Hey guys!
So this is my new post finale/season eight piece. There's a certain plot I want to develop along the way so it won't go entirely the way I think this season will unfold.
But hope you enjoy nonetheless! x
Chapter One: The Not So Grand Finale
Neither of the still swaying pair remember when one song became two, or when two became four. Both only noticing how long they had been dancing together when the warm sea of bodies around them slowly start to disperse. Some back to their tables, others to the bar.
Harvey moves his eyes around the dance floor, his cheek still pressed into her fiery waves, hand on her back, higher than when they first started dancing. The tips of his fingers now tasting the bare flesh of her exposed back. A place where they haven't marked their fingerprints in far too long. His digits have long become sweaty and he reckons hers are too with all of her fingers delicately wrapped around his thumb as his own fold neatly over the back of her palm.
Donna feels him releasing a sigh. Finally letting himself breathe now that they weren't as surrounded by friends and acquaintances and complete strangers. She feels the pain in his heart next as hers beats against his heavy chest. She knows she doesn't need to offer him words right now. His heartache is more than valid and she's not about to talk him out of feeling this way. All she can do is press her hand tighter against him while her thumb strokes his back, silently telling him that she hears him.
"I know." She catches him whisper to her unexpectedly, voice hoarse and tired, but she can feel him smiling lightly as his cheek rises against her.
She pulls her head back, feeling the fresh air hit her right side for the first time in what felt like forever - and not long enough at the same time. He watches her furrow her brows with an inquisitive smirk, his eyes raking over the freckles on her cheeks and across the bridge of her nose. The ones he only gets to see when he's this close. Which isn't often enough, he now realises.
"Know what?"
"That it'll be okay." he responds straight after. "We'll still see them."
"It will." the redhead smiles with pride before nodding. "And we will."
"I don't know how I'd cope with all of this if I didn't have you, Donna."
"Well," she grins reassuringly, momentarily glancing away with a hint of bashfulness, eyes glistening under the soft light emitting from the rows of bulbs above their heads, "you don't ever have to worry about that, I'm not going anywhere, Harvey."
He tilts his head at her, brows raised with a challenging smirk. "Can you really promise that, though?"
"Can anyone?"
He sighs again, feeling like that's all he can do lately as his left hand subconsciously drifts back down her lengthy spine, stopping lower than it had ventured since they entered the dancefloor.
They may not have done much physical dancing in the past, if any, but they were constantly dancing around each other when it came to their feelings for one another. They had mastered it. Professional slow-burn choreographers at this stage.
"I can," he says as he bobs his head with his signature confidence, and an even more trademark grin threatening his lips, "I'll always be around."
He meant for her. He just didn't dare finish his sentence that way. Not when the truth about her feelings for him still feels miles up in the air. Her words told him one thing, but her lingering looks, her coy smiles and tentative touches now scream another thing. So, he allows his tone, his eyes, his embrace, to tell her instead. Because it's all still too much of a risk. Especially on a night like tonight, when everyone is tipsy and high on life. He tells himself that its normal to be more affectionate with friends on nights like these, in the hopes that he can put the ambiguity behind her feelings for him to bed.
"Good to know." she whispers, holding his stare for a moment that borders on too long for apparent just friends who are back to normal and don't want to be together.
Harvey smiles back, looking away then before pulling her in close, returning her body to his once more. His next words proving a direct contradiction to his most recent action.
"We should probably get back to the party soon."
"Probably." she chuckles, inching away from him before he gently draws her back, his mouth lingering over her exposed left ear.
"Just not yet."
She watches her fingers caress the back of his shoulder as she rests her head against him once more. Starting to wonder if she was lying to herself more than to him when she told him she didn't have feelings for him - that she didn't want more - when those exact feelings start swelling up inside of her, as if each of them were splitting in half and multiplying with the growth of each new cell in her body.
He senses her relax into him again before she speaks. "One more song won't hurt."
