It had been brewing for days. The pressure of working under the ever watching eye of Faye Richardson, getting to them both. They had begun sniping at each other. Over little, stupid things. Him not getting a contract back to her in time, her siding with Louis in a meeting.

These were things that at any other time, they could and would have shrugged off. Not now. Now they let it get under their skin, and each time they took aim at each other, it got progressively nastier.

That's the problem when you know the person you are with so well, it can be the very best thing, and sometimes the very worst. Because you know how to hit them, right where it hurts.

Donna lets herself into his apartment, shedding her heels and leaving them by the door. She let out an exhausted sigh. It had been a very long day. All she wanted right now was Harvey, a big glass of wine, dinner and bed, all in that order.

She pads down the hall, in to the living area, finding him sitting on the sofa with a file on his lap and a glass of scotch in his hand. He glances up at her, before returning his gaze to the file in front of him. 'You're late' He says, voice tight.

She feels a flash of irritation go through her, hearing it in her own voice when she responds. 'Hi honey, how was your day? Mine was craptastic, thanks so much for asking' She snaps at him. He closes the file, and slaps it onto the coffee table, standing to face her.

'You want to talk about a bad day? How about being in a meeting that you are already getting railed in, by the way, and having your girlfriend turn around and back the person who's screwing you over?' He snaps back. She narrows her eyes at him.

'Oh really, are you kidding me right now, Harvey?' She says incredulously. He takes a step toward her. 'No, I'm not, you were supposed to have my back in there, and instead you made me look like a Goddamn idiot!' He says, voice rising.

She takes a step toward him, hating the fact that without her heels, he towers over her. 'I'll have your Goddamn back when you deserve it! You were wrong in there today, Harvey, and you know it!' She spits at him. He scowls. 'Excuse me?!' He says, incredulous. 'You heard me. You were wrong. You let her get to you, and you reacted impulsively and made a shitty decision, and as usual I was the one who had to fix it!' She yells. His eyebrows shoot up. 'As usual?! You have got to be fucking kidding me! I don't need you to fix anything!' He yells back.

She feels the rage boil up inside of her. 'Yes you fucking do! You always pull this shit Harvey, and you are used to getting away with it, but not anymore! Not with Faye fucking Richardson breathing down our necks! Don't you get it? You fuck up, and it's not just you who is going to pay. That's on all of us!' She hisses at him. He scoffs angrily. 'That woman can go screw herself!' He says darkly. She throws her hands up. 'Oh good! Real mature. Problem solved by the great Harvey Specter, go screw yourself, Faye!' She says sarcastically.

'Oh because your way of solving the problem is working out so well, huh? Letting her walk all over you, all with a fucking smile on your face!' He yells. Donna takes a step back. 'What did you just say to me?' She hisses at him. He takes a step toward her, eliminating the distance. 'You heard me. The great Donna Paulsen, letting a fucking dictator walk all over her, I didn't think I'd ever see that.' He hisses back, a twisted smirk on his face. She sucks in a breath.

'Fuck you. I am not letting her walk all over me you arrogant bastard! I am trying to keep the peace, for the good of the firm, because it is my fucking job! A job that you and your Goddamn inflated pride and ego do not make easy!' She screams at him. He snarls at her. 'Your job. You mean the job I gave you?' He says, in a low, nasty voice. She recoils, feeling as though he just slapped her. 'You did not just say that to me. You did not just throw that back in my face again!' She says, her voice dangerously quiet, and laced with hurt.

She sees him hesitate. He's gone to far, and he knows it. She doesn't give a shit. Fuck him. Fuck him for saying that to her. She spins around, and heads for the door. She hears him start to follow. 'Donna...' He begins, but she cuts him off. 'No. I don't want to hear it. I really don't want to be anywhere near you right now, Harvey. I'm leaving.' She says, keeping her voice low and even. She slips back into her heels and opens the door, before she hears his voice again, soft and desperate. 'Donna, please.' She squeezes her eyes shut, a tear sliding down her cheek, remembering the other time he'd said those words to her, in that exact tone. Opening the door, she steps out into the hall, closing it firmly behind her. She'd walked away from him then, too.

