Hey guys! I finally got around to finishing the last chapter & I hope it was worth the wait! I ended up trying to make this one a bit more playful and fun. Your encouraging comments have meant so much to me and I appreciate every single one! Thanks for inspiring me to keep writing - and be sure to check out my new story :)
Ch 9 – All of Me
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
At five to seven, there's a knock on her door. She smiles and laughs to herself as she finishes the final curl in her hair and makes her way to the door. Harvey was never punctual, yet here he was right on time, the effort he was putting into this date was already surpassing her expectations. She'd decided on a white summer dress and a pair of strappy wedge heels, unsure of what he had planned.
Her call with Rachel had only heightened her excitement for the date and had helped to eliminate some of the nervousness she'd felt earlier in the day. Rachel had reassured her there was nothing to be nervous about because she'd never met two people more perfect for each other. Donna couldn't help but notice how ironic it was that everyone always commented on how perfect her and Harvey were for each other. Not ironic in the typical sense, she supposed. She just thinks that they were right for each other because they were both far from perfect. They complimented each other and their imperfections is what drew them to one another. She takes a breath before opening the door, this was it, there was no going back now.
The door swings open to reveal that Cheshire cat grin she loved so much, hovering above 12 roses as he leaned against the door frame wearing a navy suit, white dress shirt, but no tie; her favourite look.
"Hey" he smiles down at her, towering over her without her heels.
"Hey back" she grins
"You look beautiful" he compliments, causing her cheeks to redden as he hands her the flowers he's holding and leans down to place a kiss on her cheek.
"We're really doing this" she breaths, not being able to help thinking out loud after the sudden rush of emotion overcoming her
"I think it's about time, don't you?"
She's overcome by his sudden confidence. When did Harvey Specter become so in touch with his feelings? She'd noticed it began when he made up with his mom, and she had to admit that yes, it was about time they were both in the same place at the same time.
"It was about time" she agrees as he pulls her in for a kiss
"We should get going, were going to be late" he says as he pulls away
"Where are you taking me anyways?" she questions as she slips on her heels
"It's a surprise" he grins, happy she hadn't figure it out, she was Donna after all.
He leads her down the hall towards the lobby, the hand finding the small of her back as they reach the elevator. He knows it took him far to long to come to terms with his feelings for her, so he plans on making this night one to remember.
"Harveyyyy" she whines
"Just a few more steps" he reassures her, leading her forward.
He told her to put a blindfold on when they got in the car and after some convincing, she gave in and put it on. It felt like they'd been driving around for hours as she tried to get as much information out of him about their destination as possible. She was tempted to peak a few times, but his adamance towards keeping the destination a secret was sweet. He continued to guide her forwards and next thing she knew, she was having a hard time keeping her heels from sinking.
"Are we standing in sand?!" she calls out, and he ignores her, focusing on the destination they've almost reached. She knew they were outside by the light breeze tickling her legs and the smell of the fresh air, but Harvey hated the beach, claiming the sand was dirty, so the sudden softness at her feet surprised her.
Next thing she knows, he's guiding her into a chair, the ground no longer soft and slipping.
"Okay, you can take the blindfold off"
It's off within seconds, as she's desperate and excited to see where he's taken her. A moonlight walk on the beach maybe? Some sort of play in a park? One thing she's certain of, she loves the fact that after 13 years, this man can still surprise her.
She takes in her surroundings and for a moment, she's at a loss for words until her eyes fall on Harvey, seated across from her, grin stretching from ear to ear.
"You did all of this?" she asks, unable to hide the shock in her voice
It's beautiful. They're seated at a small candlelit table in the middle of a gazebo that's draped in white lights. If she looks past where Harvey is seated, she can see the ocean, the water eerily calm as the sun begins to set and the sky is illuminated a soft pink, swathed with tinges of orange.
"Louis may have helped a little bit" he admits
"This is beautiful Harvey, you didn't have to" she adds
"Yes. I did." He concludes as she sends him a questioning look with the tilt of her head
"I wanted to show you that I meant what I said the other night Donna. I want this, us, everything. And I wanted to show you that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that it took me so long to figure it out. Hell, I'm sorry it took me so long to find the words to tell you. But I need you to know, it's you. It's always been you."
The tears are pooling now, threatening to escape as she wipes at her eyes and stifles a nervous chuckle, reaching for his hand over the table.
"Harvey, you don't have to apologize"
"I know I don't have to. I want to" he smiles
"I'm sorry too you know. I wasn't exactly ready to admit what I felt for you and I pushed you away just the same"
"So, what do you say we try this again? Start over"
"Hmm, starting over sounds nice" she grins
"Well in that case, I'm …" he goes to say his name and shake her hand, mocking the night they met. Donna, being Donna cuts him off
"Harvey Specter, do you really think I'd be talking to you if I didn't know who you were" she smirks
He rolls his eyes at her playfulness, god he was a goner. He knew right then and there; Donna Paulsen would be the death of him.
