Prompt #21 by kaethebeck: "It's a wonderful life. Harvey and Donna are together, they have a bad fight and Harvey says something equivalent to Donna's "maybe you shouldn't be my boss anymore" except "maybe you shouldn't be my gf anymore"? Later that night Jessica visits and asks him to imagine what his life would be like without her and then he gets to experience his life as though Donna never existed just like it's a wonderful life. I love the thought of Jessica as Clarence from that movie - the all knowing smirks get me."

Part 1

"Then go, Donna, I'm not stopping you!" Harvey growls at his girlfriend, not sure what to expect from their first real fight as a couple. This certainly isn't their first argument. They've had plenty of disagreements since getting together; over Jim, Faye, Louis and the firm.

Christ knows over the years they've had their share of screaming matches. But this is different. These are calm voices while Donna has one foot out the door, because they can't come to a simple compromise.

"So, that's it?" she asks. "I'll just see you again after the holidays."

He sinks down onto his leather couch, shrugging his shoulders. "That's it."

When Donna relayed her parents' invitation to Christmas, he tactfully explained that he didn't feel comfortable going, expecting her to understand. But all week she's been pushing him, trying to get him to change mind. It's not that he has anything against her family—he made peace with Jim. Yet, there's a difference between sharing a drink and invading someone's home for several days.

Especially an extroverted family like Donna's, who no doubt wears Christmas jumpers and sings with carolers on the street. That's not who he is. And she should damn well know that by now.

"You know, I thought we moved past this." She opens her palm up to him in question, confused and hurt. It isn't like she hasn't tried to accommodate his needs. She suggested they stay in a hotel—he shot her down. She truncated their time with her parents down to only dinner—he refused. She's not asking the world of him, just for a little reassurance that what she needs matters. "I don't think it's unfair to expect my partner to sacrifice one hour of his time."

"Well maybe I shouldn't be your boyfriend anymore," he snaps hastily. They're partners, they always have been. But being in a relationship is different. Either he's the asshole who lets her down by not supporting her or he's the asshole who shows up and ruins her family's Christmas because he's their version of the Grinch.

"Fine." She sweeps her purse off the counter, shaking her head. Him saying something like that to her means they're skating on extremely thin ice. She knows he knows breaking up isn't on the cards. But insensitive implications and harmful words still have consequences. "I'll see you when I get back."

What she really means is she'll call him from the road tomorrow, after they've both cooled down. But if he's going to be childish, she's not going to spell it all for him.

Her back disappears from his sight, the door closing not with a slam, but a click, and he hates how infuriatingly sensible she can be. Which, really, is one of things he loves most about their new relationship. She doesn't get jealous, fly off the handle or back him into a corner. Usually, she gives him space to be himself.

The clinginess she's been exhibiting all week, not physically, but emotionally, is something new. And the fact he can't meet her expectations drives him up, kicking his feet to his dolly of spirits.

She's leaving tomorrow morning. He's not going to change his mind about going with her. So, what does it matter if he gets shit-faced?

Several drinks in and the choice matters.

Because instead of calling Donna in a drunken haze, he reaches out to Marcus, who calls him an idiot, tells him to sober up, and yet, still stays on the phone with him for close to an hour, because he's fucking up the best thing that's ever happened to him and he doesn't know why.

Eventually, though, Marcus needs to leave, and he's ready to put his own demons to bed, stumbling towards his room, when his guilt literally manifests in the form of Jessica.

Like a ghost, her transparent form floats in front of him, and fuck that. "You're not dead. If you were, this is the last place you'd come to haunt."

"You're right." Jessica smirks, folding her arms across her chest. "Six months you've been with Donna, and the place still doesn't invite the living, let alone the dead."

"So what, you're a hallucination?"

"Not exactly." She leans against the doorway to his bedroom, proving she's corporal. "I once told you to imagine your life without Donna. Back then, it took you thirty seconds. I'm here to find out why it's taking longer this time."

