Broken Bones, Smack-Downs and Apologizing Friends

The drive back from the Emergency Room was spent in silence. Donna had turned the radio off as soon as she started the car. And it had soon become very clear that Josh was in no mood to chat. At the red light she glanced over at him. He was curled up against the window, half asleep. More so than usual his hair was out of control and his clothes rumpled. Only it wasn't his work clothes, it was the Atlanta Braves uniform he had worn to the charity softball game earlier that afternoon. There was fresh dirt on the knees and a faint smudge on his cheek. The red cap was pulled down low over his eyes. His left arm lay in a sling across his chest. His ring finger and pinky splinted together and wrapped up. Donna patted his knee as the light changed and she continued towards his apartment.

"Josh," she said as she put the car into park. "Josh, wake up." she repeated as she gently nudged him.

"What?" groaned Josh as he struggled to curl up further in the seat but was stopped by the seatbelt.

"Wake up, we're home." she said as she got out of the car and went around to the passenger's side.

Josh had shifted in the seat enough so he wasn't in danger of falling out of the door when Donna opened it. She carefully reached over and undid the seatbelt for him.

"I'm not helpless." he muttered as he pushed his cap back up enough so he could actually see.

"Sorry." said Donna as she opened the back door and grabbed his gym bag and his baseball bat. She closed the door and was halfway to the steps when she realized Josh wasn't following her. She turned back to see him still sitting in the car, looking rather pathetic.

"Back hurts?" asked Donna with concern and not a trace of teasing.

Josh just nodded. Donna threw the bag over her shoulder and tucked the bat under her arm. She gave him a helping hand out of the car and guided him up the stairs.

He collapsed on the couch while she tossed the bag and bat in the hall closet. She went into the kitchen to get some drinks.

"You need a new ice pack?" she asked.

"Yeah, and something to drink."

"Already got it." she said as she shut the freezer and walked into the living room.

She tossed him the ice pack and opened his iced tea for him. The light on the answering machine was blinking wildly so Donna made her way over to it to listen to the messages. There were ones from CJ, Toby, Sam, Leo and Dr. Bartlet. All of them contained some kind of teasing remarks, except for Abbey's. She actually wanted to know if Josh was ok.

"You want to return any of these calls?" asked Donna as she picked up the phone.

"All my friends just made fun of me Donna." he said with a big roll of his eyes. "I'm tired and in pain, no I don't want to talk to any of them." he said with a sigh.

"What about the First Lady?"

Josh sighed and shook his head, "I'm sure she'll stop by tomorrow to check up on me."

Donna put the phone on the coffee table anyway and sat down next to Josh on the couch. Josh kicked off his shoes and tried to get comfortable.

"You know, you can laugh any time you want to, Donnatella." he said with a smirk.

"Why would I want to laugh at a guy with two broken fingers and a bad back?" she asked.

"Donna, I didn't exactly break my fingers and hurt my back making some diving catch. I tripped over a bat because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." he said with a sigh.

"Yeah I know. But you know what, you've already heard enough on the answering machine and come tomorrow there's going to be plenty more people teasing you. So I figured I'd give you a break tonight." she said seriously.

"So you'll tease me tomorrow?" he asked as he took off his hat and tossed it on the coffee table.

"If it'll make you happy, sure. I'll be happy to tease you about tripping over a bat when you were too busy paying attention to the very, very young members of your fan club who were screaming 'We love you Josh' at the top of their lungs." she smirked.

"They weren't that young." Josh said, trying to save face.

"Josh, I think their parents drove them to the game." she said as she reached over to patronizingly pat him on the top of the head. Josh gave her a look that she correctly took to mean 'you said you wouldn't tease'. "OK, no more teasing for tonight. So what do you want to do?"

Josh took a drink of iced tea as he weighed his options. "I think I want to take a shower, change and order in dinner." he said as the phone rang. "Oh, and ignore the phone."

"Fine, let the machine pick it up." said Donna as she headed for the kitchen. "Any chance you have a bag to put over your hand?"

