A/N: Hi. Sorry. Life happened. Thank y'all for your nice reviews :) As always, Liz made all the magic here. Enjoy.

"You'll start on Monday. Donna will email you the details."

The door at her left side opens and Donna smiles satisfied at the sight. Harvey, triumphant, guiding the kid out of the room with a hand on his shoulder. She was right, as always.

"Donna, this is Mr. Sorkin, my new associate."

"Actually, my name is–"

"Mr. Sorkin, welcome to Pearson Hardman." Donna interrupts, holding out her hand. He seems to take the hint, because he quickly shakes it before doing the same with Harvey and leaving the room in a rush.

"Go easy on them." Harvey smirks as Donna walks in the opposite direction to chase the rest of the candidates out. He stands on the threshold and waits for her to get inside the room to lock the door behind them.

Donna looks at him suspiciously, but decides to play it down. "So, you got an associate."

Harvey only hums in response and turns her around and grabs her hips, pressing his front against her back.

"So, you're senior partner now."

He nods and walks her towards the table, burying his face in her hair.

"He seems smart."

"Can we stop talking about the kid?" Harvey mumbles, still carrying her until her legs hit the desk. He then starts kissing her neck and Donna tenses, putting her hands above his to stop him.

"Harvey, we're working. You know we can't."

"You said no sex in the office, and technically we're not in the office." He spreads out his hands over her belly to pull her closer and she feels his bulge pressing lightly against the small of her back.

She sighs and fails to sound calm when she says, "Ten minutes."

"What?" he exclaims.

"You don't see yourself capable of getting it in ten minutes?" Donna teases.

"I can get it in five."

"Okay, five minutes then."

"Come on, Donna!" She can almost hear him pouting. "This suite is booked for another hour… at least another hour and a half?" She laughs at his impatience and turns to face him. "Twenty-five?"

"Fifteen!"

"Twenty, that's my final offer."

"You're such a lawyer."

"And you're so bossy." He turns her around again before she can answer and squeezes her between his body and the wooden surface. "This blazer has been driving me crazy since this morning."

He unbuttons it first, then the blouse, and lets his hands roam over the exposed skin, kneading her breasts above her bra. Donna arches her back by reflex, silently cursing herself for giving in so quickly, especially when she hears him chuckling.

Harvey bends her over carefully on the desk and murmurs, "You have no idea how many times I've wanted you like this in my office."

Donna rolls her eyes and stands up straight before turning around and sitting on the edge of the desk, raising an eyebrow. "In your dreams, Specter," she says, pushing his shoulder down until he's on his knees in front of her. He looks up smugly and unfastens her skirt.

—

Harvey's limbs tingle a little bit at the memory the following day as he sits down on the couch in his office, his gaze fixated on his desk. 'If only she let me…,' he thinks. The corner of his lips curls up slightly but he tries to hide it behind his glass, knowing that Donna can see him from her cubicle.

"When were you going to tell me?" The question catches him by surprise and he looks up, finding her leaning against the threshold of the door with her arms crossed.

Harvey presses his lips and tilts his head. "Donna."

She doesn't answer, just mirrors his gesture and holds his gaze for a few seconds until he sighs and offers her the glass of scotch he had prepared for her. He was expecting her to bring up the subject anyway.

Donna moves forward to grab the glass but gives him an inquisitive look. "It's a crime," she mouths.

"I know, that's why I didn't tell you. I don't want you to get involved."

Her expression softens as she rounds the coffee table to sit down beside him. "Did you really think I wasn't going to find out?"

"I thought it would take you at least a couple of days."

They chuckle and stay quiet for a while, enjoying the soft music coming from the record player.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Donna, I'll never let anything bad happen to you. Trust me."

"I'm not the one I'm worried about, Harvey. But yes, I trust you. You know that."

Harvey looks at her then. He doesn't wonder how she's capable of making him feel like everything is going to be okay (he soon realized there is no answer for that) and he wonders if he'll ever get tired of it. As if she could read his mind, which he's also sure she can, she smiles faintly.

No, he won't ever get tired of it.

"How the hell did he convince you?"

Harvey grins broadly and relays the story Mike told him the day before. From that moment, Harvey spends many nights talking about Mike, what he did that day, what jokes he made, how angry Harvey was with him because he didn't follow his orders.

And Donna listens, although most of the times she just pretends to do so, because actually she's thinking about how he talks about him the same way he'd talk about his brother, or that's what she supposes, she doesn't have a normal relationship with her sister after all, but she's pretty sure this is how people talk about their siblings.

And Donna can't help but to hope, because he doesn't "get emotionally attached" to anyone apart from her, but now there's another exception, Mike, and she says to herself 'maybe this is what he needed. Maybe this is the beginning of something.'