"Well, no offense. I'm not in the mood for parlor tricks."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

.

Part 2

Harvey sits up with a gasp, flinching and groaning when his hangover slams into him without warning.

"I'd say that should teach you, but we both know it won't."

Jessica's voice ridicules him, and he's ready to tell her to shut up, when he suddenly remembers she's not supposed to be here. Wherever here is. Blinking, he glances around the unfamiliar office. It's small and cramped, and the only sign he belongs in it is a signed collection of baseball cards on an otherwise empty shelf. "What the hell is going on? Where are we?"

"Your office," Jessica glanced around the sparse space. "Or at least the office you would have had if you and Donna had never met."

"Bullshit." This is some kind of messed up dream. It has to be, and he launches himself up—attacked by a wave of dizzy nausea.

"Does that feel like a dream to you?"

It sure as shit doesn't. A dream wouldn't be this cruelly vivid. Breathing in shakily, he sinks back down, deciding he has to be hallucinating.

"You're not."

"Would you stop doing that?" he growls. Say he does humor Jessica, pretend this is all real. What would be the point? He told Donna they're going to be together forever, and he meant it. Just because they had a fight doesn't mean he needs to suffer through the live action version of A Christmas Carol.

Jessica smirks. "Think of this more like It's a Wonderful Life." She extends her long legs forward, dropping into the chair across from him. "In this world, Donna doesn't exist. You're going to see the man you would have become without her."

"Why don't we just hit the fast-forward button and skip to the part where I tell you I learned my lesson? Life sucks without Donna."

"You already know that." She wasn't tasked with bringing him here so they could argue facts. "The entire point of a lesson is that you learn something."

He rolls his eyes, his tone thick with sarcasm. "Then give me the handbook so we can get out of here."

An amused laugh chuckle hums in Jessica's throat. If it were that easy, she would have just let him pass out and then taped a note to his forehead, telling him to stop being an ass. "Believe it or not, I'm in the dark the same as you. All I did was bring us here. And until you figure out why, my hands are tied."

"Thanks, Mr. Miyagi."

His gaze swings up from Jessica to Louis, who struts into his office with a confident gait.

"Harvey, I never knew you felt that way about me."

"Holy shit." Harvey takes in the man's swagger with a slack jaw. If this really is a world where Donna doesn't exist, he would have expected a negative impact on Louis. But the man looks—God help him—suave. He's at least five pounds lighter, tanned, and sporting a rugged 5 o'clock shadow that has Harvey gaping at Jessica. "Are you seeing this?"

"Seeing what?" Louis asks, stepping closer to Harvey's desk and screwing up his nose. "Jesus Christ, Harvey. What did you do last night? Pay extra to bed down in a brothel."

"What did you just say to me?!" he exclaims, not giving a shit which alternate reality he's in.

"Forget it. Just get this done." He slaps down a folder. "Hardman needs it by the end of the day."

He spins on his heel, and Harvey's about to lose it when Jessica speaks up.

"Don't. Not unless you want to get fired your first five minutes here."

The door swings closed, and he glares at Jessica, who presumably Louis couldn't see. "I don't give a shit. There's no way I would ever let Louis speak to me like that. And, Hardman? What the fuck, Jessica?"

She leans back in her chair with a sigh. "Here, Hardman is managing partner and Louis is right-hand man."

"And I'm what? Their goddamn lackey?"

He's not far off. Without Donna's influence at the DA's office, he got himself into some shady shit. And even though he's answering to Hardman, he's lucky to have a job at all. "Internal affairs went after Dennis Cameron for tampering with evidence. Cameron sold you out, but he was kind enough to get you a deal. You won't ever make managing partner, but you'll always have a job here."

"No." He glances at the door that still looks freshly embossed with a senior partner title, refusing to believe he would have worked under Hardman and Louis for seven years. "There's no way."

"Who do you think made the deal with Cameron, Harvey?" She firms her jaw. Even though she's supposed to be impartial, Harvey wasn't the only one who suffered without Donna. "We all made sacrifices."

