By Any Other Name

Charlie/Zoey, mentions of others.

Maybe PG-13.

Spoilers: through end of series.

The characters belong to Sorkin, Wells, et. al.

Feedback welcomed.

This is the first of five interludes during CJ and Danny's wedding. They are stories that these characters wanted me to tell and they, for the most part, have nothing to do with CJ and Danny except that the telling of them occurs over the wedding weekend and the characters are reacting to some aspect of that weekend. After these interludes, I need to get CJ and Danny out of California and over to their honeymoon before anyone else pulls at the skirts of my muse.

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Memorial Day Weekend 2007

Late Friday night/early Saturday morning

Charlie walked through the grounds of the resort, deep in thought – confused, hurt, and somewhat angry thought.

The guys had already staged their unsuccessful raid on the bridal suite, finding only a big poster board to taunt them,( "Nice try, guys!") and everyone had drifted to their rooms. Mrs. Bartlet told them that everyone had to be ready to leave for San Simeon and the beach by 11:00 in the morning, and she was adamant that, short of requiring a deathbed, no one would be allowed to stay back. From that time until 6:00 pm, the resort belonged to CJ, Danny, and the staff.

He pushed through a gate into the rose garden area, and saw that he wasn't alone. One of Danny's roommates, the one who became a priest, was sitting on a bench, a rosary in his hands. Before Charlie could slip away, the priest raised his head.

"Good evening, or, I guess now it's good morning, Charlie".

"Hey, Tim, I'm sorry, Fath-".

"Tim's fine," the man waved his hand. "So, the would-be shivaree was sidelined?"

"Yeah, I guess it was a dumb idea but at the time it seemed like the thing to do."

"Well, I'm sure that President Bartlet would be able to give you all a lecture on all the similar customs throughout history and around the world."

"I think that's what Mrs. Bartlet has planned for us tomorrow as our punishment," Charlie laughed. Then his expression turned serious.

"Fath-, I mean Tim, could I ask you something? I mean, I'm not Catholic but there's this thing .."

"How can I help?"

"It's Zoey. She says she's not ready to think about where our relationship is going. She wants to be free to experience life, whatever that means. She wants me to hang around and wait for her, the way Danny waited for CJ. The thing is, it's been almost eight years for us as well. I tell her that it's time to sh--, I mean make your move or leave the bathroom."

"Well, between the kidnapping and living in her protective bubble, she never had the chance to do the things other young women do after college. Share a place with one, two, three other girls, work at a somewhat low-paying job, summer weekends at the beach crowded into one bedroom, get guys to buy them dinner in order to save money, that sort of thing. Do you think that she shouldn't have a chance to experience that, even though most young women her age have already had that experience and may be ready for more serious commitments?"

"The problem is that she wants that, but she also wants the two of us to have a regular, exclusive sexual – I can't believe I'm saying this to a priest – relationship and I'm not sure I can deal with it. One day, she's the flirt-with-everyone little girl and the next day, she's a sex-hungry pirhana and then on the third, she's the person I first fell in love with when she startedGeorgetownand again after Jean-Paul. She has this strange notion that because I was the first guy to be with her, I owe her, but then she also has this really off-the-wall idea that because I was first, she can't have a really mature, both of us on an equal footing relationship unless and until she can bring a little more "past" into it. Funny, most guys would be jumping at the chance, but when I think about how easy it would to enjoy the sex, I start to worry about caring too much, or something. And if she wants to relate it to CJ and Danny, I tell her the word on the street is that nothing happened there until after the election, but then she says it isn't relevant. I don't know, Tim, does any of this make sense to you?" Charlie shrugged, "I mean you're a priest and you've taken vows and all, do you have any idea of what I'm talking about?."

"Yeah, Charlie, I did take vows, but I made the decision to start on the road to take them when I was 30; I knew what I would be giving up if I answered the call. I guess you could say that I gave informed consent," he laughed. "There was someone who almost made me change my mind and I know how much the physical and emotional aspects of love intertwine. And, more importantly, you and she need to make your own decisions based on your own feelings; as happy as they are, you shouldn't base your relationship on CJ and Danny's. For one thing, you aren't him and she isn't her. For another, it doesn't take a mental heavyweight to see that what they have is just a little bit out of the ordinary."

"So what do I do?"

"You let her find herself; if there is a future for the two of you, it has to come willingly from both of you."

"And her demands on my body, as it were?"

"Are a different story. She has no right to demand sex from you if you aren't comfortable with it. If the situation were reversed and it was you putting pressure on her, what would they call it?"

"Date rape, emotional abuse, I don't know."

"A rose by any other name, Charlie. To your own self be true. You can't love someone else more than you love yourself. Pick your platitude, but remember that you need to put yourself first." The priest stood up. "Now, I need some sleep before the doings of tomorrow. Listen, I know you'll be at the law school in the fall. Anytime you want to talk, I'm in the Physics department offices most afternoons." He left.

And Charlie sat there for some time in the moonlight, not sure which Zoey, if any, would be waiting for him in his room.