Hey you lovely reader! This is my new idea & I really hope you're interested in it. So, Harvey and Donna are not together in this fix (yet :D) and Harvey's mom is about to visit them. She never destroyed their family by cheating on Harvey's dad in my fic like I read in a lot of other stories on here. She was married to his dad till he died and they were perfectly fine, that's the only way this story will make sense. So, she's just some overly attached mom who wants to talk some sense in her overly ambitious son. That's it, hope you like it! :)

Habits

"Donna, did you schedule the meeting for the Hessington Oil thing? I wanna finally leave this shit behind tonight." She nodded and smiled compassionately. This case was slowly tearing everything apart for the second time now, everyone knew it and all of them were counting the seconds until it was over.

"It's at 11, you still have some time. But.. there's something you should know.." Harvey's eyebrow shot up now & she could almost see his brain working.

"Ava's other lawyer just called…"

"What do you mean other lawyer?!" Donna gulped and braced herself for the storm. This case wasn't even near being over.

"They're suing us, Harvey. Because of what happened with… Stephen." Harvey balled his fist until his knuckles turned white.

"This son of a bitch…" He stormed into his office, probably already thinking about what to destroy in the next couple minutes. Donna shook her head and put her head in her hands, everything's gonna be fine was her new favourite mantra. Harvey would fix this, he always did and this case was no different. Just a bit more complicated. She wondered what would happen to the firm, to Jessica, Mike, Rachel, Louis and all the others if they lost. She wasn't ready to find a new job, damn she didn't even know how to write a proper application, let alone a CV anymore. And she certainly wasn't ready to leave Harvey already. The piercing ringing of her phone ripped her out of her train of thought. Damn it, please no Ava Hessington right now.

Donna picked up reluctantly, bracing herself for the second storm today.

"Harvey Specter's office, this is Donna Paulson. How can I help you?" There was a longer silence after that.

"Yes, hi hunnie. I believe we haven't met yet." Since Harvey could overhear every word she was saying, his head shot up in horror. Donna was still overwhelmed with the situation, desperately trying to figure out who she could be talking to.

"I'm Mary. Mary Specter. I'm Harvey's…" Donna's eyes went wide while Harvey jogged out of his office as fast as he could and tried to snatch the phone away from her. She blocked his attacks with her left arm, successfully keeping him away.

"Hi, Mrs Specter! So nice to finally meet you!" She answered sweetly while laughing evilly at him and he looked daggers at her.

"So, I figure my son doesn't have time to talk to me right now but I just want to let you guys know that I'll be in the city at around 6 tonight. I'l come to the firm then, so no need to pick me up. Can't wait to see you!" The overly cheerful woman said while Donna was still trying do process what she just said. Harvey was already slumped on her desk, shaking his head in disbelieve. His nosey mother was the last thing he needed right now.

"That's great," Donna answered politely. "Are you sure you'll be fine or do you want us to pick you up? Wouldn't put us out at all!" Harvey was swearing like a trooper now, probably already making up the most painful ways to kill Donna.

"Well, if you're already offering. I don't really like cabs, to be honest. Then around 5 at the airport?"

"Great, see you tonight!" Donna hang up and slowly looked up at Harvey. He was furious to say the least, pacing around the tiny space between her cubicle and his office.

"Why the hell did you do this?!" he whisper-shouted at her. He didn't want the whole office to hear, after all.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? You don't have time for anyone but yourself and she just wants to see her son after she hasn't seen him in forever. So don't blame her for trying!" He slowly started to realise that contradicting was pointless so he gave in.

"I hate you and your rationality sometimes.." She grinned at him now.

"Oh come on, you love me for it," she laughed and realised only seconds later what she just said. He was taken by surprise, even though her words probably weren't intentional.

Situations like this were still uncomfortabe. You can bury everything you want in the ground but it's always going to come up in the stupidest of situations.

"And since you drove me into this mess, you're coming with me tonight. I'm not gonna get through this on my own.."

"Oh come on, she's here to spend some time with her son, not with his secretary. You're gonna be fine." He shook his head.

"there's no way out of it. It's your fault, you're coming with me. End of discussion. She's dying to meet you anyway, my dad probably loved you more than he loved me." Donna pouted and leaned back in her chair.

"Well, I can't blame him. I'm way too awesome, he basically HAD to love me," she simply winked and spun around on her chair to check her emails once again. She was still waiting for something new concerning Hessington Oils. Instead she found a mail from Mike.

"Tell Harvey not to do anything until I'm in again, found something that could save our ass. Just keep him out of the conference room!"

Donna breathed out. The kid was gonna save their ass once again.

"Harvey, don't attend that meeting," she said and his head shot up from his phone.

"Why?! It would be businesswise suicide," he reasoned, still not knowing what got into Donna.

"Apparently the kid found something that could save our ass. Just trust him with this."

"And since when are we trusting our associates with stuff like that? We're done if anything goes wrong!" She rolled her eyes. He knew that Mike was special, he was like a Mini Harvey and never fucked up. At least most of the time.