And, at some point, when her heart is beating too loud she's afraid he can hear it, he turns his head and looks at her grinning like a Cheshire cat, and she smiles back, not sure of what he just said, but he kisses her and she prays that she keeps guessing everything right.

'Damn kid,' he thinks, waiting for the outside counsel to pick up the phone. The only condition he made him agree to was not to get stoned, and not only did he do just that, but he also had the audacity to come to his office as if nothing happened. On top of that, he has to deal with a judge that accuses him of having an affair with his wife, and even though it's not true and nobody knows about his relationship, he doesn't enjoy being called a cheater. He sighs loudly, feeling Donna's eyes on him. He's not a fucking cheater, for God's sake. Harvey closes his eyes for a few seconds and shares a knowing look with the redhead that somehow relaxes him a little bit right before hearing a voice on the other end of the line.

After a lot of hard bargaining that only resulted in a huge waste of time, Harvey motions her to get into his office and close the door.

"Donna, I'm so sorry. I know we agreed on going out tonight but Mike messed up and I have to fix some things out of the office," he gets up and walks closer to her. "I'll get back late and I don't want to keep you awake."

She looks down but tries to recover quickly, although Harvey has already caught the glimpse of disappointment in her eyes, which doesn't make him feel any better.

"It's okay, I only see you sixteen hours a day anyway," she shrugs and Harvey rolls his eyes in response, letting it go. "What happened with Mike?"

"He told me some bullshit story about being with Louis at the tennis club and a client and whatever. The thing is, he was high. And don't ask or talk with him about it. He has to learn to fix his mistakes on his own."

Donna raises her eyebrows in surprise. She knew about Mike and the briefcase full of weed he took to the interview, but she had also expected him to follow Harvey's orders. No wonder Harvey looked that angry when she saw the kid leaving the office some minutes ago.

"Don't be too hard on him. You know Louis and his tactics, maybe he did it to get rid of him."

"That's no excuse."

"You don't need an excuse to do the Mary Jane," she emphasizes the expression with a funny tone, mimicking Louis, and Harvey bursts out laughing. Donna smiles at the sight. His eyes crinkling, the sound coming from his throat so contagious she could laugh just with that, his whole body shaking with happiness. This is indeed her favorite part of her job, to make him feel better.

"You do remember I have an audition tomorrow, right?" she waits to see him nodding and continues, "then don't call." She winks and turns around to make her way back to her desk.

—

The next day, Donna gets home after the audition to something that she thinks will never stop catching her by surprise. The table of her living room is already set, a couple of candles lit in the middle. She drops her purse on the cabinet of her hallway and catches a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. She closes her eyes briefly to enjoy it as she takes off her heels before heading to the kitchen, finding Harvey concentrating on something with his back to her.

"Hey," she says quietly, closing the gap between them and wrapping his waist with her arms.

"Hey," he replies, turning around to give her a long, soft kiss.

"I didn't know you were coming."

"I missed you," Harvey shrugs innocently, but can't help the smirk that appears on his face.

Donna tilts her head, "You even lit some candles. What have you done?"

"Why did I have to do something?" Donna just lifts an eyebrow and it's his turn to shake his head. "Go change your clothes, dinner is ready."

He slaps her ass playfully when she turns to leave and she looks over her shoulder, giving him a smug look before disappearing through the door. "How was the audition?"

"As always, you know," she shouts.

"One day, I'm gonna buy a theatre company and you're gonna have the leading role in every single play!"

Harvey smiles satisfied when he hears her chuckling in her bedroom, but his face quickly fades as his mind resumes his previous thoughts. He didn't do anything, but there's someone out there saying that he did and he can't stop thinking about it. He's not a cheater, he knows that. But what if she finds out? Would she believe him? He might have been a womanizer before, when they still were working at the DA's office, but he's not anymore. He took care of making it clear to everyone from day one, which put him in the weird position of turning several women down but not being able to give them a logical reason as "I have a girlfriend."

Not too long after moving to Pearson Hardman, Donna confessed it was happening to her too. It was truly uncommon to see Harvey Specter leaving galas and firm events alone, even Jessica had made some comments about it, and there were so many nights in where Donna had to take a cab alone even though Harvey was waiting for her around the corner.

That's why they decided to add a new clause to their deal, as Donna called it. They'd let other people hit on them, they'd play along, and sometimes, at the end of the night, they'd leave with them, only to dump them with a lame excuse as soon as they were outside. It was stupid, Harvey thought, it was easier to say they were together, but he also understood why they were doing this, so he agreed immediately.

Besides, it turned out to be a great idea: Donna used it as a way to get closer to other partners of the firm, clients or potential clients and even rival lawyers and get very useful information for Harvey. At first, he wondered if it was her way to compensate him and tried to talk her out of it, but Donna convinced him it was just them being a team.

