Notes: Finally moving with this one.

Break the Silence – By Atheniandream

Chapter 10

Waiting was definitely his least favourite action. For work, he had honed his skills, hell he could wait for just about any verdict, but in his personal life, waiting was pure agony. Either that or he was developing some sort of nervous tension disorder.

A tiny part of him assumed that there was a small chance Carl would try and win her back. Donna could hold her own but what did he know, maybe given enough excuses she'd be won over enough to leave whatever they had developed over the past few weeks and 180 once again just for good measure.

He took a deep breath, burying the need for a Scotch or a run.

This was Donna. She was a boomerang in his life. She would be back.

He checked his watch.

9.15.

The anxiety crept a little higher, bringing him out of his chair.

The keys went in the door and he sat back down, suddenly feeling out of place in his own home.

Her shadowed form made its way to the lounge, her red hair peeking out in the dimly lit room.

"Hey. What, you couldn't find the remote?" She questioned, the joke covering the need to ask why he was sat in the almost dark.

It occurred to him that he did this a lot when he was on his own. Perhaps that wasn't as normal or emotionally healthy as he'd thought it was…

"How was it?" he said, straightening against the back of the couch, arm settling behind her as she sat next to him.

"It was…good."

His eyes searched hers; checking to see if she was hiding something. He wasn't sure that she would tell him even if it had been a shit-storm. She was infuriating like that.

"How was…Carl?" She asked; the agitation clear in his voice.

"Honestly? I think he was relieved. It's not like it would have been the best situation for anyone involved if the baby was his. He took things pretty well considering."

"Really?" he said, finding it hard to believe after Harvey's last encounter with the man. The bruise had only just settled.

"Well we're not on the Christmas card list Harvey, but I'm pretty sure we won't end up with a Horse's head in the bed." She said, patting his knee.

"Good because those sheets aren't cheap." He mumbled, pulling her closer to him. He'd spent far too much of the day without her. It had begun to wear on him in a way he was still coming to terms with.

She smiled, leaning into his shoulder, toeing off her heels onto the thick beige rug, her face contorting as she stretched out her feet, before curling up against him.

For a moment, they just sat there, quiet, slowly breathing.

It felt like the start of things, real life altering things. He was terrified.

"Harvey,"

"Yeah?" He asked; his voice a low rumble in his throat.

"Take me to bed," The words sounded like a question but she wasn't asking.

"I thought you'd never ask." He whispered into her cheek, kissing her before pulling her to her feet.

He'd gotten half way there before sweeping her into his arms.

"Harvey, put me down! You're going to put your back out." She scrambled in his arms, voice shrill, girly and unsteady in a way he'd never heard before that made his brain fire.

"Donna, you're lighter than you think you are. Even with the enormous rack," His words danced on his tongue.

"Right, for that comment, you are not getting a peek."

"Please," He brushed her off, mouth forming a disbelieving grimace.

"You wanna fall of the bed again?" She warned.

"As long is the bed is included I'm in."

"You're incorrigible."

"You're stalling."

"P'uh, Please," She countered, pulling his mouth down, her smiling lips claiming his .

The hustle and bustle of Monday lunchtime danced around their table. Even if you could get a good table in the best places in New York; lunch rush hour wasn't the best place for setting the mood for a serious talk.

"So Harvey….it's been a long time." Dana said, all wavy dark curls and shielded gaze.

He figured that he should be the one to tell Scottie about him and Donna. Being what their history had been he owed her that at least. Donna had objected, but he'd insisted that it was his fight alone.

"Yeah,"

"You're taking me to lunch. Does that mean that we're friends again?" She asked; voice playful if not a bit sarcastic.

"We never weren't friends, Scottie. I'll admit…things have been awkward over the past few months."

"A year." She clarified; a distinct annoyance in her tone. Clearly she'd felt every month that they had avoided each other. The revelation of such stung, and he pushed it further down in favour of why he was really here, opting for a coy reply.

"That long?" He said, taking a sip of water.

"Yeah, there's not really a lot to us when you take out the sex."

"Scottie," He warned as the tone turned to something far too intimate.

"I know. You're not in love with me, Harvey. I heard it the first time you didn't say it."

She never did make things easy for him. He understood that she was hurt, but at no point was he ever supposed to think that they had been anything over than sparring partners.

"Look. I did care about you. I did have feelings for you,"

"Did? Just not enough, right?"

It was like putting the knife in all at once. The overwhelming feeling of guilt seemed to build ten-fold as he stole a look at her. Her eyes were gleaming and she seemed so open. Had he broken Dana Scott?

"We… we weren't good at being together. We never were. You know that." He said, the softness in his voice trying to reason with her.

"That didn't stop me from loving you."

"And that there is the-Look; I didn't just come here to talk about us."

"Of course you didn't."

"Dana." He warned. They were so alike it was uncanny.

"Go on."

"I said I was sorry. And I meant it. And now… it makes it harder to say this."

"I'm a big girl Harvey,"

Why did he suddenly not believe what she said anymore… it was hard to trust even when she was sincere…

"Now, I need your word that you'll keep this between us?"

"What is it?" She said, her interested abruptly piquing in a room filled with noise.

"I'm telling you first, because you have the right to know; more than most."

"Spit it out Harvey,"

"Okay. Things have happened, changed since you've been in London."

"With what? The firm?"

"No." He drew in a long breath. This was harder than he thought it'd be. "Donna and I are…we're…living together."

Everything stopped, all action around him on pause as he watched the blood drain from her face, her features blanching out for a second only to return animated once more.

"Oh. Right." Her reply came out fragmented as she tried to join the two words together.