Her clammy palm falls from his own as she wraps that arm around his neck, limbs gliding slowly as both arms cross behind him, reminding him of her kiss, their kiss. His newly freed hand wraps around her waist now too as their new positions allow them to share an even more intimate embrace. Their chins resting in the crooks of one another's necks while they sway in the dim light that helps keep their true feelings in the shadows.
Both well aware that the harsh light of day will inevitably return.
…
Harvey sets his drink down on the white marble counter of the bar over in a secluded, more intimate corner of the large reception. He looks at Donna to his left who sends him a curious glance once she senses his. She notices his eyes engulf her features with less tentativeness than they used to. Like he wasn't afraid of her catching him anymore. Just like they had appeared right before he asked her to dance.
He opens his mouth to speak but she never hears the words as his eyes veer off over her shoulder. His lips pressing together with an uncomfortable exhale thanks to the dreaded moment that was now fast approaching them. Although she can take a guess, his eyes become all too dismal and she twists her head around to confirm for herself what they were pointed at. Mike and Rachel, both removing themselves from a friendly conversation some twelve feet away as they make their way over to their best man and maid of honour.
Donna looks back to Harvey, smiling sadly as she observes him. Focusing on his well-being was one way to ensure she didn't think of hers. And what her friends leaving would do to her.
She sits up off her chair next, her left hand landing on his right bicep, thumb caressing him until he was glancing back at her, nodding lightly to confirm he was okay before she lets her hand fall back to her side, the backs of their palms kissing.
"Are you two still here?" Harvey jokes, desperate to lighten the mood that was uncontrollably darkening, while Donna turns her head to smile at the newlyweds.
They both stop up in front of their friends then, arms linked and bubbling with joy. A joy that was tainted with this impending bittersweet goodbye, nonetheless.
"Well, we were gonna leave without saying anything, but we were worried you two wouldn't send our final paychecks if we did that so.."
Rachel scolds him with a chuckle before eyeing Harvey. "Of course we're not gone yet."
Donna inhales, selflessly holding back the waterworks when she feels her nose start to sting and her lids fill with a layer of fresh tears. She doesn't want them feeling bad about leaving, not for a second, and especially not on their big day.
"But you're leaving soon." she finishes knowingly.
Rachel meets her stare, her chest rising, voice shaking in spite of her efforts. "Yes. We came to say goodbye. And to thank you both. For everything."
Harvey glances at Donna, suddenly needing to absorb some of her calm to anchor himself down. But he can see right through her facade and her sorrow leaves him more broken than before he looked at her. Oddly though, her pain begins to ease his own as he tells himself to be strong, for her, so she can lean on him should she need.
"No need to thank us." Donna asserts. Desperate not to start choking up, she jokes lightly. "We're as lucky to have you two in our lives, as you are to have us."
The group share a moment of easy laughter, soon drowned out by knowing stares. A heavy thundercloud now looming over the four of them in the corner of a beautifully decorated room, filled with an unmissable contrast of communal chattering, smiles and laughter.
"Seriously though," Mike starts, looking back and forth between his surrogate parents as his arm tightens around his wife, "I'm not sure we could ever put into words how much you both mean to us, and how hard it is to say goodbye."
"So let's not say it." Harvey blurts, frowning with a crooked smile, earning glances from all three. "'Cause this isn't goodbye." He may have only been trying to convince himself but the others seem to take comfort in that fact too.
"No," Mike agrees, "it's not."
A second later, Harvey's outstretching his arms, silently but warmly inviting Mike in for another hug. One they both know would be their last for awhile. For a man that wasn't keen on physically showing his affections, that realisation stung Harvey more than he ever could have predicted.
Tears fall down Rachel's cheeks as Donna inches towards her to do the same. Both wrapping themselves up in the most tender embrace they could possibly manage. Black on white as they mold into one hugging form. Only feeling more fragile the longer they held on. That still isn't enough to force them to let go just yet, however.
"Thanks for everything, Harvey."
