Once again a huge thanks for the reviews, the follows and the favorites. So here is chapter three, hope you'll enjoy it.

Chapter 3:

Harvey woke up early the next day, which was to be expected since he went to bed relatively early and slept like a baby after doing what he and Donna did.

Images came flashing through his mind.

Her naked body crawling over his. His fingers skimming the freckles on her sides, her back, her stomach, her legs. Her eyes looking straight into his soul as she leaned over him, her hands placed firmly on his chest. How she closed them and how her arms started to buckle as she pressed her upper body against his, a few strands of auburn hair falling in his face.

The only thing that had happened was that they had agreed that the other time would be the only time and since then he had spent each night making memories like those.

Yet after sleeping together two nights in a row, waking up together was still as awkward as ever. Today proved to be even more awkward than the morning before, because Harvey was now holding her slender body in his arms as she was still fast asleep.

Should he wake her and talk about what happened… again? Should he stay in bed and wait for her to wake up herself? Should he quietly leave and ignore what had happened just as she had done after the night before?

God, the 'just friends'-thing had proved to be different than he had thought and it hadn't made things easier between them at all. Damnit, of all times they had to start crossing that line it had to be when they had just realized it was the worst idea and Mike was in prison. He was not going to make the situation worse by having her wake up in his arms. That was most certainly not what friends did.

So Harvey very slowly pulled his arm from underneath her body and once he was free, he stayed still for a few moments to make sure she was still asleep. He took one last look at her, decided against pulling up the sheets to cover her now bare upper body and slipped out of the bed.

As soon as he walked out of her apartment building, he started having doubts about his decision to leave her. By the time he entered the office as one of the first, what had once seemed like the best and only way to handle the situation, had become his biggest regret. Yet he didn't know why.

.

.

From the moment he started work he was nervous for her arrival. And then the moment came. He was just outside his office leaving a few notes for Gretchen when he heard the elevator doors open and looked up. She stepped out of the elevator and walked in the direction of Louis' office. Harvey didn't know what to do so he went inside his office and pretended to be hard at work as she passed his office.

"Morning, Harvey" she said in no particular tone.

"Morning" he responded.

When she was out of sight, Harvey leaned back in his chair and stared ahead.

.

.

A little while later he walked over to Louis' office for their scheduled meeting about Mike's case. Donna was working diligently at her desk. Harvey didn't know what to say to her and decided that his priorities should be with his meeting with Louis so he walked by her desk without saying anything.

Louis talked to him about how Mike was doing and what he had discussed with him. He talked about what seemed to be the best defense strategy to him and how he figured the case would develop. Harvey listened to him, all the while very aware of the pair of eyes that were looking at him through the glass walls.

Eventually, Louis must have noticed it too because he changed his attention from Harvey to his secretary, who in turn immediately looked down at her computer screen, pretending to be concentrating on her work just as Harvey had that morning.

As he left Louis' office he still didn't know what to say so he walked back to his own office.

.

.

Harvey managed to get some work done without thinking about her hair or her freckles or her eyes. He felt rested, which was the main reason he had been able to focus on his work for as long as he did, but ironically also the reason he was now distracted from his work.

He couldn't stop wondering how he would spend the upcoming night. He knew it was a mistake, one that was never supposed to happen, let alone twice. He knew they had agreed on the fact that it should never happen again. He had no idea why he had done what he had, nor did he know why she had let him.

It could happen again…

He was shaken from his thoughts when he saw her walking briskly towards his office. She stood in front of his desk in no time. For no apparent reason, he jumped up from his chair.

"Here are Louis' files on Mike's case" she snapped.

Harvey took them from her hands and put them down, while he kept looking at her.

"Donna…" he started.

"What?" she said and put a hand to her side.

"I…" he stammered while looking at her with his most apologetic face. "I'm sorry for leaving you without saying… anything" he mumbled.

Donna looked away, her frustration evident. She snorted.

"You think that's what I'm angry about?!"

Harvey smiled a little to hide his confusion.

"No" she stated sternly. "That was a mistake. A big, gigantic, fat mistake. One that we should forget as soon as possible."

Harvey sat down in his chair again. Donna kept standing.

"I'm angry, because after everything, you started treating me like shit!"

"What are you talking about?" Harvey asked with raised eyebrows.

"I'm talking about you ignoring me all day. You don't look up to greet me, you don't say anything when you went to talk to Louis and I know you were waiting to get these files until I was away..!"

"That's not true, I didn't even know he had the files ready for me yet" Harvey answered.

Donna got upset.

"Harvey, all I want is for us to be friends and I've been trying to be your friend again, but now I'm wondering if you even want to be friends..!"

Harvey felt the frustration rise in his chest and jumped up at her accusation.

"Of course I want us to be friends..!" he snapped back. "But this is not what friends do!" he shouted in exasperation while pointing back towards the elevators as a symbol of what went on at home.