"Dana,"

"Hey, look." She visibly recoiled, straightening up. "It's none of my business what you do with your assistant. Regardless of you and I,"

"You know it's not like that, Scottie. This is Donna, not some temp!"

"And it's none of my business, really."

"I didn't want to you find out from someone else."

"No. It's good. Clearly she lied when I asked her if she was in love with you but,"

"Scottie," He warned, sensing her cattier tone.

"I'm happy for you! Really, I am, as much as it kills me to say it. If it couldn't have been…me then…I'm glad it was her. She's been there long enough." He could hear her covering her sad tone with a flattened humour in her eyes.

"Yeah, she has." He said; the need to change the subject imminent. "So, how was sunny England?"

Donna knew the moment Harvey left the office that Scottie would pay her a visit. When Harvey had returned, satisfied after their conversation, a little pinch in her gut assured Donna that there was more to this story to follow. The two women rarely spoke in front of Harvey; and Donna had an inkling that the moment they were alone Dana would have something very strong to say about her sudden and precarious relationship with her Boss.

She was placing files on his desk and picked her reflection out of the skyline. She straightened; a small part of her not wanting to turn back around.

"Everyone thinks that Harvey makes the decisions around here; but you…you've always held the puppet strings." The younger woman said.

"Harvey is his own man, Dana. You know that." She fired back.

"And you're just…what? Good at your job?" She said incredulously.

"Very." She wasn't going to succumb to the bait. Dana always did like to play cat and mouse; and Donna was no mouse. She'd always hit were it hurt the most first.

The pretty brunette scrutinised Donna; eyes slighting at her.

"You always had him. But you already knew that didn't you?" Her fingers, played with fabric of the sofa as she glided in her way. She could tell the woman still thought she owned the place; had some sort of claim over Harvey. It was understandable…in a please fuck off now sort of way.

"Scottie-" She started, but was cut off.

"And to think, I listened to you and in return I lost everything; some advice that was." The smaller woman's eyes glazed; and she suddenly felt like she was in the file room a year ago.

"Scottie, when you came to me; I gave you that advice because it was the only way you would break through to him. I told you it was a risk. And I didn't for a second consider myself in any of it."

"I knew you lied about being in love with him. It's written all over you. It was then."

"You asked me if I was in love with him. That was a year ago…I didn't lie to you when I said that I didn't. This situation happened long after that."

"I find that hard to believe." She scoffed, arms folding.

"Don't you think that if I had wanted to change things, I would have picked a better moment than during my own wedding? I destroyed another person's life because Harvey chose my wedding to suddenly develop a feeling. Otherwise, we would have stayed the same as we always had. I'm not proud of how it happened, Scottie; but it has. And now we have to deal with that."

"I trusted you. I thought that you were on my side, and I lost him."

"I was on your side. But I told you back then; you lost him because you lied. You should have told him about your fiancé Dana. He would have changed his tact and you would have realised sooner. Or maybe you two would have fixed things: I don't know. And what you don't know is that after our talk, I spoke to him. I tried to convince him that you were in love with him and that he needed to fight for you; that he needed to fight for someone."

"And he chose to fight for you,"

"It appears so."

She wanted to say sorry, but neither she nor Harvey had actually done anything wrong in this. Harvey and Dana had done everything wrong. That had been the problem. It was nothing to do with her.

The two women stood, silent. She watched Scottie's face take everything in. There was something written on her face; something she didn't often show to the outside world.

"Then you won. Guess I should offer my congratulations..."

"Donna; please don't tell me that you told Scottie as well? How many people is that now? What's next, a card? One of those stupid bassinettes full of rolled up-" Harvey said, a minor tirade as he entered the office, thumbing through his mail.

"Harvey," Donna started, the overwhelming need to put her hands over his mouth and down his throat to stop the sound. The strong look in her eyes seemed to stop him as he halted in his steps, furrowing his brow only to return wide eyed.

But it was too late.

Her eyes went to Scottie; who for a second was completely unreadable. The young woman looked down towards the floor only to look directly at Donna and not Harvey.

"Does Jessica know?" was the only thing the Lawyer asked.

"Scottie," Harvey warned; until Donna gave him that look, and he struggled with containing himself where he stood.

"Yes." Donna answered; a lump threatening to choke her.

She tried to ignore the sharpness of Harvey's stare interrupted by her obvious lie.

"She's not happy," Donna continued. "But she knows." She maintained her game face in the hope that it would seem more convincing.

"And Darby?"

"Dana, please." She said.

Donna hated pleading. She never did it and even when she did she didn't really mean anything she said. This was the first time that it meant everything. Her eyes measured Scottie's; Harvey still silent. This was her fight now, it always had been. She'd known that Harvey talking to her first had been the wrong move, a pointless exercise. She was the bone of contention in Dana Scott's life. Maybe she always would be from now on.

The three of them stood in an immovable silence; no one saying a word. And the door was still open. They really should get into a habit of closing it more often…

Dana straightened; still avoiding Harvey's eyes.

"I better go." She finally said. Her voice was small in a way that was worrying. She sidestepped Harvey, pausing but not looking at him. "So much for telling me first." and walked out the door.

"Scottie," Harvey called out for her.

"Let her go." Donna said.

He turned to her in question. She could see her name on his lips before he could.

"She won't tell." She assured him.

"You really think so?" He asked, sceptical.

"I know so."

"How?"

"Because she's heartbroken, Harvey."

Take him and cut him out in little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine,

That all the world will be in love with night,

And pay no worship to the garish sun. ~ Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare

Shorter Chapter, purely because it fitted. More soon. Wanted to start speeding it up a little.