Prompter #19 by Stepha0480: "Pre-season 9 Darvey. They are trapped in an airport together while traveling for work. It can be the holidays or not. Some angst/drama followed by public airport smut ensues."
Twas the night before Christmas…which was apparently a terrible time to be traveling out of New York City. Donna leaned against a cold metal pillar, absentmindedly watching the departure monitor flicker with yet another delay notification. A windy storm clustered with rain and ice had grounded most of the planes until further notice, making what should be a time of excitement and joy an absolute nightmare.
It was only a matter of time before the worsening weather conditions caused her flight home to Connecticut to be canceled completely, but she was holding out with delusions until the last possible second. The atmosphere around her was thick with disappointment and anger, though, as other passengers reacted to the delays and cancellations with mixed negative emotions.
She scanned the crowd and felt a jolt when her eyes landed on a familiar figure across the terminal.
Harvey.
Even though she'd left his desk a few weeks ago, his email notifications still filtered to her account, so she'd known he had a flight out today. She'd just expected to be gone long before his departure time.
He was pacing as he sent a message from his cell, visibility frustrated, and he checked the departure board for a second…third time.
A pang of empathy struck Donna as she watched him, her instinct to fix his problems rearing its head in the face of his struggle, especially because she understood exactly how upsetting their current predicament was.
She summoned her courage and decided that maybe the holiday would be a good time to extend a proverbial olive branch. She pulled off the pillar to head toward him.
Her relationship with Harvey had been rocky at best since she'd gone to work for Louis. The Liberty Rails debacle had catapulted them into a discussion that they had not been ready for, but accepting the possibility of losing her freedom had put things into perspective for Donna.
Truths about her heart had made themselves known in a way that she had no longer been able to ignore, and when Harvey had so easily declared that he loved her only to immediately backtrack…
She hadn't been able to stay on his desk after that, not with all the things lingering between them that he refused to acknowledge. But she'd never wanted to hurt him.
"Harvey," she called, forcing a smile as his head pivoted in her direction.
He stiffened when his eyes landed on her, surprise momentarily replacing the annoyance on his face.
"What are you doing here, Donna?"
She was tempted to point out that it was an airport during the holidays and surely someone as smart as he was could do math that simple.
Olive branch, she reminded herself.
"Same thing as you," she answered his question, brushing off the attitude that had laced his tone, "Waiting to find out if I'm getting out of here tonight. It's not looking promising."
She glanced back toward the departure board. Harvey shifted on his feet.
"You had a flight?"
She nodded, "Connecticut; my parents are hosting a Christmas dinner. You're heading to see Marcus?"
It was the only reason she could think of that he'd be flying to Boston.
"Yeah." The word was clipped, devoid of any warmth.
It was tempting to pry. To wonder if it was just Marcus he was visiting, if his mother was going to be around for the holiday, if something had changed in the few short weeks they'd been apart that would merit this visit.
But he was staring ahead, looking as if he would rather be anywhere else than here, having a conversation with her, and Donna supposed she'd lost the right to pry into his personal business anyway.
A flash on the screen garnered their attention, the announcement of further delays sending out a collective groan through those around them. Harvey's brows pinched together and Donna bit her lip.
"I was considering just booking a train instead," she told him, "It'll be faster at this rate. If you like, I can see what time the departures to Boston are and we can take a cab to-
"No thanks," he cut her off and pocketed his cellphone, "I can manage."
Donna tried not to flinch at the harshness of his voice, "I was only offering to help-"
"Last I checked, Donna, you're not my secretary anymore," the reminder was practically hurled at her, "So, no, I don't need your help arranging my flights or booking a train."
She pressed her lips together, her spine straightening.
"I was offering it as a friend," she said, and now her tone was the clipped one, "But I forgot, those two things aren't mutually exclusive for you."
So much for the olive branch.