However, it all feels wrong now. It wasn't his honor that he was worried about; nobody would criticize him for what he supposedly did as they don't know about Donna and him, but they do, and why does he have to feel this bad for something he didn't do? But, if there's no problem with it, why didn't he tell Donna yet?

He has spent the whole dinner going over this again and again, one way or another concealing his concern from her satisfactorily, but guilt is consuming him. Donna is now laying on her couch with her feet propped up in Harvey's lap, who remains seated to massage them properly, and they're watching some movie they don't care about with some drinks, wine for her and scotch for him. They've been like this for almost fifteen minutes but Harvey can't hold it anymore and breaks the silence, "Donna, I have to tell you something."

Donna opens her eyes, not sure when she closed them, and sits up straight when she finds seriousness in his expression. "Harvey, what's going on?"

"Do you remember that I called yesterday to ask you for the address for the fundraiser at the gallery…?" he goes silent, waiting for her to nod, "well, it's Judge Pearl's wife."

"The one that wiped the floor with you?" she jokes.

Harvey pouts, but continues, "Yeah, that one. Turns out Lauren told him she slept with me that night."

He can sense her stilling and frowning, as if she didn't hear it correctly. "But… You left with me, we went to your place."

Harvey nods. She doesn't say anything else, her blank expression worrying him. He knows exactly what she's thinking about, a brief moment in which he disappeared at the end of the night. "Nothing happened, Donna. I swear. As I told you, I approached John to close the deal, Lauren was there and he introduced her to me. Then she insisted on buying me a drink and when we were at the bar she flirted with me. Well, she basically threw herself at me. So, I just said I didn't sleep with married women, put her in a cab, and came back to take you home. That was it."

"Why are you telling me all of this, Harvey?"

"Because… I don't know, I thought it wasn't worth it. I mean, it's not the first time someone threw themselves at me," Donna pats his chest playfully but he remains serious. "But now the rumor might be going around and I didn't want you to find out from somebody else, let alone to believe it was true."

"Harvey, even if I would've heard, I'd never believe it. We've done this thousands of times and it's worked. It has for almost seven years, it's not gonna stop now."

"I know, but it's the first time that–"

Donna interrupts him, placing a hand on his cheek and turning his face to make him look at her. "Harvey, I know you'd never do something like that."

Harvey sighs, still doubtful. "Vanessa told me something the other day… She said I only think about myself."

"We both know that's not true. You care about me, and now you care about Mike too."

Harvey retorts, "I don't care about Mike."

"Yes, you do. Do I need to remind you what happened yesterday?"

"Louis is an asshole," he mumbles, but Donna chuckles and he can't help but follow her lead. His gaze returns to the television, not even sure what they're watching anymore, but he decides it doesn't matter when he feels Donna's eyes on him, her chin resting on his shoulder.

They stay like that for a while until Donna whispers, "I'm pretty sure she would've loved it to be true." She moves to straddle his lap, his hands falling on her hips by reflex, and cups his face to lock their gazes as she says, half joking, "but you're my man."

Truth is, that's not the first time Harvey feels this urge of making sure he's not cheating on her.

Every time Scottie is in town, Harvey digs out his narcissist manual and switches into that cocky mode Donna secretly hates, although she knows it's his way to brace himself to reject her even before Scottie has the chance to suggest, and she also knows she's getting something in return when it's all over: breakfast at Nougatine and some new handbags.

However, as much as they try to play it down, Harvey's not stupid. He's aware Donna can read him, and maybe that's why he sighed in relief when he found out Scottie was moving to London and why her return makes him very tense.

This time, Donna doesn't tell him beforehand so he has no choice but to improvise when Scottie appears at the bar of the hotel where they're supposed to deal with their clients' merger.

"Well, I say we let these two talk deal points while I try your chef's famous sea bass," one of them says.

"Absolutely. Play nice," Harvey's client replies, handing Scottie a key card, but Harvey is faster and grabs it before placing it back in his clients' hand.

"It won't be necessary. We'll discuss them at the bar." Harvey smiles politely ignoring Scottie's look of disapproval, but she doesn't say anything else.

As soon as he can, Harvey arrives at the office thinking of a way to steal a few kisses from Donna despite her rule, but what he gets instead is her teasing him about his non-existent encounter with Scottie.

"You can do better."

"Oh, is that what Scottie said?"

"Let's go inside," he grits, rolling his eyes.

"Puppy is waiting for you."

Harvey groans, frustrated, making her smile broadly. "Come in as soon as he leaves." He clears his throat and says louder, "Type up the deal points. I got her to cave. Debeque's gonna run the show. All I had to do was show her our books."