"You blame me for that?!" Donna shouted back.

"No!"

"Then what are you saying?!"

That maybe forcing us to be just friends is just as bad as forcing us to be more. He swallowed the thought.

"I don't know."

Donna pursed her lips, anger still clear on her face. Harvey avoided her glare. Her heavy breathing was the only sound in his office. Then, she abruptly turned on her heels and walked out.

Harvey sighed.

.

.

He remained angry for the rest of the afternoon, though he had no idea who he was angry at. Then Louis walked in and Harvey got ready for a nice argument with his favorite punching bag. He got up and walked around his desk towards Louis as if trying to physically block him from entering further.

"Louis, I don't care what it is, now is not the time" he said and he knew it was one of the easiest ways to provoke him.

It was working, but Louis took a few breaths to calm himself.

"Harvey, please listen, this is important to me."

Louis' plea calmed Harvey down a bit.

"Louis…" he said, hoping he would come back another time but knowing he wouldn't. Harvey walked back over to his desk.

"Look, this is about Donna…" Louis said nervously.

Harvey turned his head to Louis.

"What about her?" he asked, masking every emotion he felt a second ago.

Louis went to sit down at Harvey's couch so Harvey decided to lean against his desk as he waited for Louis to answer.

"I know… she and I will never have… what you had" Louis started uncomfortably, looking everywhere but at Harvey. "And I wouldn't want that."

Harvey crossed his arms, partly amused and partly nervous where this was going, and waited for Louis to continue.

"I've noticed that you seem to have found your old routine back with each other. And I know that with Mike and all this is a special situation, and as I said before I will do whatever is needed and if that means that you and Donna will be working together more often, that's fine by me…" he rambled.

Harvey couldn't help but smile a little.

"Louis, what's going on?"

Louis looked him in the eyes for the first time and hesitated.

"I think that she may want to go work for you again…" he said. Now it was Harvey's time to avoid eye contact as he turned around and walked to the other side of his desk. He had wondered the same thing over the last two days. He opened his mouth but before he could think of anything to say, Louis continued.

"And as much as I would hate it, if that's what she wants, then… I'm okay with it."

Harvey sat down at his desk.

"That's very altruistic of you Louis" Harvey said with a smile, hoping their conversation would end here. It didn't.

"Just, Harvey, promise me one thing, please…" Louis said as he got up from the couch.

"What is it, Louis" Harvey asked friendly.

"I know I've asked you this before, with Esther. And I know things got a little out of hand after you broke your promise and I don't want to put you in a situation where you would have to break your word again…"

Harvey knew where this was going and felt his heartbeat increase. Louis continued as he came to stand in front of Harvey's desk.

"But please, Harvey, if I'm going to lose my secretary to you, don't let it be because you started sleeping together."

Harvey didn't know how to respond. His mind drew a blank. He knew he looked like an idiot and that even Louis was probably able to read every secret from his face.

He looked away and started laughing.

"Louis, it's not like that between Donna and me..! How could you even think that?" he bluffed.

Louis frowned.

"Donna told me you already slept together once. I don't care how long ago it has been. I know what kind of man you are and how perfect a woman she is. It's only a matter of time before you seduce her again."

Harvey started to feel sick to his stomach. How could he get him to shut up?

"We're just friends. Ask her. Now are you done acting like we're teenage girls?"

Louis thought about it for a moment and ignored his insult.

"So you'll promise you won't sleep with her while you're working on Mike's case?"

"I promise" Harvey answered, justifying it in his head by the fact that he only now made this promise and had every intent to keep it. Louis never needed to know about the last two nights.

Louis nodded.

"Thank you, Harvey" he said and walked out, leaving Harvey with a lot to think about.

.

.

That night, Harvey went straight to his apartment after work. He cooked himself a meal, listened to a few records, and watched a little TV.

He felt more miserable as the hours went by. Every so often he glanced over at his door and waited for a knock that didn't come.

How could she fight with him while Mike was still in prison? Worse still, how could she just leave without talking it out?

He got up from his couch and walked over to pour himself a drink, while he glanced over at the door once more. Should he go over to her apartment to confront her again? There was still plenty to talk about if they ever wanted to start un-complicate things. But he wasn't going to be the one to bring it up again, just so she could show him how easily she dealt with it all. If she could ignore it and not make a big deal out of it, so would he.

There were three short knocks on his door and his heart leapt.

He put the glass and the decanter down and rushed over to the door, trying to calm himself because tonight he couldn't act on impulses.

Only when he opened the door did he realize how much he had needed to see her.

She was nervous and it was obvious, even though she tried to mask it. She pursed her lips and stared him down as if she was ready to continue their fight, but he saw she felt vulnerable and just wanted to come in. He knew he shouldn't invite her in tonight, for nothing good could come out of that, but he did so anyway.

