A/N: I guess this is it, folks. All things must come to an end. This has been an amazing ride, and I'm so thankful for everyone who took the time to read my first fic and left a comment. I appreciate and see all of you. THANK YOU.

Tell me if you want any questions answered. Maybe one day I'll write an epilogue to this, but no promises.. Also, I'd love to see what you thought of this, so maybe leave a comment?!

PS: Debbie, all the fluff I struggled to write is for you and your bubbly heart. You push against my angst and ILY for it.

13

Continue to love me

"Did I hurt you?" Harvey asked, not fully sure why Donna seemed to fight back tears.

"No, Harvey," she said, caressing his cheek with one hand and his short strands with the other. "I'm just overwhelmed. I guess..." She smiled softly at him and he returned the gesture, slipping out of her and making them both feel the loss of contact.

He moved to lay his head on her shoulder, taking in her scent and being as close to her as much as he could.

His arm rested across her bare chest while she kept looking at the ceiling, wondering how she was going to break the news of her impending trip to England. After a few heartbeats, she broke their moment. "I'm gonna run you a bath," she said, running patterns over the skin of his bicep, "you have some dark spots that are begging to be cleaned."

Lifting his weight to look properly at her, he couldn't fathom how much he missed her teasing smile."Are you saying I'm dirty?"

He lifted the brow adorned by the moles Donna always wanted to touch, but never could; at least not after that passionate night after they both quit the DA's office."Well... I'm not saying you're clean." A grin lit both faces, and she ran her thumb across his moles and kissed his mouth, just because she could.

"I didn't see you complaining ten minutes ago." Harvey bantered, getting up from the bed and looking for his boxers.

"Excuse me for not thinking about this kind of dirtiness ten minutes ago," she said with a teasing smile.

searching for something to cover up, Harvey looked at the freckled porcelain skin of her torso, only to see a ten-inch pink line across her lower back. Before she could grab a loose T-shirt, he went over to her, putting his both hands on her waist to keep her in place and analyse the mark properly.

"Is this a scar?" He asked, making her turn and try to look at what he was talking about.

"I can't see it," she told him, still trying to turn around.

"Come here," Harvey went to her side of the bed and guided her to stand in front of the full size mirror. With his hands on her waist, he turned her so she could see what he was talking about.

"I…" She gasped, her eyes falling across it for the first time.

"You've never seen it," Harvey stated as an affirmative more than a question. The fact she still didn't know everything that happened to her bothered him. They knew some of the horrors she had endured, but having actual physical marks on the body of the woman he loved made him sick to his stomach. He couldn't protect her then, but looking at her now, he promised himself to never let anything bad ever happen to her again.

"No. And I don't know where I got it." Releasing an annoyed sigh, she went for a new robe instead of a T-shirt, and then moved to the bathroom.

Sitting at the edge of her tub and checking the temperature of the running water, she looked up to see a frowning Harvey at the door watching her with concern.

"Talk to me."

"I need to find out more," she explained. The mark on her body reminding her there were still so many questions left unanswered.

"We can have other interrogations with the brothers..." his suggestion died on the tip of his tongue with a shake of her head.

"I won't get anything else from them unless I offer something in return," she reasoned, now looking at her bare feet with clasped hands. This was it. She had to tell him.

"You want to go to England, don't you?" he asked, beating her to it, after studying her stance for a few seconds.

She raised her head, startled by his accurate assumption.

"How...?" Like a deer caught up in the headlights, her eyes couldn't deny her plan even if she wanted to.

Leaning on the door frame, Harvey scratched the back of his neck and expelled a tired breath."I've thought about it too... About going there for you and finding out everything there is to know, if that's what you needed."

Never in a million years had Donna imagined Harvey would do such a thing for her. At least not after his involvement with Dr. Agard."You thought about it?" she asked, still in disbelief.

Marching to her and kneeling in front of her, he took her hands in his and looked deep into her hazel eyes.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do to bring you peace." With a small lift at the corners of her mouth, he saw that she never really wanted anything but him by her side, and that's the only thing he ever wished for.

"Would you consider going there with me?" she asked, as if there was any other answer.

"I'd go to the ends of the earth with you, if you want me to," he explained with a tilt of his head, as if they had been saying these things to each other all along.

