A/N: Thank you so much for all the positive feedback and reviews on chapter 1! Sorry for the delay on getting out this next chapter. Hope it makes you want to scream and bang their heads together. Just like we all wanted to do for 8 seasons. A million thanks to Steph and Jo for being my go-to betas and for talking me through all my doubts and second guessing. Thanks to Heather for being there every time I need a kick in the ass. Love you girls.
Please let me know what you think. It's a great motivator to get the next chapter written.
Chapter 2:
Donna has been sitting in her parked car for a good thirty minutes.
She hardly ever drives. It's one of the benefits of living in a big city. Public transportation means less dealing with traffic and rarely worrying about having to find parking. And since she'd been overly concerned about both, she'd left her place way too early and arrived at the airport an hour before Harvey's plane was scheduled to land.
She'd wanted to surprise him. He would never expect her to show up here or to drive the extra distance to JFK when he'd booked his ticket there instead of La Guardia. In fact, he'd think she was ridiculous to drive at all. He'd already reserved a driver, and it took a few texts with Mike to get that canceled without Harvey's knowledge.
But now that's she here, she's not convinced it was the right call.
Checking her reflection in the flip-down visor mirror for the thousandth time, she wipes her palms on her skirt and exhales a heavy sigh. Why is she so nervous? It's just Harvey!
Sometimes, when she's alone, she forgets to drop the act. She doesn't have to lie to herself, because she never believes herself anyway. This endless cycle has grown tiresome over the years. He's never been just Harvey, and she damn well knows it.
But things are different now. She's moving on and she's getting married to a wonderful man who adores her and never shies away from letting her know it.
That doesn't change the fact that she hasn't seen Harvey in almost a year. Or the fact that the last time they saw each other he'd surprised her with a belated birthday trip to Paris, right after he'd broken things off with Scottie, and she'd foolishly let herself believe…
"Honk, honk, honk!"
Donna levitates a good six inches off the driver's seat when the car parked next to her starts blaring its alarm. The sound is amplified by the acoustics of the underground structure, and Donna struggles to regulate her heartbeat for several seconds.
Accepting the wake-up call as a sign, Donna finally gets out of her car and heads to baggage claim to meet her friends.
….
If Harvey had been grumpy before the flight, he was really in a sour mood now. The plane landed on time, but they'd been stuck taxiing on the runway for what felt like days, and now that they were finally deboarding, the older gentleman in front of him seemed to have misplaced his bag in the overhead compartment.
"Here, let me give you a hand," Harvey mutters as he reaches into the compartment to fish out the small piece of luggage.
"Hmph." The man grunts, taking the bag from him without any hint of gratitude.
"Kind of reminds me of you," Mike says with a tilt of his head when the man heads down the aisle toward the exit. He bites down on the inside of his lower lip to keep a smile from breaking out.
"Fuck off," Harvey mutters. But there's no real passion behind it. He's too tired for that.
Mike lets the smile loose once Harvey turns away from him. He's about ready to burst from keeping Donna's secret and knowing that the two of them are about to be reunited. Harvey isn't really the "Surprise!" type, and even though Mike feels a tad guilty, he made a promise to Donna that he has no intention of breaking.
Plus, he knows damn well that these two idiots are more than best friends. Or should be, anyway. And he has a strong suspicion that there will be a lot more secrets revealed this weekend than the fact that Donna came to pick them up.
Harvey blames his clenched jaw and tense muscles on being overtired and hungry. It's almost 10pm East Coast Time and he didn't dare touch any of the food the airline had offered. But he knows it really has nothing to do with either of those things. He'd been in a funk for a month now, and it was time to face the music. Thank God he had a least one more night to get his shit together before seeing Donna in the morning.
"The two of us, in New York," Mike muses as they step on the escalator. "Sure takes me back." When Harvey doesn't respond, Mike continues. "Don't you miss those years? When we were all young, and naive, strolling around the city like we owned the place. Shiiiiit," he chuckles, "we didn't know our ass from a hole in the ground."
Harvey can't help but smile at the accuracy of Mike's statement. Those were the days…
Mike spots her before Harvey does, and he can actually feel his stomach flutter in anticipation. The moment Harvey lays on her, Mike feels it. The energy, despite the vast size of the terminal, shifts noticeably.