He heads inside his office and rolls his eyes at Mike's complaints about his mock trial. For a moment, Harvey considers giving him a hand but he quickly dismisses the idea. Solving the case for him won't help him in the long term, so he decides to give him a lecture about real trials and real lawyers and uses one of his motivational quotes to kick him out.

Immediately after he leaves, Donna gets inside and closes the door behind her.

"You know nothing happened, right?"

"I know," she replies, closing the distance between them.

"I'll never get used to those jokes," he utters. And he's serious. He usually doesn't regret agreeing to her rules, he even enjoys them. Their hidden touches and stolen glances were the buttons he soon found out he had to push to take her to the edge right in the middle of the office, although he never got her to give in as much as he tried. But this pretending game is just too much for him.

"I like them. You should see your face." Harvey forms a thin line with his lips as Donna gets even closer and smooths the lapels of his suit jacket. "Besides, you still have to make up for that little incident the other night."

"It's not my fault that Mike showed up drunk at my place," he leans forward then and brushes her temple with his nose before whispering, "and according to those 'oh God, Harvey' you screamed a few minutes later, I think I made it up to you more than once."

He smiles smugly when he hears Donna swallowing and pulls back to see her affected face. She's stubborn though, and he loves her for that, and recovers rapidly. "Just because of that, you're gonna need to make a bigger effort," she declares, tightening his tie more than necessary.

Harvey's smirk widens at her move and he reaches forward to place his hands on her hips, but lets them hang on his sides as soon as he remembers they are still in his office. "Why don't we go out tonight?"

"Sorry, I already agreed to meet with Rachel after work. Tomorrow?"

"At our usual place?"

Donna winks in response before returning to her desk and Harvey doesn't miss the extra sway she adds to her hips.

—

Donna leaves early the next evening, telling him they'll meet at the bar, so Harvey, dying to be with her after spending last night alone, goes home as well some minutes later, deciding it is not a bad idea to meet Scottie there.

I'm gonna be late. Scottie's at my place to close the deal, but that's not the only deal I'm gonna close tonight ;) -H

"Gotta hand it to you, Harvey." Scottie says as soon as she gets out of the elevator. "You may not be able to commit to a woman, but you have been in this place a very long time."

Harvey decides to ignore the comment (he's so used to those anyway) and hits 'Send' as he retorts something about his apartment's high maintenance.

"He agreed to all your terms despite my protest that he could do better."

"So we're done."

"Minus a few signatures." Scottie lifts the fabric of her skirt by grasping its hem before kneeling on the couch, mere inches away from his leg. "Want me to leave?"

Her hands are already unbuttoning her blouse when Harvey catches her wrists. "Scottie…"

She moves back right away, as if his touch were burning her. "You know what? I don't get it. Are you with someone?"

Harvey lowers his gaze, breathing deeply. He doesn't want to lie to her, but he's running out of shitty excuses. "It's not about that. We haven't done this for a long time, that's all."

"Yeah, since you started at Pearson Hardman's after the DA's office."

Harvey shrugs, although secretly he's cursing himself for hurting her. Without a word, he leans forward and offers her a pen that she catches madly. "In any case, I appreciate it. As I said, you're incapable of committing to anything, so thank you for saving me from the disappointment."

Scottie signs the files and disappears before Harvey can even react, but he actually prefers it. He's getting tired of people questioning his ability to commit, his bachelor apartment, his lifestyle. It's over, all of it. If only he could say it, if only he could say–

Harvey shakes his head and takes a gulp of his scotch before getting up and collecting his things to leave, ready to meet the redhead that's making all of this worth it.

He spots her right away, twenty minutes later, sitting on a bar stool with her legs crossed. He stops dead in his tracks when he takes her in fully, gulping loudly. She's wearing a black, low back dress, its split leg practically exposing every inch of her creamy skin. Harvey knows he bought that dress, well his credit card did, but all he wants to do is to rip it off right here, in the middle of the bar.

"If I would've known you were wearing this, I'd have put my tuxedo on," he jokes when he finally manages to keep walking and sit beside her.

"Sorry, do I know you?" the redhead replies, turning to look at him with a confused gaze.

Harvey freezes, matching her facial expression. At first he thinks she's fooling him, but she looks so straight-faced that in a matter of seconds, he replays in his mind every single conversation they shared the past seven years, trying to find something about a twin sister he could've forgotten about.

"Here's your drink, Debbie," the voice of the waiter breaks the silence and the woman turns again to thank him, her lips curving in a smile Harvey knows so well. It's the name the waiter used what makes his brain click and he remembers that's how he called her a few weeks ago when Mike and he were dealing with Joy McAfee and her dolls.

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else," he says, displaying his well-known mischievous grin. "I'm Harvey Specter."

