Tom took a moment to realise what had startled him to consciousness. He was confused as he felt a banging through his skull and a hot flash of pain at his face. With a groan, he fumbled to right himself as he became aware of a damp sensation at his chest. The middle-aged Republican reached a hand up to the front of his face where he felt the pain and cursed as his hand came away sticky, wet and stained crimson. He realised he was in the thralls of a nosebleed.

Hearing the low hum of music vibrating through the house he realised what had woken him and hastened to move. He turned slightly on his right side without thinking, causing a sudden muffled groan from his groin region. Before Tom could even consider who might be making the groan

he winced as he felt a pair of hands suddenly shoving at his left thigh anxiously.

Startled, confused and just a little embarrassed, Tom pushed back against the wall quickly and stood.

Tom raised his right hand up to his bloody nose and watched quietly as Josh Lyman hastened to his feet as well. Josh rose in a rush of panic, bushy haired and looking perplexed.

"Is this a weird dream?" Josh asked wearily as he blinked his bloodshot dark eyes.

Josh rubbed a hand through his brown curls before grimacing at the noise. "What's with the music?"

Tom, reminded of the noise, turned for the balcony doors and saw that one was lightly ajar explaining how the music had escaped out to awaken him. He walked towards them, realising his feet were bare as they were chilled by the wooden boards of the balcony he hastened across. Tom left Josh bewildered and quickly becoming aware of his hangover as he raised a hand up to his pounding brow.

Tom pulled the ajar door wider and winced as the music became louder as he stepped into the living room. He realised the music was coming from another room, vibrating down through the ceiling, it was loud enough to have disturbed the living room's inhabitants to a groaning, protesting wakefulness.

"Oh that's far too happy," C.J complained as she clapped her hands over her ears and tried to burrow into the couch she occupied.

The press secretary was a tangle of long limbs and a pale blue blanket she had yanked from the back of the cover.

The joyful notes of 'I'm Walking On Sunshine' vibrated through the roof above, each high pitched note sending a pang of pain through the skulls of the slightly hungover trio who were reluctant to awaken and realise their situation.

Toby looked the best out of the three, his suit only mildly wrinkled from sleeping in it and his shoes and tie still on unlike Sam's, which had been abandoned to the floor. Toby was on his feet, sullen faced and angry eyed, which wasn't much of a change from a normal, every day Toby.

"Sheesh did you kill someone?" Toby quipped dryly as he saw Tom entering stained in blood.

The red was vibrant on Tom's chest against the white of his t-shirt even with his back to the daylight of the morning sun trying to steal in through the glass doors.

"Shit," Tom cursed bluntly at the happy music as he ignored Toby.

Tom hurried through the living room, breaking into a sprint as he escaped it and headed for the stairwell. The music was loud enough to disguise the noises of anything going on upstairs and happy enough to deceive the unaware into thinking that the person responsible for it was in a good mood.

Tom hurried into the bedroom he and Cadence shared on the second floor of the house. He wondered only briefly at the time as he realised it was light enough to see everything clearly. The bedroom was brightly lit with the natural light of the morning sun shimmering in through the drawn blinds. Some might have considered it a sign of a joyous morning person welcoming the sunlight but Tom knew grimly that it was an indication the blinds hadn't been drawn during the night.

He found Cadence calm but disturbingly still as she sat in the centre of the bed on top of the pale jade duvet. Her hands were clenched and her mouth was in a thin line as she murmured something under breath, which was inaudible over the music she blasted from the stereo.

Tom moved to the stereo first, hitting it off before turning his attention to Cadence. As he looked he glimpsed his reflection in the profile mirror free-standing to the left and he frowned. He looked like he had been in a fight, his t-shirt was stained with a large red patch of blood and his nose, mouth and chin were still soaked with it. He tugged off the ruined t-shirt and rubbed around his face and at his nose with it before tossing it to the floor.