"Thanks for stumbling into that interview, Mike." he smirks, patting him on the back as they hug it out for the second time that night.
"You'll have to thank Donna for that." Mike breathes, eager to play cupid one last time before he leaves. "She's the one who let me through after all."
Harvey lets go, meeting Mike with a knowing grin as he pulls back, eyes narrowing in reminiscence.
"She is." he murmurs, vision trailing to the redhead still hugging her friend, both women immersed in their own moment as he remembers her enthusiastic wink, signaling to him that the kid walking into his next interview was 'another him'.
Harvey looks back to Mike then, the younger man's stare immediately telling him that he has picked up on his shameless Donna-ogling.
"Harvey-"
"I know, Mike." he says simply, forcing his friend to frown in surprise. "You don't need to say a thing."
He was just experiencing what it was like to talk about Donna to someone for the first time, and now that someone was moving to the opposite side of the country.
"Good." he nods before lowering his voice. "So next time I visit it'll be for your wedding, right?"
Harvey shakes his head, biting the inside of his lip in an attempt to shut down the smirk forming at his lips, his nostrils flaring in mock disapproval of his first ever protege, before he ends up looking back at her.
"I'm gonna miss you more than I can even imagine right now, Donna." Rachel chokes out when they pull apart, still holding on to one another's hands.
Teary-eyed and lips trembling, she tries her best to hold it together. "Hey, I'm gonna visit soon! You'll be sick of me again in no time."
Rachel pushes her lips together, nodding sadly at the thought of them being visitors in each other's lives for the first time since the day they met. How she had gotten to see firsthand Donna's famous know-it-all ways. The redhead offering her warm, quirky smiles and witty back-and-forth during a conversation that had her utter "you're weird, we'll be friends." And friends they soon became. Sisters even. Two women constantly looking out for each other in a workplace that strongly favours men. Without even having to think about it, they had the other's backs. And now, after almost a decade of working at the firm together, and running to Donna whenever she needed help, or advice, or even just a girly catch-up, living on the other side of the country would be the strangest adjustment she's ever faced.
Donna watches Rachel's kind hazel eyes trail towards Harvey, still conversing with Mike before they're back on her a second later. The brunette inhales, face full of hope as she gives her last words of advice.
"Do what makes you happy, Donna. And remember, it's okay to put yourself first from time to time." The redhead shakes her head up and down slowly, knowing exactly what - or rather who - Rachel was referring to. "Don't be afraid to tell him how you feel." she whispers knowingly, giving Donna's hand an affectionately encouraging squeeze.
She's simply at a loss for words, wondering how Rachel seemed to know. Before realising that she may have passed some of her perfected people-reading skills on to her friend over the years.
The group naturally shuffle back into a foursome then. Harvey and Rachel, and Donna and Mike, saying their goodbyes now too, warm hugs and friendly kisses temporarily coating over the pain of it all.
"Thanks for being there for me everyday, Donna." Mike praises, crystal-blue eyes oozing with an appreciation words could never fully describe.
"Who else was gonna clean up after all of your messes?"
"I don't think anyone else could." he beams before they let go fully.
Harvey breaks his and Rachel's hold then. "Look after him," he says purposely loud, "seeing as I won't be there to save his ass in Seattle when he inevitably shits the bed."
"I will." she chuckles softly, blinking slowly as she grins.
Mike lets the harmless insult slide, shaking his head with a silent laugh as he steps back beside his wife. Harvey and Donna now standing together again too. Almost as close as the married couple before them. She feels his palm on her right shoulder just before he speaks.
"Go on, you two." He forces a smile while he nods to the exit at the end of the room, clenching his jaw as his eyes glaze over and his voice verges on raspy. "Enjoy your honeymoon."
"And your new life!" Donna adds warmly and tearfully, still excited for the pair's journey ahead.
Harvey and Mike exchange one last glance for the night, and the foreseeable future. One not completely shy of the type a proud father would give his son going off to college. Rachel blows Donna a kiss as Mike takes her by the hand, leading them away. The redhead's hand resting over her heart, determined to suppress the agonizing sensation ferociously thumping out of her chest.