"And Hardman pushed you out because of it," he guesses, still struggling to believe he would have let that happen, either. "Why bring me back here?"

"Because you were supposed to learn something. Except all you did was dive in and make the gray your playground. The system screwed you, and you've been screwing it back ever since."

He grinds his jaw, shaking his head. "What about Mike?" Even if everything Jessica's saying is true, he's sure Mike would have had some influence over his choices.

"Donna wasn't there, and the person taking the interviews turned him away. He never became an associate."

"What happened to him?" Harvey asks, hoping Mike was at least graced with some of the good fortune Louis is drowning in.

"Six months ago, he was arrested for drug trafficking. Sentenced to three years."

"You're telling me he did nothing else with his life," Harvey growls. Forgetting for a moment about his own fate in this hell hole.

"Seven years is a long time," she admits, folding her hands over her lap. "He tried, even became an investment banker for a while. But no one was there to give him the confidence to really believe in something."

Exhausted and defeated, Harvey buries his face in his palm. The temptation to ask about everyone else seems futile. Without Donna, he can scratch his family off the list, as well as Robert, Alex and Samantha. But there is one person who might still be at the firm, regardless of all the events that have taken place. "Rachel."

He flings himself up, hit by another wave of nausea—that instantly disappears with a click of Jessica's fingers. "Why the hell didn't you do that in the first place?"

"I think the words you're looking for are thank you, Jessica."

He rolls his eyes. "Let's go."

They exit his office, and he keeps his gaze peeled for Hardman, and he's fortunate enough not to spot the man in person, but his skin crawls when he sees Hardman Litt in bold letters next to the elevators.

Slamming the call button, he takes himself two floors down, locating Rachel in an office similar to his own. Except her small, allotted space is cramped with files and boxes.

"Can I help you?" she asks tersely.

He steps into the musty room, ignoring her cool demeanor. "Where's Donna?"

"Excuse me?"

"Donna Paulsen," he flings his hand around. "If anyone knows, it has to be you. Come on, Rachel, think."

Confused and annoyed by the man's arrogance, Rachel swivels back to her screen. "I've never heard of her."

Jessica folds her arms, leaning against the doorway. "I told you, Harvey. Donna doesn't exist here."

He glances between the women. Like Louis, Rachel doesn't give any sign she can hear or see Jessica, and he sighs, scrubbing his face. "Mike Ross. The two of you are married. Tell me that name doesn't mean anything."

"Have you been drinking?" she accuses, glancing at the phone on her desk, and quickly picking up the receiver. "Hi. I need security—"

He clambers forward, scuffing several boxes as he hangs up the line. "Rachel, please. I need your help."

The desperation in his voice catches her off guard. He doesn't sound like he's threatening her. Which would actually be a first. "We've worked together for seven years. Up until right now, you haven't even bothered to learn my name."

He takes a step back, looking guilty, and that passes her off. She doesn't know what game he's playing, but she stands up angrily. "I almost got fired because of your little side business with the DA. So, if I see anyone looking for you, I'll be sure to tell them to stay the hell away!"

She drops irately back into her chair, and he doesn't know if his purpose here is to make amends or not. In his own timeline, even with Donna and Mike, he's never really acknowledged Rachel's achievements as much as he should have. So, rather than apologize for the asshole he became here, he acknowledges his own faults. "You're right. I haven't always treated you with the respect you've earned. I'm sorry, Rachel."

He glances at Jessica, expecting to be engulfed by a white light or something, but all she does is snort.

"Seriously? You thought that would get you home?"

He was hoping. But regardless, he meant what he said, and he turns back to Rachel. "Listen to me. You can do better than this firm. Apply to law school, become a lawyer. You're going to make a hell of a good one."

He smiles gently—honestly—a world she's never associated with the man who usually comes in, slaps something down with a demand and leaves. If she didn't know better, she'd think she was watching a completely different lawyer walk away. "Mr. Specter, wait." She calls him back, swiveling around to search for something in a large stack of files.