But she'd tried being nice; he'd thrown it in her face. And she didn't have to stand here and put up with attitude from Harvey Specter, of all people, on Christmas Eve! If he was going to insist on acting like a child, there was nothing she could do about it.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked just as she turned, intending to walk away and retrieve her luggage so she could leave for the train station.
Donna looked over her shoulder at him. His gaze was narrowed, lit with annoyance or something deeper, and his jaw was set in hard lines. Even pissed, he was one of the most attractive men she ever met and her heart ached as she imagined how different things could be right now.
If her timing had been better. If he hadn't ran from her apartment that night. If they were both less afraid.
"It means that ever since I left your desk, you haven't been able to have a single conversation with me that isn't angry or demeaning, let alone friendly," Donna accused, "And maybe I'm not your secretary anymore, Harvey, but that doesn't mean that I've stopped caring about you-"
"Caring about me?" he latched onto that part of her rant, "That's what you call leaving me after I kept you out of prison?"
Donna flinched at the sheer audacity, her own annoyance sparking deep, "No, Harvey, but it is what almost got me put into prison in the first place! Because I put you first. I always put you first! Your needs, your career…"
"I didn't ask you to do that-"
"You asked me a million times!" she exclaimed, and a few passengers glanced their way. Donna pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to calm her emotions. It didn't help much, considering the way her heart hammered when she looked back up at Harvey.
"You asked me to follow you and I did," she said, more quietly, "You asked me to work fifteen hour days with you, sometimes six days a week, and I did. I answered when you called, no matter if it was six in the morning or midnight. I stopped acting and ended relationships because there was no room for anything in my life but you! And it took nearly going to jail for me to realize…"
That she had twelve years of sacrifices and nothing to show for it but a few Marni bags and a broken heart.
And him. She'd always had him, in a way. But she didn't have him. And that was the killer. Because she wanted him. She'd realized it when she'd been faced with spending the next five years of her life behind bars; when Louis's comfort had fallen short and all she had needed was Harvey.
Donna looked down and closed her eyes briefly, as if the action would rid her heart of its desire and she could be sensible.
"It doesn't matter," she concluded, hiding the tears that were forming in her ducts, "I chose myself and you hating me for it doesn't mean I was wrong to do so."
"Hate…" Harvey's head shook slightly, "You think I hate you?"
Her gaze jumped back up to his, "You're sure acting like you do."
When his lips remained sealed, emotions he apparently still wasn't willing to discuss running over his features, Donna knew it was time to choose herself again.
"Have a good Christmas, Harvey."
She turned from him, away from the instinct to read his body language and deduct whatever thoughts were running through his head, because ultimately, there was no point. He would just deny whatever truths she found, or he would call it pity again, or he'd just stand there in sullen silence, continuing to treat her like the enemy, or even worse, a stranger.
It was a waste of her time when she should be trying to find other arrangements for travel; to be with people who actually loved her and had no trouble expressing it.
You know I love you, Donna.
She was halfway across the terminal when she felt the sudden jerk on her arm, the warmth of Harvey's large hand sinking through her jacket where it gripped her, halting her. She knew it was him before she looked; the touch alone enough to spark all of her senses into overdrive.
"Harv-" his name fell short as he pulled her away from the restaurants and gift shops and clusters of waiting passengers. He didn't stop until they passed a bathroom with an out-of-order sign slung on it and he tugged her past the rope that barred off the entrance.
"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded once they were alone.
Harvey didn't release his hold on her, but he did turn her so that they were face to face. There was a look of desperation in his eyes and his features were all hard lines.
"I don't hate you," he said, chest rising and falling in quick puffs like he was trying to control his breath.
"Harvey-"
"You weren't supposed to leave," he rushed out, his grip tightening, "Not you. You weren't supposed to do that to me."
Donna ripped her arm free of him, "I didn't do it to you, Harvey. I did it for me."
"You didn't have to go to Louis," he hissed, stepping closer as his voice layered with accusation, "You did that to spite me."
