CHAPTER 8

"I'm such a fucking idiot, Mike" Harvey sighed, looking straight ahead at the road they were walking on. Mike's eyes were switching between the road and his friend, patiently waiting for Harvey to open up to him.

"Donna is just, well, it's Donna, and I don't know what the hell is going on but the more I try, the more I hurt her" he admitted.

"What's happened Harvey?" Mike asked, a serious yet empathetic look sprawled across his face.

"This morning when you saw her leave my room, that was because she had spent the night there" Harvey began, he was met by wide eyes and raised eyebrows. "But.." he quickly interjected before Mike got the wrong end of the stick again. Mike chuckled.

"But", the younger lawyer pressed.

"But I wasn't even there" Harvey finished, sounding somewhat disappointed, which didn't go unnoticed by Mike.

"So where were you?"

"In Donna's room" Harvey breathed from his nose in a slight chuckle as he watched Mike trying to piece this together.

"What? Were you guys playing musical bedrooms or some shit last night?"

Harvey rolled his eyes. "No. Look, it's a long story. Basically, I was wasted. I drunk text Donna trying to talk to her about some stuff and I went to her room to talk. She tried to tell me to leave it but I wasn't having any of that. Anyway, we eventually got talking, then we started arguing, and she left to get some water. I must have fallen asleep in her room while she was in the kitchen and when she got back and saw I was asleep, she left me there and chose to sleep in my room instead" he explained, feet scuffling at the stones on the roadside.

Mike was surprised at the admission, yet not surprised at all that Harvey had once again gotten himself into an awkward predicament. Although some things still weren't adding up. He needed a clearer picture. "What did you argue about?" he tested.

Harvey shot his friend a pointed look. He hated when the puppy was unsatisfied with the explanations he gives.

"Hey" Mike continued; hands slightly raised in protest. "I can't help you if you're holding back some stuff".

He was right and Harvey knew it. "Fine. She basically said I'm emotionally unavailable and run from anything that might mean something to me. And I know she's right Mike but goddamn it I'm trying!" he raised his voice a little in frustration and was met by a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey hey" Mike started, his hand tugging gently on Harvey to stop him. "I know you are. Listen if you don't want to talk about it now, we can stop"

Harvey took a deep breath. "No I want to. I want to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do about it before we get back to the girls" he finished, nodding gently in his best friend's direction.

"Shoot" Mike says, and they continued their walk.

"So I tried to be more honest with her, tried to explain that sometimes I'm just scared of hurting people or hurting myself by getting too attached and she wanted me to give her more, but I don't know how to give her more than that. Anyway, further down the line and I'm telling her that the reason I didn't answer your stupid shitty question in the hot tub was because it was her" Harvey finished, slightly embarrassed, not daring to look at his friend.

"The best you ever had?" Mike asks inquisitively.

"Yeah"

"Donna?"

"Yeah" Harvey concludes again, still refusing to make eye contact.

"Shit. I didn't even think about the time you guys had slept together when I asked that. I was just trying to put you on the spot" Mike admits.

"It's okay, Mike. You didn't know"

"So Donna, huh?" Mike tries a joke.

"Don't" Harvey warns.

"Understood", Mike responds immediately, clearing his throat. "So what happened this morning?"

"Well I found her in my room, and we sort of agreed that we would drop the whole thing until we're back in New York. We didn't argue again or anything, we were sort of on good terms. And that's more or less everything" he concludes his story with an over-exaggerated sigh and waits for his best friend to respond.

"Harvey. You and I both know how you feel about Donna, but whether you're only just starting to understand that is a different matter. If you're ready to tell her how you feel, then go for it. She deserves to know. But Harvey, if you're not ready? Don't keep trying, because you're not going to give her what she needs until you can fully commit to telling her".

"But what if it leads nowhere? What if I'm finally aware of what I feel and she doesn't feel the same?" Harvey sounds desperate, and in panic, and Mike's heart breaks for him.