Harvey can't be certain if his gasp is audible or not. All he knows is that all the air in his lungs is sucked from his chest like a vacuum-packed seal. He swallows, or attempts to, and drops his carry-on to the floor. She's in his arms before he can regain his balance, her slender arms around his neck and her familiar scent filling all his senses. The feeling is both intoxicating and suffocating. He can't get enough.
His arms slowly wrap around her as he lifts from the ground the way he started doing way back in high school and he's flooded with emotions he wasn't at all prepared for. Feeling the burning in his eyes, he holds her tighter when she tries to lean back. Willing himself to pull it together.
"You're going to break me in half you brute!" Donna giggles as she slaps his back. "Seriously, Harvey. Put me down."
Clearing his throat he sets her gently on her feet and lowers his eyes to rest on her face.
"Hey, Gorgeous." There is no pain present in his tone or his expression whatsoever. He's back to the cool and collected Harvey Specter, just like that. Years of practice at masking his emotions pay off. On the inside, however, his guts are tied in knots, and he wonders if this is what internal bleeding feels like.
"Mike!" Donna says after slowly dragging her gaze from Harvey's. "I've missed you so much."
Mike reaches for Donna and the two embrace with wide smiles and twinkling eyes.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm the only one who wasn't aware you were picking us up?" Harvey furrows his brow and gives Mike a steely glare.
"Don't be mad, Harvey. I wanted to surprise you." She links her arm through his and guides him toward the busy carousel of luggage. "Be nice to the puppy."
Harvey chuckles, despite himself, at Donna's use of her pet name for Mike, and lets his guard down just enough to feel the flash of anger slip away. She has always had this ability to break through his walls and make him… feel. And with her currently wrapped around his arm and non-stop talking, he doesn't have room to feel anything but love.
"I was sworn to secrecy, Harvey," Mike defends himself raising his hands apologetically. "No one breaks a promise to Donna Paulsen."
"I just can't believe you guys are here! Isn't this whole thing just unreal?" Donna is talking a mile a minute and while it's not really abnormal for her, Harvey senses something else under the surface. She almost seems... nervous. And that is unlike her. "We have so much to do over the next few days, starting first thing tomorrow. And my parents are coming into town and your parents are coming into town."
"Wait!" Harvey stops and turns toward her. "You invited my parents?"
"Of course I invited your parents! I'm getting married, Harvey!" Whatever Donna says next is lost on him. Something about them being family and then just, white noise. Why does the fact that his parents are coming make this all feel so much more real? Why hadn't they called him? They could say the same thing about him he supposes...
"Are you even listening to me?" Donna tugs on his arm and brings him back to the present.
"Yes. Yes, I'm listening." Harvey grimaces as he reaches for his bag as it moves by.
"Great! So you're good with it, then?"
"Sure, Donna." He smiles to hide the fact that he has no idea what he'd just agreed to.
"You're the best!" Donna squeezes his hand and pecks him on the cheek before leading the way to the car.
"You okay?"
The two men stand shoulder to shoulder watching her practically bouncing toward the exit.
"What did I just agree to?"
"Drinks with Stephen. Tonight. At the hotel."
"Fuck!"
"Yeah."
…
Donna is well aware she's acting borderline psychotic but she can't seem to slow down her heart rate. She's fairly certain she's pulling off the excited bride-to-be vibe seeing as her acting skills are top-notch and Harvey seems to be in somewhat of a fog anyway. Mike is a tougher sell, though, and she felt him psycho-analyzing her the entire time. Bad puppy!
It's not like she's not an excited bride-to-be, it's just that deep down she knows that things are more complicated than that. A part of her has always loved Harvey. A little more than he loved her. A little more than she should. She may have even held on to a fantasy of sorts, buried deep under the surface, that someday he'd see what was right in front of his face. That he actually wanted her in that way. Loved her in that way. But as her 35th birthday drew near, she feared more than anything that he would feel the need to honor his promise. To marry her out of loyalty. Like some kind of medieval sense of chivalry. And she'd loved him far too much to let that happen.
It was time to let all of that go now. She had met Stephen and he was everything she'd ever wanted a man to be. She was getting married in a few days and it was time to put all those feelings for Harvey to rest. For good.
He climbs into the front seat next to her and she reaches for his hand. She knows this whole situation is way out of his comfort zone and it means the world to her that he's here. For her.
