#josh lyman x donna moss

[lithiumseven]

Josh and Donna sharing a beer during the Stackhouse filibuster is everything to me. Her reaching behind herself for it and making impatient gestures, him trying to take as big a sip as he can before he passes it over, the fact that they’ve clearly done this before, ugh it’s incredible

[loliwrites]

The Morning After

Post-episode continuation of s03e02 Manchester: Part One

pairing: josh lyman x donna moss rating: 18+, minors dni  warnings/tags: the west wing season 3, post episode continuation, discussion of abortion/emergency contraceptives, fluff and angst, mutual pining, two idiots in love that aren't going to admit it word count: 2.1k a/n: should i be writing my joel fic? absolutely. do i love these two and constantly have inspiration for them? doubly absolutely.

It had been a long day. A trying day. In a string of long and trying days that had made up a long and trying month. The President and Leo were in more rooms with more closed doors than they used to be. CJ was losing her rhythm on a near daily basis. And everyone found themselves avoiding the lobby more than usual just in case someone was there to serve them with a subpoena. All that was made worse by the newcomers brought in to help with the re-election campaign. The newcomers that were supposedly experts in campaigns, led by Bruno Gianelli.

And the icing on the cake was Donna eating all of Josh’s french fries. He was lucky she didn’t try to nab the second half of his sandwich. They were going to have a long, long weekend of prepping the President on his speech for the bid for re-election, and he would need all the sustenance he could get – even if that came in the form of cheap, pub food and rest on a lumpy mattress. 

Rest, which at the moment, was hard to come by. He stared at the clock on the nightstand. The red lights glowing in the dark. Next to it, the plastic of the hotel phone reflected the light, taunting him. French fries. With a sigh, Josh sat up and continued to stare at the phone. Then with the last shred of his self-control exiting his body, he picked up the receiver and cradled it between his ear and shoulder. 

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 

Donna rose to the sound of knocking on her hotel room door. A quick glance at the clock told her it was probably Josh. No one else would be up at this ungodly hour. She could just stay in bed. Pretend she was in a deep sleep and never heard a thing. But then the knock came again and she figured Josh was more relentless than she was stubborn. 

She rolled out of bed and searched the dark for her robe. The pastel pink one that had been with her for too many years. At one time it had been lush and fluffy. Now, after more washes than she could count, the worn fabric resembled more of a brillo pad than a cloud she wrapped around herself. Certainly even her meager government paycheck could pay for a new one. But this one had history. Life. The one she’d bought in this very town when she’d first joined the Bartlet campaign. Paid for it with her first paycheck, hand delivered to her by Josh.

Wrapping the garment around her, she tied it securely around her the moment before she yanked open her hotel room door. To her surprise, it wasn’t Josh on the other side. It was an annoyed looking teenage boy thrusting a plate of french fries at her. He turned away before she even got a word out.

“I didn’t order this!” She called after him. But typical of what she knew about teenage boys, he didn’t acknowledge her. And worse than that, she was now the owner of a plate of french fries she didn’t want. And that’s when it dawned on her.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 

Josh sprung up from bed and ran to his hotel room door at the sound of knocking. He was going to get his french fries. At long last. And this time, Donna wouldn’t be there stealing them. 

Pulling open the door and seeing Donna there holding his plate of french fries was like some mean, karmic trick. Her being in the tattered pink robe she clung onto for dear life was the nail in the coffin. How could she look like that in a piece of clothing so abysmally sad?

“You know, you’re not in college anymore. A plate of french fries at three in the morning will go straight to your hips,” Donna twisted past Josh and entered his room.

“Donna,” he all but whined and shut the door, turning back for her.  But she was already perched on his bed, back up against the headboard. Looking like she belonged there. “Can I have those?” He motioned to the plate of fries she was now picking her way through.

“Why’re you ordering fries at three in the morning?”

“Because you ate my other fries. And now you’re eating these,” he sat down on the end of the bed. One foot firmly planted on the floor and his other leg bent up on the mattress.

“I’m consistent,” she smiled and popped another fry into her mouth.

Josh returned a grin. Her legs were stretched out in his direction. Feet so close to him that he could reach out and hold them if he were so inclined. If he were brave. But he didn’t and he wasn’t. “Can I ask you something?”

She lowered the plate of fries to her lap and looked up at Josh. He wasn’t generally one for a preface to a question.

