A/N: This is probably the last installment of this AU, hope you guys enjoy this! It was my favorite part to write because I've realized I'm a sucker for Scottie's pov. Reviews and critiques are always welcome!
After that, they segwayed into talking about random things, the restaurant they were at, how quickly food places come and go in the city, tidbits about their favorite genres of movies, shows, and music, some general political talk and the types of things that cemented them as new yorkers, despite none of them actually being from New York.
"And that had to be what, the fifth time you'd stolen a cab from someone else?" Harvey asked around a chuckle as Donna shook her head, grinning broadly at his amusement around the situation.
Scottie almost rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's tone. She was getting used to his flirting tone directed to the redhead across from her. This was the tenth random anecdote shared that only the two of them fully understood, making her, and by the looks of it, Mitchell, feel like third wheels- outsiders to their little juvenile club of entertainment.
"Hey, you are not a real New Yorker till you've had to shove someone out of a moving vehicle to get across town."
Harvey tsked jokingly in reply. "What would Mother Theresa think?"
Donna rolled her eyes at him "She'd think Harvey Specter was the reason I had to get across town and should be counting his lucky stars I go the extra mile for him."
"Well he wasn't the reason that time you were late to a yoga class." Harvey cocked his head sideways at her, looking at her eagerly, waiting to see what she had to say to that, as she leaned her head slightly forward to him, her elbows resting on the table.
"I told you that in confidence!" She hissed, but her gleaming eyes, and lower lip being bit to control her smile gave away her amusement with the whole thing.
"Oops."
Donna opened her mouth, ready to retaliate with an equally embarrassing story about Harvey when a voice cut her off.
"Well, look at the time, we should probably get going."
Donna blinked in surprise, turning her head left to see Mitchell politely getting ready to go. If Donna were completely honest, she'd realize she'd forgotten all about him for the past at least an hour or so.
"Oh?"
Mitchell nodded at her as he put an arm around her shoulder, "Yeah, I have an early morning, and it's getting kind of late."
It was almost ten o'clock. Donna nodded as she shot him an apologetic smile, before turning back to face Harvey and Scottie.
Scottie leaned back in her chair, arms crossed across her chest looking unamused with the whole exchange. "Yeah, we should probably get going too Harvey." She said limply, barely managing to grace a polite smile on her face.
Harvey got up to shake hands with Mitchell as a goodbye.
"Lets do thi-" Harvey's words got cut off by Mitchell.
"Thanks for joining us on a night out, Harv." Mitchell clasped a hand around his back as he shook his hand vigorously as well, before moving on to kiss Scottie's cheek as a goodbye.
Donna simply waved goodbye to Harvey and spoke a cheery goodnight to Scottie as she followed Mitch's footsteps, letting him guide her with his hand wrapped around hers, as he picked up the pace towards the valet guy.
As soon as Donna and Mitchell were out of sight, Scottie let out a long sigh, exhaling all her pent up feelings of exhaustion, as Harvey sat back down next to her.
"Well, that went surprisingly ok."
Dana scoffed at his remark.
Shit, he thought to himself. He was in trouble.
"What?" he frowned as he turned to face her. (for the first time all night, she bitterly realized)
"Harvey," his name came out in an exhausted sigh, dropping out of her mouth like a sign of defeat. "I need to ask you something, and I need you to be really honest with yourself and me, and realize I'm only asking it now, after the night we've had."
Harvey felt his defenses rise, already knowing where this was going. "You didn't have fun tonight." He half asked, half stated.
Scottie shook her head sadly. "Harvey, do you want to be with Donna?"
Harvey felt his throat constrict, almost choking on air at her question. "Wh-what?" His pulse had quickened, letting him feel his heartbeat in his throat as she asked a question he'd never dared to ask himself out loud.
"Well?" Dana pestered again, raising one accusing eyebrow at him.
"You're out of your mind Scottie." Harvey feigned a calm exterior, but Scottie wasn't obtuse, she could see him struggling with the reality of her question.
"Harvey, did you even realize I haven't spoken in like an hour? You guys were like… fireworks coming across each other."
Harvey shook his head at her choice of phrase.
"Donna and I… we aren't even a possibility." Harvey adamantly replied but it seemed to be the wrong thing to say because Scottie just shot him a watery smile, her chin trembling slightly as she shook her head softly.
"Do you want it to be?"
Harvey felt like he needed a moment, just one goddamn minute to process what she was alluding to, to really look over the night they just had with Donna and her date, and see how he felt about the whole thing, but he knew he couldn't take even a second to think about it lest he wanted to give Scottie more ammo for this fight.
"No." Harvey stated firmly.
"Because if you do, I get it Harvey. She's a knockout. She's a smokeshow both physically and mentally, I mean I know you like your girls to be challenging and Donna? Donna is like a dreamed up version of what every guy wants; the perfect amount of supportive yet exciting, wrapped up in a five foot nine redhead."
"Ok, it sounds like you're the one who wants to date her." Harvey responded not waiting a beat, not letting his mind drift to Donna, and how right Scottie was about her.
"She's known you almost as long as I've known you. But even better than I do. You guys get each other in a way you and I don't. And maybe it's because we're too alike-"
"Scottie-" She continued to ignore him. "Maybe we shouldn't have gotten back together again. Maybe there was a reason we broke up the first time that was bigger than secrets, work competition, and your commitment issues."
"God damn it Scottie, will you listen to me?"