"Not everything is about you!" It felt good to yell at him. "I have my own reasons for going to work for Louis but you're too self centered to even consider that there might be another-"
"I'm self-centered?" he spat, "You bailed on me because I refused to have a conversation-"
"No, Harvey. I left your desk because I couldn't stand the thought of things just going back to the way they were. Not after Liberty Rails. Not after you told me you loved me out of pity!"
She hissed the last word, the sting of his declaration still flashing an embarrassing heat to her cheeks.
"I tried to tell you that you had it wrong; I don't pity you, Donna!" his voice raised as well, "But I guess you were too busy walking out on me to hear that!"
A dry, humorless laugh ripped out of her throat, "Well, I learned from the best. All you do is walk away! From relationships, from possibilities, from conversations that you don't want to have! You walk away or you push people away, because that's easier than admitting that you feel something!"
Harvey's eyes were almost black with how dilated they'd become, whatever anger or resentment that had been festering between them finally bubbling up.
"I told you how I felt," he gritted out, "I told you that I love you. And it wasn't enough."
Donna shook her head, blinking back tears, "Because you couldn't tell me how."
"It shouldn't matter-"
"It does matter!" she shouted at him, "Harvey, it matters! God, why can't you just- what are you so afraid of?!"
"You!"
The word echoed off the walls as they both fell silent in its wake. Donna's mouth was parted, stuck without words.
Harvey's expression was pained and pissed, as if she'd forced the answer out against his will.
"Me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper now as her heart pounded.
Those dark eyes hardened and he stepped toward her.
"You," he repeated when their faces were mere inches apart, "Because I can't bullshit you. You know me. You get me. More than anyone ever has and I…I didn't want to risk…"
He swallowed, emotion making the words thick as his breaths became hollow.
"I'd fuck it up," he said, "And I'd lose you, and I didn't…" he sounded half strangled, "I lost you anyway. You left. You left and you…you weren't supposed to leave me and I…I can't breathe without you…I can't-"
His voice became more ragged, dragging over each word with difficulty. His inhales quickened, short bursts filling the gaps and he paled.
"Donna-"
She frowned, her own frustration bleeding way to concern. Reaching up, Donna placed a hand on his shoulder. She could feel the tension in his body, the rapid rise and fall of his chest.
"Harvey, are you-"
Before she could finish her question, Harvey surged forward, closing whatever distance remained between them. His lips crashed against hers, intense and urgent. Her gasp of surprise died against his mouth.
Unlike the way he stumbled through his words, there was no hesitation when he kissed her. It felt like a culmination of everything they'd been trying and failing to say to each other; twelve years mixing with the complexity of their emotions and the remnants of their fragile relationship.
Donna kissed him back on instinct, melting completely into his arms as they wrapped around her and his momentum sent them colliding back against the sinks.
Harvey lifted her up onto the counter and Donna's legs hooked over his hips as he took up all the space between her parted thighs. Shock gave way to need, to desire and relief and frustration and elation; a million variations of human emotions that Harvey had always managed to bring out in her.
Her hands found their way to the nape of his neck and she drew him in as close as possible, until their bodies were flush against one another. Harvey groaned onto her lips, shooting fire through her veins and his grip tightened, holding her with a desperation that she couldn't be sure alleviated or added to the panic she'd seen flash through his eyes.
Donna responded with a moan of her own and Harvey deepened the kiss, his tongue prodding against her until she opened for him. The taste of him made her want to cry. Twelve goddamn years and she hadn't forgotten for a moment how perfect it was. How perfect they were, together.
She swirled her tongue over his and Harvey reacted to her response like a man crazed. His hands on her hips became fists in the jacket she wore, yanking at the fabric until she was bared to him. Donna's hands were in motion before her mind had even consciously decided to give in, nails raking down Harvey's torso until her fingers reached the button of the jeans he wore.
Her jacket was discarded by the time she'd gotten the button unsnapped and the zipper loosened, and Harvey was hiking her dress up around her hips.