“You were pretty excited about the RU-486 thing,”

She hesitated, thinking a question might come. But when it never did, she smiled, “aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Of course. But… you were really excited about it in a way I don’t generally see you get excited about government. And you said it wasn’t because it was going to lead to a lot more sex for you,”

Donna’s gaze narrowed, thinking – wondering where this conversation was going. “Was there a question, or…?”

“I got the sense it was more than just excitement around a wonderful scientific win for female reproductive freedom. More personal.” He paused. And on her continued silence, realized he still hadn’t posed a question to her. But he was at a loss. Even he, with the blurring of this professional line, wondered if this was a bridge too far. He shook his head absently, “if you’re in a bind, or need help… You can take some time off. Figure things out. I promise your job will be there when–”

“Josh!” She interjected and slid the plate off her lap and toward him on the bed. Maybe if he filled his mouth with food, this could end. “I’m not in a bind,”

Josh reached past her foot and picked up a couple fries. He shoved them into his mouth and mid-chew, “I’m just saying…”

“Josh, I’m not in a bind. I’m not in dire need of that contraceptive at the current moment. I’m not pregnant. You don’t give me enough time off to be able to get pregnant even if I were so inclined.”

He bowed his head sheepishly. The thought he kept at the back of his brain was that he was glad she didn’t have time for another man. When he looked back at her, he searched her face for anything that could clarify what she meant by “at the current moment”. There wasn’t much, but he gathered there had been a moment when she did need a contraceptive like the one the FDA was set to approve come the new week. And the look on her face… the expression of shame… it made him want to kill the man that had put her in that position.

“Look, I–”

“There’s another thing I didn’t tell you about the Dr. Freeride, car accident situation.” Though Josh’s eyes remained glued to hers, she retreated to looking down at her hands in her lap. Tugged at her fingers as anxiety built and bubbled within her. She was thankful Josh reined in his typical snark. “I was going to the pharmacy when I got into the accident. To pick up Plan B,”

She flicked her eyes at Josh to see if his expression shifted in any type of way. It didn’t. “But when the accident happened, and the hospital, I never ended up being able to get it,”

“It’s pretty effective if taken within seventy-two hours…” he choked on the end of the sentence realizing that wasn’t a particularly helpful comment. 

But Donna only smiled. Not nearly as offended as she probably should have been. “After the hospital, I was kind of focused on something else, and it fell to the wayside,”

Oozing as much kindness and understanding as he could, he pressed further. “What could’ve been more important than that?”

She chuckled and tilted her head to the side. She wondered if he would catch the thing in her gaze that looked a little bit like love. “I spent those seventy-two hours getting back to you. To the campaign,”

Josh shook his head, “Donna, I…”

“When I’d settled again, the realization hit that I missed the timeframe, and… I spent the next month taking pregnancy tests everyday and worrying that I was going to be bringing a child into the world with a man I really wanted nothing to do with anymore. Then I was late for my period and was wracking my brain for an excuse I could tell you so I could slip away to get an abortion.” She paused and Josh opened his mouth to say something, but Donna continued speaking, “I was late because of stress.”

Josh scrubbed his hand over his face.

“So this new emergency contraceptive that’s effective for the first forty-nine days? That would’ve been really helpful then. And it’s going to be helpful for a lot of women… including the ones who need more than seventy-two hours to get themselves out of bad situations,”

She scooted off to the side of the bed and flung her legs over the edge. Standing, she re-secured the robe around her tightly and made toward the door. Josh was there, too, standing with her and reaching past to pull the door open for her. He leaned against it as she stepped through the threshold back into the hall. Her room was right across from his as it usually was. But instead of going back to it immediately, she turned to Josh again.

“Now can I ask you something?” She grinned softly.

Josh nodded earnestly.

“What would you have said or done if I had told you I needed a couple days off to get an abortion?”

He pursed his lips together and stared at her. What he wanted to say was, I would’ve told you I loved you then and everyday since and would support you every step of the way. But it came out, “I would’ve driven you to the clinic. Asked what type of soup you wanted after. But would’ve just scoured whatever town we were in for a bowl of matzo ball soup,”

Donna blushed, smiling a little wider now. “Jewish penicillin,” she remembered his mom calling it one day.

He nodded, “yeah.”

She looked down at her feet nervously and backed up to her door again. She slid the key card into the lock and pushed it open. With a look over her shoulder, she whispered a goodnight to him, and disappeared back into her room.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 

She flicked off the light in the bathroom as a knock came at her hotel door again. This time, thankfully during daylight hours. She grabbed her purse off the desk chair and patted her pockets to make sure she had her key and phone. Then before another knock could come, she pulled open the door with a smile on her face.