"Then you let her go and feel happy that you still gave her what she needed" Mike answers with a small smile. Mike was sure Donna would still feel the same, but who was he to decide whether she was done waiting or not? and he sure as hell wasn't prepared to get Harvey's hopes up just in case.

Harvey gives a small nod in response, finally understanding what he needed to do.

"We're here" Harvey adds, head pointing in the direction of some shops a few yards ahead.

Mike grinned. "First stop, alcohol".

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Donna and Rachel had been out in the garden since the guys had left for their stroll into town. They lay in the middle of the grass on one of the blankets, soaking up the sun with a bottle of beer, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. Rachel had acknowledged that Donna was avoiding the mention of Harvey, doing a pretty good job of steering all conversations in another direction. She knew better than to press her right now, instead leaving the subject open for when it was time.

"Has he contacted you since we've been away?" Rachel asked. They were talking about Louis and his needy ways.

Donna looked at her phone for a moment before locking it and dropping it beside her, "only 23 missed calls and 36 text messages" she replied, a laugh escaping her lips.

"Oh my god, are you serious?" Rachel laughed along with her. "About what?"

"Nothing important, I'm not that mean" Donna hums. "Mostly about Sheila and how it's unfair that I've left him to fend for himself" she rolls her eyes.

"The man is so dramatic" Rachel adds, matching her best friend's eye rolls.

"He'll just be pissed he wasn't invited, but no one needs to see him in a swimsuit" Donna adds mockingly.

"God no" Rachel agrees, feigning disgust. "But there were definitely no complaints with Harvey in his" she dares to bring him into the conversation, trying her best to remain casual.

Of course, she's met with a glare from Donna, who is trying to work out the purpose behind the sneaky name drop.

"No" Donna muses "there wasn't.." she lingers on her words, still trying to figure out her friend.

Rachel cracks, laughing at the look on Donna's face. "You don't need to look at me like that, I'm just saying you ogled his body enough yesterday that I can be certain you had no objections". Damn Rachel was being brave and sassy this weekend and Donna was loving it, albeit a little scared, but still loving this side of her friend.

"Rachel Elizabeth Zane" she starts, an accusatory finger wiggling in the brunette's direction, "Firstly, I do not ogle, and secondly, why the sudden interest in Harvey?"

"Oh no reason" she says, feigning innocence.

"Rachel" Donna sings.

"Well you know, I was just wondering if your aim for the weekend was to steal as many of Harvey's clothing items as possible so that we could see more of that hot bod" she states, a smirk across her face.

"What are you talking about?" Donna asks, laughing, but with genuine confusion. "I haven't got any of his clo" She stops. She realises then what Rachel is talking about and she looks at her friend's raised eyebrows.

"The Harvard jumper" Donna finishes.

"The Harvard jumper" Rachel repeats, nodding her head in satisfaction.

"Wait, did you see me this morning?" Donna asks, surprised she had been caught sneaking from Harvey's room without realising.

"Mike" Rachel hums.

"That gossiping piece of shit" Donna shakes her head jokingly before adding "well it's clearly not what either of you are thinking" she says with a small and sad looking smile.

Rachel's facial expressions alter and she's suddenly more serious, "then what?" she asks the redhead.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After explaining the events of the night following Rachel and Mike's goodnights, Donna laid back on the blanket with her hands covering her face. It wasn't the fact she had to admit what had happened, or tell Rachel about her ongoing issues with Harvey, that was driving Donna crazy, it was the constant reminder that things were far from normal between herself and Harvey. Every time she opened up about it, she was reminded that they had strayed further away from their reality, and that's what hurt the most.

"Harvey confuses the hell out of me" Rachel says, shaking her head as she watches Donna lean up on her elbows to look at her.

"Join the club" Donna laughs, but she didn't mean it. It wasn't funny. The guy had been confusing her for well over a decade.

