Harvey Specter had just strolled into the office after closing yet another case in the absence of his close friend, Mike Ross. Without a moment of thought, he made a bee-line for one office. From across the corridor, Harvey spots the red glow sitting at her desk. He pauses at her door and takes a moment to embrace her immaculate demeanour. Donna feels his presence and gently lifts her eyes to meet his gaze. With a silent acknowledgement, Harvey enters through the door and pours a single glass of Macallan before taking a seat.
"Are you okay?" she asks softly with a look of sadness written across her features.
"Why would I not be okay, Donna? We won the case." he responds, though fails to maintain eye contact. Donna pauses before trying again.
"You know that's not what I meant…Harvey, it's okay. I miss them too". His vision lifts once more and he sighs before formulating words.
"I… it's just besides you and Jessica, he was the only other person that understood me. But now, they're both gone Donna and I don't know how to move on from that". Donna smiles gently and nods her understanding. She reaches across her desk to where the glass of scotch is resting and takes a small sip before passing it back.
"Harvey, they'll never leave you, they just will not be at arm's reach anymore."
"I know that but it has been like that for so long… a team"
"Harvey, I'm not leaving you, and to be quite honest, I think we were always the best team anyone could ask for." Harvey quietly sips the drink before looking down at the floor. He stutters before he continues.
"Before they left, with all that was happening with the firm, Paula and when we…" he stops himself mentioning that forbidden night that nearly collapsed their 13 year foundations. "After it all blew over and you said you'd come back to the firm, over drinks with Mike I told him that Paula wasn't the one". She stared at him and reached for another drink causing his eyes to finally lift to meet hers. "Donna, he suggested it was because you were the one, sitting right under my nose the entire time." She inhales deeply, her breath faltering.
"Harvey…"
"Wait Donna, at that moment then I realised that I didn't want to waste another second with anyone else, so I came straight to you in here to offer you a drink. These things we do, the distant glances, the subtle touches, the little things we say to each other, I've realised that I have been stopping myself from doing anything more than what we do because I know that if I do, I won't be able to stop myself and I don't want to ruin what we have".
"What do we have then Harvey?" He looks directly into her eyes and tilts his head slightly to the side as if to silently communicate that she knows exactly what he is trying to say. "We can't do this again, both of us are incapable of expressing our feelings in that way".
"But you admit there are feelings?" Harvey seems to gain a glimmer of hope twinkle in his eyes.
"Of course there are feelings there Harvey, we've been joined at the hip for way over a decade, you've become family to me…" They both pause and look at each other.
"Donna, you are my family, but after everything that has happened, I can never lose you again. Reading your resignation on my desk was like an alarm bell for me and made me realise that there is nothing or nobody more important to me than you. The last few months were the push that I needed to show me that you are a part of me, without you I could not be the man that you made me".
"Harvey, we can't do this, it would never work in anything more than a professional manner. Neither of us are emotionally available to make this anything more than it is…"
"Stop making this harder than it is, Donna, can't you see that I am fighting for us like I should have done so many times in the past. I already let you go from my desk, now I need the void to be filled by you again, nobody else could even make a shadow over the imprint that you left there Donna."
"I think you are getting confused Harvey, and are just trying to compensate for Mike's absence" Harvey was beginning to lose his cool now as it seemed whatever he said was futile in winning her over.
"No! You do not understand Donna, I am not compensating for the fact I am missing Mike, but attempting to compensate for the lost years that instead of being sat at a desk 5 metres away, I should have be loving you and making sure you knew it". Donna looked ready for a quick remark, until that point. Her mouth dropped and her eyes went big with a hint of sparkle. "It might have taken me therapy, another woman and the loss of the things most important to me to realise it, but Donna, I am in love with you and I want more than the relationship we share between the firm's four walls." She needed a second to regain her composure, he was finally telling her all the things that she had ever wanted tot hear from him when saying she wanted more.
"And what if it didn't work Harvey, then what? We just go back to pretending nothing is there and jeopardise our entire relationship?" Harvey seemed to laugh lightly under his breath before replying.
"Donna, you're worth the risk… you always have been. We could have something amazing but we just have to give it a chance." Donna was beginning to lose this battle, she knew how she felt, the kiss only confirmed it, though she had denied any feeling to Harvey. She looked down to where the glass was sitting, before Harvey stood up from his chair and made his way around her desk. He stood next to her and lightly placed his finger under her chin to lift her face to meet his gaze. His eyes looked so young and vulnerable. With slight hesitation and a sense of worry in is voice he gulped. "Do you love me?"
She let a tear escape the corner of her eye and he caught it as it rolled down her cheek.
With a crease in her cheek, "You know I love you, Harvey" he smiled and carefully pulled her to her feet. They embraced for a few minutes, just simply holding each other in their arms, feeling the other's heart beat against their chest. Turning her head slightly, she whispered in his ear. "I lied when I said that our kiss didn't affect me, I was scared because it made me realise that everything I was denying was true and the person I wanted to be with was there the whole time".
Harvey pulled back and cupped her face, he pushed some stray hairs that had fallen out of place back behind her ear, then leaned in to press their lips together. They held each other in a grip, scared to let the other one go, in a moment that was long overdue. When they pulled apart, silent words were spoken and Harvey turned to grab her coat from the corner. Helping her slip in, she packed her bag and they exited the office and headed towards the elevator. After catching a cab back to Donna's apartment, Harvey walked her to her front door.
"You want to come in?" Donna muttered the same words as the last time he stood at her door. He smiled and took her outstretched hand before gently kicking the door shut behind him. Few words were said later that night as they cuddled up in the bed he had long forgotten but ultimately missed. Burying his head in the red mass of hair on his pillow, he pressed a lingering kiss to the back of her head, saying all the words he needed to.
"Goodnight, Donna"
"Goodnight, Harvey".
Apologies for the mushy version but wanted a story where Harvey fought for Donna – Please review or like the story and tell me if you want more, have some ideas floating around. Thanks.