"I don't know how long it will take and..."

"Donna, you're not asking, I'm telling you that if you let me, I want to go with you." With a broad smile, she nodded, accepting his offer.

"You know, England is not the end of the earth," she told him with a shrug and a teasing smile.

"No, but it's cold, so it is pretty much the ends of the earth," he retorted, standing up. "But we're going," he said, settling the case.

"Maybe, if we find what we're looking for, we could stay a bit longer. Take a break, just us..." she suggested. "You know that's Shakespeare's land, and I'd really like to indulge myself with lots of theater." Turning the faucet off and pouring some bath salts in the water, she faced him.

"This sounds like a perfect vacation for you," he replied in faux annoyance, albeit wanting nothing other than spending time with her, even if it was in theaters and art galleries.

"Don't give me that eye roll, mister," she reprehended. "Who said there won't be anything to indulge you there too?" Mischief and a fire behind her gaze made him gulp, as her smart fingers teased the hems of his boxers, pulling it down expertly. "You see, there are many ways to keep warm in a cold country and one of them might be of your interest," she argued, looking up at him.

"If I poured my heart out would you leave it on the floor,

Or would you pick it up and place it in your chest for me? (So I can be immortal)

And when you play my song, would you just pass it along,

Continue to love me even when I'm gone? (So I can be immortal)"

(Krizz Kaliko - Immortal)

After some time, Donna found herself almost dosing off on Harvey's chest in the bath. With her back to him, his legs were on either side of her body while the water did its magic.

"You know I'll never forgive myself for not going after you."

"What do you mean?" she asked him, still with closed eyes and drawing patterns on his thigh.

"Had I believed in myself, I could've saved you. Even before that scar was made." With a sigh, he enveloped her tighter in his arms and dropped his head on her shoulder, inhaling her scent mixed with the bath salts.

"Please, don't do that to yourself," she begged. "I wish I could leave everything behind, but first we need to face what's happened and I don't want you blaming yourself for it while we do that."

"I'll try." He said turning her around in the tub and taking her face in his hands, making a silent promise.

She looked at him and guessed that putting himself first would never not be a habit.

"Harvey, if it's too painful I can go alone."

"The only hard thing is being without you," he stated, knowing that as long as they have each other, nothing would be as bad as he feared.

Looking into his eyes, she decided to ask what was still bugging her about his decision to leave the night she disappeared. "Why did you leave? When you told me you loved me. I mean, I wanted to ask you how you loved me, but… I never got that chance."

He took a deep breath and seemed to ponder her question for a few moments. As always, she waited for him to be ready, patiently drawing patterns on his naked chest and seeing the droplets of water race down back to the water.

"I thought it would've been a mistake. I assumed if I stayed, we would break your rule and you would leave me." He expelled a tired breath and shook his head. "Look at where it led us. I mean… I was so stupid and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to tell you how I loved you then, but once it hit me I had lost you without saying what you actually meant to me…" He closed his eyes and Donna saw his jaw clench, as if he was in pain, and he probably was. She guessed they both had some healing to do.

"Hey, it's okay," she assured him, taking his face in her hands and closing the space between them. Moving to straddle him, she captured his lips in a searing kiss, the same kind a person gives another to heal an invisible wound. "I'm here now," she told him with their mouths still touching.

"I love you because you're everything to me. You're my compass and I can't be me without you. I will spend the rest of my days trying to be worthy of you. I just need you in my life. Anyway you want me to be in yours, I will. I just hope it's like this..." It sounded almost surreal as he pulled her closer and she felt just how much he wanted her, but his eyes were querying her, as if he didn't know the answer already.

"Don't you see? You've always been worthy of me. All I've ever wanted was to be with you and for you to want me back." She returned a watery smile and started to play with the short strands of his hair.

"I've always wanted you, Donna."

After showing how much both craved each other and when the water was getting cold, leaving both bodies wrinkled and relaxed, they dried off and decided to order some Thai and eat it in the bedroom. Both letting their conversation flow.

