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“Donna?”
Donna looks up from her drink and sees Sam giving her a curious look. “Oh, hey, Sam,” she greets him without enthusiasm and turns back to her drink.
”Hey, what’s the matter?” He asks, sounding slightly alarmed now.
“Huh? Oh, nothing. I’m fine. It’s just been a long day.”
“What can I get you, buddy?” the bartender cuts in.
“Miller Light in a bottle, please,” Sam orders, throwing some cash down on the bar. He’s just about to turn back to speak to Donna when, once again, he’s interrupted. But this time it’s not by the bartender.
“Hey baby, can I buy you another drink?” Appearing, as if out of no where, on the other side of Donna is a large blonde man. He almost immediately gets too comfortable, throwing a large arm around her shoulders.
“Uh, no thank you,” Donna tells him, trying to shrug out of his embrace.
“C’mon, baby,” he continues, tightening his hold on her.
Sam takes this as his queue. “Hey, she said ‘no’, so why don’t you get your hands off her.”
When he looks up at Sam, the man seems surprised, clearly not having noticed him before then. “Hey, why don’t you mind your own business?”
Keep his expression even, Sam stares intently at the guy. “Well, seeing as she’s my girlfriend, I think this is my business.”
He seems to look Sam up and down, sizing him up while considering his next move. He pulls his arm away from Donna, clearly deciding it’s not worth a fight.
“Didn’t know she was taken,” he says dismissively before walking away.
Sam watches him sit down before turning back to Donna. “What an asshole!”
Donna gives him a tentative smile and turns her eyes down at to her drink again. “Thanks, Sam.”
“Okay, what’s wrong?” he asks, taking the stool next to her.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, it can’t just be that jerk that has you so miserable. I’ve see you deal with much worse than the likes of him.”
“It’s nothing, I told you,” she insists.
“Donna, I have known you for almost four years and I have never known you sit in a bar, drinking alone. Yet, here I find you.”
She turns to meet his gaze, but does not immediately speak. He can tell she’s hurting about something. “I can’t talk to you about it.”
Raising his eyebrows, he asks, “Me? Why not me?”
“Because… well, you have conflicting loyalties.”
It takes him a few seconds to grasp what she is saying and then sighs heavily. “What did he do?”
“Sam—”
“Donna, you can tell me. You think I don’t know Josh is an idiot? You think I don’t know he can be so wrapped up in something he can’t even see when he’s being an inconsiderate jerk?” He notices the tears in her eyes threatening to fall. He softens his tone. “Maybe I can help?”
“Can we not do this here?” she croaks, her voice threatening to break.
He takes a long drink from his beer and sets it back down on the bar. “C’mon, I’ll take you home.” As they move to leave, he sees the blonde guy eyeing them. Sam slides his arm loosely around Donna’s waist as they cross the room, hoping the guy doesn’t follow them.
Donna hands Sam a steaming cup of tea as she sits down next to him on her well-worn couch. “Thanks again for getting rid of that guy for me tonight. I just didn’t have the energy to deal with that.”
He smiles warmly at her. “Of course. I can’t stand guys like that; it makes my blood boil!”
“You’re one of the good ones, Sam Seaborn,” Donna tells him, giving him her first genuine smile of the evening.
The smile fades as quickly as it came, though. “Donna, please tell me what’s bothering you. What did Josh do? I think I’ve already shown I’m not opposed to standing up for you against jerks,” he grinned, trying to bring some levity to their conversation.
Donna turns away from him, wrapping her hands around her own mug like it’s giving her strength. “If I tell you, you can’t laugh,” she starts and her voice is a bit shaky.
“I would never laugh at something that made you upset.”
“Even if it’s ridiculous and childish?”
Sam rolls his eyes jokingly, “Of course not.”
“You know how Josh was supposed to leave for Tahiti with Amy?”
Sam is unsurprised to to hear Amy’s name as Donna starts to explain the cause of her melancholy. “Yeah, but he canceled to keep tabs on the situation in Puerto Rico with Billy.”