"Yeah, in the drawer next to the stove there should be one and I think there's some first aid tape in the bathroom." he yelled as he finished the iced tea and hauled himself off the couch.

He went into the bedroom and struggled to unbutton his shirt with one hand, while wearing the sling. He was about to consider finding a pair of scissors when Donna came out of the bathroom.

"Let me help you." she said as she tossed the things on the bed.

She carefully slipped the sling off and finished undoing the buttons on his baseball jersey. He shrugged out of it and his t-shirt while Donna quickly undid his belt. It was a situation that should have been awkward with Josh standing there half naked but it didn't faze them in the least. It certainly wasn't the first time Josh needed help getting undressed. Granted most times he was drunk and didn't remember it in the morning but there were other times too, after Rosslyn and after his breakdown at Christmas time. They were just so comfortable with each other that nothing bothered them. They had an unconventional relationship, they were much more than boss and assistant, more than friends but less than lovers. While some thought it was strange, it worked for them and they were happy with the way things were.

"You ok with those.." she muttered as she pointed to his pants.

"Yeah, just let me..." he said as he pointed to the bathroom. "I'll be out in a minute so you can tape the bag on." he said, before moving quickly towards the bathroom.

Donna grabbed a clean pair of boxers and a t-shirt out of the laundry basket and set them on the bed for him. She tossed his shirt in the hamper and took the ice pack back to the freezer. By the time she got back to the bedroom Josh was sitting on the edge of the bed looking rather helpless and completely adorable. She taped his hand up quickly and sent him to take a shower, all the while trying not to stare at him sitting there in only a pair of blue plaid boxers.

While Josh showered Donna ordered some food and straightened up a little. The phone rang a few times; she let it go to the machine until she heard his Mom's voice. She was just finished relaying the story of his accident when he came out of the bathroom. He heard who was on the phone and walked to grab the portable from Donna; oblivious to the fact he was wearing only a towel, a small towel at that. Donna handed him the phone and took a deep breath, as well as a good look at him before she went to grab his bathrobe. While he talked to his mom Donna cut the bag off his hand and helped him into his robe, all the while trying not to think about how easy it would have been to just tug on the towel a little.

Feeling the room get very warm she grabbed some money out of Josh's wallet and went outside to wait on the stoop for the food. Ten minutes later, with a bag of Chinese food in hand she went back into the apartment. To her disappointment Josh had put on the boxers and t-shirt she had put on the bed for him. He was currently lounging on the couch, flicking through the channels.

"Food's here. You want to eat in there?" she asked from the entryway as she kicked off her shoes.

"Yeah."

Forty-Five minutes later the food was gone and Josh was restless, as usual.

"Where's my backpack?"

"Still in the car I think, want me to get it?"

"Nah, I can go." said Josh right as he realized he wasn't really dressed to go outside. "OK, you can go."

Donna rolled her eyes and went to get that and her own tote bag out of the car. They worked for a while, Josh read and talked while Donna took notes, somehow changing his ramblings into semi-coherent sentences. As the minutes went on Donna could tell Josh was getting more and more uncomfortable. He squirmed in corner of the couch, stretched his legs out in front of him, groaned a little, winced a little. Finally it was clear to Donna that working any longer was out of the question. The way Josh looked was all too familiar. She had seen that look way too many times while he was recovering. The pain and exhaustion would creep up on him and he would do his best to keep them at bay. But as expected the fight would become too hard and he would eventually give in, if pushed hard enough.

"OK, you're done for the night. Give me the files." she said holding out her hand for the stack of blue file folders Josh had in his lap.

"Why?" he whined.

"You're tired and miserable. Come on, why don't you go to bed."

"It's barely 9 o'clock." he whined even louder.

"Josh, do we need rules?"

"Dear God, no rules. Fine, I'll try to sleep but no bed."

