a baseball game. Or turn on CNN. Or…or…just not a chick flick!"
"No CNN. It'll just stress you out and I don't think there is a ball game on."
"No Steel Magnolias."
"No Steel Magnolias. It's too sad."
"Yeah, I never understood that."
"What?"
"Steel Magnolias is depressing to the point of absurdity. How anyone can take that movie seriously is beyond me."
"How about Jeopardy?"
"Only if you want to be schooled in my superior knowledge of trivia."
"Josh, you're basically an idiot savant. If it doesn't involve baseball or politics, you're clueless."
"I'm not an idiot savant."
It turned out that Josh was an idiot savant, though he was quick to point out that Donna had a head full of trivia whose only utility was Jeopardy and crosswords.
They watched The Daily Show after that. Donna was trying to keep his spirits up, trying to make him laugh as much as possible, trying to keep him together because she could barely keep it together herself.
She needed to email her parents tomorrow, let them know that she wouldn't be able to go up to Wisconsin like she thought she would. Josh usually gave her a weekend, when he was feeling benevolent, to go visit her parents, though most of the time it wasn't worth it because he would either call her inquiring of "the thing" that he needed for his next meeting, or find him in his office, looking very confused, once she made it back, the place looking like she never spent a night organizing it.
She came back to find Josh zoning out in front of the television, his head nodding back and forth as he tried to fight sleep. Donna sighed, now she had the fun job of waking him up to do his breathing exercises.
She shook him awake, murmuring to him that he had exercises to do.
"Don't want to," he mumbled.
"You have to, Josh."
He grumbled some more before sitting up straight.
"OK, breathe in…and breathe out…"
"It hurts," he complained.
"I know," she murmured.
She was there the first time they did breathing exercises, when he could barely speak, how the look of pain on his face was something she wouldn't forget soon.
"I…hate…these…" Josh said in between breaths.
"It's ok, honey. I know. Just get through it."
And just as the 't' left her lips, Donna realized what she had just said.