She lets herself in to her apartment, and heads straight for the bottle of merlot she knows is in the kitchen. She tries to ignore the way everything is too quiet now that she's here alone. She's become so used to sharing space with him, her place seems almost foreign to her now, without him in it. Which is ridiculous. She's lived alone for most of her life, and they haven't even been doing this, them, for that long. This should be fine. She pours herself a large glass of wine, and tries to pretend that it is.

She takes a healthy sip, and wanders over to the window, looking out at the city lights. Her anger had faded on the cab ride over here, leaving her feeling sad and tired. They had fought before, but it was different this time. This was their first fight, as a couple, and it hurt more than she thought it would. She couldn't believe he'd thrown that jab about her job back in her face. Logically, she knows he didn't mean it. She'd seen his look of remorse almost as soon as he'd said it. But. He'd still said it. And it still hurt. He'd known it would, which is why he'd said it, which hurt even more.

She sighs. Harvey always did go for the maximum effect, he didn't like to lose any fight, be it in a courtroom or as she found out tonight, in a relationship. Problem was, tonight, neither of them won.

She takes another long sip of her wine, draining the glass, and contemplates eating something. She had been hungry before, but the fight with Harvey had diminished her appetite. She decides she may as well go to bed. She doesn't bet on getting much sleep. It's another thing she'd gotten used to far to quickly, feeling his warmth next to her every night, sleeping without him beside her isn't going to be easy.

She goes through her nightly routine on autopilot, her mind and heart a jumbled mess. She's worried about him, and she hates that she is, but there it is. She knows out of the two of them, she's more emotionally equipped to deal with situations such as these, though he has come so far in the past months, his abandonment issues are still there-waiting for moments such as these to rear their ugly head.

She has been in bed, wide awake, for an hour or so, trying to ignore the cold and empty space beside her, when she hears her front door open and close. She takes in a sharp breath, but doesn't move. It only takes a few minutes before the bed dips, and he slips in behind her, burying his face in her hair, and pulling her tightly to him. She melts back against him, helpless not to.

They are quiet for a few moments, before he speaks. 'I'm sorry' he whispers into her hair. She lets her breath out slowly. 'I know. I'm sorry too.' She says softly. 'I didn't mean it. Not any of it. You deserve everything you've worked so hard for at the firm, Donna. I never want you to ever doubt that. Especially not because of some stupid thing I said.' he says, his arms tightening around her.

She sighs. 'I know you didn't, Harvey, but you still said it. Again. And it hurt because deep down I guess... well I guess I wonder sometimes, if the reason I am in my position is because you put me there. If anyone else was managing partner at the time, would I be where I am today? I know I'm great at my job, and you knew I could be, because of all the years I worked for you, but would someone else have seen the same potential in me? I guess it bothers me sometimes, thinking about it.' She finishes softly.

She startles when he turns her over, looking at her with an intense, determined expression. 'Listen to me. You are where you are today because you fucking earned it...' she smiles shakily, remembering shouting those words at him months before. '...and it kills me that you could doubt that for even a single minute. I'm sorry for my part in making you feel that way, but make no mistake Donna, there is nobody in the world who could do your job better than you. You were made for this role, I knew it then, and I sure as hell know it now.' He finishes, his voice full of conviction.

She closes her eyes. 'Thank you. I know I shouldn't need to hear it, but I guess I did tonight. It isn't just what you said earlier, this whole Faye situation has got us all feeling skittish. She makes me feel so...' she trails off with a sigh, not able to come up with the right words to describe how that woman made her feel. He runs a hand through her hair. 'I know. I shouldn't let her get to me, you were right. Sometimes though, I can't help myself. When someone pushes me...' she cuts him off, a wry smile on her lips. 'You push back. I am familiar with the way you operate' she says, rolling her eyes. He snorts softly.

'I know you are. I'm sorry Donna, really. I didn't mean to take it out on you.' He says softly. She smiles up at him, running her fingers through the short hair on the back of his neck. 'I know. It's okay. I do have a suggestion though. We need to try, as much as we can, to not bring our work home with us. Once we walk through the front door of our home, we leave it behind. What do you think? 'she says, watching his expression.

He nods. 'I think that's a great idea, in theory' he says hesitantly. She frowns. 'In theory?' He sighs. 'You and I both know, I can be a bit single minded sometimes, especially when it comes to work. I promise to try to leave it at the door, but I can't tell you it won't ever happen, that there won't be times when I can't do it' he finishes, a slightly anxious expression in his eyes when they meet hers.