And there was Josh. Like she expected. He too had a smile on his face but his looked a little more hesitant. 

“Ready to head to the farm?” She shouldered her bag and looked down the hallway in the direction of the stairs.

“Yeah,” he nodded. She was quick to take off down the hall, but Josh reached forward and caught her wrist at the last moment. Donna turned back to him – nearly stumbling – and smiled, seemingly confused. “I’m sorry,”

Her confusion etched deeper in her features. “For what?”

“For not fighting harder to get it approved sooner,”

Donna shook her head, “that’s not your fault. The FDA doesn’t work for you.”

He licked his lips quickly, “yeah but the report has been sitting on my desk. If I had gotten it in front of the President to endorse it, it could’ve put pressure on the FDA to approve it faster.”

“Josh, it wasn’t on your desk four years ago,” she smiled and turned back for the stairs. But he still had a hold on her and when she felt resistance because of his lack of movement, she looked back at him again.

“I’m sorry,”

She pressed another smile. This one a lot more gentle than the previous one. “You really are sweet when you’re not being you,” she nudged him and nodded in the direction of the exit. “Let’s get to work,”

[doctorstethoscope]

Fluffy February Day 19 || Vacation

pairing: josh x donna

wordcount: 412

contains: cursing

“Why didn’t we come to Hawaii during the campaign?” Donna asks rhetorically as she rolls over to face Josh in their cabana. 

“We drew the short straws and got stuck with the candidate,” Josh deadpans back, and she throws her head back in a laugh, catching the smile he’s trying to hide out of the corner of her eye. 

“Josh,” Donna starts, looking down at him over her sunglasses. 

“Yeah?” He says. 

“I’m glad you brought me here, but I’m more glad that you came to begin with. That you listened to Sam and stepped away.” 

Josh sighs. “I wasn’t that bad—”

“No, you were, Joshua. And that was only the beginning of the cyclone. Speaking as someone who’s watched you spin out of control and has picked up the wreckage afterwards,” she reminds him, solidly holding his eye contact even as her heart pounds in her chest. 

He draws in another deep breath. “I was getting bad, yeah. I’ll do better,” he relents. 

“We’re already on our second chance, Josh. If we fuck it up this time, I don’t know how I’m going to handle living in the same city as you, and I can’t go back to Wisconsin,” she pleads with him.

“I know, Donna,” he says, and he means it. “I don’t want to fuck it up. We aren’t going to fuck it up, I promise,” he assures her, reaching for her hand and stroking his thumb over her knuckles. “If anything happens, you can have custody of DC. I’ll move back to Connecticut.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Donna rolled her eyes goodnaturedly. “The country needs you far more than it needs me.” 

“The President was ready to fire me if I didn’t take this vacation, so clearly he doesn’t think so,” Josh reminded her. “Sam would do a good job. Or CJ, if we could get her back. I could teach at Yale.” 

“They’re all stuck-up conservatives at Yale,” Donna counters. 

“I graduated from Yale,” he reminds her. 

“So I’m half right,” she shrugs, and he laughs, rolling over again so he can lay on his stomach and sling an arm over her midsection. 

“This is all moot, right? Because we’re gonna put in the work, and be in this for the long haul. And I’ll probably fuck it up on occasion, but I will always be very very sorry. So we’re gonna figure it out?” 

“We’re starting to, I think,” Donna agrees, running her fingers through his hair.

tagging: @spacecowboyhotch @honeybrowne @angelfxllcm @rousethemouse @infinite-tides @gspenc @anlin2058 @zetasaturno99 @witheldclouds @realdirectionx @sbeno22 @el-vs94 @hausofwhores

[joshdonnas]

"Are you even Iistening?" "No." "Do you wanna do this?" "I don't." "I did index cards." "How many?" "Eighty-seven." "Reduce it to three."

DONNATELLA MOSS AND JOSHUA LYMAN

Galileo (2x09) ❈ The West Wing

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[hollygl125]

Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney, and Bradley Whitford in THE WEST WING (1999-2006), “A Proportional Response” (01x03)

I don’t think we’re allowed to make up our own words.

[blazeperalta]

i love you, it’s ruining my life

i love you, it’s ruining my life

[jessbakescakes]

#joshdonna: i broke my own heart 'cause you were too polite to do it

[bookofjudith]

on this note this is the most whipped man i have ever seen in existence

[dearemma]

THE WEST WING    -     Josh Lyman and Donna Moss

[lizzybennets]

But it feels good to be known so well I can't hide from you like I hide from myself

joshdonna | true blue, by boygenius

[lemon-lyman]

You see!? You spend most of our time being, you know, you. Then you write something like this to me.

