I mainly wrote this to pass some time so the writing is fairly simple and unedited but I thought I'd share anyway. So if you read, I hope you enjoy :)
She's nervous. It's a bit silly even, she thinks, given that they spend the best part of each day working ten feet from each other, but this feels different, she guesses because it is, and it's making her tummy flutter with anticipation and a new type of excitement she's not used to.
It's an excitement tightly tied to Harvey, Donna has figured that out by now. The same giddy feeling she gets whenever they spend time together outside the confines of the office glass walls or past the hours of their usual work days. But tonight it intensified tenfold because he didn't just ask her to stay for drinks after work, he asked her on a date.
A real, proper date she thinks, and that alone makes something inside her drop, in the best and most pleasurable way possible.
Having this to look forward to for twenty four hours hasn't helped her at all in letting it sink in. When Harvey walked up to her last night just before she was about to go home and asked if she wanted to have dinner the next day she casually agreed, assuming it was one of their evenings out that they sometimes had. Until he got a little shy, a bit more than usual, a bit more than what maybe suits him, and pointed out that he wanted to take her out on a date. She couldn't help but smile then, a coy little smile that attempted to hide how much her heart swelled inside her chest, and she told him she'd love that. Afterwards she went home and poured herself a glass of wine and soaked in this light feeling of something good happening, something that feels right and timely.
The last time she felt it so intensely she was sixteen and the quarterback asked her to the prom. The memory makes her bury her face in the palms of her hands at the absurdity and she throws her head back on the couch cushions and smiles to herself, because she's not sixteen anymore and this is not just ending with them making out behind the bleachers with her favorite song playing from the far side of the gym. It's a small opening, a tiny step that could become the start of something that has been in the making for a decade and would only now come into a new shape.
And mostly, it was Harvey.
Donna is touching up her makeup, reapplying the lipstick for a third time partly to make sure it looks perfect, partly to keep herself occupied until the clock strikes 7 pm. Examining her reflection in the mirror she tries to convince herself she picked the right dress, not wanting it to seem like she tried too hard for a first date but set on making an impression nevertheless. She picked a rather romantic option, navy with a boatneck-shaped neckline and a flirty, handkerchief waterfall off to the side of the knee-length skirt. Taking a deep breath in, she decides she did alright.
There's a knock on her door and her heart leaps at the thought of Harvey being here at all. She briefly wonders how she's going to make it through the evening before moving to the corridor and letting him in.
The door opens and Harvey is greeted with the breathtaking sight of Donna, rosy cheeks and red hair effortlessly falling on her shoulders and perfectly complementing the blue color of her dress.
"Hey," she says, so sweetly that he has trouble wrapping it around his head. That she said yes to this, that she's standing in front of him looking so heavenly, that she looks like this for him, that it's Donna at all.
"Hey," he replies. His voice sounds thick and he clears his throat. "Look at you, you look beautiful." There's a new tenderness to his voice she doesn't recognise but it warms her from inside, making the heat escape coloring her cheeks.
Despite being so mesmerized he remembers to hand Donna the bouquet of flowers he got for her and she returns the most genuine and soft smile he has ever seen and thanks him. A small tingle runs through her spine when she takes the flowers from his hand and their fingers brush and it's a pleasant confirmation that this is really happening.
She invites him in and he awkwardly stands near the couch while she looks for a vase to place the flowers in. It's so not-Harvey Specter that it feels odd. The man who acts like he owns all of New York City suddenly feels small in the middle of Donna's apartment. He nervously taps his right foot on the ground and thinks this is probably what really caring about something personal feels like.
When Donna notices, it's a switch flipped. She realizes, he's anxious too. She was so caught up in her own nerves and enthusiasm and delight, all a mix turned into one big feeling fogging everything around her, that she didn't even try to read him like she always does. Dammit, she didn't even imagine he could be skittish about this too. When Harvey asked her out there was no doubt in her mind that she would say yes, from the first second, so it was just now dawning on her that him being here didn't equate to him having it all figured out, him being entirely confident in this whole new thing.
So she finds his gaze and holds it in place. Then she smiles reassuringly, and he smiles back.
And something locks.
They wordlessly communicate like they always do and the energy between them softens. They're together in this and it's all unknown, it's exciting and it can get scary, but they'll learn how to do it, they'll learn because they are both willing to.
From that point onwards it gradually becomes easier, more natural. When they step outside the building they feel the cold radiating outwards sweetly and Donna wraps both her arms around his right one, letting her body press to his side in an unfamiliar way of contact that he still welcomes.
Overhead the sky is velvet-blue and she lifts her gaze to observe her surroundings and then glances at his face and he catches that and turns his head to her side, just a little, and they find themselves way, way too close.
Harvey hasn't called Ray this time, instead he has picked out a car himself and he rounds it to open the door for Donna who carefully gets herself seated and watches him while he makes his way back to the driver's seat.