"That really was my lucky day I guess" he says, running his thumb across her palm and tracing gentle circles
"Why's that?"
"Meeting you, it changed my life Donna. I know I've said it before, but I don't want to ever see what my life would've been like without you in it"
"Let's hope you never have to find out" she smiles, squeezing his hand
"So, as beautiful as this is, is there food, because I am starving"
"Hold your horses" he laughs, getting up and grabbing two brown take out bags that had been placed beside the table
He starts to empty the contents out onto the table when she gets a glimpse at one of the bags.
"Harvey! How could you possibly get that delivered out here?" she directs her stare towards the Del Posto stamp on the side of the bag.
"You're not the only one with connections Paulsen, I am Harvey Specter after all" he beams
"You're an idiot" she laughs
"At least now I'm your idiot" he winks, sliding back into his seat
"You're so lame. You're lucky I love you"
"Right now, I'm pretty sure I'm the luckiest man in the world"
She blushes down at her plate. It may have taken them 13 years to get here, but god was she glad they'd finally made it. Thomas was a wonderful man, but no one ever came close to making her feel as safe and loved and special as Harvey did.
They continue to eat, talking about what they were going to do about their new relationship status once they returned to work, and decided it was best to just be open about it. Donna did manage to sneak in a rule about no PDA at the office, much to Harvey's dismay, but the rest was agreed upon rather quickly. Harvey also proposed the idea of a weekend trip to see Mike and Rachel, which Donna immediately agreed to. The firm just wasn't the same without them around. As the sun slipped behind the horizon and the stars began to shine overhead, Donna couldn't help but ask what she'd been wondering for hours.
"Was there no take out place within driving distance that would have sufficed?"
"Nope" he grins
"You like the chicken that much?" she smirks at his eye roll, obviously knowing that's not why he went through all the trouble of getting food delivered from New York.
"This" he gestures around to the lights and the beach and the candles
"Is not 'us'. I mean, I loved doing it, and I'm not saying grand romantic gestures are out of the question. It's just, not what we do. We listen to my dad's old records and sit on the floor of my office drinking scotch. And we do pre-trial rituals with can openers. We spend the morning picking out a perfect Hermes bag for you and I pretend I hate it, but I don't. We spend work anniversary's at Del Posto, and order from that shitty Thai place on long nights at the office. As excited as I am for this new chapter of 'us', I don't want to forget the last one. As painful and long as it's been, it's what makes us, us. And it's what made me realize that I love you"
"I love you too" she smiles, getting up and slipping her arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss that tells him she feels everything he just said.
The next morning they meet the other's in the lobby with their bags, both exhausted from a long night and excited to be headed back to the city.
Harvey heads to the front desk to return both of their room keys as Samantha makes her way over to Donna who is typing away on her phone and barely notices the blonde standing next to her until Samantha clears her throat.
"Quite a novel your typing there" she states
"Oh ya, just filling Rachel in on some… things" she blushes, as Katrina joins the two women
"What were you guys talking about?" she smiles
"Donna was just about to tell us how her date went" Samantha smirks
"It was, really nice actually" Donna admits "Harvey planned the entire evening and it was perfect"
"I'm so happy for you guys" Katrina chimes
"So, are you going to tell us if it was worth the wait?" Samantha winks
"I just told you, the date was amazing" Donna states, pretending to be oblivious to Samantha's actual question
"You know what I mean Donna. You guys have worked together almost 15 years at this point, haven't you? Were all years of pent up sexual tension worth it?" she shots straight to the point, switching into lawyer mode
"Wow, 15 years of that. I can't believe neither of you caved before now" she adds
Right. They didn't know about her past with Harvey. She supposes she's got nothing to lose at this point.
"You don't have to answer that" Katrina reassures her
"It's alright, I don't mind. Yes, it was worth the wait, but I'd say it's only been about 12 years of build up" she smirks, cheeks reddening
"You're saying you two didn't flirt with each other when you started to work together. Bullshit" Samantha states
"I don't think that's what she means" Katrina says, catching on to where Donna was going with her statement
Samantha looks from Katrina to Donna and picks up on the unspoken words, "Oh my god, no wonder you two make eyes at each other the way you do! When?"
"When we left the DA's office" she answers
"Why didn't you?..." Katrina begins to ask before being cut off by Donna
"Because neither of us was ready. And sometimes timing is everything" she adjusts the words she'd told Rachel years prior, realizing it wasn't just Harvey who wasn't ready back then.
