Were nearing the end of this one and this chapter is nice and fluffy with a side of firm group dynamics, so please enjoy chapter 8 and feel free to leave a review :)
Chapter 8 - Long Time Running
We don't go anywhere
Just on trips
We haven't seen a thing
We still don't know where it is
It's a safe mistake
It's been a long time running
The elevator dings indicating it's reached the lobby and he grins down at her as he locks his fingers between hers.
"Ready for this?" he asks, not quite sure he's ready to leave the little bubble they've found themselves in the past 24 hours. In a way, he's grateful they didn't have to decide whether or not they wanted to keep their relationship a secret from their co-workers, but in this moment, he wishes he could have her all to himself for the rest of the trip.
"I've been ready for the past 10 years" she jokes, squeezing his palm to reassure him she can handle this.
She's always been unnerved by the rumors surrounding the two of them at the firm, aware that they often called her ability to do her job into question, but between the reassuring words from Samantha yesterday, and the uncharacteristic calmness Harvey is radiating as they step off the elevator, she suddenly can't be bothered to care what anyone thinks.
She goes to drop his hand as they enter the buffet to meet their coworkers (who are finishing up the breakfast the pair missed due to their prolonged shower), a force of habit, as she spent years trying to act natural towards Harvey around her peers, but he only grips her hand tighter. He sends her a small knowing smile and mouths, 'It's okay' as they walk over to where the employees of ZSLWW are sitting.
He notices most members of the group are doing their best not to pay attention to the pair as they approach the table, with the exception of Louis who's eyes haven't been averted from where Harvey's fingers were intertwined with Donna's. Donna had filled him in that she had told Samantha previously that she was no longer with Thomas, so he assumed Samantha told the others after they got caught in the cross fires of his and Donna's screaming match the night before.
Donna follows Louis' gaze and decides to have a little bit of fun with him to ease some of the tension flooding the table. Just as Harvey pulls out her chair, a true gentlemen's action which sends a flurry of butterflies through her core, she smiles over at him and places a chaste kiss on his cheek before taking a seat. She can't help but giggle as she watches Louis' eyes nearly bulge out of his head. Harvey takes a seat next to her and realizing what she's done begins to chuckle.
Louis looks from Donna to Harvey and can't help but ask, "So are you two like, official now?"
"Louis" Shelia scolds
"What? You said not to bring up Thomas, you never said I couldn't ask if they were together" he states bluntly, the rest of the table groaning, clearly having decided what would be considered acceptable to ask once the pair joined them.
"Oh, what the hell, he already opened the can of the worms. So this is…?" Samantha raises an eyebrow and waves her finger between the pair sitting across from her
"Yes" Harvey answers, placing a hand on Donna's thigh beneath the table and sending her a sweet smile
"Well it's about damn time" Gretchen calls from the other end of the table
"Someone better tell that damn kid he won the pool" Robert sighs
"Hold on. You guys were placing bets on our relationship?" Harvey exclaims
"Not exactly…" Samantha admits
"We were betting on how long it would take you to get your head out of your ass and tell her you were in love with her" she adds, causing Donna to smirk at Harvey's sudden embarrassment
He wants to make a comment about Donna being unavailable, and almost as out of touch with her feelings as he had been, but refrains, knowing he should just take the fall for this one. He swallows his snappy remark, only to realize what Robert had slipped into the conversation.
"Wait a second! You're telling me Mike won the bet?! He doesn't even work here anymore!"
"That kid's been rooting for you two since the day I met him" Gretchen responds
"Damn puppy, always involved even when he isn't around" Donna laughs
The topic of Harvey and Donna's new relationship is dropped rather quickly when Louis starts talking about the events for the day. He had a 'team bonding' water balloon extravaganza planned as the final task before everyone was allowed to relax and enjoy the last day at the resort. Everyone begins to excuse themselves from breakfast, heading to get ready to meet by the pool, leaving Donna at the table with Louis, and Harvey headed to the elevator with Samantha.
Louis eyes Donna as she sips her coffee, pretending not to notice.
"What is it Louis?" she asks without turning to face him
"Don't take this the wrong way Donna, because I'm happy for you two, I truly am. But, what happened with Thomas? You seemed so happy?"
She smiles gently and turns toward Louis, placing a reassuring hand on his forearm, knowing her friend merely means well and isn't trying to pry.
"I was happy" she answers
"Then what?"