"Fine, stay on the couch." said Donna with a sigh, not really looking forward to the whining she would have to endure before Josh realized he indeed felt miserable and needed some sleep. She went to the kitchen and got the ice pack out of the freezer and tossed it to him. She went out into the entryway to get the pain pill he had been given at the hospital out of her jacket pocket.

"Here take this." she said as she handed him the small white pill and his iced tea.

He eyed the pill warily and then decided taking it was a lot easier than arguing.

"Good boy." smirked Donna as she helped him take off the sling, get settled with his hand and the ice pack propped up on a pillow and the heating pad underneath him.

"You're not going to uh...you'll be here if I..." stuttered Josh, suddenly feeling anxious.

Donna smiled warmly as she sat down on the edge of the couch. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here. Sleep." she said softly as she brushed back an unruly curl. She cupped his cheek briefly as he leaned into her touch with a smile.

"Thanks." he whispered as he closed his eyes.

He fell asleep within minutes much to Donna's surprise. She sat and watched him for a little while. She was always amazed at the change in Josh when he was asleep. The constant motion ceased, well, almost and peace came over his face. It was the only time the worry lines on his forehead smoothed out and the stress seemed to disappear. Donna carefully stuck another pillow under his hand and pulled the quilt over him before leaning over to kiss his forehead. He smiled a little in his sleep, showing ever so slightly, the dimples she had come to love so much.

Donna settled into the recliner with the stack of files and her trusty note cards. She worked for a few hours with CNN flickering in the background. Around midnight she tossed the work aside and went into Josh's bedroom to find something to change into. She grabbed a pair of sweats and his beloved Mets t-shirt and went into the bathroom. From underneath the sink she pulled out a small cosmetic bag with her toothbrush and a couple of other items left over from when she had stayed with him while he was recovering from the shooting.

While she brushed her teeth, washed her face and changed in the sweats she could hear Josh stirring on the couch. He was still asleep but getting more and more restless by the minute Donna noticed as she sat down on the coffee table in front of him. He had knocked the pillows out from underneath his hand and she leaned down to pick them up and put them back in place. A small moan escaped his lips as she moved his hand as carefully as she could. With a small sigh and a prayer that the nightmares wouldn't start Donna moved to perch on the edge of the couch. She ran her fingers through his hair and he calmed down under her gentle touch. When she was sure he was asleep she covered him back up and left the room.

She flicked on the light to the spare bedroom and groaned; the bed was covered in stuff. It was way too much to move so she just closed the door and headed for Josh's bedroom, leaving him to sleep on the couch.

Sometime around 2 AM Josh woke up, his hand throbbing and his back stiff. He looked towards the recliner expecting to see Donna asleep there. The empty chair sent a feeling of panic through him but he soon saw her purse on the bench in the entryway and her coat on the hook by the door. He swung his legs over the side of the couch and sat up slowly, trying to get his bearings so that he didn't fall on his face when he stood up.

He got himself a drink of water and some Advil in the kitchen and wandered towards the spare bedroom. Finding it empty he smiled as he realized there was only one place left for Donna to be. He really wanted to sleep in his own bed and the thought of Donna next to him was an added perk. Deciding that if she threw a fit or started screaming he could always just say the pain pill hit him hard and he was a little out of it. Pleased that he was actually able to come up with than plan in the short trip to his bedroom he pushed the door open slowly and peeked his head in. Donna was sound asleep on the bed, her arms wrapped around his pillow. His plan for just sneaking into bed with her was ruined when he misjudged the distance between himself and the dresser and he banged his hand against it.

"Oww." he said trying to bite back the scream that was threatening to escape his lips.

Donna was awake in an instant. "Josh, you ok?" she asked as she sat up and flicked on the small bedside lamp.

"I've been better," he muttered as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "So much for just sneaking into bed." he whispered to himself.

"What?" asked Donna as she reached out to rub his back. "You have a nightmare?"

"Surprisingly, no. My fingers hurt, my back hurts and the couch was getting uncomfortable." he said, actually trying not to sound too pathetic but not doing a very good job.

"Lie down," she said as she moved over to the other side of the bed.

