Set after 8.14 because I had no inspiration of when the actually have them start dating lol. Also bad jokes throughout...
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This is it.
Donna thinks to herself as she runs her eyes over her look once more; skinny black leather pants paired with black sleeveless turtleneck, hair swept back in a ponytail. She thinks the shoes don't really matter, not when she'll have to exchange them for another pair anyway. Because she's going bowling, on a date, with Harvey. Harvey who had stopped her by the elevators a couple weeks ago and asked her out for a drink, the same Harvey who had watched her leave with Thomas, doing everything he could to not look like she'd just broken his heart. And the same Harvey whom she'd called that night to tell him yes, yes she would go out with him and Thomas had instantly become nothing more than a distant memory.
He'd taken her out to dinner that weekend, turned up at her door with the prettiest bouquet of flowers and a nervous smile on his face and it was like they were teenagers all over again. Despite the fact they were over a decade into the trickiest relationship she's ever had. Though she thought it would have been awkward, the date was anything but and it was obvious that this was it for them. Which is how they'd decided on date number two because Donna had discovered that Harvey had never in fact been bowling before, and she felt that it was imperative they immediately rectify that.
She has a plan: flirt and kick his ass at bowling, because like with everything else, Donna is a pro. And then she'll invite him back to hers - ignoring the fact he's got a standing invitation since they started dating and he doesn't really need the invite - for a drink, to commiserate his loss and he'll stay the night and she'll let him prove to her that while he couldn't master bowling, he can still put his hands and body to good use.
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Sitting across from Harvey at a hip burger bar, Donna can't help but feel like they've reached a whole new level of comfort around each other. They'd laughed and joked with each other on the car ride over, and spoke in low, hushed tones across from each other so they just had to lean close. She didn't order fries so she just had to reach over, dodging his hand reaching out to swat hers, to grab a couple of his; just like Harvey forgot all about his love of onion rings and she just happened to order double. And it's not like they haven't always been comfortable around each other, sharing glasses of scotch, food from time to time, but this feels different. It doesn't feel like date two in a two week relationship, it just feels like they're more and it's not hard, neither having to change anything about them. They've found their place together.
When they arrive at the bowling alley, Harvey reluctantly lets go of her hand when they exchange their shoes, immediately reaching for it again as they head towards their allocated lane.
"So first Harvey, you need to pick your ball…" Donna begins, hands gesturing to the assortment of brightly coloured bowling balls in front of her. "Size doesn't really matter here so, whichever one you feel comfortable with…"
Harvey huffs, rolling his eyes as he reaches for the largest, schooling his features when he picks it up and realises that she'd been right, the largest one probably wasn't the best choice. Not when it was so damn heavy.
"It shouldn't be too heavy, but you don't want it too light either…"
"Donna...it really can't be that hard…" He gives her a look, snorting when she rolls her eyes. "Let's just play okay, I just aim and roll…"
"Okay but Mr. Specter, you're going down…" She says with a wink, turning on her heels and strutting to the lane.
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It doesn't take too long for Harvey to realise there's more to bowling than he thought. Not just picking the right ball, but when to release, how much speed and power to throw behind it. He's watched Donna's form, her technique. The way she leans forward and extends her back leg, ever so slightly, giving her enough power to push off and release the ball. Or, he tells himself that's the reason why he's staring at her so intently. Another voice in his head pipes up to tell him he doesn't need a reason to be watching her, not when they're together. He can't help the smile blossom across his face as he realises that no matter the outcome of the game - or how many times she'll beat him in a row - it doesn't matter because he's the one winning tonight, because he has her.
Right Paulsen, time to make this interesting, Donna thinks to herself as she strides forward, bowling ball dangling in her hand as she takes her time, bending forward and stretching her leg behind. She doesn't need to look back to know Harvey's eyes are entirely on her like they've been all evening. Smirking to herself, she leans forward one more, extending her back leg just a little bit more so her ass pops out just right, before extending her arm and releasing the ball. As Donna had predicted, it rolls hard and fast down the middle of the lane once again.
Strike
Doing a little dance as she turns around, her heart skips a beat as she meets Harvey's gaze. She'd hoped her little performance would've evoked lust from him, but he's looking at her with such admiration and pride in his eyes that it's enough to knock her down, because it just hits her that all of this is real. They're real.
