Lessons

by: Allison

Character(s): Josh, Donna, CJ
Pairing(s): Josh/Donna
Category(s): Romance
Rating: YTEEN
Summary: A friendship provides a basis for dealing with other relationships as well.

We hold hands in the car, until he gets to a particularly nasty intersection and I insist that he keep both hands on the wheel. He's headed for a still different restaurant, one that I don't think I recognize, but to tell the truth I don't much care. We don't talk very much - every now and then he turns to look at me, and I smile back at him. I'm afraid that by not talking we're letting awkwardness creep in, but I guess we can fix that once we can, you know, see each other face to face.

He comes around to my side of the car and closes my door. I have the feeling he would have helped me out had I not been too fast for him. The maitre d' takes one look at our joined hands and leads us to a quiet table in the back. We're both just a little paranoid, and from the way we keep looking over our shoulders he probably thinks we're each married to somebody else or something. He hands us each a menu and then makes himself scarce, which is just fine with me.

Josh takes my hand across the table and I give him my most brilliant smile. He gives me that look that I will never get used to, and I suppress the urge to lean over and kiss him. I've always thought it looked kind of tacky when people stood half up and leaned over the table to kiss - plus all we need now is for a reporter to see us. The hand-holding is probably bad enough. Plus there's a lit candle on the table.

We get into this weird space where he leans back in his chair and I rest my chin in my hands and we just look at each other. I guess if we can do that we're probably not much in danger of things getting awkward. "So tell me something," I say finally.

"Anything?" he asks.

I give him a stern look. "What's up with CJ and Danny?"

He sighs. "Well, the short answer is nothing."

He sounds disappointed. "What's the long answer?" I ask curiously.

"I bet you heard he was offered an editorial position."

I nod. "He's not taking it."

"No. CJ thought he might."

"Why - oh." I get it. "So she really does want to -"

"Yeah, she really does," Josh admits freely. "She really, really does. But in her mind it's just too big a conflict of interests."

"But -"

"You and I aren't on different sides," he points out. "That what you were going to ask?"

"Yeah," I reply, draining my water glass. One of those ubiquitous waiters is immediately on hand to refill it. "Does she really see Danny as against her?"

"Not against her, exactly, but not really with us either."

"I know."

He sighs again. "I wonder sometimes whether she shouldn't just -"

"Go for it?"

"Yeah. I mean, he really might be good for her. And she needs somebody, I think. Even just casually."

"She has you," I say.

He smiles. "Yes, but not in exactly the same way, or have you forgotten?"

I smile back. I think I'm getting a little red. "No."

We manage to get through dinner without any lapses into weirdness. It's amazing how well we work - and on the other hand, it's not really surprising at all. We've always known we're good together. We've just never tried it this way.

Once back in his car, he places a hand over mine. "You want to go pick up your car?"

"I probably should," I say with regret. "Don't want to start rumors that easily."

He nods without comment, and we sit in companionable silence all the way back to the White House. I'm thinking hard about the night, and he probably is too.

It's ten o'clock by the time we're standing outside my car in the White House lot. We stand for a long time, hands at each other's waists, trying to decide what to say. Finally he draws me into a tight embrace. I rest my head on his shoulder and hug him back as hard as I can manage. All too soon we pull back and I open the car door.

"Donna."

That's all I need. I whirl around and find myself in his arms again, kissing him for all I'm worth. When we finally come up for air he kisses my forehead and whispers after a slight hesitation, "You want me to follow you?"

I pause. "Yes."

"Okay." He leans his forehead against mine for a moment, then pulls away and gets back into his own car. I slide into the front seat of mine, heart racing. Once again, intense emotion does not improve my driving skills. I hope he's too off-balance to notice.

When we get to my building we walk through the hallways in silence. It takes two hands for me to get the key into the lock and force it to turn, so he has to settle for keeping a hand on my back. He suddenly remembers something as the lock gives under my hands. "Is your new roommate home?"

I grin as I push the door open. "She had a date. She hasn't been home a lot of nights this week."

"Oh."

I deposit him on the couch and busy myself checking my messages (none, for either me or my roommate) and doing my standard check of all the rooms to make sure there are no psychos hiding in the closet or the bathroom.

"Donna?" I hear from the small living room.

"Yes?"

"Come here." I peer out and see him gesturing to the couch beside him. I shrug out of my coat, dropping it on a chair, and reach for his. Once it's out of the way I settle in next to him, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"What were you doing?" he asks.

"Making sure no one's broken in while we were gone," I reply matter-of-factly.

He looks worried. "Has anyone ever broken in?"

"No. I'm just paranoid."

"Okay." He wraps both arms around me and pulls me closer. "So."

"Yeah."

Our eyes meet and he bends to press his lips to mine. I could definitely get used to this. I lose track of time, and I'm guessing he does too. By the time we break apart to catch our breath we both need to compose ourselves a bit. I'm wearing a button-down shirt over a tank top, and he has the outside shirt mostly unbuttoned and untucked and his hands wrapped around my lower back under it. While we breathe he leans over to kiss my neck gently and he slips his hands under the back of my shirt to touch my skin. I jump at the cold.

"Sorry," he murmurs into my neck.

"It's okay," I reply a little shakily. I wrap both arms around him and pull him close so that he's completely leaning on me instead of supporting himself. "They'll warm up."

"Pretty quickly, this way," he comments, resting for a moment against my shoulder.

"Josh?" I ask after a moment.

He sits up, a funny look on his face.

"What?" I ask, alarmed.

"Nothing," he replies, the look not fading. "It's just that you haven't called me that all night, and hearing you say my name suddenly reminded me that this is me and you. I mean, not that I forgot, it's just..."

"I know what you mean," I say, relieved that it's not a problem. "I never really thought I'd be saying your name this way."

"What way would that be?" he asks, with a wicked gleam in his eye.

I smack him. "Watch it or you'll never find out."

He smiles and relaxes against my chest again. "I'm not hurting you?"

"No, you're fine."

"Good." One hand slides around to my abdomen and starts lightly rubbing around the general area of my ribs. "What were you going to ask before?"

I reach up and stroke his hair fondly. "Will you stay?"

He sits up again. "Here? Tonight?"

I nod, pulling him back into my arms. "Stop that, you're making me cold. Yes, tonight. I mean, not for - just to stay."

"Oh." He actually sounds a little relieved. I guess it would have been taking things a little fast if we went in the space of three hours from confessing our feelings to hopping into bed. Figuratively speaking. He sighs contentedly and turns his head to press a kiss to my collarbone. "Yeah, I'll stay."

I get the feeling it's a little odd for him to be crawling into bed with me in his boxers, but I absolutely put my foot down at any unnecessary abuse of his already severely taxed wardrobe. Anyway the weirdness kind of dies away once we've settled ourselves. Sleeping with (and I mean this in the purely literal sense) a man who's the same height is kind of funny. I have to slide further down in the bed so that I can lean my head on his chest, which means that his feet only reach to my shins. And, I might add, they're cold. Or they are until they've been tucked under my knees for a few minutes. But he holds me close, and the rest of me is quite pleasantly warm. It has been too long since I've felt this, but it also doesn't seem that it's ever felt this way with anyone else. Tonight I have no trouble falling asleep to the soothing twin rhythms of his heartbeat under my cheek and his fingers stroking my hair.

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

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