Josh settled down next to her, waiting for her to come to her senses and go sleep on the couch. It soon became clear that wasn't going to happen when Donna settled him down with his head on her shoulder.

"Better?" she whispered as she kissed his forehead.

Josh just nodded, not quite trusting his voice not to crack.

"Good, get some rest. Wake me if you need me."

Josh nodded again against her shoulder and closed his eyes. He slept restlessly for the next few hours. Never fully waking up but moving and moaning enough to wake Donna a few times. She just propped his hand back up and pulled him tighter into her embrace.

The alarm blared at 6 signaling the start of another Sunday they would spend working. Waking up together, as expected, was not awkward at all. Josh turned off the alarm and curled right back up next to Donna.

"Josh, you need to get up." she said nudging him a little.

"Don't wanna." he whined, much like a child who didn't want to get up for school.

"I know. Come on, you don't have too much on your schedule for today. We'll finish up quick and then you can come back here and relax."

"WE, can come back here." he said.

"Oh sure, because I have nothing better to do on a Sunday than work half a day and then spend the rest of the day with you." teased Donna.

Josh was a little thrown by her comment, still being half asleep. He looked her in the eyes. "I really hope the teasing just started." he mumbled.

It took Donna a second to understand but she smiled and said, "Yes, the teasing has started. We can come back here and hang out later."

BY 7 Josh was ready to go. He had managed to shower and dress himself with little help from Donna, other than taping the bag over his hand. He was restlessly wandering around the living room while she packed up the work that was still spread out on the coffee table.

"Josh, put this on." said Donna as she held the sling out to him.

"I don't wanna wear it. It's annoying and uncomfortable." whined Josh.

Donna just rolled her eyes and stuffed it into her tote bag knowing that in a few hours he would be in enough pain to break down and put it on.

The drive to the White House was quick. Donna dropped Josh at the gate and went home to shower and change. He walked in the White House mentally preparing himself for the teasing that was sure to come.

And it did.

Donna wandered into the White House a few minutes before 9 carrying two cups of Starbucks coffee. She could hear yelling from Josh's office and as she entered the bullpen she heard his door slam. She looked up to find Sam and Toby standing by the door with looks that were both slightly shocked and slightly guilty. They noticed Donna coming towards them and they tried to make a run for it.

"Freeze." she said rather loudly, attracting the attention of a couple of interns who quickly went back to their tasks. Sam and Toby kind of shuffled their way over to her desk. "What did you do?"

"Uh, we, uh, I think we might have...." stuttered Sam.

"Sam for God's sake you are a speechwriter for the President of the United States, do you think you could speak in complete sentences." said Toby as he smacked Sam in the back of the head. "What Sam is trying to say is we were teasing Josh and well, maybe we went too far."

"Great, just great. Just what I need on yet another Sunday morning where I have to work. The two of you...didn't you do enough teasing over the phone last night?"

"Donna, come on, he tripped over a bat because some teenaged girls were yelling 'we love you, Josh'. Sprained a few fingers, he'll be fine in a day or two."

"Sprained a few fingers? Is that what he told you?"

"Well, I guess we didn't really give him a chance to explain things." said Toby.

Donna just stared at them for a second trying to figure out why Josh wouldn't tell them the truth.

"Donna. Donna, what?" asked Sam.

"Well, for one thing, they're not sprained, his fingers are broken, he aggravated his back, despite a pain pill he didn't sleep well and yet here he is on a Sunday morning. And if I'm not mistaken he's got meetings with McCall and Joyce to try and save something the two of you managed to screw up." said Donna, her voice getting louder and louder, much to her surprise as well as the surprise of Sam and Toby.

The two of them just stood in front of her, shifting from one foot to the other, not quite sure what to say. The whole scene was rather awkward, Donna didn't usually smack-down members of the President's Senior Staff, except of course, for Josh.

"Anything else you want to confess to?" asked Donna as she sat down at her desk.

"We had help." said Toby as he pointed down the hallway and he and Sam took off in the opposite direction.