She sank her teeth into his bottom lip the moment his hand slipped between them, stroking against the panties that covered her most sensitive flesh. He broke the kiss as he found the hem and shoved it aside, dipping into her wetness with his fingers.
"Fuck, Donna-"
Her eyes rolled back as he stroked her, teasing her clit and grazing her entrance, only to repeat the motion over and over.
His forehead fell against hers and her hand lingered on his zipper, rubbing at the erection that pushed back against her touch, as undeniable as the slickness now dripping onto Harvey's palm.
He said her name again, this time as a question and she nodded. It was enough. The weight of this choice, whatever would come after…she would deal with it when she had to. Right now, she just wanted him and they were past the point of no return.
Twelve years past it.
She wrested Harvey's jeans, forcing them down as he hauled her to the edge of the sink and tore her panties while ripping them off her hips. The tattered remains hung around her thighs, but she'd pulled his erection free and neither of them could care much about the state of their clothing.
It was a fumbling, sticky mess, lining their bodies up as their lips found each other again. Donna pushed her tongue into Harvey's mouth at the exact moment he thrusted up and slid into her body. She cried out as the girth of him stretched her open, carving space for his cock as he rutted against her.
Counter, porcelain, metal, and mirror all dug into her skin as Harvey began to vigorously fuck her against them. Her back arched deeply and one of his hands fisted into her hair, holding her mouth to his. He kissed her sloppily, tact and precision nonexistent as pleasure rolled over them both where they were joined. Lips became cheek became jaw became neck. Names were called out rather breathlessly and Donna had a feeling she was going to be wearing numerous marks and bruises well into New Year.
But so would Harvey.
Her hands were on his lower back now, urging each of his thrusts, pulling him tighter against her, deeper into her. Her nails were scraping his skin, her heels were digging into the back of his thighs.
"Oh god," her breath hitched on the exhale, pleasure morphing into a tidal wave, "There. Harvey, right there-"
His hands slipped beneath her, grabbing her ass and squeezing as he used not just the straining muscle of his legs to pump into her, but the strength of his boxing toned arms to slam her body down on him. The tidal wave crashed, cresting faster than she'd ever experienced, but they'd had twelve years of foreplay and it was worth it.
So worth it.
"Harvey," his name left Donna's lips in a euphoric cry as she fell apart and it may have been embarrassing if it wasn't the final trigger for his release, too.
Harvey cursed as he came, coating her insides with a few faltering jerks. He slowed, shaking slightly as she clenched around him with the pulses of her orgasm. When they became too sensitive to continue, his body slumped against hers and the counter the only thing keeping them both upright.
Donna's arms, which had ended up around his neck again at some point, held him more securely as they relished the aftershocks of their climax and Harvey buried his face in her hair.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, when his breathing had leveled and they could speak again, "Donna, I'm sorry."
He leaned back enough that their eyes met and his were as sincere as they'd been the night he told her that it didn't matter if anyone else lost faith in him, but that with her it was different. Except this time, the guarded caution was missing and the vulnerability in which he stared at her gave her hope.
"I never wanted to leave you," Donna told him, allowing her own guard to drop, "I just wanted…"
"More," he offered.
She reached up to cup his cheek, "Not more…different. I wanted things to be different. They never would be, if I'd stayed."
There was pain in his expression at that truth, but also an acceptance. His head tilted forward, pressing his forehead back against hers; connecting them in every possible way, since he was still softening inside of her.
"I don't know how to do this without you," he admitted quietly.
"You'll figure it out," Donna lifted her chin to lay a soft kiss on the tip of his nose, "It may not be easy, especially at first, but you will. I have faith in you. You're Harvey Specter, after all."
He straightened slightly and Donna's hips shifted, allowing him to finally pull out. Harvey sighed and grabbed a few paper towels from the wall dispenser behind her. They cleaned up as well as they could, given the circumstance, and when it was done a heaviness settled over them. The uncertainty of where they went from here obvious.
