The first day that Donna was allowed to walk on her own, with crutches, leaving her wheelchair behind, she insisted on getting a group together for a drink after work to celebrate. Josh was a given; Carol and CJ were easy enough to convince; Charlie took a little bit of wrangling; and Toby required a well-executed guilt trip. But in the end all six of them were there, crammed into a booth and drinking from watered-down draft pitchers.

Even though her leg was twinging uncomfortably, Donna had purposely refused to take any painkillers that day, precisely so she could drink bad beer with her friends. As she looked at them all, drinking and talking and just relaxing for once, she decided it wasn't a bad trade-off. When was the last time they had done something like this? She couldn't remember, and that bothered her.

"Want a little more?" Josh asked, holding up the pitcher. She nodded and he topped off her glass. "You feelin' okay?" he asked gently, solicitously, and she nodded again. "Okay." He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"Stop hogging the beer, Josh," CJ said loudly, holding her hand out for the pitcher.

"Keep your pants on," Josh said as he turned his attention back to the rest of the table.

"That's not what you usually say," CJ smirked, and batted her eyelashes at him.

"Not in your fantasies about me, no," he returned easily.

"No, in those you're usually on the receiving end of an ass-whupping," CJ retorted.

"Ooooh, kinky."

"Pour the damn beer already?" Toby pleaded, his glass held out.

"You didn't really miss all this nonsense, did you, Donna?" Charlie asked.

"I did, though," Donna said sincerely, then tapped her lips with her forefinger. "Except for the part where Josh acts like a jackass, that part I didn't miss so much."

"Hey!" the jackass in question said in protest.

"Is that what you say to the man who flew halfway across the world to be at your bedside a few months ago?" Carol asked teasingly. Carol had decided that Josh's flight to Germany was the stuff that bad romance novels were made of, and had been bugging Donna about it continually for weeks. It was starting to get just a little bit old.

Not to Josh, though. "Yeah!" he said. "Is that what you say to the man who...uh, did what Carol just said?"

"You are such a lightweight," Toby said disgustedly.

"He has a sensitive system," Donna explained.

"I really wish you would stop telling people that," Josh grumbled.

"It's your own fault, you know, Joshua," CJ said. "You make it way too easy for us to make fun of you."

"It was one of the first lessons I learned when I started working at the White House," Charlie agreed.

"You guys suck," Josh said. "I can't believe you're ganging up on me. Carol here is the only one who's willing to defend my honor."

"Yeah, well, Carol's a sap," CJ said.

"Thanks a lot," Carol said.

"Okay, okay, let's stop beating up on Josh, at least for the moment," Donna said. "And I'm only saying that because of that whole flying halfway around the world thing," she told him.

"Oh, that," he said, looking at her.

"Yeah, that," she murmured.

They stared at each other, lost in their own little world for a minute. A small voice in the back of Donna's head noted how strange it was that she couldn't seem to hear or see anything other than Josh, suddenly. Then Toby cleared his throat obnoxiously and the spell was broken.

She and Josh smiled at each other awkwardly, but then as Josh turned his attention back to the rest of the table he casually rested his hand on her knee. She reached underneath the table and clasped his fingers in hers; without looking over at her he squeezed her hand.

Donna had absolutely no idea what was going on with them these days, but she was pretty sure she liked it.

She also had a feeling that Charlie, who was sitting directly across from them in the small booth, noticed the hand-holding, but if he did, he didn't say anything. "So, graduation coming up, Charlie?" she asked, in an effort to keep attention deflected away from her and her boss.

He shrugged. "I guess."

"I still don't know how you managed to keep up with your studies while working at the White House," Donna said in admiration.

"Me neither," Charlie said. "Especially when you add on all the additional assigned reading I regularly get from the President, as part of his relentless efforts to 'broaden my horizons.'"

"Is that why I saw you reading an Adam Smith biography the other day?" CJ asked.

Charlie glared. "What do you think?"

"Donna, do you ever think about going back to school and getting your degree?" Carol asked.

Josh turned his head to look at her; they all did, and it made her uncomfortable. "Sure, I've thought about it," she admitted. "But at the same time, I'm not sure if I need it at this point, and god knows college isn't cheap. Especially in the DC area. Assuming I decided to stay in the DC area, I mean." She glanced at Josh, then looked away again.

"I guess it's something you don't really need to decide until the president's term is over," Carol said with a shrug.

"I guess," she muttered.

"You never told me you wanted to go back to school," Josh said.

"That's because there's not much to tell," she said with contrived carelessness. She bowed her head, her hair covering her face. Josh released his hand from hers and reached up to brush the wisp of hair back behind her ear, and the surprising tenderness in the gesture took her aback. She bit her lip and looked up at him.

"I need a refill," CJ said loudly. "Toby, Charlie, Carol -- why don't you come help me get some more pitchers for the table?"

Toby looked down at his half-full glass. "You need three people to help you with that?"

CJ gave him her patented glare of death. "Yes, Toby. Yes, I do. Now."

Toby sighed, and the four of them got up from the table, leaving Josh and Donna alone.