He approaches her desk curiously.

"You said Donna Paulsen? she asks, pulling out a folder. "It might be a coincidence. But here. I was assigned the discovery for this case a couple of months ago."

Flipping open the file, he skims the pages, flashing his gaze at Jessica. "Three months ago, Jim Paulsen was convicted of fraud. Around the same time as Mike. Tell me that's a coincidence."

Jessica doesn't deny the serendipity, but she motions her head at the woman staring straight through her.

Rachel peers around his other side, confused, but assuming he was talking to her. "Ah… I did say that."

"Right." He clears his throat, nodding at her computer. "I need you to look up Mike Ross. Social Security number 38274728."

She raises an eyebrow and he grimaces. "Please."

Racing her fingers over the keyboard, she enters the details he gave her, gazing up as he hovers over her shoulder.

"They were processed at the same prison." He reads from the screen, sure the connection will somehow lead him to Donna. And, in the nature of redeeming himself, maybe he can give Mike and Rachel a happy ending along the way. "How would you like to come on a road trip with me?'

His breath fans the top of her head, and she won't lie, she's tempted to say yes. What he said about her striving for more is a dream she's had for years. But the fact remains, her aspirations are just that—a dream. She's tried and failed multiple times to get the score she needs to get into law school. And neither Louis, Daniel or Harvey—up until now—would have written her an honest reference had she applied anywhere else. She's stuck, trapped in the only job that reaps some reward for the people she can help. "I can't—"

"Let me handle Louis and Hardman."

He never realized before, but he and Rachel aren't that different. Without Mike's influence, she just accepted the shitty hand life dealt her—the same way his alter ego did without Donna. "I know that's a hard promise to trust coming from me. But when you know, you'll know."

"I thought waxing lyrical was my job." Jessica throws her two scents in, smiling to herself when Rachel turns off her screen and grabs her purse.

.

Part 3

With Rachel beside him, Harvey sits across from Mike in the prison's visitors' area. The room is open and civilized, like a large cafeteria. And he'd almost feel comfortable if not for the fact he barely recognizes Mike under a head of shoulder length shaggy hair and a face full of scruff.

Mike glances between the pair. Most of his 'friends' can't afford the risk of visiting due to the nature of their income. And the clean-shaven man in Armani isn't his typical clientele. "Do I know you?"

"No, you don't."

He's far enough into this delusion/coma—whatever it is—to accept that in this reality he, Rachel, and Mike have never met because of Donna's absence. A loss that, real or not, makes him beg for this nightmare to be over.

When he glances up, Mike is still waiting expectantly.

The one thing he does know is that Mike and Rachel are still the same people before they met Donna. So, he takes a shot at guessing what happened. "You're here because of a man named Trevor Evans."

Mike folds his arms across his chest, shaking the hair from his face. "Never heard of him."

"Really?" Harvey cocks his head to the side. "That's funny, because I thought you had an eidetic memory."

Narrowing his gaze, Mike stares suspiciously at the man who called himself a lawyer over the phone. He thought the whole thing was a joke. Now he's thinking it's set-up. A way to squeeze more information out of him. "We're done here."

"Wait." Harvey debates his options. Telling the truth would make him sound crazy. So, he sends his mind back to the first time they met. Mike, thinking he had nothing to lose, told his whole story candidly, and that built a foundation between them right from the start. "When you were eleven, your parents were killed by a drunk driver. After that, you wanted to become a lawyer, but Trevor convinced you to sell answers to a test and you got expelled for cheating. You set the single-game record at your school in sixth grade, had a crush on your eighth grade teacher Mrs. Petterson, still have an unhealthy man-crush on Michael Jordan, and sometimes you like to hang out with people less intelligent than you… just to see how the other half live. Now, if any of that's wrong, tell me. I'll walk out of here right now."