[loliwrites]

No one asked for this and if you've never seen The West Wing, you probably don't care. But the chokehold these two have on me. It's just a whole lot of pining and fluff.

AU of 4.10 Arctic Radar if Jack hadn't asked Donna out for drinks that night.

“The two CBO reports are right on your desk, as is the East Asia paper. Your call sheet is clear. If there’s anything else, I’m happy to come in early tomorrow. Do you think I could go?” Donna wrapped her scarf around her neck, dejected. Of all the things she’d ever done for Josh, and how little she tended to ask of him, his little trip down memory lane with Jack Reese was just the icing on the cake. 

“What time is it?”

“Quarter to eight,” she grabbed her bag. Somehow they both knew he was going to let her flee.

“Sure,”

Donna pulled on her long, wool coat and fastened the buttons to keep it closed. By the time she reached outside, the cold November air would be in full force and she wouldn’t have the hands to secure them.

“Those are good stories about you, though,” Josh paused, giving the briefest of thoughts back to Donna’s underwear and Karen Cahill debacle. “Those stories would make me like you.” It also wasn’t lost on him that those stories had made him like her.

“You like everybody,” she folded a note into her pocket and grabbed her bags.

“Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving. You won’t be coming in early tomorrow. You won’t be coming in at all,” 

“Is there anything you need?” Despite whatever feelings she was having at the moment – of seemingly being forgone by her latest crush, there was true sincerity in her tone.

Josh wished in that moment she hadn’t sounded so sincere. He wished she hadn’t asked him that at all. He didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve her kindness when he’d so flagrantly decided to tell Jack those anecdotes. It was true, he did like those stories. Those stories were endearing. The minutiae added up to the whole of this woman he simply couldn’t live without. “No, I’m just saying,”

“Okay,” she flung her bag over her shoulder and left the bullpen. “Happy Thanksgiving,”

“You too,”

And yes, telling Jack those stories had been a decision, albeit not one laced with intended malice or meant to sabotage. How could someone not like those stories? How could someone hear those and not fall a little more in love with her? Josh had genuinely thought he’d been doing her a favor. If he liked these things, any man would. Any man would be lucky to have the woman in those stories. Had the roles been reversed, and he was hearing these stories for the first time, he’d have stormed the halls of the West Wing to find her. He wasn’t sure why Jack hadn’t, though he had to admit there was a hearty amount of relief that he’d hadn’t. 

It was unfair of him, he knew that too. How many times in the past had he sabotaged her dates, advertently or not? He kept her at work late. Gave her stacks of work she’d never get through, knowing she had dinner plans. It was work she’d have to do eventually, but it wasn’t so pressing that she miss a dinner date. His recurring jokes about Dr. Freeride. And more than a few times, he’d leave her with a parting comment that the man she was going out with was a dud. Or an idiot. Or a jackass. Or a subspecies of bipedal man. And when she’d come back from those dates, he wasn’t nearly surprised that she’d come to those same conclusions. Yes, it was beyond unfair. Donna had been nothing but supportive with the rise and fall of Mandy. And the re-emergence of Mandy. She championed him to go for Joey Lucas. She was even a cheerleader to his relationship with Amy. Even when Josh would recount all their horrible arguments to her, Donna was supportive every time they reconciled. And here he was, subconsciously (or not) sabotaging every lead she got on a relationship.

“Hi Ma,” he blurted into the phone and tilted his head to the side to cradle the receiver between his cheek and shoulder. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten to this point. Hadn’t remembered returning to his office or hearing the phone ring. 

“Hi Joshua, happy Thanksgiving,”

“Happy Thanksgiving,”

“Roberta told me there was a cold front moving through the northeast. Said it looks like it’s gonna be pretty bad so stay safe with your plans tomorrow,”

Josh glanced down at his watch and then rubbed one of his eyes with the back of his fist. “I will Ma, I’ll probably just be here,”

She tsked him, “you don’t have to work, do you? Where’s Donna? Did she go to Wisconsin this year?”

“Donna’s in town.”

“Well invite her ‘round,”

He nodded like an obedient son, “okay.”

“Joshua, I mean it. Throw a turkey in the oven for that girl. She does enough for you every other day.”

“Jesus, okay Ma.”

“I’m just saying, cook her a goddamn meal.”

