A/N: So finally teen Avery is back again. I hope you like it :)


Like every afternoon these past few weeks, every time Avery gets home from school, the first thing she does is check the mailbox, looking for good news. She wasn't even thinking about the possibility of not getting into Harvard. She had applied to other colleges, just to make the rest believe that she would be fine if she didn't get into Harvard, but she knew she wasn't. She wouldn't be all right if she didn't make it. But she's Harvey Specter's daughter, one of the most successful lawyers that the university has ever trained. There was no way not to get in. It was just impossible. Furthermore, her parents had the money to pay not only for her education but for her stay there and all other expenses. She literally had it all to herself, the world of Harvard waiting for her. She couldn't wait to see the proud face on her father's face when she told him that she would train as a lawyer in the same place as him. It was one of the things that she most wanted to be able to give her father. She knew how proud she would make him feel.

That was the speech Avery had repeated in her mind, over and over. And again.

The same speech that collapses when the envelope that she finds at home is not what she expected. The speech collapses, and so does she.

As soon as her shaking hands and tear-filled eyes allow, she hides the envelope among her school stuff and changes her clothes to go for a run. In that, she is also the same as her father. Jogging helps her clear her mind and think. There had to be another way to get in there, and she had to find it. One of the first lessons her father had taught her was that in any situation in life where you feel backed against the wall, you must break the wall. And that's what she had to do. Just find a way to bring it down.

This couldn't be the end of Avery Specter Paulsen at Harvard.

Only even though she runs mile after mile, her mind can't find any way to break down that wall.

And it's that perhaps she doesn't have it. And maybe the one that has to break is her.

The way back home becomes very complicated. Controlling her breathing while she tries to avoid a knot of anguish in her chest and a few tears isn't a very pleasant experience.

She arrives home with the feeling that she is about to spit out her own lungs and is slightly glad when she realizes that no one is home yet. She grabs some clothes and locks herself in the bathroom. The water falling on her head helps her stop trying to hold back the tears, and she lets as much water fall out of her eyes as that shower can.

She has no idea how she's going to tell her father.

She has no idea what she's going to do to put up with his disappointed face. It's just that she doesn't really want to tell him. Because as soon as she tells him, it will be real.

Avery is in her room, pretending to study, when the sound of her mother entering the house startles her.

Donna doesn't even need to finish walking into her daughter's room to know something is up. Her shoulders slumping forward, her rounded back, her swollen face, and her obvious bad temper are more than clear signs.

"Hey, Avery…" Donna says, leaning the side of her body against the doorjamb of her daughter's room.

"Hi, Mom," Avery answers, not looking at her. "Dad?"

"He's gone boxing. Do you need him for something?"

"No, I was only asking."

Donna frowns. "Ok." She mutters and crosses her arms. "How did it go today?"

"Fine," Avery mutters, shrugging.

Donna turns the corners of her mouth down. "I'm sorry, but I know it's not like that." She says, calmly. "Do you wanna talk about it or–?"

"I wanna be alone, mom."

"Ok, I'll leave you alone then. If you need me, I'll be around." Donna says and walks away from her daughter's room.

Ever since Avery had started to stop being a girl and start becoming a woman, Donna had learned that pushing her to talk about her feelings was completely counterproductive. So she just offered to help her and remind her that she would be there for her if she needed it. And most of the time, that works.

40 minutes later, Donna is making herbal tea in the kitchen when she hears the tired footsteps of her daughter approaching her.

"Want one?" her mother offers, pouring water into her cup.

"Yes, please." Avery snores and sits on one of the stools in the kitchen.

Donna finds another cup for her daughter and when she has both herbal teas ready, she places one in front of her hands and sits next to her, her mug in her hands. They both take sips in silence, and it's not too hard for Donna to guess that something big is going on. Her daughter's energy feels really heavy and dark.

Avery sets her mug down on the counter, rests her arms there, and drops her forehead into her hands, letting out a frustrated sigh.

Donna also puts her cup down and reaches her hand up to her head. Her daughter is wearing a bun in her hair, so she strokes the short hair at her nape affectionately. That's something that reassures her since she was her baby.

"Mom..." Avery wants to speak and her voice cracks with tears that she can't stop.

"Hey…" Donna mutters and leans a little closer to her. "What's wrong?"

"I've ruined everything."

She frowns for a split second until she fully reads the situation. Still, she doesn't say it. She waits until her daughter can say it. "What have you ruined?" Avery shakes her head, her forehead pressed against her hands.

"I'll let you both down. Especially Dad."

"You know there's no way you're going to let us down, don't you?" Donna continues to talk calmly, trying to give Avery a safe place.

Avery looks up at her mother again, and her eyes are brimming with tears. "Not even that I didn't get into Harvard?" She confesses, sounding too weak.