Mike slowly sits back down. "How the hell do you know all that?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. So, do you want our help or not?"

Dumbstruck, Mike glances at the brunette, who merely gives a small shrug. "What's the catch?" he asks, still on the fence.

"I'm looking for someone, Donna Paulsen," Harvey admits. There wouldn't be a catch if Jim had accepted his call. He could have simply asked the man about Donna himself. But the man refused visitors, and he needs Mike to find out why. "Her father, Jim Paulsen, is serving time here. All I need is information."

Mike turns his head toward the guard in the corner, meeting the man's steely demeanor, then he looks back at Harvey. Although he has no reason to trust the man, he can't see any harm in asking a couple of questions. Worst case, the lawyer has no intention of helping him. Best case he finds a rational explanation for all the personal information the man knows about him. Like his infatuation with his teacher that he kept hidden, even from Trevor. "How did you know about Mrs. Patterson? I've never told anyone that."

"Wrong. You told me." Harvey smirks, standing up. "Next visit, I'll be representing you as your lawyer."

The lack of Mike's protests leads him out of the room with Rachel hot on his heels, and on the drive back, he has her pull up everything she can find about Mike's case.

"Pull over."

"What, why?" he asks, confused.

"Because I need a bathroom and I'm starving."

Reluctantly, he turns in the upcoming gas station, nearly jumping out of his skin when Rachel closes the passenger door and Jessica appears in his rearview mirror.

Clutching the wheel, he sighs. "You think I'm wasting my time?"

"I'm not saying you shouldn't help Mike. But I've already told you, Harvey. Donna doesn't exist here."

He huffs. "For all I know, that's just what you want me to think."

"Try again."

Drumming the warm plastic, he shakes his head. Time isn't passing normally here. He could have been here an hour or weeks, and he doesn't really understand how he's unable to tell, but with no one else able to remember Donna, it also feels like he's been trapped a lifetime. So, if he can stretch his mind to believe he's in a place of cosmic intervention, then he can bring himself to reach out for a little hope. "I have faith in Donna. Just because you say something's impossible doesn't mean it is."

"Well then, for once, I hope I turn out to be wrong."

.

Part 4

Jarred by Mike's words, Harvey feels sweat start to cling to his palms. The smaller, private room is growing uncomfortably hot, and he clears his throat. "Are you sure?"

Mike nods. He found Jim like he told Harvey he would, but the man wasn't forthcoming. And after having the pieces of a broken life verbally snapped at him, Mike understands why Jim Paulsen is a bitter and old recluse. "His first wife died, and he walked out on his second one. He hasn't been in contact with her or his daughter in over thirty years."

His first daughter, the older sister Donna hates talking about. Harvey swallows. The idea Jessica may be right, and Donna was never born, hammers in his chest. But there's a fleeting chance the timeline could still hold answers. Clara could have been pregnant when Jim walked out on her. It's a long-shot, but it's better than facing the panic sweeping through him. "I have to go."

Mike snorts. "I knew it. You were never going to help me."

In a way, Mike's technically right. "I'm not." Harvey nods at Rachel. "But she will. The two of you are going to come up with an appeal. When you're done, call me."

Rachel sticks her arm out, grabbing his sleeve. "What? Harvey, I'm not a lawyer."

"No, but he is." Harvey smirks at Mike. "Passed the bar as a bet. Hopefully, smoking all that weed didn't make you stupid."

"How do you—"

"Know? I just do."

As Harvey leaves them, he starts to get a sense of how Donna must feel being able to predict people's needs and responses, and how frustrating it must be when people—like himself—stubbornly don't listen.

All she wanted to do was spend time with him over Christmas, and all he saw was an impossible test. One he didn't have a hope in hell of passing. He should have shown her he has faith in them, like he's trying to do now.

An hour later, in his quest to find Clara, he hangs his head solemnly at another dead-end, declining another missed call from Louis. The man was insufferable when he was dragging them to couples' counseling and trying to be his best friend. But they are friends. Maybe he doesn't verbalize his appreciation enough, but he actually misses having Louis in his corner.