"What are you going to do?" Rachel was tired of seeing her friend this way; confused and pre-occupied with the mental torture of understanding one Harvey Specter.

"'Nothing" she answered, exhausted and beat.

"At all?" Rachel pressed. She understood what Donna was feeling, she knew more than anyone that Donna was facing a constant struggle in her personal life because of Harvey's inability to commit, but also his inability to let her go. But she wanted Donna to stick up for herself. Do something for her.

"What do you suggest I do Rach? Because I'm all out of options and he's driving me crazy" she admits. He really was driving her crazy.. in all ways.

"Alright, here's what you're gonna do" Rachel starts, immediately catching the attention of her best friend. "We're going to carry on with this weekend and continue to have a great time. We're gonna drink, party and make some memories to last us forever" Donna smiles at the speech, and is about to interject when Rachel continues. "You're not going to speak to Harvey about any of this until he speaks to you first. And if he doesn't speak to you about it the minute you get home, you call it".

"Call it?"

"Call it. End it. Finished. No more waiting. No more what ifs and no more hopes or expectations that things might change. You move on, Donna. You deserve to be happy and waiting around? That doesn't make you happy".

"I know" Donna admits. "To be honest Rach, I think I just need to face the truth"

"Which is?" Rachel asks, unsure of which truth Donna was referring to.

"That he doesn't now, and won't in the future, feel the same" she says sadly, a fake smile gracing her pale nude lips.

"Don" the brunette says softly, her hand covering Donna's on the blanket "I think there's more to it than he's letting on, and, if he's really that blind to seeing what's right in front of him? Then I'll find you a brand new hot guy in Seattle" she finishes with a wink.

Donna can't help but laugh then. She was really going to miss Rachel. "As long as he's not a lawyer!" She adds, and then they're both laughing.

"I'll cheers to that" Rachel says, lifting her bottle of beer in Donna's direction, and they clink their bottles and take a drink.

"Can't wait for them to return with the wine" The redhead says as she places her bottle beside her, hoping to change the conversation once more.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harvey and Mike burst through the doors of the cabin, carrier bags in both of their hands with bottles clinking against each other. They were engrossed in some sort of debate that neither Donna or Rachel cared enough about to ask, and after sharing an eye roll, made a bee line for the wine. Harvey notices first that they're approaching, and in a typical Harvey manor, lifts the bags high up out of reach to tease them.

"Wine!" Donna exclaims, mocking a tantrum as she stomps her feet trying to reach the handle of the bag in Harvey's left hand.

"How do you know he's got the wine?" Mike interjects, looking down at his own bags.

"There's no way he trusted you to carry home the alcohol" Donna adds with a shrug, earning a nod of agreement from Rachel as they pull together on Harvey's arm.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Mike feigns hurt.

"It means you're not strong enough and that they were right" Harvey laughs as he lowers the bag, revealing the bottles of wine to the ladies, who snatch it out without a second thought.

"You girls have seriously got to lay off the drinking" Mike jokes as he watches them open the bottle and pour themselves a glass faster than he can lower his own bags.

"We're on holiday Mike" Rachel replies, emphasising her pleasure as she takes another sip of her wine.

"Yeah, Mike" Harvey mocks, earning himself an eye roll from the Pup and a smile from Donna. God he loved that smile. He could stare at it all day long. The way her lips curled perfectly, forming a slight crease to her eyes, and a glow across her face. It was one of life's greatest pleasures, he thought, a smile that could brighten even the darkest of his days.

"Harv?" He heard Mike call out. He had completely missed what he'd said, his mind too preoccupied with Donna.

"Urm, yeah? Sorry what?" He fumbled in response.

"Scotch or beer?" Mike asks, hands holding up both options.

"Beer" he hums, "save the strong stuff for later, we've got some new games to get through today"

"Games?" Rachel asks, genuinely intrigued. The guys had gone out for food and drinks, they weren't expecting them to bring back some more weekend entertainment.