"Debbie," she shakes the hand he's offering, reciprocating his smile.

"Just Debbie?"

"We just met and you already want to know everything about me?"

"Well, there are some things about you I definitely wanna know."

She huffs a laugh at him and arches an eyebrow. "You don't waste any time, huh?"

"Why should we when we could use it for something better?"

It's been a long time since the last time they flirted with a stranger and they both are a bit rusty, but she keeps teasing him again and again, and as much as Harvey wants to end this and take her home, he decides to play along, because he loves her, but he loves her even more when she goes all kinky.

"How did you get the waiter to call you like that? I'm pretty sure he knows us by now," he asks, about two hours later, both of them laying in his bed after the second round. The first one was in the bar's bathroom, and Harvey's well aware they won't be able to go back there for some weeks, even months.

She doesn't reply, just shoots him an 'honestly?' look and gets out of the bed to drink some water, putting on his shirt in the meantime.

"My shirts look really good on you. Almost as good as on me."

"Do you say that to all your girls?" she snickers, standing now at the edge of the bed.

Harvey reaches forwards and pulls her body towards him by grasping her hips until she's straddling his lap and starts unbuttoning the shirt. "Only to you, Donna Roberta Paulsen. Only to you."

Donna laughs louder now and tries to slip away, "I have to learn my lines for the puppy's mock trial." He hums in approval but pushes her forward so he can suck the soft flesh of her neck. "Stop distracting me! I have to nail it so Kyle can't trick him again."

"You're gonna be just fine–" Harvey comes to a halt for the second time tonight. Scottie's surprise appearance at the hotel, their argument at his apartment earlier today, all of that was just part of her strategy to distract him and see his client's books discreetly. "Sorry babe, I have to go."

"What– where?" she asks, rolling off him to her side.

"I think Scottie's been trying to trick me all this time," he explains the rest briefly as he moves around his closet, getting dressed.

Donna groans although secretly she's enjoying the view. "You're really gonna need to put in a lot of effort to compensate me now. Do you need me to go with you?"

"Don't worry, I'm calling Mike." He turns around at the door and groans at the sight – Donna, wearing only his half-buttoned shirt, her long legs barely covered by his sheets, her hair disheveled falling around her face, and looking at him like the cat who ate the cream, and never in his life has he regretted leaving his apartment to go to the firm. "You know I will. And you better be wearing that shirt when I come back."

Harvey is happy. He's exultant, delighted, joyful, he's on freaking cloud nine. With Scottie back in London and the rumors about him and other women long forgotten, he was completely focused on beating Tanner. And he did, he fucking did. So he sent Donna home early and as soon as he put the finishing touches on it, Harvey left the office, stopping at the florist and a liquor store on his way to Donna's.

There he found her, among the steam and the hypnotizing smell of strawberry that filled the bathroom, inside the bathtub shooting him a teasing smile with her red hair perfectly tied back in a bun and holding two flutes in her hands. "First things first," he said, placing the bouquet somewhere in the hallway and handing her the bottle of champagne before getting in the bathtub and inside her body practically in the same movement.

Harvey is now resting his back against the wall of the bathtub after round two, Donna's on the opposite wall, their legs intertwined and the water surprisingly still warm around them. He listens to her hilarious narration of the latest Louis' stupidity with a flute in one hand and her leg in the other, holding it above his shoulder and dropping some light kisses in her skin only to make her blush.

He's still radiating success through every single pore of his skin, the word 'triumph' written all over his face. He can even taste the adrenaline that is still coursing in his veins. He'll later use it as an excuse to justify why the words are out of his mouth before he can even process them.

"And then Louis said, 'is that–'"

"Why don't we get married?"

"'– my prunie?'"

What?!

Donna looks at him, still laughing at the anecdote, her half-drunken mind slowly catching up his words. "What?"

"If you want, we can get married." She can't help the guffaw in offense that her body is still letting out and her smile fades hastily. He notices her fingers tensing around her flute and he swears he finds surprise and something else in her eyes, something he didn't expect to see there and that disappoints him more than he'd like to: panic.

Harvey remembers her rule, and never in his life has he hated it as he does now, not even when they stay late at the office and the only thing he wants is to bury himself deep inside her but she stops him with a single gaze. Therefore, and convincing himself he's doing the right thing by respecting her rule, he looks away and adds, "In secret. We'll be the only ones who know."

Donna tries to hide her feelings unsuccessfully by clearing her throat and says, with a halting, tiny voice, "Are you serious?"

"We could do it at the beach," Harvey presses his lips against her skin again, as if weddings were a trivial topic for them although his heart is thundering against his chest. "Do you like beach weddings?"

