Donna finally finishes her work just after nine, dropping her completed report with satisfaction onto Louis' desk. She texts Harvey that she's on her way home, and is surprised to see Ray leaning on his car when she exits the building ten minutes later. It's been easy to slip into the trap of thinking of him as their driver, when they're coming and going together so often, but she never wanted to double his workload.

"Ray, you didn't need to come back! You shouldn't be making two trips…"

"It's no problem, Donna, you're my only trip this evening. Harvey said he wanted to walk today. He asked me to come by for you later."

She knows by now that every time Harvey says 'I felt like walking' it really means 'I just wanted you to have the car', and she should definitely call him out on that feeble cover-up. But she's thankful anyway, happy to see a familiar face at the end of a long day. He opens the rear door for her and she smiles gratefully. "Thanks, Ray…just heading home."

As she turns down the hallway to number 206 a short while later, she hears the faint sound of music, and a smile slowly spreads across her face. Harvey's record player had been one of her most treasured additions to their home, and they'd spent many an evening entwined on the sofa, just enjoying the sounds of Miles and Duke and Chet. But her favorites were his father's albums, because listening to them together had always given her a feeling of closeness to him, like he was letting her in, far before he'd done that in a real way. It's one of his that she recognizes now as she enters their home, and the stress of her day starts to melt away before she's even made it through the doorway.

While she's slipping out of her heels and lowering her tired feet to the floor, he's suddenly right there in front of her, wearing the biggest grin she's ever seen. "What happened to you?" She asks, incredulously. "Harvey, what's going on?"

"We're celebrating," he says, matter-of-factly.

"Celebrating what?"

He slides an envelope out from behind his back. "It's from Columbia…"

Her breath catches in her throat. "But…" She looks from him to the letter, and back, trying to catch up. "You haven't opened it, why do you look so happy?"

"Because you got the fat envelope," he beams, handing it to her.

Heart fluttering, she slits open the package and reads the first line.

Dear Ms. Paulsen,

On behalf of the Admissions Committee, we are please to offer you admission to the Columbia Executive MBA Class of 2021. Congratulations and welcome to Columbia Business School.

Her hands start to shake.

"Well?" He says expectantly.

She throws her arms around his neck, and he wraps his own around her waist, lifting her off the ground in excitement. "I'm so proud of you…could you be any more perfect? Absolutely beautiful…breathtaking…and brilliant," he says, painting her with kisses in between each word.

She blushes, still not over the thrill of Harvey complimenting her that way. Truthfully, she might never get over it. At times she'd felt like the one woman he'd never call beautiful. Inside, she'd always hoped it was because it would mean something if he said it to her, something more. But now he wasn't afraid to show her how much he meant it, and she treasured it each time it fell from his lips.

He takes her hand and pulls her into the kitchen, where two flutes of champagne are already poured on the countertop.

"Wow, you really had a lot of faith in envelope thickness," she teases.

"I had faith in you." He says simply, his face glowing with pride. "So…" His palms come to rest on her arms and he squeezes affectionately. "You're doing this. It's happening."

"We're doing this," she corrects, and his only response is to smile at her in admiration, his touch grazing lightly downward from her shoulders to her hands. With disbelief, she thinks back to a year ago, when her self-worth had hit such a low that she'd almost slept with a married man to feel wanted. She wishes she could go back in time and reassure herself that it would get better, so much better. A transformation so great that if someone had told her then what her life would look like today, she wouldn't have believed them.

Absent-mindedly tracing a pattern on her wrist with his thumb, he suddenly looks remorseful. "Donna, I just need to say…if you ever felt that I held you back…"

"Shhh." She presses a finger to his lips. "Harvey, you're the reason any of this is even possible. You gave me a chance to find my calling…if I had never met you, I might just be another terrible, starving actress."

Her reply seems to cheer him up. "Well, I always wanted to sleep with an actress," he grins cheekily.

She rolls her eyes at him, amused. "How very generic of you."

"Actually, it was really one actress in particular. Pretty sure I was her biggest fan. She specialized in…off, off-Broadway plays." His eyes are dancing suggestively.

"You're an idiot." Her voice drips with sarcasm, but really, his not-so secret sentimental side is pulling at her heartstrings, just as easily as always. He was so damn charming sometimes, it was like he'd escaped from an old Hollywood movie.

"But you love me anyway." He pulls her hips close to his and leans into her until their faces are just touching, her nose grazing his with the gentlest contact.

"You know I do," she whispers. She feels frozen in place with the intimacy of the moment as they only have eyes for each other, their glasses of champagne long forgotten.

Their gaze is broken as the song ends, and the music switches from up-tempo swing to a slow jazz standard, full of yearning and nostalgia. He extends his hand, smiling. "What do you say?"

She offers her own and he leads her in front of the fireplace, drawing her into his chest and placing a firm but gentle arm around her waist. Resting her cheek on his, they sway and touch and breathe in unison with the music and with each other. The combination of the poignant melody and the warmth of the fire and his body against hers sends a tingling down her spine. She closes her eyes and soaks up every sensation, thinking it might be the most perfect moment of her life.