"Happened?" she finishes
"As happy as Thomas made me, he wasn't Harvey" she admits
"So, Thomas didn't hurt you? Because I swear to God, I'll drop him as a client first thing tomorrow" Louis rambles
"That won't be necessary Louis. We talked about it and Thomas is okay with you representing him still, granted that Harvey doesn't get involved in any cases involving his firm" she adds
"How could he possibly know you'd end up with Harvey?"
"I guess sometimes ignorance is bliss. He asked me to choose between him and Harvey. And before you say anything, he wasn't asking me to choose between our relationship and my working relationship with Harvey. He could see what took me a long time to see, something I had been pretending didn't exist for years"
"So, you choose Harvey?"
"I did" she smiles, getting up from the table so she can also begin to get ready for the day's events
"Donna?" Louis calls
"Yes Louis?"
"After all these years, what made you choose Harvey? I thought you were through putting him before yourself? What was different this time?"
"I guess I just had faith that maybe he was finally ready"
"Someone told me once that they couldn't stand the thought of the love of their life marrying someone else. That they would live with the regret of not telling them how they felt for the rest of their life. I guess I just didn't want to regret not taking the chance" she adds
"I'm glad he was finally ready" Louis smiles
"Me too Louis" she adds as the pair make their way out of the restaurant and she playfully loops her arm through his.
"And if he hurts you Donna, I'm not above kicking his ass" Louis remarks with a straight face, causing Donna to chuckle
"I'll keep that in mind" she smiles.
Harvey leans against the elevator wall as the door begins to close. Before it can shut Samantha manages to squeeze through it. So much for a peaceful elevator ride, he thinks.
She doesn't say anything to him, just stands opposite to him, grinning. He fiddles with his fingers before getting overly frustrated and sticking his hands in his pant pockets.
"You knew" he remarks, glancing over at her
"She told me yesterday morning"
"Glad you finally put on your big boy pants and told her how you felt" Samantha adds. "Happy looks good on you"
"You've seen me happy before" he challenges as the elevator beeps indicating it had reached Samantha's floor
"Not like that" she calls over her shoulder as she makes her way down the hall
He smiles to himself as the doors close once again, she had a point, he'd never felt so happy in his life. He knew he wanted their first official date to be special, and he had a perfect idea, he was just going to need to pull a few strings to get it together in time for tonight.
He was hoping he'd run into her when he headed back to his room to change into his swim trunks, he knew she also had to change, but needing to set his plan for their date in motion he couldn't wait around and headed to the lobby once he was ready.
The group had convinced Louis that team water sports were not a good idea, so instead of bonding over the roar of a motor boat and the fear of jet skiing, the ZSLWW staff found themselves gathered by the pool in front of two large buckets filled with water balloons. Harvey was the last to join the group, hurrying towards them from the lobby as Louis called at him to 'move it'
He joins the group and stands next to Donna, studying the emerald one piece she was wearing, with a matching sun hat and large black shades. He leans over and places his lips slightly above her ear, causing her to shiver at the contact. He whispers,
"You look incredible"
Which causes Donna's cheeks to turn a deep shade of pink. Louis, who is trying to explain the exercise can't help but notice Harvey's whispering and calls out, "Harvey you can flirt with your girlfriend later" without realizing the implications of his comment. As the words leave his mouth, he realizes that although yesterday the comment would have been taken by the pair as a joke, today his words bore meaning. He stutters, trying to recover, clearly flustered at calling Donna Harvey's girlfriend when he wasn't sure they'd even had that conversation.
Harvey, as much as he loves watching Louis panic, pipes up
"Sorry Louis, didn't mean to interrupt, just telling my girlfriend how beautiful she looks" he says, winking at Donna
"Oh god. Is this what were all in for now?" Samantha mockingly rolls her eyes before throwing a small supportive nod towards Donna, acknowledging that she can't believe how sweet Harvey Specter is being towards her.
"If you're done hitting on Red, I'd like to get this over with so we can get out of here" Gretchen says
"Alright so as I was saying, were going to split into two teams…" Louis drones on.
Donna and Harvey end up on opposite teams (surprise surprise) and after one round of Louis' game of transporting balloons between team members without breaking them, the staff had had enough and the game had turned into a full on water balloon fight.
Harvey ducks behind a pool lounger to escape a balloon from Katrina, only to run into Donna doing the same thing.