He nodded again, “I will, I will. Scout’s honor. Look, Ma, I’m gonna pack up and get out of here. I love you,”

“I love you too,”

They both clicked the line dead almost simultaneously. Josh sat stunned in his desk chair for a moment. He stared at the phone and after a second, chuckled. Florida had turned his mom a little more… spicy than she’d been in his youth. He took a second to think about what his dad would say about this new version of his wife. Probably would’ve doted on her just as much. But before the emotions could fully sneak up on him, Josh took a deep breath and stood up from his desk. Inspired by his mother’s words, he threw on his jacket, flung his backpack over his shoulder, and all but ran out of the West Wing.

He wasn’t really sure what he was going to do – or say. What could he do or say that would make things better? Short of going back to Jack and really giving him a piece of his mind. Because all Josh really wanted to say to him was that there was no way in hell he deserved Donna. If he didn’t like those quirky and off-color stories about her, then he didn’t deserve the girl who also had stories that were a little more wholesome.

Like the time she left the festivities after the Illinois primary, booked herself a one-way ticket on some ragtag regional airline, and got herself to Connecticut eleven hours after Josh had gotten there. She was still new in his life by all accounts and had never met his parents. But having her there for his father’s funeral had meant everything to him.

Or all the times she’d been there for him after Rosslyn. She literally kept work away from him. She cooked for him. She cleaned for him. She nursed him back to health. And he knows that had he asked, she would’ve bathed him too. Though he’d never ask. She had run herself ragged for the months of his recovery. Most nights she never made it back to her apartment. When he’d become mobile again, he often found her curled up on his couch in the morning. 

And then, for the second time that evening, Josh wasn’t sure how he’d ended up here. He remembered stopping by the liquor store for a six pack. He thought he’d finish those off by himself. But he hadn’t remembered how he’d gotten here. At the steps of her apartment, looking up at her window. He knew she was awake. He could see the light coming from her great-grandmother’s lamp. He always teased her about that lamp. It was gaudy. It gathered dust. And for some reason unbeknownst to him, it gave off this low frequency buzz whenever it also gave off light. He ascended the steps, keeping his eyes on her window for as long as humanly possible, and only pulled his gaze away from it so he could ring her buzzer. Waiting and waiting, and growing colder and impatient, he rang the buzzer again. It wasn’t like her to leave someone – anyone – waiting outside. Then with a particularly strong and cold breeze, Josh ran his hand down the line of buzzers to the other apartments in the building. Surely one of them would ring him in. 

God bless the tenant on the second floor.

Josh whipped the door open and ascended the old wooden stairs, two at a time. He kept his hand on the banister as he turned the corner and ran up the next flight. Just as Donna had been to his apartment countless times, he’d been to hers too. Usually he was drunk and yelling at her roommate’s cats. And by the following morning never remembered why he’d been there in the first place, but he had been there before. Now as he knocked on her door as gently as he could as to not startle her, he hoped he’d be happy to remember this night.

He heard the chain on the door slide and when the door started to creak open, he raised his gaze and soon found himself staring upon Donna.

“Hi,” he offered, taking a moment to take in the sight. She was wrapped in the enormous flannel blanket he knew usually lived on the back of her couch. It didn’t look as though she’d been crying, though her expression didn’t exactly look pleased. “I brought a peace offering,” he lifted the six pack and flashed an overcompensating smile on his face, hoping she didn’t slam the door on him.

Donna glanced at the beer, then pulled the door open a little wider and stepped to the side to let him in. Josh took that as a win and Donna figured as much. Truth be told, she didn’t exactly know what she was feeling. It was no secret that her past romantic exploits hadn’t gone spectacularly well. From Dr. Freeride and the lobbyist who couldn’t shut his trap about his agenda once he found out she worked for the deputy chief of staff. To any number of blind, and otherwise, dates she’d been set up on. And perhaps the worst of all was her last more serious encounter – Cliff Calley. Serious. What a joke, she thought. It had been two nights that were great, followed by two depositions that weren’t. Not to mention the sheer and utter embarrassment of having her boss hand over her diary to Cliff for him to read. She could’ve died in her skin right then and there. Not to mention the trouble and grief she’d put Josh through. And thank God he’d been mature… or sane… enough to realize that he didn’t need to read her diary to make it all go away. Perhaps he would’ve been confused why he showed up so often in her nightly recounts of the day.

“I really am sorry, Donna,” Josh offered again as he rounded into her kitchen and pulled open the drawer where he knew the bottle opener was kept.