Donna looked up to see CJ coming towards her with what looked like a photo in her hand. She handed it to Donna who put it down without looking at it.

"That's to make up for the other photo?" said CJ as she leaned against Donna's desk.

"What photo?"

"You haven't seen it?"

"CJ, I just got here. I haven't even seen Josh since I dropped him here at 7:30."

That statement got a smirk from CJ and a set of questioning eyebrows.

Donna took a deep breath before continuing. "Yes, I dropped him off this morning. Yes, I spent the night with him. But it wasn't real exciting with his broken fingers, that's BROKEN not sprained, his bad back and the fact that he didn't sleep well. So, I ask again, what photo?"

"Well, Danny dropped off this photo of Josh uh...."

"Tripping?" guessed Donna.

"Yeah. So anyway I brought that one over to make up for it." she said as she pointed towards the photo on Donna's desk that was still upside down. "You think I should go in and apologize?" she asked as she cocked her head towards Josh's closed door.

"No, just leave him alone. He's going to go to his meetings and then I'm getting him out of here." said Donna, effectively dismissing CJ.

"Look at that." she said pointing towards the desk before she turned to go back to her office.

Donna took a sip of her coffee and turned the photo over. It was another photo from the game. Josh was at bat and had just connected with the ball. He had just finished the follow through of his swing and his eyes were tracking the ball. The red hat had flown off his head and was on its way to the ground. His curls were plastered to his sweaty forehead. He looked years younger than he was. Donna quickly decided it was her new favorite photo of him.

She tucked it under her arm and grabbed the coffee cups and headed for Josh's office. She knocked and opened the door slowly, correctly assuming he was behind it with his back against the wall.

"Hey." he said softly as he took the cup of coffee she offered him.

Donna turned to close the door behind her. She took Josh by the good arm and led him towards the couch. She grabbed a pillow from the closet and put it on the arm of the couch to Josh's left. He propped up his hand on the pillow, his feet on the visitor's chair and rested his head against the back of the couch.

"I heard what you said. Thank you." he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Not a problem. But maybe you can explain something to me..." she started.

"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. The whole thing is embarrassing enough as it is. Haven't I had enough looks of pity from people in the past two years? I just didn't feel the need to share my pain."

"Which explains the sling."

"Yeah and I really hope you brought it anyway cause my fingers are throbbing and I can't hold my hand up anymore." he said with a grin.

Donna chuckled and put her coffee on the desk. "I'll get it." she said with a smile.

Josh took a big gulp of the coffee and closed his eyes. He heard the door open again a minute later.

"I never knew you could bring the smack-down so well." said Josh, his eyes still closed.

"Well, I try." deadpanned Abigail Bartlet.

Josh scrambled to his feet, banging his hand on the arm of the couch and nearly spilling the entire cup of coffee. "Good morning Ma'am." he managed to croak out.

Abbey smiled and took the cup from him before it ended up down the front of his shirt. "Joshua, sit." she said as she pointed towards the couch. "So Donna delivered the smack-down?" she asked as she took a seat next to him.

"Yeah. Toby and Sam, they were, well..."

"I heard. And that doesn't please me so I might have to punish them later too."

Josh groaned, "Please, with all due respect ma'am, could we please just drop it."

"Certainly. So, broken huh?"

Josh nodded as he held out his hand for Abbey to inspect. She checked it out and held out the sling Donna had handed her on the way into Josh's office.

"Too manly to wear this?" she smirked as she motioned for him to stand up.

Josh just nodded his head and let her put it around his neck and adjust it across his chest.

"I want you out of here by 3 today." said Abbey in her best doctor voice as she turned to leave.

"Yes, ma'am." he said as he turned to sit down at his desk. He flipped over the picture as Abbey left the room.

"He's all yours." said Abbey as she passed by Donna's desk. "The sling is on and he's to leave by 3."

"Thanks Mrs. Bartlet."