Donna nods. “Well, to make up for cancelling, he decided to bring a little Tahiti to Georgetown—”
“Tell me he didn’t make you help with this?” he interrupts.
Donna nodded again, still not looking at Sam. “And then it was my job to convince Amy to forgive him and go over there.”
“Donna…” he starts. That was enough to break her. Her shoulders droop as the tears she was holding back in the bar begin to fall.
“I can’t believe I’m crying right now,” she sobs. “And I can’t believe I’m letting you witness it!”
“Donna,” he says again, reaching out to her. He takes the mug from her and sets it on the coffee table in front of them before putting his arm across her shoulders and pulling her against him. “It’s okay, you can cry.”
She turns into his embrace and buries her face in his shoulder. “I’m pathetic,” she mumbles.
“Stop. Donna, you’re allowed to feel things; there is nothing ridiculous or childish about that.”
She continues to cry quietly and Sam feels dampness on his shoulder. He rubs circles on her back, hoping it’s comforting, as he leans his head back against the back of the couch and closes his eyes. He tried to think about what to say to make this better, but somehow words we’re eluding him.
A phone ringing brings Sam back into a semi-conscious state; just enough to know that he needs the ringing to stop. He reaches blindly towards the sound until he finds what his hand recognizes as a telephone.
“Sam Seaborn,” he says automatically, eyes still closed.
“Sam?” Josh’s voice greets him.
“Yeah?”
“What the—wait, I called Donna’s number.”
“Hm?”
“Sam, why are you answering Donna’s phone at 6AM?”
Sam’s wakefulness is waining quickly and he did not respond.
“SAM!”
“What?” he groans, as he starts to open his eyes.
“Why are you at Donna’s?”
“Donna’s?” Eyes finally open, he starts to take in his surroundings, which he eventually recognizes as Donna’s living room. Then he feels the body still curled around him. Turning his head, he’s met with a mess of blonde hair.
Josh is clearly losing patience on the other line. “What the hell is going on, Sam? Where’s Donna?”
“Uh, she’s right here,” he says, nudging Donna awake. She opens her eyes and, upon noticing him, her eyes widen in surprise. “It’s Josh,” he tells her, handing her the phone.
“Hello?” she says groggily, untangling herself from Sam.
“Donna, what is going on? Why is Sam there?”
“Josh, isn’t it too early for the third degree? Did you actually need something?”
“This is not the third degree—Donna!”
She sighs heavily. “Josh, either tell me what you want or I’m hanging up. It’s Saturday and I don’t have to be in until 9.”
“I want to know why Sam’s there—” She presses the end button on her handset and hands it back to Sam. “I guess we fell asleep,” she laughs and he joins in.
“Yeah. Sleeping upright on a couch… I’m going to be feeling this one later.”
“You’re not as young as you used to be,” she teases, standing up and heading towards the kitchen.
“Hey now! You won’t be in your twenties forever, you know,” he shouts to her over his shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah,” she calls back. “Do you want breakfast?”
Sam stands up and cracks his back. “No, thanks. I better go. I need to shower and change before I meet Toby at 8.”
Donna appears in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, looking sheepish. “Thanks for last night. I'm sorry if you got more than you bargained for. You said I could talk and instead I just cried myself to sleep. And you too, apparently.” She keeps here eyes on her hands.
He reaches out to touch her shoulder. “You needed a friend last night and I’m glad you let me be that friend.”
“I’d really rather this just stay between us.”
“You have my strictest confidence, Donnatella,” he says before pulling her into a hug.
“You hung up on me!” Josh announces; already standing at her desk when she arrives.
Not looking at him, she sets her stuff down and moves to the Inbox and beings sorting through the mail there. “I told you to tell me what you needed or I was hanging up. That was your choice—”
Not waiting for her to finish, he jumps in. “Why did it sound like you and Sam woke up together this morning?”
“Josh--”
“If you won’t tell me, I’m just going to ask him,” he interrupts again.
Donna had every intention of explaining to Josh that Sam drove her home and they accidentally fell asleep on her couch while talking—obviously leaving out the crying parts—but it only takes a few minutes for him to irritate her enough that she decides he doesn’t deserve that. “Well, I wish you luck with that,” she says to him evasively before sliding around him to sit down in front of her computer.