“Quit apologizing. What are you, moonlighting as a Canadian?” She took the open bottle and downed a first sip. “I’ve already done that,”

He suppressed a smile as he popped off the cap to a beer for himself. On their way out of the kitchen, he reached forward and clinked his bottle against hers for good measure. “I wasn’t trying to ruin that for you,”

“I know that, Josh.”

“I mean it,”

“I know,” she folded one leg beneath her and sat back down on the couch. The blanket fell away from her shoulders as she moved to take another sip.

“Are you mad at me?”

Donna imagined that’s how Josh sounded as a child and had been the thing he’d asked his parents countless times after Joanie. Always searching for a sort of validation. Proof that he had been wrong or bad and was worthy of the anger; most of which he felt within himself. Just as she suspected his parents had, Donna couldn’t summon too much anger at him. Sure he knew how to push her buttons. And knew how to rile her up and piss her off. But the anger was always short lived and she’d be left with a sense of enduring love.

She took another sip of her beer and settled back against the couch as Josh sat at the other end of it, angled toward her with one leg crossed under the other and his free hand stretched across the back of the couch. “You did a fool thing, but… I expect you to do fool things. You’re a man, you can’t help it.”

“Donna,” he half-whined.

“Well I haven’t exactly seen you knock one out of the park when it comes to women. Watching you try to flirt is almost as painful as watching you do a press briefing.” She smiled, vindicated when he choked on his beer and coughed. “It’s just like that time you told the entirety of the communications staff about the history of our non-anniversary,”

“But that’s a good story, too.”

“But you got it wrong.”

Josh opened his mouth to speak but he quieted himself. It wasn’t worth saying that he only got the story wrong because she had told him a wrong version of the story. He’d reiterated the story as he’d been told by her. He couldn’t help if she had recounted a false narrative to him. But that wasn’t worth it. Being right wasn’t the point right now. 

“Despite what you say, guys don’t go out with everyone. At least not the ones worth anything. They want a well-to-do woman, not an assistant. And if by some stroke of luck or charm they can look past my job title, they can’t look past the fact you’re my boss.” Upon seeing a hint of a smile cross Josh’s face, Donna extended her leg and kicked him. She managed to pull her leg back before Josh was able to grab hold of her ankle, though he did try. Maybe a part of her wished she hadn’t been too quick. Or that he had been quicker. “Anyway, I really like Jack. So much so, that he’s the type of person I could see a lot of potential with. That’s why I asked you to talk me up to him. I didn’t imagine you’d do such a spectacularly awful job at it.”

“Donna, I think you’re missing a big aspect of this–”

“Josh,” she leaned forward and set her bottle down on the coffee table, effectively trying to cut him off completely. But he wasn’t having any of it.

“No, no, listen. Would you really, honestly want a guy that wasn’t endeared by those stories? I mean, your future husband is going to hear these so-called embarrassing–”

“Not so-called, they are.”

“Your future husband’s going to hear these and he’s going to think less of you for them? You’re gonna spend the rest of your life with a guy who you have to censor yourself around? Donna, I’m pretty sure you were attending your town’s Holland-fest, dressed in wooden clogs and a funky, white pilgrim hat well into your college years. You’re gonna have to hide a lot of your life from this husband.”

She shot up from the couch, “look at you with the sensitivity!”

Josh mirrored her movement and stood in pursuit of her. “All I’m trying to say is that a guy who doesn’t like all the little quirks that make you Donnatella Moss from Wisconsin, doesn’t deserve Donnatella Moss from Wisconsin.”

Donna exhaled and folded her arms over her chest. “Well that’s very kind of you to say. But for what it’s worth, I wouldn’t hide my life forever. Just until the guy knows me. Until he knows that I’m cute, and witty, and not an absolute nutcase.”

“I think you should give yourself more credit. You’re not just an assistant. You happen to be the assistant to a very important–”

And this time he was sufficiently cut off. He’d have rather it been because she interrupted him with another plea or remark. But instead he was cut off because her phone started ringing. She ran to it, though the man who was usually responsible for making her phone ring was currently in her apartment. And as soon as she greeted the caller, and Josh saw how she blushed and placed her free hand over her heart, he knew it was Jack. And he knew that whatever night they were going to have, was now over.

Josh sat back down on her couch as she continued her conversation in the kitchen. He stared at his beer for a second, and then with slow precision, lifted it back to his lips, tilted his head back, and took a long sip that finished it off. How many times was he going to have to lose this girl? And how long was he going to pretend like it didn’t shatter him every time she started up with someone new? His mother had been right, of course, and he wondered how long it had been since she realized her son was in love with his assistant. He ventured to assume she knew from the first moment she met Donna – the day after his father had died. 