Tom headed to Cadence, taking a seat on the bed beside her. He drew his legs up onto the mattress and stretched them out as he leaned back against the bedhead. It was a king-size bed, old and well-maintained with the same cleanliness and starched sheets of a hotel. Although they had shared it for two years, it never felt like 'their bed' to Tom. He missed his bed in D.C but he supposed that had never been 'their bed' either.

"Good day," Cadence murmured quietly, "has to be a good day. It's going to be a good day."

"Cady-"

"I'm mad at you," she interrupted sharply as the line of her mouth creased down to a frown.

"I know," Tom retorted softly as he nodded, "but the fight comes later, we don't fight when you're having a dark moment."

Cadence let out an odd choking noise as if she couldn't decide upon a chortle or a sob. "You make it sound so simple, just a dark moment," she sneered. She bowed her head and let out a sigh. "Just a dark moment," she repeated more calmly, "that's all it is." She pushed her hands up into her light tawny brown hair and closed her eyes momentarily. "It's been so long since the last one, I thought I was getting better with these."

Tom wrapped his left arm over her shoulders.

"It just happened," Cadence said miserably. "I didn't expect it. I mean I was, am mad but...I just felt this horrid suffocating feeling and I needed the music to distract me."

Tom frowned. "Cady you use the music to cover for you," he chided her quietly. "To stop anyone hearing you and to have everyone think you're happy because the music's happy."

Cadence's mouth creased down as she dipped her head to stare at her lap. Often she was grateful for Tom's perceptiveness but at times it was an irritation as well.

"Alright, fine," she said bluntly. "I wondered who was downstairs and I thought if I'm going to start shouting swear words or cry because I really don't know which it's going to be well I don't want them to hear it. It's an added bonus that they might be hungover and sensitive to some loud music."

Tom nodded along wearily as he felt some of Cadence's misery creep into him. "Cady, you want to scream or curse or cry then just do it, I'd rather that than you suppress it and it boils up in you until suddenly you're seeking some other outlet for your emotions."

Tom squeezed her shoulder gently, wary of the defensive retort she was mustering for him.

"Look honey, no decision has been made regarding the senator's post, I wouldn't do that without talking to you first and no decision has to be made. I'm alright staying here."

"That's a lie, please don't lie Tom," she scolded him. "We both know you're unsettled here."

Tom raised his hand to finger comb her hair lightly. He gave a slightly crooked smile full of bitterness.

"I haven't hated it."

Cadence turned a serious stare up to Tom. Her gaze filled with surprise as she took in the dried blood stains that marred his philtrum and nostrils. She hesitated with her response as her gaze dropped down to take in the faint stains that had seeped through his t-shirt to his chest.

"It isn't home to you," Cadence murmured. "This was and has stayed your family's summer home, we've never made it anything else. You made D.C your home."

Cadence's eyes widened slightly at the thought of the capital city and her shoulders tensed.

"D.C, what will it be like, there will be press again and-"

"Cady, remember what the psychiatrist said, we break it down," Tom interrupted as he gazed down at her kindly. "You get stressed out by something then we look at it piece by piece. Anyway, you're getting far too ahead of things. I haven't put my name in the running and if I were to then I'd need to actually run and win, only then would D.C be on the cards."

"Am I getting ahead?" she quipped sardonically as some of her rage returned. Her stare turned stormy as she glowered up at Tom. "Haven't you been thinking about this? You must have for dad to have guessed. God Tom what obvious signs have I missed that he's noticed? Do you think I'm so fragile that you couldn't discuss it with me?"

Tom tensed this time, his entire body just seemed to tauten and his dark eyebrows furrowed down as he considered his answer.

"Cady," he addressed in a quiet, serious tone, "don't make me feel bad for trying to look out for your feelings. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. Being in that world did a lot of devastating things to you, things you still won't fully discuss."

"Tom, that's not entirely true. I mean it was being with Zoey..." Cadence trailed off and shook her head as her skin blanched slightly.

"It's been two years and you still struggle to talk about it," Tom pointed out. "Cady, you need longer and that's okay."

