New fan here! I was itching to look for DS fanfiction before I even finished watching Season 1, now here I am. Emily/Aaron really won me over, even though their relationship seems to be moving at a glacial pace, so here's my first contribution to the fandom.

OVAL OFFICE ROMANCE: Is something in the water at the White House? It can be denied no longer that President Kirkman's Chief of Staff, Emily Rhodes, and her predecessor—now the president's Senior Advisor, Rhodes's own former position—Aaron Shore have been in a covert relationship for some time. How did this scandalous love affair come to be? Reporting by Abe Leonard.

The Kirkmans

Tom doesn't read the newspaper anymore. Usually, someone will simply tell him whatever news he needs to know when he emerges from his room in the morning and walks to his first engagement. It might save him a few minutes, but he misses the ordinariness of his once habitual activity. Alex is in the same boat.

Leo, however, like most teenagers, is glued to his phone and social media. First thing in the morning, he hits snooze on his alarm, and then when he finally wakes up, he tiredly drags his phone closer to his face and scrolls through his notifications to see what happened while he was sleeping. One story in particular is popping up time and time again. Intrigued, he clicks on it.

As his father steps out of his room, Leo is already there to intercept him, eyes wide as he continues reading the comments on social media. "Dad!"

"Leo? Is something wrong?" Tom knows that his son is usually the last to force himself out of bed, so seeing him there to greet him is a surprise.

"No. I mean, I don't think so. I—did you know that Emily and Aaron are dating?"

"What?"

Alex hurries out to investigate the commotion, and her reaction, when informed, is the same as her husband's. "What? Where did you learn this, Leo?"

He shows them his phone screen. "Abe Leonard wrote an article."

Tom quickly reads it, Alex looking over his shoulder. When he reaches the end, he rubs his temples, grimacing. He can already tell it's going to be a long day. "I need to know as soon as those two arrive. We're going to have some damage control to do."

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Penny is rushing toward them. "Is it true? Are Emily and Aaron dating? Are they gonna get married?"

Starting with Penny.

Seth Wright

Seth is running late that morning, so he only finds out when he's already halfway to work and has a second to glance at his phone.

"Aw, shit. Guys!"

The next thing he says:

"Finally, it's about time! I can't believe those two jerks didn't tell me."

Cornelius Moss

The former president is enjoying a leisurely breakfast, just about to take a sip of coffee when he pauses, eyes on the headline. Then he chuckles, shaking his head. It took everyone long enough to notice. Cornelius doesn't find it necessary to nose into other people's private lives, but he's had enough life experience to have been able to tell that there was something going on between those two. Thinking about his wife, he muses aloud, "Ah, I remember when we were their age, sweetheart. Those were the days."

Then he finishes his coffee and gets up. Kirkman is going to need help containing this situation, and Cornelius suspects his Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor might not be as effective today.

Kimble Hookstraten

When Kimble reads about it, she rolls her eyes.

First: Abe, really? This is what you consider news? At least he published it in Teen Mode and not something more reputable.

Second: Aaron, really? Kimble expected her former Chief Strategist to be able to keep it under wraps for two months, at least.

Once she finishes mentally berating everyone, she leans back in her chair and smiles. White House weddings are rare things, and almost unheard of for people not related to the president, but she doubts Kirkman will protest too much at the idea. Besides, it'll make for great publicity for the administration. Yes, they can absolutely spin this in their favor.

The FBI Clique

"Well, that's new." Chuck munches on his breakfast sandwich as he skims the article.

"What is it?" Hannah asks, half-interested. If it turns out to be something important, like another national crisis, she'll be more interested.

"You remember the president's right-hand men—well, man and woman? Emily Rhodes and Aaron Shore?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Apparently they've been secretly dating."

"Okay…" Hannah wonders why that's a headline-worthy event, but she supposes at least that means there isn't anything more serious, like another national crisis, going on. Count your blessings when you can.

"'A White House insider reported that a mutual attraction has long been rumored between the two, since even before Kirkman's presidency. A betting pool was once organized among the staff—'"

"Russink!" Foerstel marches over. "Stop gossiping like a high school girl and get to work."

"Yes, sir." Chuck hurriedly exits his web browser. Hannah suppresses a smirk as she continues looking through reports.

Foerstel glares at Chuck for another moment before nodding at Hannah and walking away. As he does, he pulls out his phone and looks up the headline he glimpsed on Chuck's screen. Oval Office Romance? Now that's intriguing.

Nadia Espinosa

Nadia isn't a social media addict, so she doesn't realize her cousin's secret relationship is no longer a secret until she gets to work. Everyone is huddled around the figurative water cooler, and Congresswoman Yoshida is the first to spot her. "Nadia! Did you know about the story with Aaron?"

"Um...what story with Aaron?" Nadia has a bad feeling about this.

"He's been dating Emily Rhodes for several months. Did he tell you about it?"

Yes, but Nadia anticipates that she'll be grilled that much harder for information if she admits it. As if on cue, her phone rings, and she excuses herself to answer it.

Several seconds later, she wishes she'd braved Congresswoman Yoshida's interrogation, because now she has to endure an interrogation by what feels like the entire state of Texas.

Last but not least…

Aaron groans as his phone rings, again. His and Emily's cells have been going off like crazy this morning; he doubts he'll be able to go back to sleep now. "I thought it was supposed to be our day off," he grumbles, turning away from his nightstand and cuddling Emily closer.

"Maybe the president realized it wasn't that good an idea to give us both a day off on the same day," Emily mutters, batting half-heartedly at her ringing phone.

"I really hope it's not another national crisis." Aaron gives in and reaches for his phone to make sure the economy hasn't crashed or one of the states tried to secede during the night.

Emily rolls to face him. "Speaking of the president...we've been going out for a while now, and...I think our relationship is here to stay. Don't you think it's about time we told him about us?" Aaron doesn't answer. "Aaron?"

"I don't think we need to worry about that."

"Worry about what?"

"Telling Kirkman. Or anyone else." He shows her his phone. "Abe Leonard's done that for us already."

Later in the Oval Office…

"I'm not mad," Tom insists. "Of course not. I mean...I think you two are great together. I was actually wondering before all this if you would ever get together. But six months? Really? Six months and you never told me?" The president sounds betrayed.

"We wanted to make sure at first that our relationship was going to be serious," Emily hurriedly tries to explain. "And...it was a little on the rocks in the beginning."

Aaron continues, "Then once it got more stable, so many other things happened—policy issues, the economy, foreign affairs—that we didn't feel like it was the right time to tell."

Tom nods slowly. "I understand. And...well, I'm glad I know now. I just wish you two were able to tell me before Abe Leonard told everyone."

Emily and Aaron grimace at the same time. "What can we do now, sir?" Emily asks.

"Well...you can start by telling Alex what you think about a June wedding."

The End...of this fic. I might have some more in the works. Thanks for reading, and I'd really appreciate it if you left a review!