They watch on as the lovebirds become lost in the crowd again, making their way out of the reception before they jump into the car that would begin their next journey together. And just like that, the packed room felt undeniably emptier to them both now. They felt no reason to celebrate there any longer. As if the gathering was pointless now.
His eyes rest on the side of her face. Biting her bottom lip in an attempt to numb her growing mental affliction by replacing it with a physical feeling instead. A feeling to anchor her down and pull her out of her head and back into the present. But it's her first presence without them since she met them both. A sourly sweet new era. One she can't escape. But she can escape the room. The room that no longer held two of her closest friends in the world, and never would again.
"I'll be right back." She hates the tremble that reduces her voice to a near whisper. She wants to be strong around him. For him.
"Donna-"
After a quick glance she's scurrying away from the bar, all too quickly losing him as she maneuvers around tables and crowds, darting through open oak doors at the end of the large function room.
When he no longer has eyes on her he wonders why the hell he didn't follow her straight away. The room may have felt empty without the newlyweds, but it was undoubtedly insufferable without the redhead.
His glass of scotch clinks against the marble counter of the stylish bar while he pushes himself off of it, springing into action, hoping he would find her with ease so she won't be grieving alone. He wants her tears to have a place to land on his shoulder, or in the crook of his neck as he holds her close and tells her everything will be okay. Just like he knows it will be. Because he has her.
He scans his surroundings once he crosses the very threshold she had tread over just moments beforehand. Looking for a rainbow of ebony, ivory and orange. With a long hallway to his left, and a wall to his right, he decides to go straight ahead, knowing there's a balcony out this way. The perfect place to go when you want to be alone. But he didn't want her to be alone. And he was putting his wants above hers in this case. Unapologetically so. She could protest all she liked but he wasn't letting himself leave her unless she could bring herself to tell him that she doesn't want him there.
She hears his footsteps on the concrete behind her as he brushes past the translucent cream curtain acting as the only barrier between them now. She feels his eyes on her bare back while she involuntarily shivers against the breeze that carries no sympathy for her - just the way she likes it. Never usually one to be drawn to things, or people, that allowed her to be soft or indulge in self-pity. Which is why she could rarely surround herself with the likes when she was going through something close to heart. Yet always being the first to offer comfort, advice, or just a listening ear when someone else was. Maybe that's why she thrived in the harsh working environment of one of New York's leading law firms, that didn't care for personal struggles over business ones. It's definitely why she couldn't fully understand the need to get away from Harvey. He was never a shoulder to cry on. He made sure of that. The best example being the infamous Liberty Rail case. He protected her, he cared for her, he loved her. But he never comforted her. Not until it was all over at least. And definitely not physically.
I'm telling you that I'm petrified!
And I understand, but I don't have time to comfort you.
Well I need you to make time!
You want someone to give you hug? Go to Louis. You want someone to get you out of this thing? You need to leave me alone.
But this time felt different. Years of barely touching, out of fear of where it would lead them - but more so out of fear of where it wouldn't lead them - and suddenly they were the type of friends who hugged and danced together. So she knew he would react differently to her heartache this time. Especially seeing as it had nothing to do with the firm. And truth be told, she isn't sure if she's ready. For the breakdown she would have once he takes her in his arms. Or for the desire she would feel when she would reciprocate. Or for the questions that would inevitably arise when such an embrace would have her doubting, and regretting, everything she said to him in the lobby some weeks prior.
"I know you're there."
He smiles, leather shoes filling the silence as he carries himself the five feet towards her. She hears the material of his jacket rustling as he wriggles out of it. There's no energy left inside her mind, body, or even soul, to protest as he wordlessly blankets her exposed back and arms. Not only offering her warmth, but intentionally coating her with armour too.
"I'll always be here, remember?"
