Here's the next chapter! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I means the world to me. I'm also so pleased that there are still people out there still reading and writing The West Wing and even more so to new comers to The West Wing fandom. Anyway, please review!

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I'm Not Fine

Leo almost looked twice when he saw Josh stepping out the elevator. He had last seen him Friday night, feeling incredibly uneasy at leaving him behind at the restaurant after their meal with the Congressman, his wife and Donna. He now looked like a completely different man…He looked rested and was actually smiling.

"Leo…" Josh walked a little quicker when he saw him.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I left you a couple days ago looking like you were ready to drop." Leo stated. "Now you actually look good."

Josh grinned. "Spent the weekend with my mother who made me sleep and cooked me healthy food that I can actually stomach."

"Did you talk to her?" Leo questioned.

Josh glanced around before pushing open a door to an empty conference room, gesturing Leo to follow him.

"How did it go?" Leo asked after closing the door.

"It was hard…" Josh admitted, running a hand through his hair. "But yeah, we talked and I explained my reasons for not getting the treatment… She wasn't happy but she said she understood."

"Good."

"We talked about what I was going to do after the election." Josh told him. "I've decided to go to Connecticut."

"Really?" Leo was surprised.

"Yeah, it seems right." He shrugged and then paused for a second before continuing. "Donna is going to come with me."

"To Westport?" Leo questioned.

"Yeah…" He nodded. "I told her she didn't need to…that she could walk into a White House job but she doesn't want to…She wants to come with me."

"Of course she does." Leo smirked. "She loves you."

"I know." Josh answered taking a deep breath. "So, I married her."

"Well, I'm glad you…" Leo froze mid-sentence. "You what?"

"I married her." He repeated. "Yesterday."

Leo stared at him with his mouth open, not knowing what to say.

"Donna has gone to find the Congressman and Mrs. Santos so we can let them know before anyone else." Josh continued. "But I wanted to tell you first."

"You got married."

"Yes."

"To Donna?"

"Yes." Josh grinned. "She was the one that asked me."

Leo snorted. "Of course she did."

"I should have called you…Asked you to come but everything happened so fast and…"

Leo shook his head and put a hand on his shoulder. "Was your Mom there?"

"Yes, it was just her and us."

"That's all you needed." He assured him and surprised him by pulling him into a hug. "Congratulations, Joshua."

"Thank you."

Before they could say anymore, the door opened and Donna led Matt and Helen into the room.

"Josh?" Matt looked at him in concern. "Is everything okay? Donna said you had some important news."

"Yes, Sir." Josh nodded, waiting until Donna was stood beside him. "We have some news."

"We?" Helen repeated. "As the two of you?"

"Yes."

"As you and Donna?" Helen tried to clarify.

"Honey…" Matt held up a hand to stop her before looking back at Josh and Donna. "What's going on?"

"Sir, you probably know that Donna worked as my assistant for a long time…" Josh started. "We were good friends…Best friends in fact but there was always something more."

Helen raised an eyebrow, having a feeling where this was heading. "Did you date?"

"No." Josh said quickly. "Nothing like that…We were…I guess, well…It was complicated."

"Well, I could see the problems you'd face if you started dating your assistant." Matt said slowly, glancing at Leo who he noted was watching the scene with amusement. "But now you're not boss and assistant…"

"No, Sir…"

"So, what is this about?" He asked. "Are you asking my permission to date our campaign spokeswoman because I got to tell you, I don't really care that much…"

"No, sir…I'm not." Josh shook his head.

"Then what…?"

"Oh for the love of God would you tell him already." Leo rolled his eyes.

"We're not dating, Sir…" Josh glanced at Donna once more. "We're married."

"Married?" Santos exclaimed. "Since when?!"

"Since yesterday."

Matt looked between the two of them and then at his wife and Leo before back to them. "This is a joke, right? You're winding me up?"

"No, sir…" Donna took hold of Josh's hand. "We had a small ceremony yesterday with Josh's Mom there as a witness…"

"You've really got married?" Helen asked. "To Josh?"

"I really did." Donna nodded, holding out her left hand to show her the ring.

"Oh my…That's gorgeous." Helen moved closer to examine the ring.