"I bet you wish I'd been lying when I said I'd never bowled before.." Harvey grimaces as he looks up at the scoreboard, picking up his ball. He looks up when he feels Donna close at his side.
"Oh come on Harvey," She rolls her eyes, "This isn't the worst experience I've had at a bowling alley, don't you worry…"
"You're just saying that because you're kicking my ass."
Donna snorts, "Be that as it may, you're a better date than my last."
Interest piqued, and all thoughts of his game pushed to the back of his mind, Harvey turns fully towards Donna, cradling the ball in his two hands between them.
"Do tell…"
"There's not much to tell," Donna shrugs a shoulder, "He just thought getting into my pants was the only game that night."
"And," Harvey leans forward, "Who's to say that's not my game? Pretend to be bad and bowling so you can console me later…"
"Because Harvey, I know you're not pretending to be this bad."
"Hey, I knocked down a few pins…"
"Uh-huh." Donna nods, hand darting forward to tap his chest.
"So, how did you know then? That you two were playing different games?"
"Well, it was the fact that he kept asking me the same question all evening…"
"Which was?"
"If I were a bowling ball…"
"Why would he ask…" Harvey begins, eyebrows meeting in a way that Donna means his brain is trying to figure it out. Donna's eyes narrow as she tries to figure out if he's playing coy, or if he really doesn't get it. When his forehead scrunches further, she decides to put him out of his misery and finish the question.
"Are you a bowling ball because I want to stick three fingers in you?"
They stare at each other for several seconds and Donna almost reaches out to take his hand in hers, to touch his skin and tell him without words that it's time for them to go. But Harvey's eyes go comically wide and she's about to laugh when she hears it. An 'oh shit' followed by a loud thud. And then the pain follows.
"Donna…" Harvey grabs hold of forearms just as she doubles over, reaching down to grab hold of her foot.
"It's fine…" Though her eyes are squeezed shut and her voice screams it's anything but.
"Come on… let's get you sat down…" Harvey grabs her elbow, wraps an arm around her waist as he directs her to a bench. "Are you…"
He stops himself asking if she's okay because of course, she isn't. Not when he'd just dropped his ball on her foot, it having slipped out of his hands as he was imagining slipping his own three fingers into her. Harvey sits down beside her, stroking her back as he tries to peer at her foot, clasped between her hands.
"We should get you to a hospital…"
"No, Harvey it's fine…"
"Donna, it could be broken, we're going… Can you walk?" He shots up, briefly scanning the hall to find the exit, trying to calculate how quickly he can get their shoes and get them out to the car. His mind freezes when he remembers he'd sent Ray home for the evening and he wonders how long they'll have to wait for an empty cab on a Saturday evening.
Donna, teary eyed, looks up at him and his outstretched hands, eyes full of worry. Biting a lip, she shakes her head. She's pretty sure her foot isn't broken, she can still wiggle her toes after all, but it does hurt. A lot.
"I can just use you as a crutch…" She puts her hands in his and lets him pull her up, leaning heavily into his side he begins moving them. They don't get far when he stops them.
"Just let me carry you…" Harvey moves, getting himself into position to pick her up and then stops at Donna's haunted look.
"Not bridal style…"
Harvey snorts, "Would you prefer a fireman's lift?"
"No!" Donna exclaims loudly, before pouting, closing her eyes and throwing her head back. Because she really does want to get out of there quicker and she's got too much pride to admit that her foot is hurting just a little bit more. "Turn around…"
"What… Donna…" Harvey stutters, searching her eyes for a reason.
"Just give me a piggyback… it's less humiliating…" Donna huffs, carefully attaching herself to his back when he leans down. Wrapping her legs around his waist and arms around his neck, she ducks her head and mumbles. "All this because you can't hold your ball…"
"I can hold my...handle my b-" Harvey begins, hoisting her up a bit on his back so that she's a little more secure. "It's that…"
"That what?" Donna asks quietly in his ear.
"I was just imagining…" Harvey coughs, thankful she can't see his face which he's sure is blossoming red. "Never mind."
Donna doesn't say anything in response, mulling over the answer in her head. It's not like she could've predicted this specific outcome, but she had been hoping for something to come out of her story. For him to drop the ball - not on her foot, but on the shelf - and tell her in a low, husky tone that they were done playing for the night, before dragging her out of the alley and into a waiting cab, back to either of their places.
