Chapter Text
“I know exactly where we are.”
“Josh, it’s pitch black out, I haven’t been able to read a street sign for the past five miles in these conditions, and the last one I *could* read indicated we were closer to Vermont than we were to Nashua.”
“I’m an outdoorsman, Donna, it’s going to be fine.”
Donna strongly disputed that - and given that she was the one actually behind the wheel, she figured her opinion should hold a bit more weight.
This was all Josh’s fault – she had told him that they shouldn’t try driving up to New Hampshire tonight, that a snowstorm was coming in and the conditions were going to be too rough, but there was no talking him out of it. He kept going on and on about his navigation skills and growing up as a Boy Scout, but apparently the Boy Scouts never taught him how to drive from New York City to Nashua.
The rest of the Bartlet team was already there – preparing for a major holiday fundraiser. But Josh had a key meeting in the city right beforehand, so he and Donna had driven there earlier in the week, and then set off for New Hampshire. Drove, instead of flew, because Josh had insisted it would be “fun” (and they couldn’t find flights that worked with their schedule).
So, there they were, with Donna driving as slowly as humanly possible as she tried to make out signs that were already coated with ice, as snow whipped around outside so ferociously, she could hear it even from inside the car.
Finally, squinting her eyes at an exit sign off the road that could only very generously be described as a highway, Donna saw the letters “otel.”
“Aha!” She exclaimed with victory.
“We’re going in the right direction?” Josh asked with hope.
“Not even close, pumpkin patch, but I think if we take this right, we should be able to pull into a hotel.”
“A hotel?? Donna!” Josh whined. “We need to meet up with everyone tonight so that I can work with Sam on messaging for the remarks tomorrow and prep the president on which congressman will actually help get us money rather than convince us to spend it. Plus, we’re meeting with the mayor tomorrow afternoon.”
“Joshua, listen to me,” Donna said. “I grew up driving in Wisconsin winters, where school was only canceled if the doors physically couldn’t open and even then, my shift at the diner wasn’t canceled because now the teachers needed somewhere to go and drink coffee. Now, who is the driver?”
“You are,” Josh replied, softly but immediately.
“That is correct. And if I’m saying we need to stop somewhere, then we need to stop. If only to find out exactly where we are, figure out a route to Nashua, and wait out the storm a little bit if we can.”
Of course, as they’d been having this entire conversation, Donna had already taken the turn and was making her way down the road that God only hoped led to a hotel. She’s not sure if Josh hadn’t noticed, or if he just kept arguing with her for the fun of it. She swears he does the latter far too often.
“They better have some food,” Josh grumbled, and Donna took that as acceptance. Soon enough a row of small buildings came into view. Clearly the hidden letter in that sign had been M for Motel instead of H for Hotel, but it would do the job.
They pulled into the parking lot, which was appropriately full given the holiday season. Donna grabbed her purse but left the rest of her stuff in the car, and Josh followed her into the small registration office.
An older woman in a red sweater with reindeer looked up at them a bit startled at they reached the front desk. “Hello you two! Were you just on the roads? They look just awful.”
“Yes, we were,” Donna replied. “And we’ve actually gotten a bit turned around. We’re supposed to be heading towards Nashua but barely any of the road signs are visible. What town are we in now, exactly?”
“Oh you poor dears. You’re in Greenville right now. ‘Bout 45 minutes away from Nashua – at least when it’s not kicking up a blizzard outside.”
“Greenville!” Josh exclaimed. “See, Donna, I TOLD you we weren’t practically in Vermont.”
“Hush, you,” Donna answered. “Thank you so much. Do you know the best way to get to Nashua from here?”
“Oh, sure,” the woman said. “You just hop on 101 West. But…you’re not going to like this.”
“What?” Donna asked, a feeling of dread developing in the pit of her stomach.
“They just closed this section of the road because of an accident. And all the other routes are local roads – no way they’re passable now.”
Josh and Donna shared a look, silently communicating their despair.
“Okay then…” Donna started. “I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“Doris,” the woman answered with a smile. “Doris Freedman.”