"It is…" Donna smiled and looked over at Josh. "Marie gave us her parents' wedding bands… they had been in the family for years."

At the moment, they both wore only wedding bands. Josh had offered to buy Donna an engagement ring but she said she didn't need one. He decided the first thing he was going to do when he had time was to find the perfect one for her as a surprise.

"Sir? Are you okay?" Josh asked, seeing that Matt was still stood staring at them in shock.

"Did you know about this?" Matt asked Leo.

"I found out about 30 seconds before you came into the room." Leo claimed. "But I gotta say, it's about time."

"I know it's probably the last thing you were expecting and it might cause some problems…"

"We'll deal with it." Matt cut him off.

"Sir?"

"Do you love her?"

"Yes, sir…more than anything." He answered without hesitation.

"Do you love him?" This time Matt turns to Donna.

"Yes, I do…" Donna smiled at Josh.

"Then we'll deal with whatever they throw at us." Matt claimed, stepping forward and hugging Donna before holding a hand out to shake Josh's. "I just wished you had told me before…Did you think I wouldn't understand?"

"It wasn't like that, Sir." Josh claimed. "I mean, we never officially dated but with working together again and things just kinda happened fast."

"Well, I think it's incredibly romantic." Helen declared.

"What do you plan on doing now?" Matt asked. "Are you going to make an announcement?"

"We've talked about it." Josh told him, glancing at Donna before continuing. "We don't want to make it into a big thing but if the press find out by some other way then they may think we're trying to hide something."

"This close to Election Day, the press is going to love this." Leo stated. "But if we do it right, we can spin so the media is on our side for this…"

"You think that will work?" Matt questioned.

"I don't see why not." He shrugged. "They're both consenting, single adults… Who fell in love working at the White House…Who doesn't love a true love story?"

Matt looked at Josh and Donna. "What do you guys think?"

"I think Leo is right, we need to control this from the start." Josh answered. "We can get Lester to put it in the morning briefing…"

"Like a 'oh by the way, while the congressman and his family spent the day at the beach this weekend, our campaign manager and spokeswoman got married and our VP candidate relaxed by the hotel pool…" Helen laughed. "And just hope no one notices?"

"Sounds good to me." Josh muttered.

"Relaxed by the pool?" Leo repeated. "Are you kidding me? Annabeth had me doing laps!"

"Laps?" Josh looked at him in surprise.

"The woman is insane…"

"Guys…" Matt tried to get their attention. "You seriously just want to throw this out there and act like it's not news worthy?"

"I think it's worth a shot." Josh answered and looked towards his wife to check her reaction.

"They're not just going to let it go…They're going to want to follow up." Donna added. "But maybe if we make it lighthearted, they'll run with that."

"Okay, I guess anything else we'll just handle when it comes up?"

"Have you told everyone you need before you make it national news?" Helen asked.

"I spoke with my family last night." Donna answered.

"My Mom was there, so she knows…" Josh stated and then looked at Leo. "Called Sam on the way here to give him a heads up…"

"Oh I bet that went down well…" Leo grinned

"He hung up on me twice." Josh smirked. "I don't know if it's because he wanted to be best man or because I beat him down the aisle first but he's happy for us…said he was sending us a toaster…"

"A toaster? Why would he…"

"Oh who knows, Leo…This is Sam."

"If you want to do the staff meeting before Lester's briefing then we better get going…" Donna cut in, looking at her watch.

"After you." Matt gesture for Josh to go first and received a confused look from his campaign manager. "What? You think I'm being anywhere near you when you tell Lou? I'm not crazy."

Josh rolled his eyes and he walked out the door with Donna and Helen following him.

"You coming?" Matt looked at Leo when he saw him hanging back.

"Yeah, I'll be right there…" Leo told him. "I just got to make a call."

Matt shot him a curious look but said no more as he headed for the door.

When he entered the conference room where the meeting was taking place, he saw Helen and Donna stood together whispering while Lou had already cornered Josh with some papers in her hand. When he had insisted his staff take a break over the weekend, Lou had been both surprised and outraged that Josh had not only agreed to it but was pretty much unreachable the last couple of days.