“You’re seriously not going to tell me?” he asks, sounding more than a little perturbed.
“Josh, this is the White House. Shouldn’t you be helping run the country or something?”
“Donna…” he whines.
She decides then that she desperately needs to get away from him and this conversation right now. “I’m going to the mess to get a muffin,” she announces.
He huffs loudly before stalking off in the opposite direction and she knows he’s going directly to the Communications bullpen.
Having found Sam’s office empty, Josh steps into Toby’s. “Do you know where Sam is?”
“I thought it was your turn to watch him?” Toby quipped without looking up at the page he was reading.
“Toby—”
Already exasperated, Toby interjects, “He said he was going to the mess. Relax.”
“Unbelievable!”
Finally looking up from what he’s reading, Toby stares at Josh. “I’m probably going to regret asking this, but what’s the problem? Why is Sam going to the mess such an issue for you?”
Josh throws himself down on the couch in Toby’s office and rubs his hands roughly over his face. “It’s not… Donna just went down there,” he says, as if that makes everything clear.
“Are you going to provide anymore context to that and am I supposed to know what the hell you’re talking about?”
“How would you feel if I went out with Ginger?”
Toby looked at Josh bewildered. “First of all, Ginger could do way better. Second of all, I don’t spend a great deal of time having feelings about her personal life one way or the other. And lastly, what happened to being ensorcelled with Amy Gardner? Spell run out at midnight?”
“You don’t think I’m good enough for Ginger?”
Toby’s patience for this conversation is quickly evaporating. “Is this why you were looking for Sam? Because you want to go out with Ginger?”
“No. It’s… I called Donna this morning at 6 and Sam answered. I had clearly woken him up and when I asked where Donna was, it sounded like she was right next to him.”
Toby raises his eyebrows. “I’m sorry, are you trying to tell me that you think Sam and Donna spent the night together?”
Before Josh got a chance to answer, Sam walks in. “Oh, hey, Josh,” he says, realizing his friend is sitting on the couch.
Josh jumps up, “What the hell, man?”
Sam takes a couple steps back, looking surprised. “What?”
Josh quickly covers the space left between them when Sam backed up. “You know what! Donna wouldn’t say anything, but you’re my best friend so you have to tell me!”
“Josh...” Toby warns.
“Sam!” Josh says, ignoring Toby.
“Listen, I don’t deserve this kind of questioning and neither does Donna, so leave it alone, Josh. She needed a friend and I was there.”
“Oh, you were there. That’s the problem, you were there! Waking up next to Donna!”
“I don’t think I like what you’re implying,” Sam retorts.
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“You’re wrong.”
“So, you didn’t spend the night at Donna’s?”
“No, I did—”
Josh cuts him off. “So, I wasn’t wrong!”
“It’s not like—”
“I cannot believe you would do this!” Josh starts pacing across Toby’s office. “How could you sleep with Donna, Sam? How? Are you in love with her?” He stopped his pacing and looked intensely at Sam.
“Oh, are you going to actually let me speak now?”
Josh’s expression is serious. “Answer the question, Sam.”
“How could I have slept with her? Well, if you mean, did we sleep together, we did,” Josh’s eyebrows shoot up, but he does not interrupt again. “But we did not have sex. Josh, I am not in love with Donna.” Sam finished, exasperated.
“Maybe you’re not…” Toby mumbles from behind his desk, as he watches the situation play out between the two deputies. Sam meets Toby’s eye, but Josh doesn’t seem to hear. “Josh,” Toby says, finally getting his attention. “Sam answered your questions. Don’t you think we should get back to some actual work?”
“Oh, no, I have more questions,” Josh snaps.
However, before either Toby or Sam can further object, Ginger pops her head through door. “Oh, good, you’re all here. You’re needed in the Oval.”
“This is not over,” Josh tells Sam as they head towards the Oval office.
Sam rolls his eyes. “Josh, remember that conversation we had a while back about you not being jealous?”