It felt completely natural, as if they were burning the midnight oil in the office too many years ago. It felt like they were exactly where they were supposed to be. Laughing about a cat Louis had gotten that absolutely hated the man; talking about a particularly interesting and difficult case Harvey faced while working in the clinic with Mike; discussing Donna's mother's complete obsession to know where she was at all times since she came back, and her father calling every other day; and more importantly, how he made amends with his own mother thinking that's what Donna would want him to do if she were there.

Their banter and witty comments were like they never even stopped. However, their flirting went up a notch and their now free hands allowed some touching here and there over their scarce clothing, so much so that soon both were in each other's embrace again, leaving the now cold food aside to heat up the room in a different way.

…

The next day, Harvey woke up with kisses running down his neck and chest. A smile graced his features when he remembered where he was and with whom.

"Don…" he groaned.

"Morning, handsome."

"A good morning indeed." He released a breath while closing his eyes and placed his fist gently around her hair to encourage her ministrations.

After a few minutes of making up for lost time, both sated bodies decided to have some much needed breakfast before heading to the firm and break the news they were leaving to the managing partner. They knew it would be necessary to work some overtime to get everything ready before going to Europe, but not even some extra work would burst their little bubble.

"I will hand over some clients to Louis and work remotely on other cases that aren't so important," he explained more to himself than the redhead rummaging through the kitchen cabinets.

"I just have some paperwork to go through and I can help you with your clients."

She tried to reach the vanilla bottle on the top shelf, gifting Harvey with the amazing view of her bare freckled legs. His hands twitched on the counter, wanting to touch her until he remembered he could do just that. "As much as I loved you as my secretary, I think I can manage," he murmured in her ear, running his open palms along both her thighs.

"Are you sure?" She asked in between whimpers, dropping her head back against his shoulder.

"I am. Besides, I think I'll work better without you teasing me." He smirked and took the bottle from her hand turning her around so he could place her on the counter and kiss where he opened his dress shirt, revealing her chest.

"That never seemed to be a problem before." She told him in a mocking and questioning tone.

"Well, before I had to control myself, but now that I don't need to I feel like it will be impossible to keep my hands to myself. With you in my line of vision with all those high heels and tight dresses of yours..."

"You're an idiot," she snorted and hopped off the counter, pushing his hands away so she could save the coffee that was starting to burn.

"What do you think about pancakes?" He asked after a few moments just ogling the love of his life.

"Can you make them?" She turned around with a raised brow.

"No, but I know just the place," he shrugged and added, "we can go to the hotel so I can grab a change of clothes and then have breakfast."

His suggestion sounded appealing to her, so she nodded and told him she would just get dressed and they could go.

...

After having some very much needed brunch at Nougatine, they headed to the firm hand in hand.

The day was very busy for the couple. Both asked for some time off and promised to settle everything before their trip. With the promise of getting the name Specter on the wall once he and Donna returned from England, Jessica put her plans to leave for Chicago on hold, not indefinitely, but the managing partner suspected the news of her leaving wouldn't affect Harvey as badly now he was committed to the woman he loved. "You finally got your head out of your ass, Specter."

Mike and Rachel were over the moon with the news and Louis ended up needing a day, but mostly, everyone already expected them to be together once the trial and paperwork were finished and all the other victims were secure so the pair could get some kind of closure.

Harvey and Donna really didn't know if they would ever end up in each other's arms. Sure, they could only hope for it, but never thought they would be that lucky. Donna didn't know what her future would be like, nor what the last few years she was missing would tell her, but she knew that as long as she had Harvey with her, she could face anything.

The end

A/N: I can't be me if I don't give credit where credit is due, so here comes some acknowledgments.

Cassie, this year was challenging on so many levels, but meeting you kept me sane. I'll never be able to thank you enough for the amazing Beta-ing and friendship you provided me throughout this journey. You believed in me when I didn't believe in myself and inspired me to leave my comfort zone, and for that you'll forever have a place in my heart.

Flor, thank you for all the crazy conversations and silly pictures. You made me laugh and encouraged me when I felt like giving up. I love talking to you about everything and anything. You have such an amazing heart and I'm very lucky to call you a friend.

Dad, I know you probably will never read this bc of language barrier and all, but you're my heart and my soul. I could never be me without our conversations about books and literature. You push me to be better and never once you doubted me. So my first, and all the other ones to come, silly trashy-tacky stories go to you.