She smirks at him softly. 'That's okay. How about this though, next time one of us does something that the other doesn't agree with, we confront it at the time. We don't let it fester, and cause another fight like we had tonight. Deal?' She says, one eyebrow quirked. He chuckles softly. 'That, I can work with. Deal.' He kisses her then, before scooting down, and resting his head on her chest. She smiles, running her hands through his hair. She laughs softly. 'I have to say, I'm surprised you came over. I wasn't expecting to see you until tomorrow. Thought you'd brood all night' she says teasingly.

His body tenses above her. She frowns, running her hand down his taut back. 'Harvey?' She questions softly. 'You left. I was... I was worried that I had... I couldn't leave it. I just...' He trails off. She closes her eyes. Of course. She should have known, did know, in fact. His fear of people leaving him, in particular of her leaving him, ran deeper than she cared to remember sometimes.

'Harvey. We had a fight. Couples fight sometimes. It's normal! I'd me more worried if we didn't' she chides. He sighs, and she feels his exhale on her neck. 'I know. But...you left. I thought, well I don't know. I've never been with someone who I couldn't lose before. With you, it's different. Everything is different with you. I just knew I had to try make things right, and it couldn't wait. I can't...' he stops speaking when she lifts his head, and kisses him fiercely.

'Harvey. I'm not going to leave you. I love you. I'm in love with you. We had a fight. We are going to fight sometimes. And I might leave after we do, and you might leave after we do, and that's okay. It's okay, because we'll always come back to each other. As long as we talk about it, just like we are doing now, it will all be okay. Okay?' She says, her voice low and sure. He blinks at her. 'Yeah' he breathes. 'Okay.' She feels him relax.

'You know, that's the first time you've said that to me. Well since..since we've been together.' He says, his expression a little bit smug. She blinks, confused. 'Said what?' He leans in to whisper in her ear. 'That you love me. That you're in love with me.' The corner of her mouth quirks up. 'Huh. I guess it is.' She says lightly, feeling a little thrown off, but trying to hide it. The fact that she was in love with him was not news to her, hadn't been for a long time now, longer than she'd care to admit. She watches his face, and is surprised when the smug expression fades, and is replaced with something vulnerable. 'Say it again?' He whispers.

She rubs her thumb gently over his bottom lip, and thinks about how far they've come. This man, who only a few short months ago, couldn't even talk about his feelings for her without completely shutting down. This man, her man. She's loved him for 13 years. She'll love him for the rest of her life.

'I love you Harvey. I'm in love with you.' She whispers, and watches his eyes close, his face awash with happiness. 'You have no idea..how much I needed to hear that.' He says quietly.

She does, actually. As much as you might believe something to be true, know it's true, hearing it spoken aloud makes it real. He needed that tonight. He looks at her, his eyes soft.

'You are the most important person in my life, Donna. I don't want you to ever doubt that. I'm so in love with you, you have no idea.' He says tenderly.

She closes her eyes, letting his words wash over her. She needed it too. 'I have some idea' she says softly, her arms going around his neck, and drawing him down to her to kiss him deeply. They stay that way for a time, kissing and holding each other. Revelling in this new intimacy, before he draws back to look at her.

'You know, I knew it.' He says, smug. She frowns up at him, confused. 'You knew what?' She questions him sceptically. He smirks, and leans in to whisper in her ear. 'You're into me.' She barks out a surprised laugh, remembering their conversation from so long ago. Her line doesn't really work anymore, but she uses it anyway. 'I'm not into you. I'm Donna.' She says sassily. He kisses her again then, laughing into her mouth.

'Oh you so are. You were right about one thing back then though.' He says. She smirks up at him. 'Only one?' He chuckles, looking at her with fond exasperation. 'I did fall for you.' He says, grinning. She laughs lightly. 'That you did, but I fell for you right back, so I think that makes us even.' He frowns playfully at her 'I guess... hey I wonder whatever happened to Big Bertha? Think she'd be interested in that three...' she cuts him off, laughing, and flipping them over so she's leaning over him. 'No sharing, remember?' She says, breathing the words against his lips. 'Not on your life' He murmurs, burying his hands in her hair and kissing her deeply, they don't need any words for a long time after that.