"Ah yes. While we were in the store we were looking for some water balloons. Don't ask why, we'd had a random idea that we'd bombard you both with them on return" he stated, smirking at their plan.

"You've literally just revealed your secret mission" Donna states.

"BUT, we couldn't find any" Mike concluded.

"A terrible shame" Donna says sarcastically, earning her laughs all around.

"So we had a little wander down the toy aisles and stumbled across the games section. Mike and I both picked a game each for us all to play tonight, but neither of us know what the other has picked. Mine of course, will be better" added Harvey, a smile gracing his lips.

"I disagree" Mike interjects quickly.

"Why do men make everything a competition?" Rachel asks, facing Donna, who merely responds with a chuckle and a shake of her head.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The four of them had enjoyed a relaxing afternoon together, spending time in and out of the hot tub, relaxing on the grass and chatting between themselves. Harvey had answered a few work calls, much to the amusement of Donna as it was evident the alcohol was impacting the coherence of his speech. She said nothing, instead listening in on his conversations like they were still at the office. Nothing important, she thought, just some clients checking that their meetings were still going ahead first thing on Monday once they had heard Harvey had been out of the office since Friday. She watches as he paces around, never one to be still whilst on the phone. He had always been the same, even since the DA's office. She smiled as she reminisced, oh the years we've been together, she thought. She turns away as he ends the call and places the phone back on the table beside the hot tub.

"All good?" She asks him, and it catches him by surprise. She knows everything is fine, she heard the conversation word for word, which makes her hate how desperate she is to use any excuse she has to speak to him.

"Yeah just some meeting confirmations" he says, taking a seat beside her on the sofas around the fire pit.

"You heard from Louis?" She asks. This she didn't know the answer to, but was now just making awful small talk. Things still seemed a little awkward. They were on good terms and had spoken on and off all afternoon, but mostly within the group of four, rarely between just the two of them.

"I've heard from his voicemail but I've refused to answer his calls" he laughed. "You?"

"Oh he's trying. I've put my phone on do not disturb, it was getting constant" she answers, laughing along with him, her eyes focusing on how relaxed and care-free his features were. She loved to see him this way. She was so used to seeing the creases in his face form as a result of a frown, or because he was exhausted from overworking, so seeing his face crease because he was smiling so often was truly making her happy. They held each other's gaze for a moment and she pondered over her next words, thinking about what Rachel had said to her, and thinking about getting through the rest of the weekend. She chose to speak first anyway.

"It's good to see you like this, Harvey" she states, smiling right at him, appreciating him some more.

"Like what?" He asks, genuinely intrigued.

Donna thinks about how to respond. She knows what she means but how can she say what she means without stirring up anything complicated? "Happy", she replies honestly, and she's happy with that.

He smiles in return. A smile that shows he appreciates where she's coming from, and that he understands the hidden meaning: that he works too much, and enjoys very little. And she acknowledges it. It's what they do. It's what they've always been able to do; speak without actually speaking.

"And here's me thinking you were just a fan of the beard" Harvey jokes lightly, trying to keep the conversation lighthearted.

"Oh I am" she says with an exaggerated wink as she gets up to leave, manoeuvring her way back into the hot tub. His eyes follow her as she walks away, trained on the way she removes her dress over her head and places it on the floor before she climbs the into the water in her red bikini. He gulps but cannot move his gaze. She can feel them. His eyes. Burning into her pale yet slightly sun-kissed skin as she settles beside Rachel and Mike, joining in with their conversation to block the desperate urge she has to meet his gaze and let him know that shes aware he's staring.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

