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The Journey to Love: Love and Politics	By : sissouthernink1994 Category: S through Z > West Wing Views: 2272 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Full disclaimer below with more to follow for each chapter. This is a work of fiction. I don't own The West Wing- the building or the show. I don't know President and Mrs. Obama, I'm not getting paid for this.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
A/N: I don’t usually write filler chapters (this one will be short), but this is filler will actually extend my chapters ‘til the anniversary weekend to 3.

Chapter 11: The Privacy Factor
Bartlet Campaign Trail….

                Jed Bartlet thought it would be a great idea to give the campaign buses a rest and take the campaigners, family and staff on a cross-country train ride. He thought it would a great way to meet potential voters and to see the country. The fact that their buses had been breaking down a lot helped seemed to help that decision along. Therefore, they all set out to actually leave from New York’s Penn Station and head west.
Sam dreaded it a little bit. He hadn’t seen Lisa in a while and she didn’t know how much his life had changed. The train was leaving that night so he asked if she would meet him for lunch. The restaurant had a decent crowd, but he managed to get them a table far away from the crowd. They needed privacy. He needed to tell her about Josh. When he saw her approach the table, he stood and they managed to hug each other civilly.
“You look well.” Sam said.
“I wish I could say the same for you.” Lisa replied as they sat. “You look worn out.”
“I am. I’m writing a lot, meeting a lot of people, traveling a lot, learning a lot about the office of the President. It’s like History 101 all over again times a million. The one thing I’m not doing a lot of is sleeping.”
“How many hours do you average?”
“Maybe forty a week?”
“And you’re writing speeches like that?”
“Don’t have a choice.”
“You do have a choice; you can leave and come back to New York. We can pick up where we left off. Daddy hasn’t cancelled anything yet, just waiting until all this is over and you come to your senses.”
“Well, I want to see how far this will go.”
“Speaking of the campaign, how’s Josh? I didn’t see him.”
“Uh…probably getting last minute stuff together.”
“He still with that girl? Oh what’s her name…Brandy? Bianca?”
“Belinda…”
“That’s it, Belinda. Are they still together?”
“Not they’re not. They’ve been broken up for a while.”
“Oh, so who is he dating now? Should I try to hook up a friend for him so he won’t be alone at the wedding?”
“About that…” Sam hesitated.
“Our wedding? What about it?”
“First, Josh already has a friend that he’s hooked up with and I’m thinking that there won’t be a wedding.” There it’s out; I said it now for the aftermath.
“Well, we decided that when all this is done we’ll wed. So if it’s not this year or even next year, it’s ok.” She said taking a sip of her water. “And what friend is Josh with?” Sam took a deep breath.
“Josh is with me.” He replied and held his breath, as he looked her in the eyes. Lisa looked at Sam, smiled and laughed.
“Yeah right. That’s hilarious! You two have been friends for years and nothing has ever-” She paused when she saw the serious look on Sam’s face. “Wait this is a joke you two are pulling on me right?” Sam sat silently. “Right?”
“No, it’s not a joke. This is for real.”
“I…this makes no…I don’t…Sam…”Lisa stammered to find the words to say.
“Lisa you know for a long time that we haven’t been who we were when we first fell in love. Things have changed between us and between Josh and me. I’m in love with him and I think I have been for a while.”
“What?! Sam did he pressure you into thinking you have feelings for him like he pressured you to leave New York?”
“No, I pursued him first. And the decision to leave New York was mine alone.” Lisa had blank stare on her face.
“You pursued him? You came onto him?” Sam nodded. “I don’t believe it.” She crossed her arms in front of her. “I just don’t. You wouldn’t do this. You wouldn’t.”
“Lisa, we haven’t been happy for a long time and-”
“And now you are?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“With Josh?”
“Yeah, with Josh.” She ran her hands through her hair in frustration.
“This makes no sense Sam!”
“Well, you knew I was bisexual when we met. You knew that if we broke up that me going back to a man was always a possibility.”
“SO did you think about him while we were intimate? Were you secretly wishing that it was him instead of me?”
“No! Lisa why would you think that? When we were making love, I was there in the moment with you. Not thinking about Josh.”
“You’re gonna have a hard time proving that to me. So when did this revelation come about?”
“It took me hearing things second hand from other people to see what they saw. People who have never seen us before thought that we were a couple. That we were deeply in love.”
“And you just had to prove them right?” She replied, the bitterness coming out in her voice along with tears from her eyes.
“I don’t expect you to understand it right now. Josh has been in love with me for a while but kept his feelings because he knew we were getting married. Lisa he was going to let us get married and totally miss this opportunity.”
“What so you two could have a mid-life crisis and have had an affair five years from now at my expense?”
“It’s not like that Li-”
“And what about me? With the broken heart and the ring?”
“I’ve had a broken heart for a while. And you can do what you want with the ring. I can’t ask for it back.”
“Oh my god, what do I tell my parents? How do I tell my parents?”
“We can pick a weekend. I’ll come back and we can tell them together. As long as they’ve known me everything will eventually be ok.”
“No it won’t.”
“Why not?” She sighed and sniffed.
“I never told them you were bisexual.”
“Oh.”
“They won’t understand. And it’ll be in all the society papers, I’ll be a laughing stock. Daddy will be a laughing stock and Mama will never be able to show her face at the parties and clubs again. Thanks a lot Sam.”
“Lisa, wait. This wasn’t an easy decision for me either. Josh has been by best friend for years. It was scary to cross the line from friends to lovers-”
“Oh my god, I didn’t need to hear that Sam.”
“We haven’t done that yet; we agreed that I would talk with you first. Because then it wouldn’t seem like…”
“Like you were cheating on me? Let’s face it Sam; you were. Your heart was elsewhere. And I was a fool to think that you would come back to me the same way you left.” She stood to leave and started to walk off.
“I’m sorry Lisa. I really am. I didn’t know I felt that way about Josh, until all the feelings just came up.” She kept shaking her head in disbelief. “I’m not asking you to accept this or to even understand. I just ask that you respect my decision.” She looked away from him, hurt, impending shame and disgust on her face. “I mean it Lisa. I really am sorry. I never expected things to go this way. I want you to know that I did love you, I was in love with you and you will always have a special place in my heart. Please know that.” Lisa turned back to look at him. She searched his eyes. Tears had fallen from his handsome blue eyes, the same eyes that caught her attention so long ago. She never knew Sam to lie so she knew at that moment that she would eventually have to accept his apology. She could see that this was also difficult for him. He was hurting too.
“Sam, I don’t know what to say about all this. It’s unexpected and…”
“I know. If it had been me, I don’t know what I would say. I’d probably be feeling the same way.”
“Don’t worry about talking with my parents; I’ll take care of everything.”
“Lisa, are you sure? This is all on me and I know they’ll have questions. I want to be able to answer them; I owe them that.”
“I’ll tell them that it was a mutual decision between us. I’ll pack up anything that you may have left and maybe when everything is settled you can pick it up and we can talk to my parents then.”
“Ok.” Sam replied.
“Oh, and you don’t have to worry; I won’t out you and Josh no matter how much this hurts me.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do; even if I don’t understand it all, you still deserve time to figure it out.”
“Thank you for being considerate. It’s probably more than I deserve.”
“Goodbye Sam.” Then Lisa surprised him with a kiss to the cheek and a hug.