When her hand links with his, something passes between them. He doesn't look her way, his eyes straight ahead, but she knows he feels it too. The connection. She squeezes his hand a little tighter and he grazes the back of hers with his thumb. Instead of turning toward her, he turns away and looks out the window.
When she lets go to start the engine, the sense of loss is immediate, and Donna notes that maybe, for her own good, she needs to keep her hands to herself.
…..
Harvey sits in silence as Donna and Mike chat away.
"So," Mike clears his throat, "I'm guessing Rachel will be at the wedding?"
Harvey can hear the apprehension in his voice and he's grateful for the company in This-is-Fucking-Awkward-Ville.
"Of course!" Donna smiles in the rearview mirror. "Funny how she specifically asked about you as well."
"How has she been?" Mike continues with his brows raised.
"She's great. Passed the bar last year and is working at her dad's firm now. She's pretty bad-ass, actually."
"I bet she is." Mike smiles. He was never everone to keep his crush on her a secret. It was always written all over his face.
"Oh. And she and Logan split up, by the way." Donna grins to herself out of sight of the mirror. "No plus one for the wedding."
"Hmm," is the response she gets from Mike, but Harvey knows he's grinning like an idiot in the back seat.
"When are my parents getting into town?" Harvey finally joins the conversation.
"They're driving out on Friday. I'm surprised you haven't talked to them?" It's phrased as a question. One he has no clue how to respond to.
"It's been crazy at work the last week or so. You know," Harvey shrugs, "putting in a lot of extra hours so I could fly across the country and be a Man of Honor."
"Right," she laughs, "like you won't be fielding calls and putting out fires the whole time you're here."
"Superman doesn't take days off, Donna." He cocks his brow and smirks.
The smile doesn't last long because it's only a minute later when Donna pulls into the valet at the hotel and her phone starts chirping.
"Oh, perfect Stephen just texted that he got us a table at the bar."
Harvey coughs and he can taste the bile in the back of this throat.
"Perfect," he lies.
Harvey makes his way into the bar following behind both Donna and Mike. His positioning is strategic as he always feels more in control when he gets the lay of the land. His hands are continuously balling in and out of fists at his side like he's preparing for a fight. He really wants to like this guy, for Donna's sake, but he knows the chances of that are damn near nil.
He wasn't sure what he was expecting, exactly, but when he sees the man who stands to greet Donna with a kiss, he's not impressed in the slightest. He'd expected someone… taller.
"And you must be Harvey." Stephen reaches for his hand after shaking Mike's, and Harvey notes he's never liked the sound of his own name less.
He nods and shakes Stephen's much smaller hand with a firmer than necessary grip. "Stephen." He offers a tight-lipped smile.
"Donna has told me so much about you!" Stephen smiles widely when Donna excuses herself to the restroom.
"Oh?" Harvey's chest fills out a bit.
"Like the brother she never had." His smirk is as sly as the look in his eyes.
Mike coughs out loud as Stephen wastes no time throwing down the gauntlet.
Harvey's response is quick and just as loaded. "Well, she's told me next to nothing about you, but then again, the two of you just met."
As great a poker player as Harvey is, he should have known better. Stephen baited him and fell for it - hook, line, and sinker. He should have kept his hand closer to the vest than that but this guy is already under his skin.
After a brief staredown, Stephen gestures toward the bar, "What'll you two have?"
"Macallan," Mike answers before Harvey has a chance. "For us both. Neat."
When Donna returns a moment later, Stephen's hands on her before she has a chance to sit down.
"I've missed you, Love." His hand slides to her lower back, and then a bit further down.
"I was only gone for two minutes." Donna's voice is low and a little too flirty for Harvey's taste.
"Two minutes too long."
The kiss he lays on Donna's lips is soft and languid. It doesn't last long, and it's not an inappropriate show of affection for a newly engaged couple, yet it still makes Harvey nauseous.
But it's what happens after the kiss that gets Harvey's blood boiling. Stephen looks him dead in the eye and winks. Marking his territory. Message received. Loud and clear.
Harvey nearly grinds his molars down to the gums.
The four of them manage to fill the next hour with small talk, mostly about work. Harvey has almost drawn blood multiple times from literally biting his tongue to keep from getting smart. He is determined to behave and not say anything that might embarrass or upset Donna. He's never been more grateful for his well-manicured nails. He'd been driving them into his palms all night under the table.
