Using a box cutter, Donna reveals more expensive linen, the only real luxury she afforded herself while she was living in her tiny Manhattan rental. It took her a few weeks of scouting, but she finally found an apartment deserving of her in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle.

It's three bedrooms, two bathrooms, with floor-to-ceiling white conservatory windows, lush dusty pink carpet, and a beautiful view of Elliott Bay. For the moment, she's renting with the option to buy—giving herself room to settle before she makes a final decision.

And speaking of decisions.

Her phone lights up on the mattress beside her, Harvey's number flashing across the screen. He and Louis are interviewing for a new COO today, and she answers the call with a soft smile. "Stop procrastinating... You'll regret it if Louis picks on his own."

Doing exactly what she's accusing him of, Harvey chuckles into the receiver. "Ten minutes, then I promise I'll go slug it out." He's not avoiding the task per se. Donna can never be replaced, and wouldn't have been when the role of COO was her sacred legacy. But after she officially resigned, he and Louis both agreed the firm runs more smoothly with the position filled.

Her office is just a room, and her easily accessible voice will drive more than enough steel to face the competing candidates. "How's Seattle? You doing okay?"

Her cheeks warm as she fidgets with the box cutter's slider. True to his word, Harvey let her go with the freedom of putting her needs first. His texts were slow at first, giving her time to adjust, but now he regularly checks in when he has five minutes to spare. "All moved into the new place. Just unpacking some boxes."

"Anything interesting?"

"Depends. Where does linen rate on your scale of fascinating things?"

He leans back in his chair, smirking. "If you want to tell me about your bedsheets, Donna, I'm all ears."

Flushed, she snorts, admonishing him for the shameless flirting. "I thought we agreed that how I sleep is none of your concern?"

"We agreed I can still think about it."

For once, he decides to tone down their harmless flirting. Overall, the move has been good for her. He's pieced together from their messages and conversations, along with everything he's drilled out of Mike, that she's happier there. But being happier doesn't mean curing her anxiety overnight.

"Been to see that pointy sky thing yet? I've heard it's shit and overrated."

A laugh catches in her throat, her shoulders rolling back as she places the blade on the bed. She knows what he's doing, trying to gauge how comfortable she is going out, and if she's ready to talk about her anxiety.

She isn't—not really. That's why she's taken a break from therapy. Because it helped for a while, and it works for some people, but she needs to find out who she is on her own, without continuously being prodded and poked by a professional sledgehammering at all the wrong walls.

Here, she's trying a more holistic approach. Surrounding herself with the calmness of nature, exploring parks and little cafés tucked into nooks where she isn't bombarded by the rush of New York. She still has moments of panic, but she finally accepted her GP's recommendation for a short-term prescription to help her sleep, and she's been using apps on her phone to help when she's in a situation that makes her feel out of control.

Strides, not steps—the opposite of what her therapist would say, but the slow road wasn't working for her, and for the first time in a long while, she can feel her Donna spark starting to flicker again.

"You're right," she smiles. "It was shitty and overrated… But I've found a place that would put Nougatine's truffle scrambled eggs to shame."

A broad grin crosses Harvey's face. As much as he'd like to know everything, hearing the smile in her voice and that she's been going out tempers some of his daily worries.

"See any new handbags you like?"

"Not yet, but I'll do some research before my birthday."

Bold fashion choices are still something she's adapting to. After keeping a low profile in Philadelphia, she kept her style choices in New York reserved—not wanting to draw attention to herself. But she has an entire walk-in wardrobe to fill, and it wouldn't be the worst idea to splash out on the latest in the Hermès line.

"If you can remember the date?" she teases.

Movement flickers in Harvey's doorway, and he glances up at Louis's exasperated expression. "July 9," he replies smugly, begrudgingly needing to get off the phone. "I've got to go; Louis is about to have a hernia. If you want… I could call you later tonight?"

The question floats with some hesitancy, and she understands why. It'll be the first conversation he won't have to cut short, but it's not like she had any plans this evening. "I'd like that, Harvey."

He calls late, when she's already tucked up on the sofa in her pajamas, but she doesn't mind. He fills her in on the interviews and the candidate Louis liked that he vetoed just to stir things up. She laughs and scolds him for being a child, but the candidate he's leaning toward would be better suited, and she decides to pull some sway with Louis tomorrow.

Over the next few weeks, it becomes a habit, the two of them gravitating to the phone late at night. It becomes their thing again, except unlike fourteen years ago, he isn't calling in need of an errand, and he prods her to talk about herself—the life she's living, her job, and how she's coping with everything.

Some days are better than others, but she stops hiding the truth from him, no longer feeling guilty when she hits a setback. But he shares with her too, and sometimes it feels like they're climbing the same mountain together.

At the very least, they're getting back on the right track.