Matt watched them for a few seconds and was surprised how quickly his campaign manager had gone from looking happy and relaxed to stressed and tired in a space of one conversation.

"Did you tell Lou the good news?" He joined them, patting Josh's shoulder.

"What news?" Lou narrowed her eyes at them skeptically.

"Everyone?" Matt called out, gaining all their attention and causing the room to fall silent. "Our campaign manager has a big announcement."

"Thank you, sir." Josh muttered sarcastically.

"Josh! What's going on?!" Lou demanded. "What have you done?!"

Matt was amused see Josh actually taking a step away from her.

"Okay, well as you all know the congressman gave us some time off this weekend…" Josh started, once he was out of striking distant of Lou. "I used that time to spend with the people that mean the most to me… and well… I also used the break to get married too."

There was stunned silence until they heard a small chuckle. Both Matt and Josh were surprised to see it coming from Lou.

"This is a joke, right?" She questioned. "I heard about the pranks you all played during Bartlet's campaign."

"No joke." Josh assured her and then suddenly the room exploded with everyone firing questions at him.

"Who would be stupid enough to marry you?!" Lou exclaimed the loudest over the other staff members.

"That would be me…" Donna announced, stepping next to Josh and taking his hand.

"I knew it!" Lou pointed accusing at the two of them. "I knew there was something going on! I knew you didn't hate each other."

Josh rolled his eyes. "We never said we hated each other…"

"So, you've been sleeping with each other this whole time?" Lou questioned and then looked at Matt. "Did you know about this?"

"Lou, this is a happy occasion." Matt replied. "Try smiling…"

"Sir…"

"Lester?" Josh decided to just ignore Lou and scanned the room for the man. "I need you to work with us on a statement for the press before your briefing this morning…"

"You got it, boss!" He glanced at his watch. "But we better get started…"

"Sorry, Lou…You'll just have to get past this on your own." He shot her a smile. "We got work to do…"

"Hang on…" Leo entered the room, holding his cell phone out. "There's a phone call for you."

Josh frowned and reached for the phone. "Who is it?"

Leo smirked. "The man who is going to take credit for your marriage once he hears about it…"

Josh snatched his hand back before Leo could pass the phone to him, knowing exactly who Leo had waiting on the phone.

"You called the President?"

"I thought you'd want to tell him the news before the press conference." Leo replied, confused by the younger man's reaction.

"He's busy…" Josh stuttered a little.

"Josh?" Leo said in concern.

"Is everything okay?" Matt questioned, also thrown by Josh's behavior.

"You guys realize you've still got the President of the United States waiting on hold, right?" Edie pointed out.

"Josh has told everyone…" Donna stepped in. "Can I tell him?"

Leo handed her the phone but kept a watchful eye on Josh.

"Good morning, Sir…" Donna turned away so her back was to the rest of the staff but she was still facing Josh, Leo and Matt. "Yes, sir it's me… I'm doing very well, thank you for asking…"

"What did you tell him?" Josh asked Leo quietly.

"Just that you had some good news." Leo shot him a look. "What's the matter with you?"

"He's busy…" Josh repeated, fully aware that Matt was watching them. "I don't want to bother him."

Leo gave him another look telling him, he didn't believe him but let it drop for now.

"Well, we do have some good news, Sir." Josh heard Donna start to say. "Congressman Santos was somehow successful in convincing Josh to take a break over the weekend and well we decided to get married since we had the time off and were spending it with Josh's mother…"

Donna actually held her breath for a few seconds then where was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Mr. President?" She began to wonder if the connection had been lost but then her face broke out in a big smile. "No, Sir it isn't a joke… Actually, I was the one to ask him…Yes, I'm sure…"

"Lester…" Josh nodded his head towards the door. "Let's work on that statement."

"Oh, I'm coming to." Lou followed them in a hurry. "I'm not leaving it to the two of you…"

Donna watched them leaving the room and shared a look with Leo before turning her attention back to the phone.

"Sorry, Sir…He's just stepped out…I'm sure he'll call you as soon as he's free." She said. "And of course,we'll see you soon at Ellie's wedding."

TBC

A pretty small chapter and not a lot going on but hope you still enjoyed. Please review and let me know what you think!