"Harvey, unless the next words out of your mouth are the truth I really don't want to hear it."
"Scottie-"
"Do you want to be with Donna harvey?" Scottie's voice had a tinge of hysteria to it, as it was raised in volume almost to cover up the tinge of a wobble her words had as she forced herself not to cry over a man.
"Maybe!"
Shit, that was not what he was supposed to say but the words were already out of his mouth before his brain could catch up, her adamantness and his hurry to make sure she didn't cause any more of a scene in the middle of a restaurant made him blurt the truth.
Dana sent him a watery smile as she sniffled slightly. "Thank you." She sighed the words out, feeling utterly relieved in a weird sense, that she finally had proof that this relationship was unsalvageable to begin with. No amount of time and working on herself would ever make Harvey Specter and her stick. She could finally feel like a sane person, not a paranoid crazy control freak when it came to her relationship, and she could finally, finally quit losing. Dana Scott was, and will never, be comfortable with losing and Harvey's reluctant admittance just shackled her free from the one failure in her life. His admittance gave her a free pass to finally quit Harvey Specter with dignity, and move on with her life.
Almost.
"Harvey, you have to tell her. You can't waste any more time, it's been over a decade."
Harvey looked uncomfortable in so many ways, from embarrassed and guilty to be talking so openly with his current girlfriend about his feelings for someone else, to annoyed that she had the nerve to bring her up.
"It's not that simple Scottie, in case you forgot she's literally dating someone else." He said with an eye roll and huff around a sip of scotch.
"Don't be dumb Harvey. You know none of those guys, not even the mighty Mitchell, hold a candle to what you and her have. By the looks of how tonight ended, he knows it too."
"Scottie, I've tried. Many times. She never seems to want it."
"Harvey, if I know anything about Donna, it's that she'll always protect you first, even if it means putting you above her sometimes. And I can't imagine she thought you were ever ready for a serious relationship that wouldn't fuck up what you guys had before now. But things are different now. You're a better man Harvey. You made up with your mom, you went to therapy, you got your shit relatively together. Plus, she's not your secretary anymore."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Harvey sneered, not liking the implication that Donna's status in the company was ever a reason to not date her. He could care less if she was a god damn valet parker.
"Nothing!" Scottie snapped back in reply. "I just meant I don't think her job- her professional relationship with you is a factor for her to consider anymore when she thinks of reasons not to start a relationship with you. I'm sure it's crossed her mind before to never think of you in that way for both your careers' sake." Scottie added with a nonchalant shrug. "It definitely would've crossed my mind."
Harvey stayed silent as he mulled over her words, hearing the truth in them as he looked back to Donna's 'rule' of never mentioning the other time, and never dating people she worked with. Scottie was right. If there ever was a time to bite the trigger it would be now.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.
Dana shot him a small wry smile in reply. "Because, this is how I win the break-up."
She said it so seriously, with a beat of silence following her declaration, her watery brown eyes not blinking, that Harvey had to snort in reply.
"Only you would find a way to end a relationship with a win under your belt."
"Hey, I'm finally getting rid of your ass. It's a win anyways."
Harvey sent her a knowing look, understanding her need to hide behind humor after finally closing a chapter of their lives that had been going on for over a decade.
"You know I've always admired Donna. And if you were going to end up with anyone, it should be her. God knows she'd put in enough time with your bullshit." She added wryly.
"That's funny, she thinks you hate her." Harvey responded to which Dana rolled her eyes at him, knowing that Donna and her simply clashed over the years over their intent when it came to Harvey, not really harboring any expletive feelings for the other.
"Know when to shut up Harvey."
Harvey sent her a sheepish smile and shrug, taking the hit from her with stride.
She nodded and then patted his hand with hers, before getting out of her seat. "Well, I'm gonna head out. You have some thinking to do. I hope you take my advice Harv, because I just want you to be happy."
She was about to turn around when he grabbed her wrist and tugged her back. In one swift movement, Harvey stood up to face her, "I want the same for you Scottie. Always." He let his arms wrap around her in a hug that she reciprocated, feeling for the first time ever, a sense of closure when it came to her love story with Harvey Specter. She whispered goodbye into his ear. "See you at court in the near future, probably." She added wryly with a wet chuckle before kissing his cheek goodbye and leaving him behind.
Harvey sat back down, dazed at the turnaround his night went through, wondering if Donna was thinking the same thing, if maybe Mitchell sat her down to explain her feelings for her. Except between the two of them, Harvey was the one who always needed his own feelings explained to him, usually by Donna.
He called for the check and tried to get the night out of his mind, not sure he could handle any more action that day. He wondered if in another parallel universe, an alternate reality, if they would've already been together, leaving the restaurant table together, whispering to one another salacious things they wanted to do to one another back home, and ending up in bed with the sheets tangled. He pictured Donna asking for their take-away dessert that they didn't eat at the restaurant because she couldn't wait to devour him first. He wondered if they would've ended the night eating the dessert off each other, or off regular plates as he put on Star Trek for them to watch, something he knows they both liked but never got to experience together. He wondered if he would've teased her about her crush on Patrick Stewart that she'd defend with incredibly old pictures of him young. He wondered if they'd sleep sedated by their sex, and sugar-induced coma with the tv lullying them, or if he'd make it a point to sleep only to her ministrations of adoration and attention, no tv to distract him from the serenity he'd feel from being with her.
He just wondered sometimes…