Anyone on his side.

His eyes widen suddenly, and he startles when Jessica appears in his condo.

"Are you sure you want to make that call?"

"Why?" he asks in a raspy voice, already knowing the answer. Without Donna, he never would have forgiven Lily or made things right with Marcus. Here his family isn't on his side, either. So, he abandons the idea of calling them.

The only person from his past who might be willing to help him has Jessica shaking her head again.

"Scottie got married, moved to London like she planned to. The two of you haven't spoken in years."

"Why?"

"The case you two worked on, the one where you reconnected… Hardman was the one who got her fired, and you took his side."

Sinking back into the couch, Harvey sighs. The three goddamn people he aligned himself with here are all fucking vipers.

"Have you considered that maybe you're going about this all the wrong way?"

"What do you mean?"

"You went to Rachel, who told you about Jim, who led you to Mike."

He scrubs his face tiredly. She's made it perfectly clear she thinks he's wasting his time trying to locate Donna. He doesn't agree. But Jessica does have a point. Searching for one woman he knows almost nothing about, not even her maiden name, is like trying to force a handout from this augmented reality. Which is exactly where he is—a place of his own design.

That's what Jessica was trying to tell him when she said her hands were tied. Why time can be solid, like when he and Rachel were driving to the prison to see Mike, or fluctuate. He doesn't remember leaving the prison, just being in his apartment, and a place he desperately wants to be pops into his head.

"See?" Jessica flashes him a proud grin. "Now you're starting to get it."

In a flash, Harvey's standing in a patch of thick green grass, the sun beaming down on him, and he feels like Neo from the Matrix. Except slightly more somber as he steps up to his father's tombstone. "I didn't go to the funeral." Without Donna's support, he wouldn't have been able to face the loss, probably drinking and doing lines with Cameron instead. And he can only imagine how disappointed Gordon must have been when he died. "I wanted to talk to him."

Jessica steps up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know." She smiles sympathetically. "But you've already closed this door, Harvey. We're here for a different reason."

The weight on his shoulder vanishes, and he turns around, finding the woman he's been searching for sitting on a bench under an old oak tree.

Christ, if he'd known it was as easy as willing himself places to find answers, he would have just done that from the start. But he guesses that's half the lesson. His mind was so closed off to the impossible that he made time and space as corporeal—fabricated the challenge of Mike's appeal to give him something tangible to fight.

Before now, he would have looked around for Jessica, ready with his profound conclusion. But like she told him, he's only just starting to get it. And he sinks down next to Clara, clasping his hands together in his lap.

Donna really doesn't exist here. He knows that now. And even though the weight sinks like a rock, Jim was the key in his delusion, not Mike. Just like Clara is. "What happened?"

"What always happens, life."

"No." He shakes his head. "Even if you never had Donna, she told me everything Jim did to win you back. He loves you."

"Like your Lily loved your father?" She glances across at the grave springing with hellebore. "You're not afraid to love anymore Harvey, you're afraid to be loved—that who you are isn't enough. Jessica, Rachel, Mike, Louis… even Jim and I. You made a world to validate yourself. But all this is just proof that you are worthy."

He nods, swiping his eyes as he sits up. Donna knows all of his baggage and loves him regardless. But a few weeks ago, when he sat down with Jim, he felt inadequate—a man who hasn't grown up with love in his life. Not in the same way Donna has, with her family supporting her. He didn't want her parents to uncover his fear—that Donna could find a better man to build her life with.

But coming here, seeing how he's evolved through her and Mike, Jessica and Rachel. If he lets himself have more than just faith, takes a running leap, he can be everything she deserves. Someone who has the courage to face their insecurities—maybe his biggest flaw to date.

He turns to Clara, but finds her gone, an opening of blizzarding snow in her place, and he stands up, leaving the warmth of the sun behind him.