When her eyes allow him access for the first time since she left the bar, he sees the exhaustion, the fear, the defeat. The unknown.
Her body is still pressed against the balcony as her hands reach to grab the lapels of his jacket and her appreciative smile tells him he can let go of her back. But he doesn't want to. So he keeps his hand there, palm running up and down her vertebrae in an attempt to back up his words. While his chest pressed against her side shields her from the light wind blowing their way, only managing to pull at the edges of her red waves which were made to appear deeper by the black sky above.
He removes his hand then, standing by her right, facing his body straight ahead as he mimics her city-gazing, elbows pressed against the stone ledge. Her silence soon becomes unbearable. She isn't the quiet one of them both. He misses the comfort of her voice. One that has always spoke to him while he grappled with his own inner turmoil.
Still looking ahead, pretending to focus on the skyline, he nudges his shoulder into hers, forcing her body to sway slightly to the left in reaction. She has to look at him then, a cheeky smirk capturing his face as his eyes tell her to 'lighten up' in a purposely silly way. He knows there's not much to be content about right now. And he's not about to make her feel like she has to get her emotions in check. He has reluctantly dismissed them in the past and the thought of doing so now, or ever again, makes him want to jump over the edge of the very balcony they were leaning against.
She smirks back almost straight away. His grin as contagious as ever, infecting her cheeks with an exhilarated expression that forms stunningly symmetrical arrow-shaped indents on either side of her beauteous smile.
Her left arm pokes out from under his security blanket of a jacket and her fingers grip his shirted bicep. Her hand soon running up and down in soothing motions designed to warm him up and show her affection and gratitude at the same time. Ceasing movement awhile later as her fingers squeeze the joint in his arm, resting there before his hand covers hers, his heated palm meeting icy fingers.
"You're freezing." he worries, squeezing her hand even tighter against his limb.
She immediately fears what's coming next. Only confirmed when he straightens back up, pulling his arm out from under her grip as he turns to face her once more. His head cocking, arms lightly outstretched, waiting for her to look at him. But she doesn't want to. Once gain, he's looking at her with the same confidence he possessed just before he asked her to dance. And it unnerves her because it feels like he's telling, or at least showing her something. But she is just too fearful to find out exactly what. She wants to stay facing away, in the hope that her body language will speak to him instead of actual English. A language they don't practice very well when it comes to the topic of them - whatever they are. A hug would be too much for her right now, no matter how cold she feels.
But for him, it was the least he could offer her. Since she kissed him, touching her had become easier, more addictive even. Like her skin was his drug. Now that he had let himself have a taste again, he couldn't stop. He doesn't want to stop. Hugs. Hand holds. Dancing. He fears that soon these things won't be enough to satisfy his Donna-sized cravings eating away at his nerves and senses. But she didn't feel anything when she kissed him, he begrudgingly reminds himself. An apparent fact that still baffles him to this day. How, after all this time - their stubborn loyalty, their cliquey exchanges, the other time, their I love yous, their inability to put anyone else above the other - could she have left him harbouring all of the feelings, when she herself felt nothing?
Unless she lied.
The explanation whirling around in his head feels more like a desperate excuse. One for him not to have to cope with her not loving him back. But it still chips away at him regardless of his reasoning. What if she lied? It is the only question that seems to explain how her words contradict her actions.
Donna straightens up too, exhaling against the breeze before she turns to him, finding his intensified gaze unsettling. Like he was seeing through her invisible tailor-made veil, specifically designed to cover up all of her secrets.
Her eyes glisten with tears that drown his heart, submerging it in her own sorrow. "I'm okay, Harvey. I promise." Her wobbly voice does nothing to enforce her white lie. "I'm just tired is all. I should go home now."
She steps forward, about to remove his jacket as she does so, when his left hand reaches out to stop her, hovering over her abdomen, blocking her without touching her. He wasn't about to watch her walk off for the second time tonight, knowing damn well she isn't 'okay'.