“I’m not jealous!” he cries in a high-pitch voice. “This is about… about… the Bro Code!”
The invocation of the ‘Bro Code’ was too much for Toby and he lets out a loud snort of laughter.
Sam smirks at him and Josh glares. “Doesn’t that only apply to girlfriends?” Sam questions, trying to not to laugh himself.
“And speaking of girlfriends, don’t you have one?” Toby adds.
“This is not about Amy!” Josh defends as they enter the outer office.
Charlie looks up from his computer to see the three members of Senior Staff walking passed his desk. Hearing just the last part of their conversation, he makes a guess of where it’s going. “Did you already mess things up with her?”
Toby bursts into more laughter and Josh gives Charlie an incredulous look. “What? No! That is not about my girlfriend.”
“Which girlfriend?” Toby mumbles though his stifled chuckles.
Charlie looks at Josh, now with slightly bewildered expression. “You’ve got more than one girlfriend? I don’t think you can handle that,” he shakes his head.
“Listen, this is about Sam and the Bro Code!” Josh practically shouts.
Charlie looked between the three of them and then back to Josh, “I don’t think Sam the the kind of guy who would go against the Bro Code, Josh.”
Sam beamed at the younger man, “Thank you, Charlie!” He then gave Josh a knowing glare.
Suddenly, Leo appeared in the doorway to the Oval office, “Will you all stop gossiping and get the hell in here? It’s like you forgot this is the White House and not a middle school locker room!”
“Hey, I’ve been looking for you. Have you been in the Oval this whole time?” Donna approaches Josh as he walks into his office.
“Yeah. We heard 22 confirmed dead so far,” he tells her, his voice tight.
She sits in the one of the visitor chairs in front of his desk and turns the TV in his office to CNN. “Third school shooting this year already,” she says, as if he doesn’t already know that, but it just seems significant enough to mention aloud.
“And those bastards in Congress won’t let us do a damn thing about it,” he replies bitterly.
She hears it in his voice, the tension and the anger. “I know this has to be triggering—”
“I’m fine,” he interjects, though they both know his voice betrays him.
“Josh…” Her own voice catches as she says his name.
“I just don’t understand how people can do this. I just… these are kids. Children! I mean, God dammit!” He slams his palm down on the desk hard enough to make Donna jump.
“Hey J,” Donna and Josh hear the voice from the doorway. They look to see Amy, leaning against the door jam. “You wanna grab some lunch?”
“Yes!” he says, sweeping passed his desk. “Let’s get the hell out of here!” And without another word or glance at Donna, he’s gone.
She’s stares absently as the empty space he had just occupied, trying to control her own emotions with little success. She can feel the tears burning in her eyes and tries to blink them back before they fall.
“Hey Donna, where’s Josh?” Her eyes are drawn to Sam who now fills the space in front of her.
“Hm?”
“Josh? Do you know where he is? I need to run something by him.”
Donna clears her throat, hoping it will keep your voice sounding normal. “Uh, you just missed him. Amy stopped by and asked him to have lunch.”
“What? He took off during this?” Sam looks down at Donna, who is blinking rapidly and he can tell she’s trying to keep some tears at bay.
“I can tell this has triggered him, though he won’t admit it. At least not to me,” she says, and there is a distinct sorrowfulness to her tone. “As if he thinks I couldn’t understand, as if...” She trails off.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Sam tells her, stepping further into the office. “We’re all effected by it. It’s a horrific act of violence, and for us, it hits way too close to home.”
Donna nods as the first tear falls. She quickly wipes it away, “You’d think that make him want to stay, want to be with people who can understand.”
“You’d think,” Sam agrees. “Want to come brainstorm with me and Toby? Even if it feels futile, we need a strategy with Congress in terms of gun legislation. We get a little closer each time. You know these bills back and front, maybe you have some ideas we haven’t considered yet.”
“Is that what you came to see Josh about?”
“Well, yeah, but Josh isn’t here and you are,” he smiles at her.
Josh stops in the middle of the lobby. “CJ, have you seen Donna? I got back from lunch and now I can’t find her!”