…

Rachel tries to conceal a burst of excitement as she enters her best friend's office—there under the pretense of having Donna review the firm's latest performance metrics report.

Donna takes the folder, eyeing Rachel suspiciously. "Why do you look so happy about giving me paperwork?"

Rachel clasps her wrists behind her back. "Our revenue trends are up, client acquisitions are going strong. It's been our best quarter yet, and we have you to thank."

"You're right, you should thank me." Donna smiles, confidently crossing her new Louis Vuittons under the desk. "But this firm's financials weren't even close to being in a deficit before I started. And this"—she waves the documentation—"isn't why you're so bouncy."

"Heard from Harvey recently?"

"You know I have." Donna warily guards against her best friend's cheeky smile. In the four months it's taken her to find her feet in Seattle, Harvey has been instrumental to her settling in. She's talked to Rachel at length about how supportive he's been, but sensing Rachel knows something she doesn't starts to unsettle her. "Rach, what's going on?"

"Nothing bad." Rachel sits down, recognizing when her best friend slips into being uncomfortable. Donna's made leaps and bounds, but there's still trauma that hums close to the surface in certain situations. So, she's mindful of toning her enthusiasm down. "Harvey asked Mike about a job. I said I wouldn't say anything, but—"

"Why would he do that?"

The terror in Donna's gaze isn't the reaction she was expecting. At first, she was admittedly hesitant about the pair becoming dependent on each other again. But from all accounts—Donna's, Mike's, and Harvey's—the pair have been supporting each other like they're in a long-distance relationship. She thought Donna would be thrilled by the news.

"Hey, talk to me… What's going on?"

Kicking off her shoes, Donna sinks her head in her hands, replaying the soothing lessons from her apps that she's committed to memory. She's okay—she's fine. Able enough to answer Rachel's silent worry. "Harvey gave up everything for me once, and it almost destroyed him. I won't let him give up his career. Not when I'm still…"

A mess.

"I should review these metrics."

There's a long pause before Rachel forces a smile. "Okay… But you know I'm here if you want to talk."

She knows it, and she appreciates Rachel being there for her more than her best friend could ever understand. But her feelings for Harvey are complicated, and she needs space to process the news on her own. "Thank you. I really mean that."

Rachel's features soften before she leaves, and Donna takes a deep breath, forcing herself to get through the day amidst her swirling thoughts.

Once home, she's barely a glass into her wine before Harvey calls, her stomach twisting into knots as she shakily answers.

"Hi, Harvey."

Ever since Rachel let slip that he asked Mike about her job, she's been in a freefall. She hoped it was just a rumor, that he wasn't actually considering leaving everything he's clawed and fought to keep.

Ending things with Scottie was one thing, but if he moved here, he'd hate the slow pace—working for the underdogs instead of running with wolves.

"So…" Harvey tries to keep it casual. It's too soon to mention he's considering a career change; that would put too much pressure on her. But in a few weeks, maybe they could have the conversation in person. "I was thinking about flying out there next month. Just for the weekend. Mike keeps going on and on about how much he misses me."

Dread tightens her unease, and she wishes she could mirror his enthusiasm. They've been dancing around the fact that they talk like a couple in a long-distance relationship, and in a sense, they are. But nothing has been defined, and just because they're always talking, it doesn't mean—

"Donna?"

She covers the silence, taking another sip of wine. "I'm here." Then she faces it head-on. "I think you should stay in New York."

Her words land like a sucker punch, his shoulders wasn't the reaction he was expecting, and his brow furrows with concern. Yesterday they stayed up talking until 2 a.m., her voice bouncy with laughter. Something has changed, and he quickly loses interest in his drink, placing the beer on his coffee table. "Did something happen? Are you okay?"

Her lips wobble as she shakes her head, his concern propelling her fear that she's not being rational. "I'm fine. But we've both got a lot happening at work. I just don't think it's the right time to plan anything."

She readies herself for an argument, for him to tell her that she's the irrational one, but a hard truth doesn't land.

"Okay. Whatever you want."

He's hurt; she can hear it in his voice, and his next words cut deeper than the lashes of her panic.

"I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah." She smiles as the line disconnects, an avalanche of tears spilling down her cheeks.

Losing what they have now would break her. If he moves here and hates it, that would destroy them as well. She can't go back to NYC; that would set off all her triggers again, and she doesn't know what to do.

But she's not alone like she was in Philadelphia. Rachel and Mike, her parents, and even her sister, whom she's recently reconnected with, are all here for her.

Harvey is, too.

She just has to figure out what that means.

AN: I just want to say that the way I see Donna approaching therapy is very different from my personal views. In the show I think her character was potrayed as Wonder Women and that's how i'm writing her. Thank you for all the the lovely comments xxxxx