“Goodbye Lisa.”

                It was about 10:00 p.m. and the campaigners from Boston had just come in on the train. While their bags were being transferred to the charter train, they checked in with their perspective leaders and received their itineraries. Sam was already on the train going over the last minute changes of the “Going West” speech with Toby and Bartlet. That’s what they were calling in since that’s where they were going. The train was to leave at midnight. The press was lining up to get a good seat for the brief news conference. An aide had come up to Josh and told him that he had a visitor.
“Just direct them to where the press is supposed to go.” Josh told him.
“I don’t think she’s with the press.” Josh looked up from his checklist and in the direction the aide was pointing. It was Lisa. “And she’s not taking no for an answer. She said she had to speak to you before the train leaves.”
“Ok, thanks. I’ll speak to her. Can you find Donna Moss and give this to her please?” Suddenly Josh sneezed.
“Bless you.” The aide said.
“Thanks. I’ve been sneezing for two days. I hope it goes away I don’t want to infect the whole train. Could you also have Donna find Dr. Bartlet for me? I think I need something stronger than sinus meds.” The aide nodded and left to find Donna. Josh walked over to where Lisa was.
“I see you’re not sleeping much either.” She said to him.
“No, not much. And whatever this is I have is about to kick my ass. Makes me look like Rudolph.” He said referring to his nose. Josh took out his handkerchief and wiped his nose. “This may seem like a dumb question, but how are you?”
“I’ve had better days.”
“Sam’s on the train with the Governor and Toby going over the speech. He’ll probably be available in a few minutes if you want to talk.”
“I didn’t come to talk to Sam and you know it. We had our conversation earlier.” Josh looked down at his feet for a moment.
“Yeah, I know. We talked about it a little. Listen Lisa this love relationship between Sam, and me we didn’t plan it. It really just sort of happened. I really am sorry that you got hurt. I didn’t know when I came here to visit him that this would come about.”
“I know. I could look in Sam’s eyes and tell. He has never been able to lie and he certainly has never been able to lie to me. He would rather try to fix the situation than lie and say everything is fine. But it wasn’t meant to be this time.” She stood defensively and squarely in front of Josh. “I need you to promise me something before you both get on that train.”
“Anything. If it’s in my power, I’ll do it.”
“It is in your power. I need you, to promise me that he will never feel what I’m feeling right now.”
“Lisa I don’t know if I can promise that. Sam and I don’t know what the future holds.”
“Yes you can.”
“Lisa I-”
“You can and you will.” Lisa tried to blink back tears but they escaped anyway. “I’m losing my best friend and lover to his other best friend and lover. My heart is broken in a million pieces Josh. I need you to promise me that you will never break his heart. Those beautiful blues should never cry heartbroken sad tears.” She wiped a few of her own away with the back of her hand.
“Lisa…”
“Promise me Josh.” He sighed and could feel the start of his own tears stinging the back of his eyes. He knew this would hurt Lisa but now he could see just how much.
“I promise not to hurt Sam in any way that would cause him a broken heart.”
“Thank you. If you ever break that promise and I find out about it, I will personally come and take you out of this world. Understood?”