Harvey moved first, pulling her back into his arms and Donna let him hold her. She tucked her head beneath his chin and rested her weight against the solidity of his body.
"What you said," he broke the silence, "About me being Harvey Specter…I'm not. Not without you. I've told you that before, and I meant it."
"Harvey-"
"You're a part of me," he pressed, "A part of everything I've accomplished. I need you."
Donna closed her eyes and leaned more firmly into his neck, "You don't."
She pulled back and stared into his eyes, "I know it's scary right now…but you'll adjust. And you'll be better for it. I think we'll be better for it."
He frowned, but there was no real resistance on his face.
"This doesn't feel better," he grumbled and Donna cracked a smile, "Doesn't it?"
"I meant with work. Not this," he huffed, motioning between their still sex flushed bodies, "This is…" he paused, searching for the right word and settling on, "Good. This is good."
Donna's smile broadened and she ran her hands up Harvey's sides, letting them rest on his chest, "Well, I'd rate it a little better than good."
His lips twitched with amusement, some of the weight leaving his stare and she counted that as a win.
"It was incredible," he amended and she chuckled, "Just wait until we have a bed."
The hint of a smile he'd sported flickered at the implication and just when Donna began to worry she'd presumed too much, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.
She answered the pressure with a happy sound and a lingering peck that ended entirely too soon.
"How about we start with dinner?" Harvey suggested and her eyes, which had fluttered closed during the kiss, shot open.
"Dinner, as in-"
"You and me, a bottle of wine, and an overdue conversation," he confirmed, and suddenly her eyes weren't the only thing fluttering, "This Sunday at Del Posto?"
They'd both be back from their respective trips by then and they could talk. Really talk.
"Yeah, okay," Donna said with a timid smile, "That would be nice, Harvey."
His features lit up with her approval, "Good. Then it's a date."
That word was loaded and intentional. He didn't take it back and the hope that had been slowly blossoming in Donna's chest unraveled and bloomed.
"In the meantime," he added, pulling her close again with the arm he'd looped around her waist, "What do you say we get out of here before we get caught by security."
There was purpose in the teasing look he gave her and Donna lifted a brow, "Did you have another destination in mind?"
Harvey nodded, "We're going to pick up our bags and you're going to come home with me."
"Oh, I am?"
He didn't even try to hide his smugness, "You are. And tomorrow, we're going to catch the first flight or train leaving the city. We're going to enjoy the holiday, then we're going to come back," his tone grew suddenly serious, "And we're gonna work on this, Donna, because I don't want to really lose you. I've been a wreck without you and it has nothing to do with you being on my desk. I need you in my life."
She appreciated how difficult admitting as much must be for him and tender affection filled her heart at the fact that he was trying. For her.
"We'll always be in each other's lives, Harvey," she promised him, "I've just been waiting for you to decide on-"
"How," he finished.
The irony wasn't lost on either of them.
Harvey reached out, taking her face in his hands and Donna blinked fiercely as he peered into her very soul.
"I love you," he said, "In every way, Donna Paulsen."
The rapid blinking wasn't enough to completely hold back the tears, "I love you, too Harvey."
He caught the single drop that slipped from her eye, wiping it off with his lips as he placed a sweet kiss to the apple of her cheek.
There was so much that they would need to discuss; to figure out.
But for now, Harvey's hand was lacing with hers and his mouth caught hers with another consuming kiss that made her knees weak. And for tonight, it was enough.
Heat rekindled in their careful touches and Donna sighed against his lips.
"Take me home," she capitulated, "Before we get ourselves into trouble and have to spend Christmas in jail."
He smirked, "If they put us in the same holding cell, it might not be that bad."
Donna rolled her eyes, "Sure. But do you want to explain this to Mike when he comes to bail us out?"
Harvey laughed and the sound shot warmth through her entire body.
"Fair point. Let's go."
He took her hand and she let him pull her from the semi-privacy of the bathroom back into the crowds of holiday travelers.
They were the only two with smiles on their faces as they walked down the terminal.