The Press Secretary rolls her eyes at him. “Why don’t you just put a homing device on her, Josh?”
“Don’t tempt me!”
She just shakes her head sardonically. “The last time I saw her was in Sam’s office. Check there.”
Josh’s eyebrows shoot up and his eyes widen. “What? Sam’s office?!”
She gave him a sidelong look, “What is with you? Who cares if she’s in Sam’s office. They are probably working on something.”
“Oh, they are working on something, I’m sure,” Josh grumbled, as she headed towards Communications.
Sitting next to each other on the couch in Toby’s office, Sam and Donna are playing out different arguments they could expect from Republicans in Congress.
“Ugh! How can they be so obtuse about this?” Donna hunches over, head in her hands. “Haven’t they ever…”
Sam gently places his hand on her back. “Of course, they have,” Sam tells her, “But they don’t see it the way we do. They can’t, or won’t, see passed the politics of it.”
Donna pulls her hands from her face and looks over at Sam. “It’s so frustrating! How do you deal with it?”
He shrugs dishearteningly and she suddenly realizes how sad he looks. “Oh, Sam,” she consoles him, throwing her arounds around his neck and hugging him to her.
Sam responds to the hug in kind and takes in a meaningful breath. “No one in that school will ever be the same, even if they have no physical injuries. Seeing their friends get shot at, you don’t get over that,” he whispers into her hair.
“I wish we didn’t know that from experience,” Donna whispers back.
Marching into the Communications bullpen, Josh goes straight to Sam’s office, but finds it empty.
“Dammit,” he swears under his breath. He turns on his heel to leave when his eyes pass over the windows into Toby’s office. He sees no Toby, but instead he sees Donna and Sam on the couch in a tight embrace.
Without any further thought, his hand is turning the knob into the office.
“Hey,” Donna says, smiling up at him over Sam’s shoulder.
Sam pulls away from her in order to turn to see who Donna is greeting. “Josh—” Sam starts.
Josh is stone faced as he looks at the two of them. “Save it,” he says bitterly before turning away and slamming the door behind him.
Josh tries to shut the door on Sam as they reach his office, but Sam was not going to be that easily stopped. “Josh, c’mon. You’re being ridiculous!”
“You lied to me! You said I was wrong, but something is obviously going on!”
“It’s not! Nothing is going on!” Sam retorts, “But even if it was, why would you be so bent out of shape about it? We’re both single adults.”
Josh opens his mouth to speak, but then closes it again and turns his chair away from Sam. He tries to appear busy on his computer, but he knows very little about computers and ends up just staring at the home screen.
“Josh, what’s going on? Are you having issues with Amy? Donna said you couldn’t wait to go to lunch with her today.”
Pulling his eyes away from the computer he looks back at Sam. “Donna said that?”
“Yeah,” Sam shrugs. “I figured you must really be into her if you’re willingly taking lunch outside the White House after a day like today.”
His face hardens. “Everything is fine with Amy. It’s great and we’re great together,” he says a little too enthusiastically.
“Okay… well, I’m happy for you, Josh. I’m glad you found someone.”
“I guess you want me to be happy that you’ve found someone too, huh?” Josh looks like he might choke on the words.
“If I had someone, then yes, as my friend, I would like you to be happy for me.”
Josh sighs heavily and looks away. “I really wish you would just be honest with me, Sam. I know what I heard this morning and I know what I saw in Toby’s office. So, just tell me the truth.”
By keeping his gaze away from Sam’s, he misses the mischievous look that comes across Sam’s face. “Fine, I’ll tell you the truth. But you also have to tell me the truth about something too.”
“I already told you about Amy.”
“It’s not about Amy.”
Josh gave him a suspicious look, but begrudgingly agreed.
“Why do you care about what goes on between me and Donna?”
“Sam—”
“Josh, you said you wanted the truth and I said I’d give it to you with this condition.”
“I don’t care about it,” Josh tells him defiantly.
“Now who’s lying?”
The two of them sit in silence for a while, each playing a game of wills and both are determined to win.