"No problem dear. Nice smack-down, by the way." she said with a wink as she headed in the direction of the Oval Office.

Donna worked for a while until she heard the familiar bellow.

"DONNA!"

She grabbed her notepad and headed to Josh's office.

"You called master." she smirked.

"Very funny. You have my notes for the meeting with uh...." said Josh trying to recall the names that were on the tip of his tongue.

"McCall and Joyce? They're on your desk under that photo." she said.

Josh pushed the photo aside and pulled out the notes. "So CJ dropped this off as an apology for the other photo?"

"Yeah, so where is the other one anyway?" asked Donna as she took a seat on the edge of Josh's desk.

Josh pointed towards his trashcan. Donna peeked in to find the photo hand been torn into hundreds of small pieces. "That's a great picture." she said, pointing to the one on the desk. Josh smiled at her and she turned to leave. "You have staff in ten minutes." she called over her shoulder.

"Thanks."

Josh walked towards the Oval Office trying to balance a bottle of water, a stack of files and a notepad in one hand. CJ met up with him in the hallway and grabbed the water bottle just as it threatened to tip over.

"So about this morning..."

"Don't worry about it Claudia Jean." he said with a sincere smile.

"OK."

Charlie told them to go right in, The President was waiting for them.

"Good morning, Mr. President." they chorused together.

"Good morning. Please sit."

Toby, Sam and Leo were already sitting.

"So Joshua, broken huh?" said Jed Bartlet, gesturing towards Josh's sling.

"Yes sir." said Josh with a sigh as he took a seat next to CJ.

"Did you know that only one person has ever been killed during a major league baseball game?" said Jed. His question was met with the expected groaning from his staff. "That's right. In 1920 Ray Chapman the shortstop for the Cleveland Indians was hit in the head with a pitch and died. Just thought you'd all want to know that."

"Thank you sir." muttered the very uninterested staff.

"Did you also know that there are 27 bones in each human hand and wrist?" asked Jed as he took his seat.

"Sir, please." pleaded Leo. "We need to talk about McCall, Joyce and about 14 other things in the next 15 minutes."

"Fine, but one day when we're long gone from this place all of you will miss these little trivia lessons."

The staff muttered under their breath as Leo started the meeting.

An hour later Josh and Sam were in Toby's office going over some details for Josh's meeting. Toby was in the armchair, Sam was sitting on Toby's desk and Josh was stretched out on the couch clearly tired. The conversation went off in a tangent that had nothing to do with Josh and ten minutes later the snoring from the couch alerted Sam and Toby to the fact that Josh had dozed off. They looked at their friend and smiled. Toby turned off the light and the two of them went to talk in Sam's office. A while later Donna wandered in looking for her wayward boss.

"He's asleep in there." said Toby, pointing towards his office.

As Donna turned to leave Sam's voice caused her to turn back. "We're really sorry. We had no idea he really hurt himself."

"I know. Don't worry about it."

"Nice smack down by the way." said Toby as he tossed her a pink rubber ball.

Donna caught it deftly and left with a grin. She found Josh still sound asleep on the couch. Glancing at her watch she sighed. She needed to wake him if she wanted to have any chance of getting him to eat something before his meeting.

"Josh." she said quietly as she turned on the light. "Josh, wake up."

Josh barely moved. Donna sat down on the coffee table in front of him and nudged his shoulder a little. His eyes fluttered open and it was clear he was having a little trouble figuring out exactly where he was.

"Toby's office." Donna said, answering his unspoken question.

"How long have I been out?"

"About an hour. Come on. Let's get you something to eat and straightened up a little for your meeting." she said, pointing at his wild hair and disheveled clothes.

"I'm not hungry." he muttered as he sat up slowly.

Donna pulled him to his feet and grabbed his files for him. "You're eating. Don't make me get the First Lady."

"Fine." he muttered.

A little before 3 Josh limped towards Donna's desk looking like "Death on a Triscuit". She was on the phone and shook her head a little and gave him a small smile. "Ten minutes" she whispered with her hand over the phone.