"Donna.." he croaks, letting his hurt show for the first time since he followed her out. She looks up at him, nervously, lips shaking and nose squished in a dam-like attempt to hold the tearful stream back. "We don't always have to be brave. Especially not with each other."
And that does it, bursts the dam. Tilting her head and biting her lip, she lets out the breath she had been holding since Mike and Rachel made their way over to say their goodbyes. She bows her head into the crook of his neck without further reluctance or pretense. Tears splashing onto his pristine white shirt just like he wanted them to. Glad he was there to catch her now that she was finally ready to fall.
His arms wrap around her spine in a heartbeat, crashing her body to his. Letting his right hand slide back up to grip her neck while he plants a kiss on top of her head, eyes shut and telling her everything will start to feel normal again soon. The use of the word only reminding him of their vague agreement in her office the week prior.
So..things between us are..?
Back to normal? If they are for you, they are for me.
Harvey frowns as he holds her close. Her choice of words not sitting with him as easily on second thought. What if things weren't back to normal for him? Would that mean they weren't for her? And how much of her responses have been in reaction to his? Another unforgivable memory returns to him as these question threaten to give him a migraine.
We smile, we drink, we flirt.
That doesn't mean I want more!
Well for the record, neither do I!
She lets his chest drown out her gentle sobs awhile longer. Her arms wrapped around his waist in a hold that feels dangerously unfamiliar. Like nothing they've shared before. But the thought of never sharing it again worries her even more.
With her cheek pressed against him, she stares off over the balcony again, zoning out as she relaxes into him. Her thumb mindlessly tracing where her hands lay at the base of his spine while she sniffles.
"It's not just the fact that they're gone.." He feels her mutter against him a moment later, his chin lowering against her crown after she speaks, silently questioning her as the muffled sounds of the band playing inside the reception seep through the walls. "Them leaving, starting a new life together, carving out their future.." she whispers in deep thought, "makes me think about mine and how..bleak it looks.."
"Hey.." She nestles into him further when he squeezes her even tighter, determined to rid her of such dismal thought, hearing him frown as he murmurs softly. "Don't say that, you've the brightest future of anyone I know."
Donna chuckles, sending her mirthless laughter straight through his bones. She pulls her head back, eyes flashing between pursed lips and downcast eyes. "I'm almost on the wrong side of forty, single, and have let my work life cancel out my personal life. I'm not sure how bright that is."
He smirks at her quirked brow and self-deprecating humour. Which isn't a usual gag of hers. Always one to build herself up, not knock herself down. But that doesn't necessarily mean she believes her own hype and he knows it. So when she was allowing herself to be vulnerable in this way, it only reaffirmed him that she isn't as confident as she lets on sometimes.
"Your personal life doesn't seem to be doing so bad right now." he chances humorously, vision falling to the smudged mascara on the outer corner of her eye as he automatically releases his right hand from the nape of her neck to wipe it away, along with a messy tear. His thumb remains at her temple long after it has no reason to be there anymore. "Hanging out with your best friend, at your girlfriend's wedding."
He makes her laugh again, truly this time, displaying her pearly whites as her chest vibrates against his. "Don't worry, I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else."
"Good," he nods, nostrils flared, "because neither would I."
Again, he can't be sure if she lied that night. But it's the familiar look in her eye right now. Her entire expression actually. One he's seen before. During the other time, when the half used can of whipped cream was long tossed aside in favour of a more intimate round just as the sun threatened to rise. And again, not long ago. Right after she kissed him and told him she just had to know, to be exact.
The light mood soon turns heavy, but for different reasons. None of them to do with the sudden departure of their friends.
He decides it's his turn now. His chance to know.
His thumb lingers down the side of her cheek until his fingers are low enough to hold the side of her neck, just under her ear. Igniting a cool spark all the way down her spine which sets off a fire in her groin, pressing into him with a fervent need.