As much as Sam wants answers from Josh, he is still surprised that he is the one who breaks first. “I needed more time,” Josh tells his friend.
“More time? More time for what?”
His expression is pained. “To figure it out. The logistics of it all. She wasn’t supposed— I just needed more time.”
“Josh, you’re not making any sense, you know that right?”
He sighs, “I needed her to wait for me… to figure it out.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you see? I would have figured it out! I would have and we could have been… I always managed to get rid of the others… but now you…”
“Are you talking about Donna?” Sam can see Josh’s jaw clench. “Are you talking about being with Donna?” His questions are met with silence, but it tells him everything he needs to know. “What about Amy? You have a girlfriend.”
“I know,” Josh replies through gritted teeth.
“Josh, what that hell?”
“You think I don’t know how fucked up it is, Sam? But I can’t have what I want, so I found a distraction!”
Sam scoffs loudly, the expression he’s giving Josh is indignant. “But you’d deny Donna the same? You’d sabotage every date she has so that she’s available when it’s convenient for you and, in the mean time, you run around with Amy?”
“Those guys weren't good enough for her, Sam! They don’t even come close to being good enough her!”
“And what about me? Am I good enough her?”
Josh’s face pales considerably. “Yes, and that’s the problem. You guys might actually be happy and then I’ll lose her forever.”
As insane as Josh’s thought process is, Sam is somewhat touched by his words. “Why don’t you just ask her out?”
“And let the press and the Republicans destroy her? Let them say that she slept her way into a job? A job that she has earned more than half the people here? I’m her boss and just whispers alone could set them off!”
“So what are you going to do? Mess around with Amy for the next few years and keep sabotaging Donna’s love life? That’s sounds healthy and not at all unfair to everyone involved,” Sam snapped.
Sam could see all the fight go out of Josh. He had never seen him so defeated before. “Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it? She has you and I’ll have to watch you everyday have a life with her that I never will.”
“Josh…”
Josh does not respond or look in Sam’s direction.
“Josh… look at me.”
It looks like it causes him physical pain to meet Sam's eyes.
“Josh, I am not in love with Donna and she is not in love with me. I never lied to you. We did not have sex, nor do we even remotely come close to having—”
“Sam, you were at—”
“No, just listen to me. You would have saved yourself a lot of pain if you had just listen to me before! I slept at Donna’s, yes, but we fell asleep on her couch.” He held up his hand to stop Josh from interrupting again. “It was purely accidental. I didn’t even realize where I was when I answered the phone. I thought it was my own phone ringing.” He paused to make sure Josh was paying attention.
“Josh, I found Donna last night drinking alone at the Hawk and Dove. She looked absolutely miserable. After having to scare away some sleaze ball who was getting a little too friendly with her, I could tell she was upset—
Josh’s eyes burn furiously at Sam’s words. “Did he do something to her?!”
Sam’s voice is quiet now, “It wasn’t him who did something, Josh.”
“Who was it? If someone did something to Donna I want to know!”
“It was you.”
Josh looks taken aback. “Me?”
Sam nods knowingly. “I guess you thought it was a good idea to have Donna help you turn your apartment into a French Polynesian oasis and then make her convince your angry girlfriend to come over.”
Josh has the decency to look sheepish at that. “I know. I know that’s not really her job as my assistant. I guess I—”
Sam interrupts him with an uncharacteristically loud groan. “God, you’re an idiot!”
“What the hell, Sam? I bear my soul to you and you tell me I’m an idiot!” Josh protests.
“She wasn’t upset because it goes outside her job description! She was upset because she has feelings for you! You two really are a pair, honestly!”
“What?”
“Josh, you cannot be that blind. Didn’t Joey already try to tell you?”
“She was wrong,” Josh agues.
“She wasn’t. And that’s why you’re an idiot. You’re in love with someone who probably is just as much in love you with too, for whatever reason, and instead of being happy, you start dating someone else just to torture you both!”