"No, Avery. Not even that you didn't get into Harvard." Her mother tells her in a reassuring voice. "Ok, come here." Donna opens her arms and her daughter nods, standing up and making herself as small as she can against the body of her mother, who wraps her arms around her, rubbing her back. "It's okay if you need to cry. It's okay if you feel sad, angry, or frustrated." Avery nods and grips Donna tighter. "But there's no way you have to worry about disappointing us."

"Dad wants me to go to Harvard." Avery sobs.

"Yes, that's true. You wanted it too. And so did I." Donna pulls away from her a bit and wipes her tears away. "But I don't see how that could disappoint him."

"You know Dad better than anyone."

"That's why I tell you that. No matter how old you get, you're always going to be your father's weakness. And I promise you, this won't let him down. I mean, he'll probably be disappointed in Harvard for missing out on the best lawyer in the country." Avery laughs. "But I promise you, he won't be disappointed in you."

"And if I'm disappointed in myself?" Avery sobs, going back to hide in her mother.

"I'm so sorry about that, honey," Donna mutters and swallows her own anguish. She would hit whoever is in the place that Sheila was formerly occupying for doing that to her daughter. "But Harvard is not the only option. The world doesn't end there. You'll be a better lawyer than your father, no matter where you study."

"Better than Dad?" she asks wryly, and Donna chuckles softly.

"Excuse me. Not only do you have the Specter talent. I have also put mine here." Donna says with a smile, and it makes her giggle. "There's no way you're not better than him." Donna pulls away from her a bit again. "And that's going to make him fucking proud. You know, the kind that print up the New York Times articles and show it to the whole world?"

Avery laughs. "Like Luke Danes with Rory Gilmore?"

"Exactly! Super proud!" Donna says imitating Lorelai Gilmore and making her laugh again. The number of times she had seen that series with her daughter was countless, and they made references whenever they could.

"Can you be with me when I tell Dad?" Avery asks and her voice sounds like when she was 7 years old and she came to ask for a hug because she was scared.

"Of course." Donna offers her a reassuring smile and hugs her again. "It'll be all right. You still have a lot of options."

The younger redhead nods, though not too convinced, and she allows herself to remain silent for a few seconds in her mother's arms.

"Mom…"

"Hmm?"

"I know I don't tell you this often, but you're the best. Even better than Lorelai Gilmore."

Donna can't avoid a huge smile and hugs her tighter. "Oh Gosh, you're the best. In the world." She murmurs and kisses her head.

A while later, they're putting things on the table so they can have dinner, and Avery had told her mom that she wanted to tell him right before dinner. She knows that her father always arrives at dinnertime when he goes to the gym. And she doesn't want to delay it.

So Donna and Avery sit down, food still in the oven, and invite Harvey to sit down.

"Ok, you two looking at me like that scares me a little," Harvey says, laughing, seeing that his wife and his daughter have their elbows on the table and their chins in their hands, looking at him. Donna quickly flicks her eyes at him to please don't make any jokes, while she kicks him under the table in case she isn't too clear. "What's going on?" Harvey asks, turning his head to his daughter.

"You promise me you won't be disappointed?" Avery asks, her lower lip quivering, and Harvey immediately reaches out to wrap his hand around his daughter's arm.

"I could never be disappointed in you, Avery."

"But, dad–" she sobs and looks down at her empty plate.

"What's going on?" he asks, trying to stay calm. It's not as easy for him as it is for Donna.

"I didn't make it," Avery says, breaking down in tears. "I'm so sorry, I know you wanted me to get into Harvard and—"

Harvey says nothing, just stands up, and wraps his arms around her, leaning into her slightly. "I feel so sorry for them because they are missing out on the best lawyer they've had in a long time."

Avery and Donna laugh. "I told you," Donna tells her with a smile and exchanges a complicit look with her husband.

"I didn't want to disappoint you like this."

"No, Avery. No." Harvey bends down to be level with her, just like he did when she was a child. "The only thing I feel for you is love, a lot of love. But you don't like me to tell you." Avery laughs. "And I'm so proud of you."

Donna stands up and leans her hips against the table, just behind Harvey. "I mean, with your father, we've done some really amazing things since we've known each other. But hands down, you're the best thing we've ever done."

"And nothing makes us prouder than you," Harvey adds and tucks her hair behind her ear.

"But I wanted to go to Harvard!" Avery says with much anger.

"And I wanted your father to realize that he loved me a decade earlier," Donna says, shrugging.

"Ouch, that hurt!" Harvey complains and everyone laughs.

"What I mean is that everything happens as it should. If things between Dad and I had been different, you wouldn't be here." Donna says, looking at her daughter. "Things were the way they were supposed to be. And they will be for you, too."

"Listen to your mother, as always, she is right." They all laugh again, and Harvey leans in to hug Avery again. Donna imitates him and they squeeze her daughter, who complains a bit about them being overly affectionate. "And if not, you can always do what your Mike has done," Harvey says after a few seconds of silence, and everyone bursts out laughing.

Avery is going to become a better lawyer than her father. Neither Donna nor Harvey doubts it.