After dinner outside; a barbecue hosted by the boys- which had actually turned out surprisingly delicious much to the surprise of them all, the four of them had made plans to each grab a shower and meet back inside of the cabin ready for games night. Donna and Rachel had tried their best to find out what games the boys had chosen, but had been unsuccessful, with Harvey and Mike remaining adamant that it was a surprise. With one more failed attempt to trick Mike into revealing his choice, Donna accepts defeat and retreats to her bedroom to clean up for the evening. Mike and Rachel follow behind, racing towards their bedroom to be the first one in the shower. Harvey watches as his best friend laughs and sweeps Rachel off of her feet in a bid to stop her from winning. He wishes for this. He wishes for happiness and for a love like that. He thinks of Donna. He thinks of the way she told him she didn't feel anything for him, but mostly he thinks of the way her soft lips felt against his own. He thinks of a life he won't have with her, a life where he could hold her the way Mike holds Rachel, and laugh with her like there's no one else around, and a feeling of sadness envelopes him for being too caught up in everything else that he failed to access his feelings for Donna for so long. With one last gulp of his beer, he follows them all inside, jumping straight in the shower and thinking of how, and when, he would admit everything to Donna.

It was pathetic really, she thought as she stood in her towel, how difficult she was finding it to choose something to wear. She was literally moving into another room inside the cabin, merely 10 metres away, yet she couldn't for the life of her decide what was the most appropriate thing to wear. She'd considered texting Rachel, asking what she was wearing, but shook that idea away immediately because it was stupid. She knew she was worried about her clothes because she wanted to appeal to Harvey. Donna had taken on board everything Rachel had said to her, and for the first time in her life, Donna was fully committed to ending whatever this thing with Harvey is, in order to move on. But according to her agreement what Rachel, that didn't have to happen until they were back in New York, so there was nothing in the rules that stated Donna couldn't try and get him to realise what he's missing. What he's missing, she repeated to herself. Who was she kidding? If he was that bothered he'd have done something sooner. She sighed, and pulled out a pair of black leggings, pairing it with an oversized pink t-shirt. If she wasn't going to be impressing Harvey, she sure as hell was going to be comfortable. She sat in her towel, skin exposed from her collar bones upwards, as she ran a comb through her wet hair. She dried it quickly, and chose to let the curls hang loosely over her shoulders. She applied very minimal make up, secretly appreciating the way the sun had exposed the freckles on her face that usually hide away, and got dressed. With a quick spray of her favourite Chanel perfume, she heads towards the lounge.

She's sees him first, leaning on his right hand on the kitchen counter, with his left hand holding a bottle of beer, that Cheshire Cat smile plastered on his face and his eyes facing the opposite side of the room. When she reaches the end of the corridor, she follows his line of sight and sees Mike twirling Rachel around to a song she didn't recognise, and she grins. When she turns to face him again, she's met with his gaze, and the softest smile that makes her heart flutter. Goddamn Harvey Specter, she thinks. She returns the smile and greets him with a small "hey".

"Hey" he says, matching her soft tone, eyes fixed strongly on hers.

"How much have they had to drink?" She asks with a chuckle, deterring his gaze away from her and back to their friends.

"Your guess is as good as mine" Harvey laughs "but they've been doing this for the last 10 minutes. I'm sorry you had to miss it"

"Oh I think I'll live" she quickly whispers as Rachel approaches her with open arms. She embraces the hug and the girls move to the kitchen to get a drink.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Right, and my game is… Mr and Mrs" Mike announces as he reveals the box from behind his back, instantly laughing at the faces of everyone else.

Goddamn Puppy, Harvey thinks, always trying to catch him out.

"I know what you're thinking" Mike starts looking in the direction of Harvey and Donna, "but you guys have been work-married for years and you know each other so well so I thought this game could still work. I read the instructions and some examples and it seems easy enough to play between good friends?" He half asks, half states.

Donna was absolutely fine with it, nodding in approval and smiling in his direction. Mike was right, they know each other more than anyone else did and she was pretty confident that they could ace this game. But when she looked over to Harvey, he didn't seem so sure. Typical, she thinks. The thought of them pretending to be Mr and Mrs for the sake of a game is enough to scare him away.