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Hours and one successful ER-trip later, they settle down on opposite ends of her couch, Donna gingerly resting her leg on the coffee table before she feels Harvey's hand gently tap her leg. Looking over, she sees a rawness in his eyes, pained that he'd been the cause of her pain, searching her own eyes for an answer to how he can make her feel better.
"I'm fine Harvey, you heard the doctor… it's not even broken…" Donna pleads with him, imploring him to believe she really was alright. Fidgeting, she turns around to reach for a cushion to place on the table and lets out a soft 'oh' when Harvey takes it, placing it on his lap and turning to her. Donna doesn't hesitate, repositioning herself so that she's sat facing him, leg extended and foot resting on the cushion in his lap.
"I really am sorry for dropping the ball on your foot, Donna." Harvey murmurs as his hands gently hover over her foot, not wanting to put too much pressure on it. Grabbing the ice pack, he wraps it around with one hand, placing the other one on her lower leg, thumb darting out to stroke it.
"Yeah well, you know… gravity and balls, old man…" Donna replies before descending into a fit of giggles, Harvey sending her a mildly shocked face before he joins her as well. Laughing, carefree like young idiots in love, not two adults experienced in heartbreak and heartache.
After some mindless chat, Donna lets out a loud groan before pinching her forehead, "How am I going to shower standing on one leg?"
"How about I run you a bath?" Harvey suggests, already midway through lifting her foot off of his lap and gently placing it in his vacant space. He's out of sight before Donna even has a chance to agree, and as she settles back into her cozy cushions, she can't help but feel utterly adored, despite the circumstances.
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"How do you want to do this?" He asks, kneeling by the tub and checking the water as he'd do for a child. Harvey looks back to see Donna watching him, leaning against the doorframe.
"Well…" She begins, biting her lip and tilting her head, "Maybe you should stay...make sure I don't slip…"
Harvey steps closer to her, following and hanging on her every word.
"I do only have one working foot after all…"
"I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself anymore…" He murmurs, thumb coming out to run along her jaw.
"Exactly…"
Harvey tilts her head up gently, bringing her into a soft kiss. It doesn't last long before she feels his hands travel down her bare arms, stopping at the top of her leather pants.
"Maybe I should help you take off your pants… this top…" His fingers pull the top out of her tight pants, "So you don't lose your balance…"
"Uh-huh…" Donna can only murmur in reply, hypnotised by Harvey's words and actions. He presses a chaste kiss to her lips before pulling back and gracefully pulling her top out of her pants and over her head.
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There's a part of Donna that thought this would be weird, her sitting between his legs, her back pressed against his front, encased in his strong arms. They've seen each other naked before, slept together a handful of times over the last few weeks, but she thinks there's something so intimate about them sharing a bath together. Maybe it'd been the way he'd been so careful with her, getting in first, lifting her up and gently guiding her down to sit in the tub, following her and settling behind her. All the while being mindful of her bruised foot. He'd practically forced her to rest her leg on the side of the tub as he'd pulled her back against him, chuckling and placating her that she wouldn't want to accidentally knock it under water.
They've rolled in her sheets but this feels so much more intimate, how he holds her to him, like he's scared he'll break her more.
"You know," Harvey begins, voice low in her ear and vibrating through her back, "This was all your fault…"
"How'd you figure that?" Donna teases, attempting to twist herself in his arms to look up but he keeps her locked in place, arms tight around her chest.
Harvey presses a kiss to the back of her head and squeezes her shoulder with one hand. And Donna smiles lazily, it's so mundane, so normal. It's more than dating for both of them, it's their journey - finally together - to their forever. She almost forgets what he was saying, until she feels one of his hands graze her side, travelling south. Lower, and lower again, until he's holding her, right at her centre.
"You planted the seed in my head…" He nips at her shoulder at the exact moment he slips a finger inside of her. "Of doing this…"
"Harvey…" She murmurs, trying to tilt her head to find his eyes. When she does, that pained rawness she saw earlier has transformed into something completely different. His dark eyes are still raw but this time, raw with desire.
"Harvey..." Donna moans this time, as one finger turns into two. And for the first time that evening, her mind goes blank. She doesn't think about her sore, bruised foot, or how she can't wear her favourite shoes for a few weeks. Not when that very injury forced her to lie in her bathtub, propped up and giving Harvey just the right angle, plenty of room for him. She doesn't care that her neck is slightly strained from looking up at him, not when she has front row seats to watch the concentration on his face, follow the beads of sweat as they trickle down his face.