"I'm pretty sure I've never seen you going to the beach," she smiles shyly in a weak attempt to defuse the tension that surrounds them now. Harvey shrugs his shoulders and keeps caressing her shin, avoiding her gaze. "And no guests?"

"We could have guests. In the end, a wedding is like New Year's Eve, but celebrated by day."

Donna raises her eyebrows, amused with a smile, and chuckles a bit. The sound makes Harvey glance back at her and smile timidly before continuing, "Just listen to me. We'd make them think they are at a party, but actually, we would be getting married. It's a perfect plan."

"Harvey…" She holds his gaze for a few seconds, looking for something that can tell her he's joking, but he seems to be completely serious about this, so she moves her leg away from him and frowns. "Are you high?"

"No, I'm not," he replies, slightly offended and sits up, getting ready for a possible argument.

"Where is this coming from?"

"Nowhere, Donna. Nowhere." Harvey sighs after a few seconds of silence and reaches for an envelope inside his jacket's pocket. "Remember Peter Wakefield?"

"Yeah, he worked at the DA's office when we were there, right?"

"Well, he's getting married," he announces, giving her the invitation he received a few days ago.

"What? No way!" Donna laughs louder than she pretended, the atmosphere between them not completely light yet. "I thought he'd never date someone in the first place."

He lets out a throaty laugh and gulps down his glass. "We should get out, the water is cooling down."

There are no touches or caresses while they dry themselves. Donna tries to break the uncomfortable silence that surrounds them a few times, but Harvey doesn't seem very receptive, he just hums or gives her a fake smile, his gaze everywhere but her. In fact, his mind is racing uncontrollably with thoughts and mixed feelings and he senses a huge knot in the pit of his stomach. Was it such a bad idea? Wasn't this the regular development of a relationship? Weddings, living together, family–

He turns to hang their towels on the towel rack, facing away from her, and closes his eyes. What the hell is wrong with him. Family? There's no such thing as family, not for him. But he thought that maybe Donna… No, she clearly doesn't want that either.

Harvey feels an open palm pressing lightly against his back and turns around to give her a quick peck. "Let's get something to eat."

He sneaks out of the bathroom before she can say something, now getting control of his emotions, when he hears her voice. "I didn't know you brought me flowers."

He looks over his shoulder and sees her holding the bouquet he dropped earlier, the corner of her lips curving up as she inhales its scent. "Yeah, I… I forgot," he lets his fingers run through his hair and smiles boyishly, finally looking at her in the eyes.

They stay like that for what feels like minutes before Donna closes the distance between them and grabs his hand, squeezing it tightly. He squeezes back and lets it go to order a pizza as Donna places the flowers in one of the vases that decorate her living room.

"Hey, why don't I help you get a new suit?" she asks, opening her laptop, when he joins her on her couch.

"I don't know if I'm going. I mean, it's not like we're great friends or something."

"A gift then?"

Harvey groans and throws his head back, making her giggle. They spend the next twenty minutes seeing a wide range of wedding presents; in other words, Harvey spends the next twenty minutes complaining while Donna talks him into it, explaining why he should buy them something, and definitely not a bottle of scotch, instead of just giving them money.

"I just don't get it. Why do people waste their time with this?"

"Why do you say that? It's beautiful," she mumbles, looking closely at the set of etched glasses she just finished customizing on the store's website.

"Nothing lasts forever, Donna. It's not worth it."

He feels her freezing beside him, the meaning of his words falling slowly over them. He presses his eyes shut again, fully aware of the asshole he is. But then again, she just told him she doesn't want more, so why is she reacting like this?

Harvey suppresses a relieving sigh when he hears the doorbell, secretly thanking the delivery guy for being his life saver. "I'll take care of it."

To say they're good now would be presumptuous. It's been only two weeks since the non-proposal-but-really-felt-like-it and things at work are not any better. Donna had to hear Harvey ending an argument with Mike with Jessica's "life is this, I like this", and she'd never had a problem with it, in fact, she's always admired their ambition, but this time she couldn't help but feel sorry for Mike.

And yet, that's not what irritated her. What truly irritated her was finding out about Harvey and Cameron Dennis having dinner together from Mike himself, and she made sure he noticed her annoyance by telling him not to go to her place that night.

He's been thinking about how he screwed it up since then, and that's how she finds him the next morning, looking out the window with a basketball between his hands.

"What are you gonna do?" she asks after leaving the subpoena on his desk.

"What would you do?"

"I'm sorry, are you feeling okay? You just asked for my advice. All these years… Yeah, I think that's a first," she teases, although none of them are laughing.

"You were there. What would you do?"

"I'd tell them everything. I'd watch Cameron go down. I'd throw a party. I'd drink champagne," he doesn't miss her emphasis on that word and presses his lips together, "I'd go to bed, and I'd sleep like a baby after I did it."