“That’s not—”
“That’s exactly how it is! You have so convinced yourself it will be catastrophic for you to date her, you’ve stopped looking for ways to do it, and instead are looking for ways to run from it.” Seeing Josh about to speak, Sam cut him off. “And do not tell me I’m wrong, because I’m not. I think you’re so scared of everything you feel that you think it’s easier to do it this way.”
Clearly knowing denial is futile, Josh changes tactics. “Maybe it is,” he mutters.
“Has it felt easier today, when you thought I’d slept with Donna? That we were in love? Has it been easier to pretend you weren’t effected by this shooting, because you know the only person who could actually make you feel better about it was Donna?”
“I don’t know.”
“I think you do know.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not wrong.”
Sam lets out an exasperated sigh. “You’re really going to make me do this, aren’t you?”
“Do what?” Josh asks, but Sam is already opening the door to his office.
He calls out into the bullpen, “Donna, will you come in here for a second?”
“Sam, what are you doing?” Josh asks, alarmed.
“I’m putting an end to this right now,” Sam tells him, as he closes the door behind Donna.
“What’s up?” she asks, looking between the two of them.
“I just want to say that I am doing this because you are both my friends and because you’re making me crazy and I just can’t deal with it anymore.”
“What is happening?” Donna gives Josh a questioning look.
Sam looks at both of them now. “Josh has been having a nutty all day because he thinks there is something romantic going on between us.”
Donna rolls her eyes, but not before her cheeks flush with just a touch of pink. “Josh, Sam and I are just friends,” she tells him, crossing her arms over her chest. “But, now that you mention it, what would be so bad if it was more than that?” Her tone is dangerously defiant.
“Josh, would you like to answer Donna? The real answer, if you don’t mind,” Sam prompts.
“Sam…” Josh starts, eyes shooting daggers him.
“Fine. How about I leave, would that be better?”
“That’d be great,” Josh says, relaxing slightly.
“But you still have talk and tell her the truth, Josh. If you tell her the truth, she’ll tell you—”
“Wait, what? What truth do I have to tell?” Donna interrupts.
Sam glares at them both. “We really do have a country to run, so the sooner you guys can figure this out, the sooner we can all get back to that.” He turns to leave, but stops at the last moment, hand on the door knob. “I’m serious about the truth thing. This has gone on long enough and people are only going to keep getting hurt. And I’m not just talking about the two of you,” he adds.
Fifteen minutes later, Sam looks up to see Josh and Donna standing in the doorway to his office.
“Done already?” he asks, coming around to the front of his desk. His eyes travel from the stupid grins on their faces to their hands intertwined between them.
“Sam,” Josh starts, “we know you’ve already done a lot for us today,” his face turning a shade of scarlet Sam has never seen on him, “but, well, we wondered if you’d help us one more time?”
Their lovesick smiles were infections and Sam found himself beaming at his two friends. “What do you need?”
Donna and Josh share a look, “Can you help us tell Leo?” she asks, cheeks burning as red as Josh’s.
“And Amy,” Josh adds, looking suitably chastened. His eyes go wide then, “Oh, God, I don’t know which one is going to be worse.”
Donna and Sam both bust into laughter at the fear in his expression.
Scowling, Josh looks between them. “I’m glad you both find this so amusing.”
Donna wipes a stray tear from her eye, her mouth still turned up in a smile, “It will be worth your while, don’t worry,” she cajoles, turning to give him a peck on the cheek. That seems to perk Josh up instantly.
“Don’t I get something for all my troubles?” Sam whines.
“I thought you did this out of pure friendship?” Josh jibes him, though still grinning.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want a little appreciation!”
Donna releases Josh’s hand and crosses to Sam, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you’re one of the good ones, Sam Seaborn.” She hugs him gently and gives him chaste kiss on his cheek.
“Alright, I’ve had enough of that for today!” Josh whinges, reaching for Donna and pulling her towards him again. From behind he wraps his arms around her waist and rests his head on her shoulder.
“So, will you help us, Sam?” Donna asks, leaning back into Josh’s embrace, holding his arms around her middle.
Sam smiles at his friends who suddenly look happier than he thinks he’s ever seen them. “Don’t I always?”