They're both a little more quiet than usual but they still make small talk to insert their inside jokes in and she thinks she really likes this.
During the ride he keeps looking over her and her expression lights up a fraction each time he does. "You're gonna run a red," she jokes and he huffs, the corners of his mouth curling up into a half-smile.
And she can't really stop staring either because he looks so fucking good. He always does, but right now, with one hand on the steering wheel and his eyes focused on the road in between soft looks in her direction, he does even more. Yeah, she's pretty gone, she thinks, and she senses that he might be too and suddenly it seems unreasonable that it took them so long to get in this exact position.
They arrive and walk side by side to the entrance of the restaurant, Harvey's hand ghosting a spot low on her back. Donna looks around them while he gives his name for the reservation. The place is not big but it looks well tailored for someone with expensive taste, warm tones coloring everything around them and the small yellow lights scattered around the room creating a pretty atmosphere and a sense of intimacy.
With each turn of this evening something inside her chest relaxes a little more, like screws going loose, allowing more air into her lungs. She eases by his side, his presence providing what feels like security in the back of her heart.
They sit at their table and talk mostly about work and it's just Donna and Harvey, like they always are. They're not trying to fit in some role or a new identity of two people who might date. They just are. And that's what works for them best.
"Enough about work, we're on a date," Harvey brings Donna back to their current situation and she chuckles, momentarily dropping her gaze, shyly avoiding him.
"What should we talk about?" She asks in a steady but amused voice, looking back up at him.
"I don't know, things people talk about on a first date?" He grimaces. She has to laugh then, and he laughs because she does
"Harvey Specter does not know first-date questions.".
"Who says I don't?" He sounds almost offended but he has a smug smirk in place and she's not sure she wants to test him.
Donna tilts her head to the side. "Harvey," she says softly, "we already know most things about each other," and the realization spreads a fuzzy feeling in her chest. They're sitting across from each other, in a different capacity now than what they're used to, but their history is still there, it's all still present. They are two people who know each other probably better than anyone knows either of them, and they've shared it all. The wins and loses and moves, and they've stuck together and all of that has led them here.
"I hope not everything," he replies earnestly, looking in her eyes.
"No," she says, "not yet." She wears a sincere expression which touches him. And it implies more than what she says. He thinks it's an invitation for a future.
This reminds them of one thing that leads to another and the conversation soon turns effortless and more personal as the time passes and they go through the bottle of wine. They share stories from before they met, things that they indeed did not know about each other, as well as things that have been repeated countless times over drinks and friendly dinners that now struck as new. And they love all of it and savor each and every word because this occasion, this first date, is special and they want to experience it to its full extent.
She feels at liberty to study his face in detail now that they're here, no restrictions and time limits for their eye contact in fear of accidentally wavering outside the frames of professionalism.
The same way that they keep touching. It's not much, just their legs lightly brushing under the table or their hands touching accidentally -but not entirely so- and it's the fact that neither of them pulls away. They let this small trace of contact or feeling of skin on skin seep through, make an imprint.
The entire time Donna feels a foreign pressure on her cheekbones, a never fading smile while Harvey talks and listens.
While Harvey is this close.
It's a blissful state to find yourself in, she thinks as she laughs at his jokes and sips her wine.
Loosened up by the alcohol and the good company time flies by quickly and soon they have to go, both of them a bit saddened by the clock's quick ticking, neither of them particularly eager for the night to end.
Harvey wants to nurture this feeling, of spending an entire evening with Donna while carrying the knowledge that maybe she would like to be with him. And this more is what makes his heart skip a beat every time he looks at her. They've spent hours together before, but they had never admitted to wanting more, and that's what somehow changes everything in the most delicious way possible.
They leave the restaurant and the ride back to Donna's apartment is calm, a bit of a comforting silence as their chatter dies down for the day. They'd like more time but there's a feeling weighing them both down, grounding them in the present moment, that signals that this isn't the last time they will be doing this.
Stopping at the front door to her apartment building Donna turns around to face Harvey and looks up at him, the slight height difference making the scene quite endearing.
"That was nice," she says in a small voice. His face looks a little flushed and he's looking back at her with a gentle expression.
"It was," he replies. "Goodnight, Donna," he tells her before she can feel the pressure to invite him to her apartment. He doesn't care because he wants to do this right. So even if it's not tonight, he doesn't care. He already got everything he wanted from this date.
Donna says "Goodnight, Harvey," and he leans in a little, closing the small gap between them to kiss her on the cheek but she turns her head, only slightly, and his lips brush against hers. They stay still for a moment and she feels his breath warm on her skin. With a small movement Donna tilts her head a bit and captures his lips in hers, a slow and sweet kiss that leaves them breathless not from intensity, but from the feeling it transmits. He gently tugs on her bottom lip and sucks lightly and she sighs into his mouth. It's so soft it's almost overwhelming and she thinks it just might be the perfect kiss.
"Harvey," she whispers against his lips when they part, "let's go upstairs."