He nodded, stole her soda and headed for his office. Donna hung up the phone and got ready to leave.

They stopped on the way home to pick up some stuff for dinner. Both of them had had enough take-out to last a while. Josh tried to grab steak but Donna shot down that idea and grabbed some chicken instead. Josh sulked until she let him get some Ben and Jerry's for dessert.

When they got back to Josh's place he was fading fast. Donna helped him take off the sling, gave him a couple of Advil, an ice pack, the remote and a bottle of iced tea. He settled down on the couch and let Donna fuss over him for a few minutes. He flicked on ESPN and was starting to doze off when the phone rang. Donna grabbed it before he woke up completely. She got rid of the telemarketer, made dinner and fielded a few phone calls. CJ, Sam and Toby wanted to come over to apologize one more time. Donna told them they could come over later, provided they promised not to tease and they brought beer with them.

Donna made a nice dinner and had actually uncovered the kitchen table so they could sit down and eat like normal people. Josh ate pretty well, although he spent a large amount of time complaining that Donna had to cut his food for him.

"Go and relax." Donna said as tried to get up and help clear the table.

"I'm not an invalid." he muttered as he went to turn on the computer and check his e-mail. Donna ignored the comment and cleared the table.

After setting the Ben and Jerry's on the counter to thaw a little she went to see what Josh was doing. She snuck behind him and had enough time to see that he was on LemonLyman.com.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she smacked the back of his head.

"Oww. I'm just reading." he said as he unconsciously brought his left hand up to rub his head and ended up smacking himself with the splint. "Oww."

"Poor baby." said Donna as she rubbed the back of his head. "What are you reading?"

"The message board. Apparently my fans are worried about me." he smirked as he gestured slightly with his left hand.

Donna read silently over his shoulder for a minute, her hand still unconsciously running through the curls at the back of his neck. Josh sighed and leaned into her touch as he scrolled through the many messages regarding the softball game. It was one of the rare moments they were just themselves. They weren't boss and assistant, they weren't White House staffers, they were just Josh and Donna, two people who were forever dancing over the line between friendship and something more.

"That's nice." muttered Josh as he took his hands off the keyboard and rested them in his lap as he leaned his head back to look at Donna. He gave her a sweet dimpled smile as she shyly tucked her hair behind her ears and leaned over to kiss his forehead. She let her lips linger just a fraction longer than she should. The email chime sounded and she stood up, both cursing and welcoming the distraction.

Josh opened up the email from his mom and read it while Donna grabbed the ice cream and a spoon. "Tell her I said hi." she said as she tore the top off the carton.

"I haven't replied yet. It's a little hard to do." he said, waving his left hand over his head.

"Sorry. Want me to do it for you?"

"Please." he asked with the puppy dog face.

Donna handed him the ice cream and shooed him out of the chair. Josh dictated the email while eating the ice cream.

"Hey, you could share that." said Donna as she finished transforming his rambling thoughts into a coherent paragraph.

Josh fed her some while she finished up typing his message, adding some thoughts of her own at the end.

"Can we post on LemonLyman?" asked Josh hopefully.

"Fine. One message thanking your "fans" for their concern." agreed Donna.

An hour later the ice cream was gone and they were sitting on the couch flicking through the channels waiting for CJ and the boys to arrive. Donna hopped up when the doorbell rang. Josh tossed the carton in the trash and ran his fingers through his hair in a hopeless attempt to tame his hair.

The 5 of them settled down on Josh's front stoop with their beers. It had been a while since all of them had just hung out together. And it was nice. There was no teasing and very little talk about matters of great importance. They talked about meaningless things, gossiped about people at work and just enjoyed each other's company.

It was clear to the other three that things were on the verge of changing between Josh and Donna. It was plain to see as they watched the couple interact on the steps. Josh was sitting a few steps below Donna. She sat directly behind him, her feet on either side him. They were sharing a bag of popcorn and he kept trying to steal her beer after she cut him off at one. More often than not one of her hands would be resting on his shoulder or brushing back his out of control curls. They shared smiles and glances oblivious to the rest of the group. It was just all so comfortable.