"Well, that was embarrassing," Donna said.

"They'll get over it," Josh said with a shrug.

She eyed him warily. "Ever since...ever since Germany, it seems like you've had an awful lot less regard than you used to for what people think of you."

He considered that for a moment. "I guess you're right. Hadn't really thought about it. Maybe I've just had to reorganize my priorities, you know?"

"I do," she said simply.

"And now I'm wondering if one of those priorities should be helping you go to school," he said, finishing off the rest of his beer.

"Josh, really," she said. "It's -- it's not something I think about very often. I’m not even sure it's something I want to do. Do you think I need to?"

"No," he said quickly. "I don't. Assuming you want to stay in public service, anyway. It's completely your decision, Donna. Don't let anyone pressure you into it."

"I won't," she assured him.

"But don't let anyone stop you, either," he added.

"I won't," she repeated.

"Okay." He touched her hair again, and when she leaned in to the touch he gently placed his arm around her shoulders. "This okay?" he whispered.

She nodded and forced herself to relax under his touch. She could feel the warmth from his body, and his face was very close to hers. He swallowed and she watched his Adam's apple move up and down.

"Is it safe to come back yet?" CJ said from the end of the table.

Josh grinned at Donna before turning back toward CJ, his arm remaining where it was, draped over Donna's shoulders. "It was never not safe, CJ."

"Says you," CJ said good-naturedly. "God, you've both been a pain in the ass to be around lately."

"What do you mean?" Donna asked.

CJ gave her a look that told Donna she wasn't fooling anyone, but CJ was going to take pity on her, just this once, and not embarrass her any further.

(It was quite impressive, really, how she managed to cram all of that into just one look. The woman was good.)

So: "Nothing," CJ said, and slipped into the booth across from them. She noticed the location of Josh's arm, then looked pointedly at Donna. Donna averted her gaze and tried not to blush.

"Well, that was pointless and needlessly time-consuming," Toby said as he re-joined them, pitcher in hand.

"Not completely pointless," Charlie said as he sat down next to him. "We do have more beer."

"Where's Carol?" Donna asked.

"She started talking to some joker at the bar, and I think they made a love connection," Charlie said with a roll of his eyes.

"Go Carol," Josh said dorkily, dimples flashing. Donna had to admit that Josh was quite endearing when he was tipsy; the trick was to keep him from crossing over into out and out drunkenness, for that way lay all manner of annoyance and mortification, as she'd learned from bitter experience.

His hand moved from her shoulder to the top of her back, then played with the ends of her hair. Now Toby quirked an eyebrow, and Donna wondered if she should do something to rein Josh in, but damn, it felt so good that it was too much of a challenge to bring herself to care.

"I propose a toast," CJ said, lifting her glass. "To Donna not running us over with her wheelchair anymore."

"I'll drink to that," Toby said fervently. Donna winced; she'd clipped him pretty good the week before.

"Sorry guys," she said in chagrin.

"Eh, don't worry about it," Toby said.

"You were doing great on the crutches today," CJ said encouragingly.

"I never thought it would feel luxurious to just, you know, walk," Donna said. "Even if it is more of a hobble."

"Well, you hobble with the best of them," Josh assured her.

"Thanks," she said dryly.

"You're looking tired, Donna, are you sure you're okay?" CJ asked.

"I'm a little tired," she admitted. She'd probably overdone it that day, really, but she'd been so excited to hobble around, it had been tough to take it easy. Her twinging leg was rapidly making the transition to throbbing.

"You overdid it today," Josh said, reading her mind. "Come on, I'll take you home. We'll split a cab."

Donna opened her mouth to protest, then decided it wasn't worth the effort. "Okay."

Josh slid out of the booth and then helped Donna slide forward as well, until she could grab the crutches that she'd propped up at the end of the booth. "Good night, guys," she said to her remaining office mates.

"Night, Donna," they chorused. CJ gave her another look and Donna studiously ignored it. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on with Josh herself, but she was really starting to get tired of CJ putting in her two cents about it.

Once outside he flagged down a cab for them and they were on their way. They sat close together in the back seat, Josh's thigh pressing up against her own, his breath warm against her cheek. They sat in comfortable silence, neither of them seeming willing to disturb the little spell that had wrapped itself around them that night. After a few moments she hesitantly leaned her head against his shoulder, and he didn't stop her, just sat very still as she closed her eyes and relaxed, breathing him in.

The ride ended all too soon in front of her apartment building. Josh helped her out and up the stairs to her front door. "Are you going to be okay getting in?" he asked.

She gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes, Josh. I do manage to take care of myself when you're not around, you know," she said.

"Right."

They stood there, uncomfortable all of a sudden, and Donna wondered why this felt like the awkward ending to a first date. "Well, good night," she ventured.

"Night," he said. He bent over and kissed her quickly on the cheek, his lips like fire on her cold skin.

Her eyes widened. "Night," she echoed.

He gave her a small, uncertain smile, then turned to go. She watched him get back in the cab, then stood there for a while after the car had pulled away, wondering just how much her life was about to change.

End.