As much as Donna’s presence had meant the world to him, he also sensed that it had meant a great deal to his mother, too. It was Donna, after all. She could make anyone feel comfortable or loved. And as soon as she got to his childhood home, she took it upon herself to begin tasks no one would’ve ever asked of her. She immediately entered the kitchen and whipped up a quick pot of her mother’s hearty stew. She had asked Josh to join her, and in between their light and gentle conversation (mostly of Josh recounting memories of his father), she would ask him to get her things from around the kitchen. Do you know where the lid to this pot is? Do you think your mom has vegetable stock? That’s alright, beef stock is fine. Where’s the vegetable peeler? Do you mind washing those potatoes? And when she’d finished cooking, Josh brewed a large pot of coffee and assisted her in scouring the kitchen. That night, Josh’s mom found her deep-cleaning all the bathrooms. And dusting and vacuuming the next morning. Finally Josh asked her why she was doing all this, and Donna just shrugged, “this is what I would want help with if someone important to me had just passed away.” From that moment on, Josh didn’t have one phone call with his mom where she didn’t ask about Donna.

Realizing he’d been caught up in a memory, Josh laughed at himself and glanced toward the kitchen. Donna was still on the phone, and suddenly growing uncomfortable being in her space while this other man was monopolizing her time and attention, Josh stood from the couch and carried his empty beer bottle into the other room. She made quick eye contact with him when he set the bottle in the recycle bin. 

He jut his thumb back over his shoulder. “I’m gonna head out,” he whispered.

“Hold on one second,” she quickly responded. Josh wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or Jack, but he paused anyway. Donna set her phone down on the counter, “thank you, Josh.”

It wasn’t lost on him that she was keeping her voice down so Jack didn’t hear it through the phone. She neared him with outstretched arms, and taking him into a hug, he buried his face in her shoulder. “You’re welcome,” he backed away from her knowing that if he didn’t create some distance between them, he was going to inadvertently sabotage this new upcoming fling… or relationship. “Happy Thanksgiving, Donna.” He quickly side-stepped her and went for the front door, hearing the soft patter of her footsteps behind him. 

“Are you going to be alone tomorrow?”

He pulled open the door and looked back at her. “No, I… I have plans,” he paused. “Do you need somewhere to be tomorrow?”

She shook her head, a grin stretching over her face, “no, Jack just asked if I’d go over to his place. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to be alone before I accepted.”

That one felt like a turkey carver to the heart. But Josh still shook his head. “No, enjoy your time. I’ll see you Friday at work. Early. I want to prep a bit before advising Leo on the CBO notes.”

“I’ll be there, boss.”

Josh let his smile widen a little bit, but he was soon out of her apartment. He was almost at the flight of stairs down when she shut the door and he looked back at it. Truth was, he was going to be alone tomorrow. In all actuality, he’d probably just go to the office and spend the day there. His intention was to ask Donna to do Thanksgiving with him, but once the phone call came through, he knew there was no way he was going to ask her to forgo a day with her newest flame to be with him. She would’ve dropped her plans in an instant.

Josh made it back outside. He looked up at her window. The glow from her great-grandmother’s lamp was still present but this time he also spotted her walk past the window, the phone still glued to her ear. Josh looked down at his feet and pulled his coat tighter around himself. Another Thanksgiving without the girl he really wanted around. He was starting to get used to it.

[doctorstethoscope]

Fluffy February Day 4 || Moonlight

this is my first time writing for Josh and Donna in sooo many years, but it's good to do scary things!

pairing: josh x donna

wordcount: 990

contains: discussion of injuries, war

It’s not uncommon for Josh to be at work well after 9pm on a Friday night, but usually he’s not in a camp chair on the grounds of the White House watching some old western that Leo’s picked out on a projector. It was Donna’s first week back after the explosion in Gaza, and the President had insisted that the staff spend some time together. It was thinly-veiled, of course– not technically a celebration of Donna, because she’d never allow it, just a conveniently-timed mandatory get-together.

Josh could fall asleep in the uncomfortable chair if he wasn’t so anxious. Donna was fine, now– or maybe not fine, but out of the woods, at least. She’s still bandaged up in several places and he’s imploring her at every pass to take it easy on her lungs– but she’s going to heal, she’s going to be okay. He has to imagine that this constant anxiety, the churning in his stomach that he can’t shake and the idea that at any moment the other shoe could drop, is how she felt when he’d been shot. He hates it. It’s enough to make him consider early retirement.