“Understood.” Josh replied. Lisa took one more look in the direction of the train and was able to see Sam one last time. The trio had come off the train, ready to have the news conference with the waiting press.

                Once the news conference was over it was time to board. Sam could see that the stress of the campaign combined with lack of proper food and sleep was getting to Josh. He had come down with something. The schedule had them riding the train pretty much all night, arriving in Charlotte, NC around lunchtime.
“CJ, got a minute?” Sam asked.
“Sure what’s up?”
“I know the press has their own car, the Governor and family have theirs and we’re here. Is there any chance that the press core will come into our car?”
“They shouldn’t less there is an emergency. Why do you ask?”
“Josh isn’t felling well and Dr. Bartlet is going to give him some medicine but I know he’s not going to rest unless I’m next to him making him.”
“And you don’t want anyone in the press to know?”
“Correct.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” She thought a moment. “Well, since their car is behind us, why don’t you guys sit more toward the Governor’s car? They aren’t allowed to go in without Secret Service. And I think he’d be more comfortable addressing them back there anyway. Yeah, that should solve it.”
“Thanks CJ.” Sam left to find Josh to let him know they were changing seats.
“Why are we sitting up here?”
“To get away from the press core.”
“But I need to be back there if they have questions.”
“They won’t have any questions between now and D.C. or Charlotte because they will be asleep and so will you.”
“Still doesn’t explain why we’re sitting here.” Josh replied sneezing.
“Bless you. There’s one reason. Another is to stay out of any wondering eyes of the press. I know Leo said he would take care of any questions, but we still need to be careful.” Josh shrugged and started into a coughing spell.
“Well, when did the coughing start?” Came the voice of Dr. Bartlet from behind them.
“A little earlier. It’s nothing to worry about though.”
“Hogwash.” She replied. “Here, take these.” She handed the pills to Sam.
“Why are you giving them to him? I’m the one who has to take them.”
“To ensure that you do take them. You need to eat something before taking those.”
“I’m not really hungry Mrs. Bartlet.”
“I’m Dr. Bartlet at the moment and the reason you don’t feel like eating is your fever. There is aspirin and cold medicine there. I will pick up something stronger when we get to D.C. to change conductors. That shot I’ll give you will probably keep you asleep for a quite a while.”
“Asleep? But I have work to do.”
“None of which will get done if you are too sick to do it.” Sam said.
“He’s right. Eat half the sandwich, piece of fruit and take the meds with the juice, follow with water. Then lights out.” Josh looked at them both.
“Come on, Josh. No choice here.”
“Ok.”
“Good. I’ll see you in about four hours.”
                Sam set out to make Josh as comfortable as he could. They split the turkey and cheese sandwich. Josh longed for the bag of chips that Sam had. Sam felt sorry for him and gave him a few. Josh ate his banana, took the medicine and drank half the water. They figured out how to let the seats back to be more comfortable. Josh fluffed his pillow while Sam covered him with a blanket. He turned off the reading light above them and lowered the window shade.
“You’re really not going to let me do any work are you?”
“Nope. And that fever isn’t either. Part of why you’re sick is the stress. Just take this time to check out a minute and rest.” Josh waited for Sam to get comfortable. Once they were facing each other, Josh felt for Sam’s hand underneath the blanket and linked their fingers together.
“Lisa came to see me before the news conference.”
“Yeah, I saw her. She didn’t look like she wanted to talk to me.”
“She didn’t. She made me promise not to break your heart.”
“Lisa did that?” Josh nodded. “And what did you say?”
“I promised not to break your heart. And I promise that to you too.”
“I believe you. Now, get some sleep.” Sam moved in closer to kiss Josh good night but Josh backed away. “What’s wrong?”
“You want Dr. Bartlet to give us both a shot?”

“I’ll take my chances.” Sam replied and kissed his boyfriend goodnight.

Washington D.C.

                Josh sat back in his comfortable armchair remembering those nights on the train and that night in particular. He and Sam were together and finding acceptance that he was sure not many of their friends received from their employers and co-workers. He had a cup of hot Echinacea tea with a little bit of honey that he gently sipped. He was getting a scratchy throat and wanted to get rid of it before the middle of the week. He didn’t want anything hindering their celebration weekend. Sam was secretive about the plans he’d made and Josh wanted to enjoy everything. As he sipped, he reminisced about the promise he’d made to Lisa then to Sam. And how that promise was broken.

A/N2: Ok, maybe it wasn’t as short as I thought it was going to be. Up next… Chapter 11: The Beginning of the End?
- 10
- 11
- 12
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The Journey to Love: Love and Politics