"You don't have anything but your charme to win this case and you know it. Just wait for Mike, he's gonna be here soon!" He grumbled something incomprehensible and slurped back to his desk before starting to tap his desk impatiently.

—Habits—

Mike finally arrived in dribs and drabs 30 minutes later. It was 10.50 AM now and the meeting was supposed to start in 10 minutes. Harvey's nerves were at a breaking point and he just pulled Mike into his office impatiently.

"Geez, calm down. We're gonna win, no worries," Mike smiled sheepishly and handed the file to Harvey before summarising his findings.

"Ava wants to sue us because of what happened with Stephen. Nobody in court or in that conference room would believe us that we didn't know what he did. Darby was our partner at that time and we should've known. We should have, that's my point. Darby did all that stuff behind our back, practically betrayed every single one of us, including Jessica. But he did sign the contract in the beginning, meaning he's guilty of an offence." Mike didn't even have to go on, Harvey already finished his point.

"So we just go in there and bring Darby back into play, hoping they go after him instead of us. That's pretty risky, isn't it?"

It would be," Mike explained. "But there's more to it. Ava's attorney is Michael Van Acker, Darby's former…"

"American Partner!" Harvey exclaimed and jumped up. "Ava's gonna fire him him since he could still be in bed with Darby."

"There's still more to it," Mike grinned even wider now. He was enjoying every single part of this conversation.

"Do you remember the girl who hacked me into the Harvard data base?"

"Of course I did, she saved our asses back then."

"Well, she hacked Darby Scott's data base now and got me some evidence that they STILL are in bed together."

"Wait, Darby Scott?!" Harvey couldn't believe what he had just heard. "She got her name on the door after all the shit that happened last year?"

"Seriously? Is that all you care about? I just told you about my brilliant master plan and all you're doing is mourning your ex-whatever?"

"Shut up, gotta go, It's 11. We don't want to be late for kicking their asses!" Harvey said while leaving his office.

"Seriously?! A simple 'wow Mike, that was a brilliant move and I owe you everything' would've been enough!" Mike pouted like a six year old but followed him suit

Donna laughed to herself after listening to their conversation over the intercom. Nobody would ever kick this firm's ass, she thought to herself before returning to schedule Harvey's meetings for tomorrow.

—Habits—

Mike and Harvey didn't leave that conference room until 3pm. Donna made her way to the senior partner's kitchen when she saw Ava and Harvey shaking hands, concluding that everything went well. She wanted to make them some coffee and grabbed some granola bars since both of them haven't had anything for lunch.

"Let's go and grab something to eat before going to the airport. Can't stand being here anymore." She winced at his voice, not expecting him standing there. She smiled softly at him and thanked high heavens that everything went well.

"So I take it you won?" He simply grinned.

"Of course I did." She shook her head, handing him his coffee to go and the granola bar. "Let's go, then."

His hand found the small of her back and guided her towards the elevator. She always hated how much his touch affected her and how much she actually enjoyed it. They couldn't go there, she knew it, but it didn't keep her from hoping. The elevator ride was quiet and when they made their way through the lobby, Harvey put his arm around her shoulders. "Thanks for keeping me from walking into that conference room. You were right, I would've made a fool out of myself." She looked up at him, their faces dangerously close and she marvelled at how sparkly his dark brown eyes got every time he was truly happy.

"That's my job," she whispered before turning her head away slowly.

"Oh my god, it's snowing!" she exclaimed cheerfully, a bright smile plastered on her face.

"Yes, how awesome," Harvey answered sarcastically. "Even more traffic in the morning, I love it so much!" She hit him playfully, a mock frown on her face.

"How can someone possibly not like snow? It's magical, everything covered in snow is ten thousand times more beautiful than in summer. And oh my god, the ice skating rink in central park, it's like the most perfect thing ever!"

He smiled at her excitement over such a small thing. Another thing he simply loved about her.

"Let's walk to your apartment! Taking the car would be suicide and we have enough time to walk, come on!" she jumped up and down like an overly excited six-year-old but he simply couldn't say no to her. "Fine" he answered smiling, pulling her even closer when the cold winter air hit them. Donna didn't know what to think about Harvey holding her. She always had feelings for him, it wasn't a secret, but she has always been able to hide it. And she feared that spending too much time with him would open up her freshly healed wounds all over again but she didn't want to care right now. The snow was falling heavily now and her hair was starting to get damp. He loosened his grip on her shoulders and she already missed his touch. He swiftly grabbed her hand and they started running the last few feet to his condo. He turned his head and smiled broadly at her, her giggle filling the the cold winter air around them. They jumped into the open elevator, both of them laughing loudly and none of them ready to let go of their interlocked hands just yet. There they were, Harvey Specter and Donna Paulson, the best closer in the city and his very special secretary, standing in an elevator holding hands. It wasn't uncomfortable at all, if anything it felt natural, meant to be. Almost like a habit.