"Are you sure about this?" Jessica asks, glancing over the bridge's edge to the icy rapids below.

In a flash, he's on the other side of the rail, the freezing metal burning his palms. "No."

Fortunately, he doesn't have to be sure.

Just sure enough.

Jessica nods, smiling. "Good luck, Harvey."

.

Part 5

Harvey wakes with a start, gripping his head in agony as he pushes himself up. "Jessica, goddammit," he swears, glancing around his dark, empty bedroom. Gazing down, he sees the clothes he was wearing when he and Donna fought, and he quickly checks the time. It's 6.30am, and shit—he doesn't have much time.

In-between showering and changing, he tries calling Donna, but he keeps getting her voice-mail. Probably because she's still angry, and he doesn't blame her.

He'll never be able to explain the vividness of his dream—if that's what it was. Trying would undoubtedly make him sound crazy. But he knows what he has to do now. Throwing a few things into his suitcase, he then orders an Uber and races to Donna's apparent.

She's pulling down the boot of her Prius when he spots her up the road, and he jogs, his feet crunching the snow until he's huffing in front of her.

"Harvey, what are you doing here?" She folds her arms warily over her chest. Even though he's holding a case, he made it perfectly clear he didn't want to spend Christmas with her family. And after the way they left things, she highly doubts he would have changed his mind.

He can read the hesitation in her eyes, and he takes a deep breath. As a general rule, he avoids admitting when he's wrong wherever possible. His tactic while they've been together has been to just not screw up. But putting that pressure on himself contributed to why he's spent the past week pushing her away. "Remember when you said my family hasn't been a big part of my life? You were right. My mother invited us for Christmas, and I didn't even think to tell you, because I knew how much you wanted to spend the holidays with your parents. I didn't want to ruin that for you, Donna."

"Ruin it how?" she asks, dropping arms. "By having some turkey and a glass of eggnog? It's Christmas, Harvey. My parents aren't the Royal Family."

"No, they're not. But compared to mine, they may as well be." He flips his hand with a sigh. "The last time I tried to celebrate Christmas, I didn't speak to Marcus for four years. I don't know carols, and I'm terrible at buying gifts. I didn't want your parents thinking there's something wrong with me because I couldn't get one day right, let alone a whole week with them."

His shoulders deflate, and Donna bites the inside of her cheek, feeling a little guilty for pushing him. She honestly thought he was just sulking because he didn't want to celebrate, not that he was worried her parents might judge him. And it suddenly dawns on her that this isn't just about Christmas. It's the first time he's been invited to be part of a family he can't choose. Who will be in his life now, forever. "My parents and I are close, but we're not perfect. If you knew half of what I went through with my sister growing up…" She shakes her head, realizing she's played a part in shaping the way Harvey feels. He's told her everything about Marcus, and what it was like going through his parents divorce. But, she never felt like there was room in their relationship for her to share her past. Maybe because she didn't want Harvey to see her differently either. "If that bag means you've changed your mind, I could tell you some stories on the drive up."

She fidgets sheepishly with her keys, and he steps closer, cupping and stilling her hands. "I'd really like that." He smiles, sliding his fingers up and curling them through her hair. "I'm sorry for the way I acted. I just don't want to disappoint you."

"All you have to do is be yourself, Harvey. My parents know I'm an excellent judge of character. Let them see it for themselves."

She leans forward, kissing him, and he wraps his arms tightly around her waist. He's still nervous. But the anxiety doesn't compare to how he felt last night, alone and drunk in his apartment, then alone—wherever it was that his mind conjured up. He needs Donna in his life, but he also wants to be a part of hers. So, he pulls back and opens the door for her, then moves around to the passenger side, ready to hear about Donna's not-so-perfect family.

"Harvey." She braces herself against the door, smiling curiously at him. "What changed your mind?"

He smirks. "Seeing Louis look like a calendar model." Without any other explanation, he climbs into the vehicle, shaking his head and grinning.