"Really? Don't equivocate."

"He's poison, Harvey. Leaving there was huge. You could've gone down a dark road. And I'm telling you, I would not have followed."

Right when Harvey is about to say something, her words still resonating in his head, Mike enters, saying something about the client's paper. He shares a silent conversation with Donna as the younger lawyer keeps talking and that's when he confirms that yes, she's angry and yes, he did screw it up, again. He doesn't go to her place that night, and neither does she, and he dials her number many times because he misses her and really wants to know what she would do, but he doesn't call, and neither does she.

—

The next day isn't any better. Jessica represents him at the deposition and gets him a deal in exchange for testifying against Cameron, which is what apparently everyone wants him to do except himself. He goes to Cameron's that night, tries to find a reason that can justify his negativity, but ends up coming back to the office more confused than ever.

"You have to testify against him," Donna declares, interrupting his train of thoughts.

"Actually, I don't. I went to see him. I told him he has to make a deal. Let him screw himself, I'm not gonna be the one to do it." He waits for her to say something, but she just rolls her eyes. "What?"

"Are you stupid? You realize what you just did, right? He will make a deal, Harvey. You warned him and now he'll make a deal to sell you out." She moves closer to him, determined to call him out on his shit. "You always had a blind spot with him. You always saw good underneath. It is not there. Harvey, he's not a good man."

"I'm not saying that he is, but they don't want me!"

"He'll make them want you! You know that he can! And you'll be done."

"That'll be all, Donna. Thank you," he declares, ending their fight. He treats her as his secretary, like he does when he's about to screw up and she tries to prevent him from doing so, or when they're discussing something and it twists so much he doesn't know if they're talking about work or about them.

He treats her as his secretary, and he hates it, he hates himself, because Donna is not his secretary, she's not even his secret girlfriend. She's something more, something he can't, or doesn't want to define (because every time he tried he messed it all up) and that scares him as hell. So he chooses the easiest way and says "that'll be all, Donna", but keeps her in view until she grabs her purse and coat furiously and disappears.

Another night without her.

—

Harvey's still so pissed off at her, at Jessica, at Cameron Dennis and especially at himself when Louis storms into his office accusing him of cheating, which is the last straw he needs to explode in front of Donna and Mike. He sees Donna out of the corner of his eye sneaking out of the office as Louis explains why he won and not Harvey.

He keeps seeing red the rest of the day, none of them trying to approach or make peace with the other one. The only thing that seems to calm him down is Jessica's visit at the end of the day, telling him Cameron did make a deal to sell him out, but everything's okay now. That's when Harvey finds out that one of the guys he put in jail, Clifford Danner, was actually innocent but Cameron buried the evidence.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna get him out."

Jessica gets up and gets close to him. She glances at him through the reflection of the window and it has to be the only thing she needs to see, because she squeezes his shoulder and leaves the office.

He doesn't know how long he has been standing here, looking at the landscape, when he hears Donna's soft voice behind him. "I hate to say this, but–"

"Then don't." Donna shakes her head and Harvey turns, walking towards his desk. "I know. But I don't want to argue with you, I'm very busy right now."

Donna takes a few steps and leans down to grab the folder Jessica left on the coffee table. She glances up and finds in his eyes the response to her question, making her smile almost immediately. "Do you want me to order us some food?"

"As long as you don't order at that shitty Thai place." Donna tilts her head and Harvey mimics her expression, but doesn't say anything else. And it's okay, they both are enjoying the comfortable silence they've fallen into. Neither of them has to apologize, neither of them has forgiven the other, but it's okay, because they don't need any of that, they always find their way back to the other somehow.

They're now sitting on the couch side by side, looking over the case files that have replaced the empty Thai food boxes on the coffee table. Donna looks up to check the hallway for passers-by before touching his arm to catch his attention and presses her lips against his in a soft kiss. It takes him by surprise, but Harvey recovers quickly and leans to get another one, but she turns her face away and giggles. It's been a while since the last time he heard her laughing, so it makes him smile widely.

"Hey, I had to take advantage of it."

His joke makes Donna laugh louder now and she rests her head against his shoulder. Harvey is about to kiss her hair when the voices of some associates resound throughout the hallway and Donna startles and moves away from him, leaving a few inches between them. Harvey feels that now familiar knot at the pit of his stomach again and there's a weird tension in the room, but it's shortly cut off when Donna tells him to go home with her.

—

Eleven hours. That's all it takes Harvey to find out Donna gave some evidence to Jessica so she could make a deal for him and bring Cameron down. He's so angry at her he tells her off as soon as he's back at the office but Jessica intervenes to defend Donna and he has no choice but to bite his tongue.