With his latest words and gentle ministrations having cast a spell of arousal over her, her widened pupils stalk his lips, watching as they inch towards her until they're close enough that she shuts her eyes, only having to wait a second until they were bruising against her own. Softly at first, then firmly, then passionately. Whiskey on wine once their tongues peak out of quickly parted mouths, lapping up the opposite taste until it was all the one. Mouths panting. Lips parting. Hearts pounding. Eyes peering open once he pulls back an inch from her face, now cupped in both his hands. He needs to see that look again. Soon finding himself entranced by the coal in her eyes that engulfs most of the colour in her irises, he knows he's found it.
He knows.
"Harvey." she breathes, eyes still hooded with desire, her body limp with lust, heart fueled with hope - and still somehow fear.
"I get it now."
"What?" she whispers, brows furrowed as her hands lay flat on his chest.
"Having to know."
He watches her forehead crease and her mouth fall further agape, still regaining control of her breath when his words knock the wind out of her this time. She knows where this is headed and as much as she wants him, needs him right now, she can't rid herself of those nagging thoughts that scream 'he's just feeling lonely' or 'he's not ready'. Anything that will keep her from diving in head first only to realise as she descends mid-air that the pool is empty.
If they were ever going to start something, this couldn't be the way. No matter how much she needs it to be the way. Because as much as she is unsure of his own clarity, she sure as hell doesn't trust her own judgement right now. Or her emotions. Or her intentions. Was she herself even ready? Was kissing him back a good idea with the current state they were both in? She only knows the answer to one question now. The one question she won't let settle at the forefront of her mind for too long lest she have to deal with it tonight.
Yes. She lied to him.
He feels her palms press harder against his chest as she pushes herself back. "Harvey I can't do this. Not tonight."
He opens his mouth to protest, his hands falling down either side of her neck, fingers laced through the current of amber waves flowing down her right side. But he soon understands. He said as much to her the night he went to her apartment. To get her to come back to the firm. But really to him.
Do you wanna come in?
Not tonight, no.
She didn't say never. She wasn't permanently pushing herself away. Just giving herself time. That, he needs to remind himself as he lets go of her completely. Their heated breaths still warming one another in the growing chill.
He bites the inside of his lip. Emotion welling inside him causing his eyes and nose to sting. She can't hang around much longer, that she knows. Seeing him like this will only persuade her to lean right in and kiss him again until they both end up in one of their beds.
No. If Harvey Specter does in fact have feelings for her, she wasn't going to find out how during such a dismal end to a beautiful night. Tonight was about the loss of their friends. Not their own gain. Her head isn't clear enough to think about herself right now. Or him. And definitely not them.
"Good night, Harvey." she whispers, forcing a sweet smile, gripping his arm in a tender caress to show him she wasn't going anywhere, not in the way she knows he fears most.
Harvey presses his lips together, still numbly tingly from her touch, his head and heart pounding as one. "Good night, Donna."
He watches her turn away then, five or six steps and she's out of his grasp again. Completely out of sight. He won't deny feeling the immediate temptation to run after her, crash his lips to hers and make her want to jump right into something tonight. But he knows he won't. He can't. She has given him everything over the years. Respected him. Valued him. Fought for him. Fixed him. This would be the very least he would do for her. For tomorrow's a new day. And the day after that. And the day after that. And he has something new now. Hope. Because she lied about her feelings for him.
Donna only notices that she's still wearing his jacket during the cab ride home. Making her realise that she's nowhere near ready to take it off. Needing to feel close to him now that she had just ran a mile from him. Knowing her body would be craving his tonight more than any other night, she clutches the lapels over her chest. On her next inhale she fills her lungs more than she needs to. Because lifting the material directly to her nose would make her feel pathetic. Although his scent isn't her home, it feels like it. And she knows with him is exactly where she should be. Wants to be.
And that the next few weeks would either make or break them.
.
.
.
Thanks for reading! Hope that wasn't too much of a cliffhanger. Or do I..?
As 'always', would love to hear your thoughts. You Darvey readers truly are the best.
-E xx