She leans back against her desk, staring into the void. The dark sky above Manhattan gives a gentle nudge that it's time to go home. The firm was deserted by the staff long ago. Nearly everyone stopped by her office before leaving, checking up on her.
It started with Alex.
You told him because you love him.
Love him? We just started seeing each other.
I'm not talking about Thomas.
Harvey. It's always about Harvey.
Samantha extended an invitation for a drink, offering companionship during the toughest times. She's not Rachel, but Samantha has grown on her. She appreciated the lawyer's offer but politely declined, wanting a clear head when she went home.
Then there are Gretchen and Katrina's reassuring words that provide comfort and Louis' promise that he won't let anything happen to her. The man had come clean that he bought her a ticket to anywhere she pleased if she needed to flee the country.
No one will let her take the hit. She laughed humorlessly once Louis left her office. If this was another firm, she'd be fired long ago. But not this, not where she's family.
Robert's the last to stop by her office. The man isn't a fan of sugar coated sentiments. He all but told her to go home and get some rest, that staying at the firm wouldn't change tomorrow's inevitable. That the situation is beyond her control.
She doesn't miss the reassuring smile he wore as he left. He seemed unconcerned and didn't bear the same worry she was carrying about the firm, about Harvey. Like tomorrow is another ordinary day.
Not for her; come tomorrow, everything will change.
Despite Robert's words, she refuses to leave. She feels as though going home and heading to bed would only hasten the clock's ticking, bringing tomorrow sooner than she likes.
She stays frozen in her office, lost in her thoughts, thinking of everything and nothing all at once.
No one knows, but she drafted a resignation letter, just in case. The thought of Harvey losing everything he worked hard for while she remained unscathed is simply unbearable.
What is she supposed to do without Harvey by her side?
Look, I need you.
Need?
Need.
She needs him, too. She'd made up her mind; she leaves when he leaves.
It's her goddamn fault, no matter what angle she looks from.
Robert's wrong. She has a hand in tomorrow's outcome. She can admit her fault and save Harvey from losing his career.
The jarring tone from her phone breaks her reverie. She swipes to answer Thomas' call. Her boyfriend wanted to know if she'd already made it home, and she told him no.
She's happy with Thomas. What they have is easy; she thinks she can love him, and the future with him doesn't look bleak.
Then, her conversation earlier with Alex rings in her head.
Harvey. She's in love with Harvey. No matter how hard she tries to cut the man off.
Thomas told her that Harvey just left his place, begging him to lie to keep her safe. Her breath hitches at the information. And then he blurts out, "All he seemed to care about is you. Who is he to you?"
There's no point in denying it. "I don't know who he is, Thomas. I just know he's someone I can't seem to figure out how to cut out of me. But I want to, and I have wanted to. And apparently, I tried to when I told you what was going on. But the truth is I don't know if I'll be able to."
There's silence from the other end. It's hard for the man to swallow the truth. She'll never be his, not for this lifetime, at least.
She invites him for lunch, but Thomas knows better and rips the band-aid off. With a heavy heart, he breaks up with her, for her, right then and there. There's no point in pretending and delaying the inevitable, like lunch will magically change her feelings.
She bids goodbye and goes back to staring at the void. She holds on to the edge of the desk, needing something to physically hold on to while her mind spirals down. The guilt eats her alive, paralyzing her, turning her gaze into a blur, and her breath becomes shallow.
Then she catches sight of the reflection of the man she's apparently in love with against the large window she's been staring at for God knows how long.
He catches her eye against the window glass and enters her office.
She breathes, releasing the air she's been holding in unknowingly, as if he had resurfaced her from the depths of the ocean, giving her life and pulling her to the present.
She doesn't face him as he takes the space beside her. He leans against the desk, mirroring her position. His blazer and tie are gone, the top buttons of his white shirt are undone and the sleeves are rolled up.
In silence, he takes her hand and runs his thumb along her knuckles. They've been here before when Jessica left. Maybe this is his way of telling her everything's gonna be okay, his way of comforting her. She does the same, running her thumb along his knuckles.
"Heard you were still here," he starts. The silence is too deafening, and he needs to know if she's okay.
She doesn't say the name out loud but knows Thomas told him her whereabouts. Finally, she looks at him. Exhaustion is written all over his face, but she sees the determination in his eyes, fire burning, ready to fight tomorrow's battles.
"You didn't have to come back here." She whispers softly. The statement pierces through, deflating his genuine concern, thinking she didn't want him here, like how he needed her when everything else went south.
"Did you want to be alone?" he inquired with his brows furrowed, concealing the hurt in his voice. Their relationship is at its uncertainty, but it doesn't matter right now. He wants to be there for her and her for him.
She shakes her head in reply and relaxes, slowly placing her head on his shoulder.
He had asked Thomas to protect Donna, but he hadn't asked Donna to protect herself. Because they share the same stubbornness of putting each other first. The memory of her betrayal, when she came to Jessica to save himself from Cameron Dennis, and the screaming match they had at the office when he told her about how blinded she was by her father when it came to his business, replay in his mind.
He doesn't have a problem threatening anyone who comes after her. Of letting go of a murder because she was in hot water. He all but admitted that he'd let go of a murder and do it a hundred times if has to.
Oh, he will, without a doubt.
But how can he threaten the same person he needed saving?