Sam, Toby and CJ shared their own knowing glances and smiles all the while wondering what was taking their friends so long to see what they had seen for a long time. A little before midnight the beer and snacks were gone and Josh was tired and getting uncomfortable from sitting on the slate steps. He invited them all in for coffee but they declined. The five friends stood on the steps and said their goodbyes, exchanging kisses, hugs and handshakes, something they didn't normally do.

Donna sent him in to get ready for bed while she cleaned up a few things in the kitchen and turned off the computer. She stopped what she was doing when she realized she had no clue what to do next. Go home, stay, sleep on the couch or do what she really wanted to do, crawl into bed with Josh and just hold him tight.

She looked up to see Josh standing in the entryway to the kitchen. Coming to the correction conclusion that he was having very similar thoughts she smiled slightly and shrugged her shoulders as if to say, "now what?"

Josh mirrored the gesture and held out his hand to her. Donna crossed the room and took his hand. They threaded their fingers together and moved into the living room. They ended up side by side, just leaning against the back of the couch, each one waiting for the other to say something.

"Donna, feel free to give me the royal smack down if I am presuming too much, but do you want to stay tonight." asked Josh with a hopeful look on his face.

"I do. But I'm not....I don't think we're ready...."

Josh tugged her by the hand so she was standing in front of him, between his legs. He took her by the hands and looked her in the eye. "I can assure you I am not in any shape to do anything but sleep." he said with a grin. "I just want to...." he stopped short, not really knowing how to put his feelings into words, something he was not used to at all.

"Curl up in each other's arms and forget about the rest of the world for a few hours?" guessed Donna as she looked at him with tears forming in her eyes.

Josh nodded and started to say something when Donna leaned forward to kiss him. It was their first real kiss that sent things sailing over the line they had danced over so many times. It was sweet and promising. When it ended Donna pulled back and Josh wiped away the single tear that was making its way down her cheek.

Fifteen minutes later they were curled up in his bed, both of them dressed in a pair of his beloved flannel boxers and a worn t-shirt. He was stretched out on his stomach, an extra pillow propping up his left hand. Donna was curled up next to him, her left leg thrown over the backs of his thighs, her left hand gently kneading away the tightness in his lower back. They were quietly enjoying the way things felt so "right" as they drifted to sleep.

Five the next morning came too quickly. Josh smacked the alarm off and snuggled deeper into Donna's embrace, not wanting to get up and face the world that they had so easily forgotten about in the previous 6 hours.

"Donnatella, get up." Josh muttered into her long blond hair.

"Don't wanna."

"Have to, time to get ready for work. Come on, it'll be fun. I have some meetings with annoying people. Come with me, smack 'em down for me." he teased as he tossed back the covers.

"OH, ok." she said as she kissed his cheek. "The things I do for you." she smirked as she headed for the bathroom.

Josh stumbled to the kitchen, started the coffee maker and booted up the computer. He turned towards the hall, making sure the shower was running before he logged onto LemonLyman.com. He read a few messages that said something about a photo. He went back through the messages and found the photo CJ had given him the previous morning was now on the site, thanks to someone with the name "Fishgirl". He smiled to himself as he picked up the phone to leave a message of thanks on her office phone.

An hour and a half later he was at his desk when someone barged in without knocking. He looked up to find the 6-foot Press Secretary about to yell at him. "Joshua Lyman I thought I banned you from LemonLyman.com." she yelled, trying desperately not to laugh.

"And since when do I listen to you?" he shot back as her resolve failed and they both burst out laughing.

Their loud laughter brought Donna into the room carrying a rather large bag of mail, which she dropped on the floor in front of Josh's desk.

"Your fan mail." she said with a big grin.

"Cool." said Josh as he leaned over the front of the desk to glance at the bag.

"Try not to trip over it." CJ called over her shoulder as she left the room laughing.

THE END

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