"Harv?" Mike asks, a little apprehensively.

"Sure. But don't come crying to me when Donna and I kick your ass" Harvey smiles. He was worried at first, a little scared it could stir something up before he'd had the chance to speak to Donna. But it was just a game, the alcohol was spurring him on and he had to admit, it looked fun.

Mike clapped his hands in response. "Great! Who's up first?"

"You guys go first seeing as though you're about to be the real Mr and Mrs" Donna answered, her comment stinging Harvey ever so slightly. He thought briefly about how he wished they could be a real Mr and Mrs one day, before coming back to reality in time for the instructions.

Mike ran through the instructions quickly, the game seemed easy enough. The pair sit back to back and hold 2 paddles. each Pink for Rachel/Donna and blue for Mike/Harvey. The pair give their answer- pink or blue- to each question and hope for a match. Each match equals one point.

"Clear?" He asks, taking his seat behind Rachel.

They all nod in unison and Donna grabs the cards, clears her throat and gets ready to start the game.

"Right first question, who's the messiest?" Donna smiles as she reads it. Even she knew the answer to this. Mike and Rachel hold up there blue paddles in sync, and Rachel shakes her head in mock disgust at how messy her future husband is. "Match!"

"Who's the biggest flirt?" Donna smirks, watching her best friends ponder over their paddles. Rachel holds her blue paddle loud and proud, and Mike holds up his pink. "Not a match!" Donna exclaims, and Mike turns around to face his fiancée in disbelief.

"Are you kidding?" He almost shouts, laughing. "You literally flirted with the at least 60 year old man in the store the other day to get him to give you the last roll of gift wrap!" He finished. Harvey and Donna watched the exchange with the biggest smiles on their faces.

Rachel burst out laughing at the memory. "Oh shit, I didn't think of that" she responds.

"Alright next. Who has the ugliest orgasm face?" Donna hums. She was a big fan of this game. Rachel's hand shot up immediately giving her answer. Harvey was in stitches watching Mike slowly raise his blue paddle in embarrassment. "Match!" Donna shouted.

"Should I show them what it's like Mike?" Rachel teased, with Harvey and Donna encouraging her.

"NEXT" Mike yells over her.

"Who's mostly likely to apologise first?" Donna asks, showing genuine interest in this, knowing full well both of her friends were stubborn as hell. She watches closely as both Mike and Rachel raise their pink paddles.

"Damn Mike, you really are a stubborn ass" Harvey exclaims. Rachel hums in agreement.

"Learnt from the best" Mike says pointing his paddle in Harvey's direction. Now it was Donna's turn to hum in agreement.

"Alright, last one for this round. A nice cute one. Who says 'I love you' the most?" Donna finishes and she smiles as she watches her best friends smile at the question. They were so in love and it made Donna so happy to see, even if she was a little envious. They couple toyed with their paddles and raised their blue ones together. "Match! Rachel Zane, I expected more" Donna jokes.

"I mean I say it often Don, but this guy is like constant with it" Rachel admits with her hand pointing over her shoulder to Mike; which makes Harvey chuckle. He knew Mike was a big softy at heart.

"Can't a guy tell his fiancée he loves her?" Mike defends himself.

"He can" Donna defends him.

"Four out of five" Mike announces as he passes his paddles to Harvey and gives Rachel a high five. "We'll take it" he finishes, collecting the cards from Donna, who then takes her paddles from Rachel and her seat in the lounge. Suddenly she was nervous. What if there was a question they wouldn't be able to answer?

Mike flicks through a few of the cards, smirking and chuckling away. "Do you guys want me to miss out the more personal questions? We don't wanna make it too hard for you" he says, almost challenging Harvey.