"So," Stephen inquires over a sip of his wine, "why the move to the west coast?"
Harvey is caught off guard by the question. He knows what Donna and Mike see as the reason, but the truth of it leaves him struggling to respond.
"The weather?" Harvey shrugs.
"Right." Stephen chuckles. "You can't beat the California sunshine." He takes another sip of his wine and Harvey can see he's up to something.
"From my experience," Stephen leans back in the booth, "a move like that usually indicates a major shift in one's life. You know, chasing a dream of some sort. Or…," his eyes shift to Donna and back to Harvey. It's quick, almost unnoticeable, but Harvey doesn't miss it, "running from one."
Harvey nearly bites a chunk from his tongue. The fucking nerve of this pompous asshole is threatening to get the best of him. Had Donna actually told him about their night together?
Thank God for Mike.
"You're right, actually." Mike leans in and folds his hands on the table. "Harvey's just being modest." Mike looks at his friend and tips his glass before emptying the contents in one gulp. "Not so much chasing a dream as fulfilling one, though. Specter, here, was ranked number one in our class at BU. Goldman Sachs paid his full tuition for graduate school at USC as long as he committed to working there after graduation." Mike sits back imitating Stephen's early move. "Imagine making six figures at 25 with no student loans? Sounds like a fucking dream to me. I mean law school must have set you back a bit, huh?"
Donna's face flushes as she glares at Mike, but Harvey smiles for the first time since walking into this place. Mike has picked up a thing or two from him over the years and he's never been more proud. Point Specter/Ross.
"Cheers to you then, Harvey." Stephen raises his glass. "Sounds like you have everything you've ever wanted."
Touche' motherfucker.
…
Donna is grateful to be alone on the drive home. The evening, all and all, wasn't too bad. Other than a hint or two of a pissing contest, the boys had all behaved. But she is exhausted from sitting on pins and needles all night. And if she had thought things through more clearly, she never would have driven her own car because it kept her from being able to drink enough to numb her senses.
Harvey had been quiet for most of the evening and she found herself constantly wondering what was on his mind. His snarky, elitist attitude poked its head out once or twice but mostly just with body language and eye rolls. She doubted Stephen even noticed.
She had been nervous about Stephen's tendency toward PDA and how Harvey and Mike would feel, but neither seemed to be phased and Stephen had been more restrained than usual. Then again, he was also driving home and didn't drink his usual four glasses of wine. That's when he gets really touchy-feely.
Donna is relieved that Harvey seems okay with everything. It certainly makes things easier on everyone that he isn't jealous or acting territorial over her. It is a good sign that he can see she is happy with Stephen and that it's time for her to have a real and lasting relationship with a man who loves her.
So… why is she fighting the urge to cry?
…
Harvey lays awake in the oversized king bed.
He has been staring at the ceiling fan as the blades whirl and whirl in endless circles and he can't help but feel it's some kind of metaphor for his personal life. Constantly in motion, but never really going anywhere.
He can't get a grip on the cluster fuck of emotions coursing through his veins. He desperately wants to be happy for Donna. To like Stephen Fucking Huntley. But he just can't. He isn't right for her. There is some thin layer of bullshit surrounding the guy that you can't quite see but can definitely smell.
Donna says she's happy and in love, but Harvey has seen her when she truly glows. When she landed her first lead role in high school. When they opened their acceptance letters to BU together in her backyard. When she opened her door to him holding two tickets to Paris and his signature grin, just last year…
Harvey lets out a heavy sigh. Maybe it's all in his head. She's marrying the man for Christ's sake.
His phone buzzes on the nightstand. Thinking it might be Donna, hoping it might be Donna, he reaches for it.
D: Thanks for being a good sport about the surprise pick up at the airport and meeting Stephen tonight. It meant a lot to me.
Taking a deep breath he responds quickly.
H: Anything for you, Donna.
D: And thank you for playing nice. Even if Stephen isn't really your cup of tea.
H: You know I just want you to be happy, right?"
He hits send before overthinking it. The scotch still swimming through his veins.
D: I do.
H: It's just not up to me what that means.
He swallows the lump in his throat as his eyes start to burn. He sees the bubbles, indicating she's responding, but then they vanish with no reply.
H: Good night, Donna.
Harvey's heavy eyes eventually fall shut. Phone in hand.
She never does respond.