“Doris, do you have any rooms available?” Donna asked. Immediately, Josh opened his mouth to protest but she cut him off. “Don’t even start – I think we’re stuck where we are, we’ll just have to catch up with everyone tomorrow morning.”
Doris nodded her head in sympathy. “Yes of course – you’re in luck! I have one room available and it’s a real beauty. You and your husband can rest up and get warm, and hopefully get you back on the road soon.”
Both Josh and Donna’s eyes widened and Josh stammered “We – we’re not – I mean –”
“We’re not married,” Donna interrupted. “Although it does feel like it sometimes. Two years together next month!”
Josh by this point looked like he’d had a stroke but Donna ignored him. She was not going to lose out on this room because some innocent motel owner was creeped out by a boss and assistant sharing a room.
She wrapped one arm around Josh, and he instinctively put a hand at the small of her back. It always makes her want to curl into him, and this time she actually had an excuse. She tried to ignore how good it felt.
“Of course,” the woman said gracefully. “Well why doesn’t your not-husband go grab your bags, and I can show you to your room – it’s actually right next door, Miss…I’m sorry what was your name?”
“Moss,” she answered. “Donna Moss. This is Joshua….Lemon.” Now Josh really was looking at her like she was insane, but she was impervious by now. “See you in a bit, pumpkin!” she called as she followed Doris out the door and to their room.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Josh heading back to the car as Doris unlocked the door and showed her inside. It was a cozy room, plenty big enough with a massive bed, desk and chair, and television. Then Donna’s brain caught up to her eyes and she had to focus to keep the smile on her face. Yes, there was a massive bed – one, singular.
“Will this be all right?” Doris asked, reading the clear apprehension that Donna was clearly failing to hide from her face.
“No, no, no, this is fine!” Donna reassured her. “Thank you so much.”
“No, problem, dears,” Doris patted her arm and then left her alone. Donna, meanwhile, didn’t move a muscle. She just stood there, in the middle of the room, staring at the bed.
Now this wouldn’t be the first time she and Josh had shared a bed – far from it. During his recovery they had shared a bed far more than either of them would probably like to admit. And that was exactly the problem.
Donna had become far too used to it. Far too used to falling asleep with her wrapped around him – or the other way around depending on what kind of night he was having. Far too used to waking up all tangled, feeling utterly safe and warm. She liked to think she’d become good at compartmentalizing her duties at work with her completely un-professional feelings for her boss. But the very thin line they had drawn was trampled all over during those few months, and she’d been working very hard to rebuild that boundary.
She had succeeded – mostly. As much as she was ever going to. But this was not going to help.
She stood there, so lost in her own thoughts, that it took a moment for her to register the knocking on the door. She walked over to let Josh in, her mind still in a bit of a daze.
“Thanks,” Josh said, carting their luggage inside. “I didn’t have a key. Hey, what on earth do you have in this thing?”
“Women need lots of items to travel, Josh,” Donna defended herself. “Besides, I also always have to bring all of *your stuff that you would have forgotten.”
“Like what?”
“Did you pack any socks?”
“…. that’s not the point. Hey how do you have my socks?”
“Well I keep some clothes for you at the office for when you sleep there.” Honestly, Josh would walk around the West Wing of the White House looking like a zombie recently raised from the dead half the time if Donna wasn’t around.
“Yeah, all right,” Josh said, finding a spot for his bag and unpacking a few things. Meanwhile Donna returned to the exact spot she was standing in before Josh arrived and resuming staring at the bed.
“Are you going to stand like that this whole time?” Josh asked. “Come on, let’s figure out how to get some food. It’s like 8 p.m. and I’m starving.”
“There’s only one bed,” Donna said, vaguely gesturing in front of her. Josh looked down like he was realizing it for the first time, then looked up at her blinking a few times. She saw an expression flash across his face but she couldn’t quite read it.
“Oh. That’s fine,” Josh simply said. “We’ve shared before.”
“Uh huh,” Donna replied.
“And it’s big.”