How the hell could she do that? How could she sleep with him last night and not tell him she went behind his back? Isn't it a betrayal? And what would've happened if someone had caught her taking those files with her? Is she crazy? For God's sake, he doesn't even want to think about it.

Harvey spends the whole day and the whole night going over and over what she did, ignoring her meanwhile. However, Jessica knows better and calls him in her office first thing in the morning.

"You need to get over it."

"I'm trying. It's not that easy."

"Yes, it is," Jessica affirms.

"Tell me."

"Okay. Think about what your life would be like without her."

Harvey moves his gaze away from hers. He thinks about how cold his bed was this morning without her, how empty his closet would be without the spare dresses and skirts Donna keeps in there. He thinks about coffee without vanilla and showers without her kisses. He smiles at the memory but reacts rapidly, aware that he's been lost in thought for so long and doesn't want Jessica to know about them, although he's sure he saw something in her eyes the day before and maybe–

He comes out with a witty remark about why Jessica always forgives him instead and comes back to her desk before apologizing and convincing her to make their ritual. Donna is about to leave his office when he grabs her arm but quickly lets it go when he realizes they're in the middle of the office and literally everyone can see them.

"I'm really sorry."

"I know, Harvey."

"It's just…"

"We'll talk later, go or you'll be late."

"Will you be here?"

"You know where to find me," she flirts, winking at him before crossing the threshold. Mike sees them and Donna quickly hides the can opener, although the puppy has already seen it and teases Harvey about it, but he couldn't care less.

—

Harvey's left with no other choice but to make a scene to make one of the suspects take the responsibility for the murder in order to take Clifford Danner out of prison. He's even more ecstatic than he was when he won Tanner some weeks ago and he's ready to celebrate with Donna, now that they're good again, or at least those are his conclusions from what happened last night at his place.

Nevertheless, he knows something's off when Donna is not there tonight. He replays every encounter they had today as Ray drives him to her apartment, trying to find something that might make her angry, but he can't find any.

"Hey," he frowns when she doesn't greet him back. "I thought we were spending the night at my place."

"Oh. I'm just… Not feeling very well."

"What's going on?" he questions, standing in the middle of her living room, waiting for her to look at him.

"Nothing, Harvey."

"Did something happen with Rachel? I hope you didn't let her touch my Patrick Ewing," he jokes, trying to get a laugh from her, but she doesn't. She just sighs and gets up, making a beeline to the kitchen, but when she's about to walk by him, he stops her by placing his hands on her hips. "Donna… Talk to me."

"I'm angry, okay? I'm pissed off!" she shouts abruptly. "You're gonna hate me for this, because we said that we'd tell the truth instead of lying if we were ever put in this position, but I lied! I told Rachel that nothing happened between us," Donna throws her hands in the air, blinking away the tears that are now burning in her eyes.

Harvey takes a few steps backward, releasing her. "Why did you do that?"

"Because of my rule?" she says it like it's obvious but deep down she knows that's a shitty excuse.

"But Rachel is your friend! She knows what kind of woman you are and she'd never think that way about you, so why didn't you tell her?"

Donna doesn't answer, stares at the floor instead. Harvey presses his lips to contain his own irritation. It's about her rule, it's always about it. He doesn't mind keeping it in secret, he is with Donna and Donna is with him and that's all that matters. But they've been playing this game for so long, and lately he's been wishing more frequently he could hold her hand in the firm's lobby, or take her to a wedding without having to hear Donna explaining to everyone she's just his secretary because she's not just it.

She wipes her tears with the back of her hand and every negative feeling he's been experiencing disappears instantly.

"Come here," he mutters and reaches forward to hold her tight and lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he feels her relaxing in his arms and hugging him back.

"I'm sorry."

Harvey pulls his head back to look at her. "I thought Donna Paulsen didn't apologize for who she was."

"I'm serious, Harvey," she says, laughing at his joke, "it's just… Sometimes I wish things were–"

Harvey interrupts her by catching her bottom lip between his in a deep kiss that she quickly returns, both of them pouring their unspoken feelings on it.

"Are you staying?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Of course," she grins and Harvey reciprocates, tugging a strand of red hair behind her ear.

"Good, because I missed you. And now, I wanna dance with you," he voices solemnly and bends his fingers towards him, inviting her to join him. Donna gives him a confused look but concedes, her arms finding its position around his body effortlessly. Harvey begins to hum a melody too familiar for them that makes her heart beat content and she rests her head against his shoulder, letting him take the lead.

They lose all sense of time right there, in the middle of her living room, swaying slowly in each other's arms even though Harvey has already stopped humming a while ago. They're going to be okay, he knows it, but as he turns his face to kiss the crown of Donna's head, he can't help but think 'I wish things were different too.'