Donna is just about to say yes when Harvey answers "No. We don't need the sympathy questions do we Donna? Read them as they are" he says bursting with confidence, completely unaware of what was about to come. Donna smiled at his competitive nature. What do we have to lose? She thought.

"Ready? Okay. Easy one to start with. Who is the most organised?" Mike asks. Obviously easy. Harvey wouldn't be able to function without Donna scheduling his life all of those years, and even now he relied heavily on her. Both of them raised their pink paddles, with Donna rolling her eyes. "A match!" Mike exclaims.

"Obviously" Donna comments sarcastically, earning a chuckle from Harvey.

Mike clears his throat pausing over the next question, which makes Donna slightly nervous, but the alcohol in her system made her strangely excited. "Who is the most selfish… in the bedroom?" Mike asks, and he's laughing instantly at Harvey's change in facial expression. Rachel joins in the laughter when she sees Donna raise her pink paddle and all eyes are then fixed on Harvey.

Harvey looks towards Mike and Rachel. "Has she, has she answered?!" He asks, almost in disbelief at how quick Donna was to answer such a personal question about them, which makes Donna burst out laughing, and his friends nod. Thank the lord for alcohol, she thinks. Harvey shakes his head with a small chuckle and blushes as he holds up his pink paddle. "Match" Mike calls out between his fits of laughter.

"Donna Paulsen" Rachel tuts mockingly.

"A girl's got needs, Rach" she responds wittily and Harvey hangs his head to avoid showing everyone he was blushing, but it doesn't go unnoticed by Mike.

"Are you blushing Harvey?" He points out and he's surrounded by laughter.

"NEXT" Harvey shouts with a glare.

"Who's the best cook?" Mike reads from the card. Rachel watches closely, knowing her best friend couldn't cook, but she had no idea if Harvey was any better. Harvey raises his blue paddle immediately which earns him a chuckle from Rachel. That answered that, she thought. Donna slowly lifts her blue paddle in shame. She knew she couldn't cook. And she knew Harvey knew she couldn't cook. "Match! Seriously?" Mike asks.

"I shit you not Mike, this girl could burn cereal" Harvey teases, with a quick glance over his shoulder, watching as Donna lowers her paddle laughing.

"I'm not that bad" she retorts.

"Oh really?" He challenges. "Should we tell them about that god awful dinner par"

"Nope" she interrupts, smiling at the memory. "He's right, I'm terrible. Moving on" she says with a shake of her head.

"Who is better at giving gifts?" Mike asks. Donna scoffs and laughs and Mike and Rachel watch as both of their friends raise their pink paddle.

"Another match!" Mike exclaims.

"Alright. Last one. If you get this right you win this round. Who is the boss?" He asks with a smile. He knows that it's Donna. But he was intrigued to see whether or not Harvey would swallow his own pride to admit it. Donna raises her pink paddle instantly, with a knowing look spread across her face. Mike smiles at her response. He agreed. He watches Harvey closely, smirking at him and challenging him with his eyes to answer.

"Fuck it" Harvey mumbles as he raises his pink paddle, "no point denying it". Rachel and Mike start laughing which entices Donna to face him to see his answer. She joins in the laughter at the sight of the pink paddle, tapping him gently on the arm and commenting "that's right pretty". Harvey rolls his eyes and smiles again. He couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled so often. This truly was turning out to be the best weekend he'd had for years. Donna and Harvey celebrate their win with a clink of their drinks as Mike and Rachel again debate the flirting question they got wrong. Harvey and Donna watch their conversation unfold from afar.

"I knew all along that we'd win, Mrs Specter" Harvey whispers in her ear. Donna's breath hitches in her throat at his words and goosebumps form immediately on the back of her neck. She knew he didn't mean anything by it, he was just referencing to the game, so why did it make her feel things? She chucked nervously, desperately searching for a response to avoid drawing attention to herself and the way he'd made her feel.

"In your dreams, Specter" she quipped. And she was right. It was in his dreams.

If only she knew that.