"And this time was?" Samantha prompts
"Better than I remembered. Which is saying a lot" she says, causing all three girls to giggle
"What's so funny ladies?" Harvey asks joining the group
"Nothing" they all call in unison, before Katrina and Samantha excuse themselves to grab their bags
"Want to tell me what that was all about?" he turns to Donna
"Just some typical girl talk, nothing you need to worry about" she grins, placing a kiss on his cheek before grabbing her bag and heading towards the waiting cab
"Word of advice Harvey" Louis calls out
"Girl talk, is always something you need to worry about"
"Thanks Louis" he smiles as they follow Donna out the door
"How did everything go last night?" Louis asks
"It was perfect. I couldn't have pulled it off without your help"
"For you two, anything" Louis grins
Harvey places his bag in the trunk and is about to slide into the cab next to Donna as Louis calls over to him from his cab,
"Hey Harvey, I'm really happy for you guys, I can't think of two people more deserving of finding love"
"Thanks Louis" he smiles before slipping into the cab.
"Want to join the mile high club?"
"Harveyyy" she warns
"Is that a yes?" he raises an eyebrow in question
"You're an idiot" she rolls her eyes, allowing him to slip his arm around her waist and pull her in for a kiss.
They're seated next to each other on the plane, thanks to Gretchen who was willing to switch seats with Harvey and sit with Louis, Shelia and Samantha and in the row behind them.
He deeps the kiss, practically sliding her into his own seat before Gretchen clears her throat from behind them.
"Easy there Casanova, we can all still see you" she calls to Harvey, causing Donna to pull back from the kiss, blushing
She wasn't usually a fan of PDA but when it came to Harvey, she couldn't help herself from feeling like a horny teenager who just couldn't keep her hands to herself. Judging by the way he still held her waist, she assumed he was feeling the same way.
"I could get you a blindfold?" he teases
"Or you could keep your hands off Red until we hit the ground" she quips back
Harvey raises his hands in the air in fake surrender which causes Donna to laugh even harder than she already was at Gretchen's comment.
"Oh, common Gretchen, it's been almost twelve years since they slept together give the man a break" Samantha tries to help
The comment almost goes unnoticed, until Louis pipes up, taking in what Samantha actually said
"12 years? They're worked together longer than that. They've only been at the firm for that long" Louis voices his thought process as both Harvey and Donna face in front of them, trying not to make eye contact with Louis
"Oh my god!" Louis exclaims "I'm going to need a day"
Harvey leans over and whispers in her ear, "This is going to be one long flight. Are you sure you don't want to take me up on my offer?"
"As fun as that sounds, why don't you come over tonight instead?" she smirks
"Donna Paulsen, we both have to work tomorrow" he teases
"When have you ever been on time on a Monday morning?"
"What if I planned on starting tomorrow?"
"Then I guess I'll just have to find something else to use that whip cream in my fridge for" she teases back
"You're going to be the death of me" he grins, pulling her back towards him for a kiss.
1 year and a bit later...
She always said she hated PDA. And yet there he was, hand placed on her lower back, guiding her across the room as they greet a few of the partners, with him she didn't mind the PDA.
She was happy, happier than she'd ever been. She grabs onto his forearm as he makes her laugh and blushes as he whispers just how beautiful she looks into her ear.
He can't believe that a year ago at an event just like this he watched her from the bar on another mans arms. A year ago, he drowned his sorrows in alcohol as he wondered how he let her get away.
He follows her onto the dance floor as the music starts up, pulling her into his arms and swaying them both to the music. It was almost surreal. To be here at a firm event, with her in his arms. Their transition from friends had been simple, and clients never seemed to question the relationship between the firms name partner and COO, it just seemed natural.
They were a definite power couple, working any room they walked into. They didn't spend every event side by side, they often had their own business to attend to, but tonight was different. Tonight, he was holding her close and thanking the stars that he finally had everything he'd ever dreamed of. His hands hold her close as hers are wrapping around his neck. They move to the music, not needing any words, simply enjoying each others company. He's whispering into her ear when a familiar voice interrupts.
"Surprised you still know how to dance, old man"
Donna's eyes widen as she spots the young couple standing behind Harvey. Harvey turns around, releasing Donna from his arms.
"Surprised you finally own some fatter ties" he calls back, pulling Mike in for a hug as Donna does the same with Rachel
"Let me see it!" Rachel squeals as Donna holds out her hand, showing off a sparkling engagement ring
"Wow Harvey you picked that out yourself?" Mike remarks
"I have good taste" he tries to defend himself
"How long are you guys here for?" Donna asks
"We were planning on staying the weekend if you guys aren't busy"
"What do you say we get out of here and grab a drink?" Harvey asks
"Sounds perfect, we have some catching up to do" Rachel grins, looping her arm through Donna's as they head towards the door.
Here's hoping for a Darvey endgame!
Much love - Sarah xx