"Fancy meeting you here" he smiles
"I'd say" she flirts, following his eyes to the water balloon she's holding in her hand
"Now Ms Paulsen, what do you plan on doing with that"
"If I said I was thinking of wrecking your perfectly groomed hair, would you hold it against me?"
"If I could hold you against me" he remarks, Cheshire cat grin worming its way across his face
"You're an idiot" she smirks
"An idiot who wants to pick you up at 7 for our date"
"7 it is" she smiles, butterflies piling up in her stomach at his mention of their first official date. The fact he planned it all on his own was the cherry on top of an already perfect day and she can't wait to see what he's come up with.
He grins back at her, pulling her in for a kiss, still in their hiding spot crouched behind the pool chair. As her lips meet his he feels a sudden burst before water begins to run down his forehead from his hair.
"Oh, it's on now!" he calls, getting up to chase after her as she fleas towards the pool
He catches up to her easily, wrapping his arms around her waist and tossing her in the pool, once again, only this time, he jumps in after her.
"I think I won" he teases as they tread water across from one another.
"And I'm not talking about the water balloon fight" he adds as he wads towards her, her arms finding a place around his neck
"Anyone ever tell you you're a smooth talker?" she laughs, letting her fingers run through his damp hair
"Once or twice" he grins and pulls her in for another kiss, or two
The rest of the water balloon fight had subsided and the other members of the firm were drying off around the pool, watching as Harvey throws Donna in the pool and then jumps in after her, sending them both into a giggle fit.
"Well I'll be damned, I never thought I'd see the day where that one gave in to being in love" Gretchen says, referring to Harvey
"I think it's sweet" Katrina comments
"Who gets to tell the kid he won?" Samantha asks
"I'll do it, this has been in the running before several firm name changes and me and Mike were there for nearly all of it" Louis says, pulling out his phone to snap a picture of Harvey and Donna goofing around in the pool. As if on cue, Harvey pulls Donna in for a kiss and Louis captures the moment.
"The kids gonna have a field day with that one" he laughs and hits send.
Once they get out of the pool, most of their co-workers had dispersed. Louis and Shelia were laying beside the pool and he spotted Samantha at the bar in the lobby as he hands Donna her towel and reaches for his. She excuses herself to go get ready for their date. She grabs her bag and before walking away she places her hand on his forearm and her eyes meet his.
"I'm looking forward to tonight" she smiles, before placing a kiss on his cheek and heading to her room to get ready.
Harvey grins to himself and flops down on the pool chair, reaching for his phone as he lay in the sun to dry off. He's surprised to find he has 12 missed texts from Mike. He opens them, confused, to find a bunch of single word messages
ITS
ABOUT
DAMN
TIME
He finally reaches to the top and sees the picture Mike has attached of him and Donna in the pool. The rest of the messages suddenly making a lot more sense. He opens the picture and can't help but smile. It was about damn time. He scrolls through the rest of the messages
WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME
WHEN DID YOU FINALLY MAN UP AND TELL HER YOU LOVE HER
WAIT, WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT THOMAS GUY?
OH WHO CARES, SO HAPPY FOR YOU GUYS
CAN YOU NAME YOUR FIRST BORN AFTER ME?
Harvey rolls his eyes before typing back,
Miss you too. Say hi to Rachel. Maybe we'll plan a trip up to Seattle.
It was about damn time.
Donna's phone starts buzzing in her bag as she makes her way through the lobby. She rummages through her bag before finding it to see it's an incoming call from Rachel.
"Hey Rach"
"Hey yourself"
"How've you been?"
"Not as good as you!"
"What do you mean?" Donna asks, confused
"How's Thomas" Rachel tries
"Who told you?" Donna laughs
"Louis told Mike, who is as thrilled as a kid on Christmas by the way. I'm so happy for you guys!"
"Thanks Rach!"
"So… Are you gonna tell me what happened?" Rachel pries
"Depends, how much time do you have?" Donna jokes
"For this story, I've got all night" Rachel laughs
"Alright, I'll tell you while I get ready for my date"
"A date?! With Harvey Specter"
"He planned it himself"
"You're calling me back right after this date I want all the details!"
"All the details?" Donna emphasizes the all
"Oh god, okay maybe not all. But first things first, start at the beginning…."
Hope you guys enjoyed it! The final chapter is coming your way soon! Also be sure to keep an eye out for a new story I'm starting called 'The Night We Met"