"Donna," he whispers in her ear, "are you…happy?"

She leans back from their embrace and looks into his eyes. "Harvey, I didn't even think…I was capable of feeling as much happiness as I am right now…"

He brings his lips to hers, coaxing them into a long, slow kiss that leaves her breathless and wanting. "Good," he says gently. She's not sure what's gotten into him tonight, but he's radiating tenderness and devotion, and she's never desired him more.

Sliding his arm from her waist, he takes both of her hands in his and speaks softly. "My father used to tell me…that I'd know when I found the one. And since I met you, I've known with certainty that if I ever…let myself love you, I would never be able to stop, for the rest of my life…"

And then she knows. She can't hold back the tears that spring to her eyes as she gazes up at him, the man she loves, offering her all of himself, and more than she'd ever dreamed he could.

"Donna, having you…by my side…for the past fourteen years has been the greatest blessing of my life. You've…challenged me, but accepted me…you've loved me exactly for who I am, while never letting me lose sight of the person I could be. I know I'm not perfect…" His words shudder with emotion and she brings her hand to his face, caressing his cheek, reassuring him. "But I want to keep trying for the rest of our lives to be a man that you're proud to have as your own. Because you have my whole heart, Donna…my whole life, my everything…" Blinking back tears, he lowers himself to one knee and she can't help kneeling with him, needing to be as close to him as possible. "Will you—"

She gives in to the soaring rush of emotion inside her and crashes her lips into his, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and bending him backward with the force of her kiss. Momentarily caught off guard, his arms find her hips a second later and he clasps her tightly to him, as though trying to erase the already non-existent space between them.

Finally they break apart and he leans back, looking at her in awe. "So…that's a yes, then? Even though I didn't get to finish my question?"

"Yes…" she breathes, voice trembling. "Yes, Harvey, I'll marry you…" She can barely comprehend the moment, that it's really him, it's Harvey, standing in front of her saying these words. And yet, it could only be him. A part of her had always understood that this was where they were meant to be, in the end—it was an undeniable, an inevitable conclusion to their story.

She thought she'd seen every variation of his smile, but then she's never seen this one—complete, unadulterated joy. He takes her hand and softly presses it to his lips, worshiping her skin, and produces a small turquoise box from his pocket. "May I…?"

It's the biggest diamond she's ever seen, because of course Harvey doesn't do anything by halves, but she scarcely notices anything else in her haze of feeling. He slips it on her finger and they rise into an embrace, desperately seeking each other's touch. Hands encircling his neck and gliding into his hair, she grasps onto him, almost as though she needs to make sure he's real. As he buries himself in the curve of her neck, she inhales deeply and sighs in bliss, relishing each second of togetherness.

His eyes are drawn back to her face, as if he can't go without it for too long. He slowly brings his forehead to rest against hers, and the heat of their unsteady breathing mingles between them. "You know," he muses, playing with a lock of hair by her ear, "you once said you'd marry me tomorrow, so I just might hold you to that…"

"I remember," she smiles, and she can't resist teasing him lovingly. "It took you long enough to take me up on my offer."

His eyes widen slightly, as if he can't quite believe this declaration of impatience. "Hey, give a guy some credit, it's only been four months…"

"And fourteen years."

At this, his expression softens and he concedes in a gentle voice, "Well, I can't argue with that."

The memory of her confession in Stan's office brings back her all her earlier worries and she looks up at him in concern. "Harvey, I thought…earlier today…your meeting…"

"Just needed a little last-minute encouragement." Stroking her hair reassuringly, he smiles and presses his lips to her temple.

Returning his look of contentment, she relaxes in relief. "In that case…Stan did good…"

"He did."

She shakes her head, still marveling at how so many years of fear and insecurity could be unraveled in just a few months, with only a willingness to be honest and vulnerable with each other. "How can we ever thank him for everything? We might owe him our first-born child at this point…"

"Ohhh no," he murmurs. "We're definitely keeping that one for ourselves."

"So…you'd be okay with the second-born, then?"

He raises his eyebrows in amusement. "Funny."

"Third—"

He kisses the words out of her mouth. "All mine."

His hands find her waist once more and hers loop round his neck, and they give in to the music, thinking that maybe if they just keep dancing, the moment might never end. She lays her head on his shoulder, feeling his heart beat in rhythm against hers, and reflects on the road they'd traveled together. A journey beginning with youthful flirtation and growing into an unconditional love that had defied everything life had thrown at them, that had only strengthened through loss and adversity and pain and sacrifice. And now, they had finally arrived at the path to their future, side by side.

So he holds her close, and she doesn't let go, and they dance into forever.

A/N: I know everyone probably has their own dream proposal for these two, but I hope you enjoyed mine :) If anyone is interested, the song I pictured in this scene was The Nearness of You, as performed by Chad Lefkowitz-Brown (but of course imagining Gordon playing it instead!)
Thank you, thank you for all your support and encouragement, Darvey fans are really the most lovely people xx