"Tom no, don't brush it off. It's been two years of you taking care of me, it's time for me to support you now, which I will if you want to run for Senate. It's been very difficult for you to be here, I have noticed that and yet instead of staying at the edges you've tried to be positive about it, throwing yourself into helping the people of Chesapeake and supporting their causes. I know it's caused you a lot of pain even if you avoid it because," her tone became stern, "I'm not the only one who avoids talking about sensitive matters Tom."

Tom grimaced slightly before giving a reluctant nod. "Well that's fair," he murmured.

"That's a bad nosebleed you've had, what were you thinking about?" she pried.

"C.J asked where all the photos were," Tom admitted. "She didn't mean anything by it. I mean, it is the living room, you would think I'd have some up."

Cadence nodded. "And what did you say?"

"That we weren't the type to display photos."

"Tom you know if you run for Senate it's going to go public. Everything that happened with your family won't just be Virginia's past news anymore, they'll dredge it up."

Tom sighed before nodding. "I know but for this I'd like to risk it. As long as they come after me for the story and leave Henry alone."

Cadence frowned. "There are no guarantees for that Tom."

"I know," he repeated, quieter this time.

Tom offered Cadence the lopsided smile he often gave that she was very fond of it. "So, can I ask for another delay to our fight to go and shower? I'd rather bicker with you without bloodstains."

Cadence smiled back before she could help herself.

"Tom, you know you've talked me out of the quarrel."

Tom's smile widened before he leaned down to her and nuzzled her nose with his own.

"Quarrel," he murmured quietly, "now that's a nice way of putting it. I like that."

Tom gave her a gentle kiss, pulling back hastily as he became aware of the taste of dried blood on his lips.

"I'm going to avoid the guests until you're dressed," Cadence murmured as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her right ear. "I'm not...I just..." She trailed off and clenched her fists. "Good day," she remarked firmly.

"I'll be quick," Tom promised. He gave her another smile. "And then we can throw them out together."

Cadence gave him a small smile in response.

The rowdy guests had simmered to a quiet cluster of slight embarrassment and apology. Save for Toby who remained as stubborn as ever and had no apology to offer. Tom was hopeful they would leave soon and he would have peace for the remainder of the day although he had a certain sense of dread for tomorrow. Tomorrow was Cadence's birthday and Tom was quite certain Leo and the president were liable to show up for it full of half-assed apologies and lies about being here for Cadence.

Tom stood in the kitchen by the cooker frying up another pair of eggs. He had descended the safety of the bedroom alone to face the hungover hoard.

Cadence hadn't come down to say goodbye to anyone, she'd been murmuring about good days again when Tom had emerged from his shower. He had attempted to run a bath for her but it had been lukewarm and with only a few bubbles for show. Tom wasn't a bath person and despite how deceptively simple it should be he could never quite master running the perfect one for Cadence. He had tried to make up for it by putting all twenty of her rubber ducks in it, which had earned him a sympathy smile from the young woman. Leaving Cadence to the failure of a bath, Tom had headed down to bid farewell to the tired hungover group of West Wing representatives.

Tom had been kind enough to offer them coffee and eggs, prompting C.J to tease him for his niceness. Now they were all in the kitchen around the large, black island, Sam green faced and sipping at water whilst C.J savoured her eggs gratefully, cursing every time her pager beeped.

Josh stood beside Tom, back to a counter as he sipped at his coffee and watched the Republican with intrigue. He couldn't decide if Tom's niceness was a weakness or a strength.

"How's Cadence?" Josh queried quietly.

Tom gave a bitter smile as he kept his gaze down on the frying eggs. "She's having a dark day," he confessed.

"Oh." Josh felt guilty figuring Cadence's mood and their presence couldn't be a coincidence.

"She wasn't happy to hear from Leo that I might be running for Senate," Tom admitted. "It would have been better hearing it from me but I suppose I was dragging my heels with my confession."

Tom lifted the pan and reached for a spatula.

"Have the two years here helped?" Josh pried.

Tom pushed the eggs onto the plate and shook his head. "It's limbo here, we've never treated it as a permanent move so that's always left the shadow of D.C hanging overhead, the wonder of when we'll return or if we don't, the uncertainty of where we might go."