Her words from an earlier conversation echo when she wanted to say it was her who broke privilege, and he snapped at her.
"You're just going to make it worse."
He rambles about the clerical error excuse so Donna, he hopes to God, doesn't blurt out the truth.
He needs her word that she'll keep her mouth shut and save herself. He wants her to know that she comes first before him. Always.
"I told you I'll never let anything happen. So you won't have to feel scared like that ever again."
Thankfully, Thomas texted him that Donna was still at the firm, and the man had asked him to check up on her. He doesn't think about the semantics of Thomas should be the one checking in on his girlfriend. He puts the thought behind him as he needs to see her anyway.
"We'll get through this." He tries to comfort her.
"You're gonna lose everything because of me." She swallows hard as she admits her biggest fear throughout this whole ordeal.
"Mike was dead to rights. Look at where the pup is now." He uses the same sentiment Louis had thrown at him. "I just need you to be there Donna, that's all I ask." She once asked him to sit with Mike and have faith that both of them are worthy to be found innocent. He just needs her to do the same thing with him.
She looks down, unable to look at the man she worked with as she comes clean. "I thought of confessing."
He shakes his head and replies sharply, "No."
"Harvey this is your life we're talking about!" Her voice is strained, and she pulls away from his hold and slumps down the couch.
He sighs, running his palms down his face. He follows Donna. He knows she's scared, and guilt is consuming her.
"So let me deal with it." There's calmness in his voice, and she hates it.
"But I did this!" Her voice shakes as the resolve of confessing sits in. She can't let him take the hit for something he didn't do. "You can't stop me."
"Then it'll be your words against mine. Worse comes to worst I'll tell them it was me who told Thomas. I'll spin your word around that you're only confessing because you want to protect me." He smiles at her like he's proud of what he's about to do.
"You'll perjure yourself!" She fights back.
He silently shrugs. He let a murder case slip. What's perjury on top of that?
She wants to scream at him and ask him why he's doing this until Scottie's words become clarity splashed in her face.
I hope one day he sees what everybody else sees.
He, too, is in love with her. He just doesn't see it or say it out loud.
She'd once asked him to define how he loves him. Yet she never told him how she felt, her answer to love me how?
She'll go to the ends of the earth with him.
She'll protect him, no question asked.
She loves him. Scratch that, she's in love with him.
She gathers her things in silence. Finally, she's ready to go home.
Tomorrow, she'll sit with him and have faith, the one thing he's asking for.
He hails a cab but changes her mind, wanting to walk home instead. She didn't miss the glare thrown at them by the taxi driver.
They walk in silence, and along the way, she blurts out that she and Thomas broke up.
The words out of her mouth stop him in his tracks, and he instantly whispers his sorry.
She shrugs in reply. She hates that she hurt Thomas, but it was inevitable. She catches his gaze and says, "I think it was bound to happen."
He didn't get to say anything back as they had reached her apartment, and she invited him up for a drink, which he obliged.
They settle on her couch, nursing her favorite wine, as they reminisce about their early days at the District Attorney's office, the first time they stepped foot at the firm. And recalling high-stakes cases that caused late nights at the firm.
"For what it's worth, I think I've had a good run." The words out of his mouth stunned her. He's accepted the fact that he might lose his license tomorrow.
She abruptly leaves and heads towards the kitchen, excusing herself for needing a refill. She can't accept it yet; it's too raw, too soon.
A sense of pride washed over him as he remembered every single accomplishment. And thinks how Donna had been there throughout the ups and downs. She had been his compass and had guided him professionally and personally. He contemplates what the future brings after tomorrow. How crushed he'd be if Donna wasn't there to celebrate his triumph if he came out unscathed. Or worse, if he loses and can't find her anywhere. That filled him with dread.
Then, the realization hit him hard. He sat there, eyes wide open, with one thing stuck in his mind.
His feet instantly carried him to the kitchen, where she retreated. "You didn't want me to take the hit. Why?" Is it just guilt? He needs to know.
She instantly turns around when she hears his voice. There's a look on his face as if something had shaken him. Something's changed, and he needed answers.
For once, she's the calmer one. She sighs and tilts her head, "Because I couldn't watch the man I'm in love with lose everything."
His lips crash onto hers, both palms cupping her cheeks as he deepens the kiss. She's backed against the counter, and one hand drags down, squeezing her waist. He presses his body against hers, and she feels his need hard against her stomach. Then his fingers reach up underneath her top, and she moans when he starts kneading her breast.
It lasted a moment until she couldn't wait any longer. She needs him. With determination, she drags him to the bedroom.
They're bare naked for each other to see. Until they're skin to skin, and he consumes her like his life depended on it. Their euphoric sighs and screams echo into the world, bragging about their oneness.
Finally, finally!
They lie beside each other, hands intertwined under the sheet, beads of sweat covering their flushed skin as they exhale heavy breaths.
"Donna," he turns to her, gently cupping her face. He gazes at her as if she's the most important person in the world.
"I'll be there, Harvey." Not just tomorrow but up until their very last breath.
"Good." He smiles.
"Good."
He tenderly presses his lips against hers, his nose grazing her cheeks as he places another gentle kiss on the corner of her jaw. He then rests his head at the crook of her neck, wrapping his arms around her waist. This is exactly where he's supposed to be, lawyer or not.