When he slips a third finger in, her back arches, causing water to slosh around them and her propped up leg to slip.
"Careful, Donna…" Harvey whispers into her, slipping his digits out of her so that he can reposition her leg, his hand lingering on her calf before slowly, agonizingly journeying back to her core. He slips his fingers in and out of her, his other hand wrapped around her chest, gently massaging a breast.
"Harvey…" She whines, hand gripping his thighs, "Bath time is over…"
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He gets out the tub first, carefully leaning her forward and slipping out from behind her, and she watches, incredibly wound up. Donna's almost delirious as she watches Harvey slowly towel dry himself, slipping down further in the tub as she watches him gently rub his taut muscles. She slips a finger between her legs, following the path Harvey had been taking just a few short moments ago.
Donna lets out a soft moan as she rubs herself, slipping in and out as she watches a now-dry Harvey watch her. Well, there's one part of him that he's failed to dry. Unconsciously, Donna licks her lips as she watches him harden, glisten with pre-cum as he reaches for her.
In no time, Harvey has lifted her out of the tub with ease and begun to rub a towel up and down her body, and Donna can't help the flutter of her eyes at his gentle touch. Crouching on the floor, he starts with her bruised foot, slowly dabbing it with the towel. Donna involuntarily lets out a hiss as she looks down, eyes watching him. And then he looks up, and the sight of him on his knees before her naked body is enough to make her quiver, and it has nothing to do with her balancing on one leg.
"Sorry…" He whispers before returning to towel-drying her, dabbing her foot and placing kisses on the soft skin of her calf, lips and towel moving up her leg. She leans forward slightly, resting her hands on his shoulder as he moves up her thigh and then he stops and looks up.
Fuck.
Donna closes her eyes in an effort to control her breathing as Harvey slowly switches legs, pressing his lips to her centre as his mouth travels across to her other leg. She trembles as Harvey repeats the process on her good leg, hands now gripping his shoulders as his lips and the towel move in tandem, travelling the expanse of her thigh.
Throwing the towel on the ground, Harvey hoists her up and her legs instinctively wrap around his waist as their lips clash together. They only separate when her back meets her bed and she doesn't feel his body immediately follow hers. Donna's eyes nearly roll to the back of her head when she looks down to see Harvey crawling towards her, then carefully pick up her leg, peppering it with kisses as he secures it over his shoulder. He thrusts slowly at first, letting her get used to the angle and his size before he begins moving faster and faster. The sound of their moans and grunts fill the room as the sound of their skin slapping against each other gets louder and louder.
"Harvey…"
He pauses like the devil he is, looking down from above her before taking her lips in his, sucking on her lips and swallowing her words on his tongue as he pulses inside her. Donna knew she was never going to last long and she's almost certain by the way Harvey is speeding up, he'll come not soon after her.
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Harvey slips out of her as her leg falls off his shoulder, laying languidly on the bed and he makes no effort to move from between her legs. And Donna thinks she must look a sight to him, legs spread out, chest heaving and the sticky evidence of them between her legs. She lifts her head in confusion when she feels the bed dip, watching as Harvey, stark naked, walks out of her room.
"Harvey?" She calls, a puzzled expression spreading across her features as she lifts herself up on her elbows.
He doesn't respond but returns a couple minutes later with a glass of water and a box of ibuprofen, which he presses into her hands.
"The adrenaline will wear off soon, take one before you go to sleep so your foot won't hurt too much and wake you up." He says it like it's the most natural thing in the world, for him to offer her advice and care about her wellbeing. And she supposes, in his own way, Harvey's always looked out for her.
"If I knew you'd take this good care of me," Donna begins, pausing as a yawn breaks her mid-sentence, "We would've gone bowling a long time ago…"
Harvey snorts, setting into bed next to her, waiting patiently for her to swallow a tablet before opening his arm for her to nestle into his side, "That was the first and last time we're going bowling…"
"But…"
"No buts Donna…" Harvey whispers, "I'm never touching those balls again…"
He closes his eyes as he lets the soft sound of Donna breathing lull him to sleep, that is before the silence is interrupted by a low sleepy voice.
"I think I'll be the only one handling balls from now on…"
Thanks for reading!