Josh looked down to his half-empty coffee cup and wondered what he should say next. He was curious about Tom's life and seeing this summer house had only made him more intrigued. It was like Cadence and Tom were holidaying here, there were no personal touches to the place that Josh could see and after two years he found that a little odd.

"Tom, have you considered settling somewhere else?"

"I did," Tom murmured, "after the first year but things were still very bad for her, I'd wake up some nights and find her downstairs with all the lights on just sitting in the living room, wide eyed with the television on trying to distract herself. It wouldn't have been right to unsettle her further with another move."

"And why haven't you settled here?"

Tom gave another bitter smile before glancing over to Josh. "This was my parents' summer home," he explained. "I don't want it to be our home, I had good memories here and I thought that's what would come back to me being here but they didn't."

Tom's smile faded as he realised he was confessing a little too much but he was tired now of the weight of his history and secrets and whilst Cadence knew the truth of things he avoided talking too much about it because they were here for her and he didn't want her to feel guilt for being the reason for his return here. He realised that she had already picked up on his woes and probably felt that guilt anyway.

Josh stared at Tom with pity and puzzlement. He considered pushing the matter but Tom had reached for the plate of eggs and was holding it out to him, ready to dismiss him.

"I'm sorry Tom," Josh said softly.

Tom smiled at him. "Enjoy your eggs Josh."

Josh accepted the plate and carried it to the table where C.J and Sam sat. Toby was using the wall phone, arranging their pickup.

Tom headed for a cupboard and lifted down a bottle of syrup. He moved to the fridge next and hunted out a packet of store bought pancakes. He took out two and placed them in the toaster, letting them warm for half a minute before he popped them and poured a generous amount of syrup onto them.

"I'm heading back to Cady," he advised them as he lifted the plate and another cup of coffee. "If you're gone before I come back down, goodbye and have a nice trip."

"Thanks for the coffee and eggs," C.J said chirpily with a smile.

"Sorry for the...well mess," Sam apologised quietly as he blushed.

Josh gazed over at the man sympathetically. "Thanks for not poisoning anything," he joked, "you really are ruining the reputation of Republicans."

Tom chuckled. "I'd rather beat you lot fairly, which I'm sure we will in a few months time."

Tom exited before Toby could responded with fury and yelling about Republican faux pas.

He headed back upstairs to the bedroom Cadence had now made a safe room out of and was glad to see her dressed and looking a tad more cheerful.

"Breakfast," he offered as he set the plate of pancakes down on the vanity table.

Cadence was standing before the full length mirror styling her hair into loose curls. She glanced over at Tom's entry and smiled at the offering of pancakes.

"Are they away yet?" she queried with a hint of anxiety creeping into her grey-blue gaze.

Tom shook his head. "No but they will be soon, Toby is terrified I've secretly called reporters to document their debauchery in a Republican's home."

Cadence smiled at this. "Did...did dad contact any of them?"

"I don't think so."

Tom took a sip of the coffee he had brought with him. "Would you like to go Chessie hunting and put it out of your mind?" he offered.

Cadence looked over at him again as she turned off the curling tongs. "I thought you had a few meetings today."

Tom shrugged. "Nothing I can't cancel."

"Are they related to running for Senate?"

He sighed and pushed a hand through his short, dark hair. "Yes," he admitted, "but I'll cancel it. I know we avoided the fight but we haven't properly talked about it."

Cadence gave him a serious stare and raised her hands to her hips. "You're running and I'm supporting you."

"Cady-"

"Tom," she interrupted him firmly, "let's not overthink it. Piece by piece, just like you said. So, we start with you running and I'll just deal with that."

Tom nodded and stepped forward to her. "Alright, if you're sure."

She nodded before embracing him with both arms and pulling herself into his torso, burrowing up against his white cotton shirt. "Yes. So you go do what you need to today."

"Cady I can stay if you need me to."

"No, it's okay, I'll have the pancakes and think about other things. It'll be a good day."

Tom gave a slight frown at her word choice and embraced her with his free hand. "You call," he said sternly.

"I will."