She’d never let him, though, he thinks as he looks over at her, engrossed in the movie. She couldn’t wait to get back to work. He couldn’t either, when it had been him, but it was different now. She needed to be back to finish what she started, she really believed that even though she’d nearly died, that this act of terrorism had some higher meaning, that it could be the start of a new era of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Middle East, and she needed to be a part of it. She had been a blood donor. She’d earned it. 

“Take a walk with me,” she muttered, leaning over to him from her chair next to him. “My leg is cramping a bit.” 

He’s up in a flash, extending his arm to her to help her hobble into the rose garden, away from the movie so she didn’t disturb her coworkers. Her blonde hair is catching the moonlight just right, and Josh feels his heart seize. She’s the most beautiful woman he ever met, and he almost lost her.  

“Feeling any better?” He asks. 

“A little bit. It’s been a lot of sitting today,” she says. 

“Resting, Donna. You need the rest.” 

“Trust me, I feel plenty rested,” she assures him, with a little bit of a bite in her tone, but he can hardly blame her for that. He remembers being in her shoes, too. 

“I know, but let us all dote on you a little longer anyway? It’s more for us than it is for you,” he tells her.

“I’m okay,” she tells him, looking into his eyes. It means more than just that she’s okay, and he knows that. 

“Are you?” He asks. 

“You didn’t do this, Josh,” she says, for the first time out loud, although she’s implied it plenty. He never told her that he blames himself, although he’s not surprised she knows. 

“I sent you there,” he mutters. It’s not fair, to make her comfort him like this, after she nearly died for an assignment he gave her. 

“I wanted to go!” she reminds him forcefully.

“You wanted a promotion. You wanted more responsibility, real responsibility, which you’re more than entitled to, for all you’ve given to this administration– well before this assignment. But I didn’t want that, so I sent you to a war zone. And you’re perfectly fine to pretend like I had nothing to do with it.” He says, the disgust he’s bred within himself dripping from each word. 

“Did you plant a roadside bomb, Josh? Did you have any intel that one was going to go off?” 

“Of course not,” he answers, growing more exasperated by the second.

“That’s all there is to it, Josh. You didn’t do this to me. I love you far too much to let you believe that, even if it might make things easier for me.” 

Josh feels his mouth go completely dry. “What?” 

“I might love you less if I thought you tried to kill me. Maybe,” she chuffs. 

“You love me,” Josh repeats, seeking clarification. 

“Oh, don’t act like you don’t know. You think I’d still be here if I didn’t?” She snarks back. She really thinks he knew, all this time. 

“I didn’t know,” he chokes out. 

“You’re being ridiculous, Josh. Hell, I think the President knows, and he can’t even keep the assistants names straight half the time.” 

“I really didn’t know.” 

“Seriously, Josh. This is embarrassing enough for me.” 

“Ask me why I haven’t promoted you,” he begs of her. 

“I’m already embarrassed, Josh, I don’t also need to be demoralized. Seriously—”

“Just— Donna,” he interrupts. “Donnatella, ask me, please.” 

“Why can’t I have a promotion, Josh?” She asks, rolling her eyes. 

“Because I love you too much to let you work for anyone else— the thought of not seeing you every day… I couldn’t do it, Donna.” 

“Oh,” she breathes out, although she doesn’t quite look convinced. 

“Yeah,” he confirms. 

“So it’s not because of my fast typing?” She asks. 

“No,” he chuckles. 

“And it’s not because I never graduated from college?” She asks, and she looks so vulnerable now, Josh can’t help but reach for both of her hands. 

“No, Donna. Of course not. You’ve proven yourself over and over and over again. There’s not a Senator around who wouldn’t hire you, college degree or not.”

“You love me,” she decides. “Too. You love me, too.” 

“Yeah,” he confirms. 

“What do we do now?” She asks, looking more frightened than he’s seen her since she woke up in her hospital bed. 

He leans in and presses a kiss to her cheek, squeezing her hand in his. “We go finish the movie, and figure the rest out in the morning, yeah?”

tagging: @spacecowboyhotch @honeybrowne @angelfxllcm @rousethemouse @gspenc @infinite-tides @anlin2058 @zetasaturno99 @realdirectionx @witheldclouds @sbeno22 @el-vs94 @hausofwhores

[joshdonnas]

josh and donna + walk and talk throughout the seasons

season 2

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

2x18 | 7x1