“Yep.”
“So then it’s fine. Hey, where can we get food?” Josh started digging around in the nightstand, eventually pulling out a pizza menu with a victorious flourish.
“Well, given that we are literally stuck here because of the snow, the chances of us either getting to the pizza place or the pizza getting to us seem pretty slim,” Donna pointed out.
“Oh, Donna, ye woman of little faith,” Josh said. “This very handy piece of paper says the place is right off the highway. That’s like a five-minute drive. I can make it at least there and back.”
Donna raised her eyebrows. “You will?”
“Yes, me. I’m not completely incompetent – and don’t even start,” he said when Donna opened her mouth to tease him.
“Okay fine. Give me that paper and I’ll call them.”
Josh started to obey and then paused – his hand half outstretched. “Hey, what happened back there with Dana?”
“Doris.”
“Whatever. Why did you tell her we were…” he trailed off.
“Together?” Donna said awkwardly. “I just – I didn’t – I didn’t want us to miss out on the room.”
“And you thought she would literally throw us out in the snow if she just thought we worked together and got stranded and needed somewhere to crash?”
Well now Donna felt stupid. “Yes?”
“And why Joshua Lemon?”
“I panicked. I didn’t want her to tell a reporter!”
“Yes, because of all the slimy reporters slinking their way around Greenville, New Hampshire,” he said sarcastically.
“I don’t know!”
“Don’t you think it will be weird? If we have to pretend …”
“Not really,” Donna shrugged. “I mean when you were in the hospital people assumed all the time that I was you-” she clamped her mouth shut as she realized what she said.
“Thought you were what?” Josh pressed.
“You know,” she fidgeted. “I was there so much, people just kind of figured, I was your girlfriend or something.” She picked at some imaginary dust on her sweater.
“Did you correct them?” He asked, looking partly amused and partly…curious.
“Yes!” Most of the time, she silently corrected herself. Sometimes it was just easier to let them assume that the woman who wouldn’t leave his bedside was not the same person who answered his phone.
Regardless, she didn’t want to talk about this anymore. She snatched the menu from his hand and dialed the number before he could say anything else. “Hello? Yes, hi, are you still open? I wanted to order a pizza for pick up. Yes, we’re just down the road, it’s no problem. Thanks – can I get one large cheese with half spinach?” She ignored his outraged face – he was going to eat some vegetables. “And half bacon,” she added, throwing him a bone. “Fifteen minutes? Great.”
She hung up and handed the menu back to Josh, who returned it to the drawer he found it in before flopping down on the bed.
“Hey,” he asked with his eyes closed. “What time was that lunch with the mayor tomorrow?”
Donna dug through her work bag for the calendar, flipping through it. As she found the date, something else caught her attention and she paused.
Josh opened his eyes, realizing Donna had yet to actually answer him. “Donna?”
“What? Oh, it’s 12:30, sorry,” she said.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s the 18th. It’s the first night of Hanukkah,” she said.
“Oh yeah, I knew it started somewhere around now this year,” Josh said, closing his eyes once more.
“It’s the first night, Josh!” Donna repeated, a little distraught. “You should be, you know, lighting the candle and eating latkes. I’m sorry you’re trapped here with me.”
“Donna, it’s really okay,” he reassured her, sitting up with a groan. “Most years I’ve been too busy to do much with it anyway. I’ve already sent my mom the gift-” at the look on Donna’s face he corrected himself “Okay YOU sent my mom the gift, I’m fine. Hanukkah’s not even a major holiday, it just got inflated to compete with Christmas.
“Yeah okay,” Donna acknowledged. “But still.”
“Donna,” he said again. “It’s all right, I promise. I don’t mind being stuck here with you.” He gave her a smile that just made her melt. She lay down near him on the bed, and they just relaxed for a few minutes until it was time for him to get the pizza.
She handed him one of the keys to the room Doris had given them and waited for a minute as he left their room and headed back to the car. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she put her own coat on and grabbed the other key. She had a plan, and she refused to let Hanukkah go uncelebrated.