Donna stepped inside his apartment and he followed after her. Instead of her usual figure-hugging dresses, she was now wearing a pair of jeans and a loose sweatshirt underneath her trench coat. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. God, she's pretty, Harvey thought for a second and then pushed the thought aside.

"Can I get you anything?" were the first words spoken since he opened the door.

"No, thanks" Donna answered. "I won't be staying long."

Harvey grabbed the drink he had poured himself earlier and turned around to face her.

She avoided making eye contact.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry for leaving things like that… at the office" she said.

Harvey nodded and took a sip from his drink. Donna waited for him to respond, but when he didn't, she continued.

"You were right..!" she said in exasperation.

"I usually am" Harvey responded. Donna threw him a quasi-annoyed look. He smiled shortly.

"I meant with… us… and what's happened…"

It was Harvey's turn to look down.

"Yeah…" he mumbled.

"I know it… complicates things…" she said apologetically.

Harvey hated that he had somehow made her feel responsible for everything that had happened between them the last few days.

"Look, as you said, it's just as much my fault… I am usually the one that makes things complicated, right?" he said with a small smile. Donna smiled back. Harvey sighed and looked straight at her. "Look, I really, really want us to be friends. And I don't want anything to threaten our friendship ever again…"

Donna swallowed. Ever so often he would open up to her and let her know how much he cared about her. Ironically, those were the same times he talked about them not crossing the line. He was still looking at her, waiting for her to respond. She blinked.

"I want us to be close again as well" she just above whispered.

Immediately, the image of her body pressed against his as he kissed her last night flashed through his mind.

He averted his gaze and nodded, while he took a step towards her.

"I'm sorry I ignored you today" he offered.

"Thanks" Donna said.

"So… friends?" Harvey asked with a smile.

"Friends" Donna answered with a content smile, but again Harvey thought he saw something different in her eyes.

He couldn't act on it though. Not after his promise to Louis.

They stood in front of each other in silence for a while and looked each other straight in the eyes. They knew this was truly it. They were saying goodbye to any other 'them' for good. Two nights ago, they thought that that had been the moment, but instead they had lived in a bubble where they spent their nights as lovers for two days.

It was over now. No more excuses to hide behind. They knew nothing could keep them together. They would wake up tomorrow as friends.

So Harvey smiled the same content-sad smile as Donna. And they smiled at each other with their hearts aching. And they yearned to touch each other once more in the face of eternal friendship. But they couldn't.

But neither could they make themselves move away. So they stayed frozen on the spot, secretly wishing that the other would make a move.

And in either of their minds, the other did. So Donna's smile turned from sad to mischievous and Harvey stretched his arm out to grab the lapels of her coat. Against his better judgement he slowly pulled her closer to him and she complied. As he did so, he had no idea what he was planning on doing next when she stood directly in front of him. He knew he couldn't do anything, but his body had a mind of its own. He couldn't look her in the eye so he focused on his fingers that still held her coat.

This shouldn't be happening, Harvey thought and tried his best to picture Louis' face when he confronted him about Esther. But every memory of Esther or Louis or their fight was forgotten as he could only think of Donna and how beautiful she looked, how amazing a woman she was, and how much he wanted her.

He looked up at her and she kissed him. And he kissed her back. And she wrapped her arms around him and let her fingers play with the hair on the back of his head. And he still firmly held on to the lapels of her coat with one hand as he let the other travel to her hip and her butt.

And then they had to come up for air and while the air filled his lungs, Louis' face filled his brain.

Shocked, he pulled his head back to create some space between them. He let go of her jacket and stared at her with a bewildered expression. Donna had closed her eyes the second he had pulled his head back and was now staring at the ground. Harvey grabbed her shoulders because he knew one wrong move of her would make him unable to resist her again.

They both sighed.

"I… I can't do this" he stammered between breaths.

Donna finally looked up at him. She seemed okay and not nearly as shocked as him. To be fair, she probably hadn't just pictured Louis' face after a hot make out session.

"I know" she laughed embarrassedly. "Thank God at least one of us came to their senses in time…"

She shook her head and laughed a bit while she put her face in her hands. Harvey hadn't taken his hands off of her shoulders and he wasn't sure if it was to keep her at a distance or to keep her from leaving. She still thought he had stopped them because he didn't want her like that. He wanted to shake her to get her to understand that that was not the case. And he wanted to explain why he had stopped them, but he didn't know how when she was feeling embarrassed for kissing him and once again calling it all a mistake.

Donna chuckled one last time before she started to move in his grasp.

"Alright, okay, I'm just gonna… go" she said as she pointed towards the door while avoiding eye contact.

Harvey let his hands fall to his sides.

"Okay" he said.

Donna hesitated for a second, but then turned around and walked away, out of his door again.