There a bit of businessy/legal jargon in here, tbh i made it up completely and i dont have a clue if it does/doesnt make sense. Just go along with it and if you read it fast enough you can still enjoy the story for what/whom its really about ;)

...

Donna was glad to see the back of another long, drawn out week. The overwhelming loneliness she felt had become her new normal, the deafening silence rang in her ears as she sat alone in her apartment. She was in a permanent state of exhaustion, lying awake all night and regretting it all day.

Harvey had been absent for the past few days and she assumed it was something to do with avoiding her. She had been slotting in next months partner's meetings to his schedule earlier and had seen he was flying to Seattle this weekend. She had been hurt that Rachel hadn't told her he was visiting her and Mike, infact she had barely heard from Rachel at all. She told herself she didn't care, but here she was thinking about it.

The roses had stopped since she complained to the florists, but the phone calls were becoming more frequent. She had obviously stopped answering the calls when they came through but she still clenched her jaw everytime she saw a missed call on her phone. It was impossible to block them since there was no caller ID and she considered getting a new number but she had hundreds if not thousands of contacts out there and if she changed her number her network that enabled her to do her thing would be lost. No, he had taken enough away from her already. Mark wasn't winning this one. It may have been reckless but honestly she just didn't care anymore.

Her thoughts went back to Harvey as she downed another glass of his favourite drink. She was out of wine and the bottle she kept primarily for him was too tempting as she refilled the tumbler. She missed him, she missed him in every aspect of her life. She missed their old dynamic, their chemistry, their drinking and flirting. But mostly she missed the gentler side he had begun to show her, they had only been seeing eachother for such a short time. He wasn't oblivious to the fact she wasn't quite herself but he hadn't pushed her, that's why it didn't make sense that when she did open up he fled. Left her and barely spoke to her since. Now he was leaving town, to see her closest friend and he hadn't though to mention it. Maybe he really was the same old self centered Harvey.

Despite how he had made her feel, she lay down in bed and imagined Harvey lay next to her, she tried to recall the feel of his chest under her head or his hand in her hair but he hadn't stuck around long enough after the other time. She pulled her pillow into her and closed her eyes, she felt tired enough to sleep if her mind would just let her settle.

...

Harvey Specter had a plan, he needed help from the best mind he knew to pull it off and until then he was going to remain on edge.

"Finally!" Mike reached out his hand to shake Harvey's as they met in the airport, pulling him into a quick hug and slapping him on the back. "You look awful by the way."

Harvey blew a breath out of his nose in amusement. "Thanks. A six hour flight after a week's work at a real law firm'll do that to a guy." Harvey tried to joke but Mike just pursed his lips and cocked his head and the air around them dried up fast. Harvey nodded knowingly.

"Rachel's worried about Donna, so we need to hurry up with this..we can talk in the car."

They get back to the car quickly and after ribbing Mike about his choice of vehicle, they set off towards his and Rachel's new apartment.

The roads are so clear and quiet that Harvey finds it almost unnerving. There are mountains and trees and scenery and quiet. Harvey briefly thinks he could imagine living here one day, maybe when he retires. Maybe with Donna, if she would. His chest tightens as he is reminded of the reason he's here, as if he could forget.

"So what do you have so far?" Mike asked flicking his gaze from the road to Harvey quickly.

"Samantha did some digging-"

"You didn't tell her anything did you?" Mike interrupted.

"Of course not. She owed me one and I told her it was for you." He frowned before continuing.

"She found out that Meadows works for Prokop Engineering, it's a Seattle based start up that focuses on ethical construction with some pretty unethical practices.. so all we need to do it march in there and blindside those fraudulent bastards into pinning everything on Meadows. He'll go down for a minimum of 10 years, more if we get him for the tax evasion too."

"And you need me to do the talking as the new hotshot in town who just happened to be looking into the operations of the rival businesses of the ethical companies we represent at Zane Ross."

"Glad to see you've still got it, kid." Harvey nodded averting his gaze straight out of the window.

"And then what?" Harvey didn't respond straight away and Mike continued. "What about Donna?"

Harvey sighed, his mind drifting back to the last time he saw her sat alone at her desk. Concentration on her face as she wrote with that 4 colour pen she insisted on using, she had looked tired and he knew her spark had gone. She had suffered one too many times to be able to bounce back so easily this time and he hated that he may have been the final straw.

He hadn't meant to storm out of her apartment like that, but it was the only way. He knew she wasn't herself and she didn't trust herself enough to get through a trial. She was still humiliated from last time Malik ripped her to shreds on the stand, giving her a reputation as an actress and a liar in court. Her confidence was through the floor after the attack and from his own actions prior to that too. But she would never recover until she knew he wasn't coming back. Harvey had to come up with a way to get that bastard to pay for what he had done.

It had almost broken him to stay away from her, to let her believe the worst about him. That he really was a heartless bastard who didn't care about anyone but himself. He had to watch from a distance but he could see the despair in her features, in the set of her shoulders and the way she walked or slumped in her chair. It killed him but he couldn't let her know he was digging up information on Mark Meadows.

Harvey had suspected he was shady even all those years ago when he was dating Donna, he never knew exactly what he did for work but he knew that Mark didn't like the fact Donna worked at a law firm and definitely didn't like the fact she worked for one of the most promising lawyers at that firm. If Donna had known his plan she might have asked him to leave it alone, not to get involved and he could never deny her. And then what? So he just didn't say anything. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"I just have to hope she can forgive me."

...

They got back to Mike and Rachel's apartment relatively quickly and Harvey was impressed with their place. He commented on all the space they had compared to their Manhattan apartment and promised he would sort out finding a tenant soon, although he had a plan for that too.

They had filled Rachel in on the plan and she had cooked a delicious meal for them. They talked over dinner about their respective firms and caught up about mutual friends and colleagues until finally they fell silent, all their minds on the same person.

"How is she Harvey?" Rachel blurted. He sighed again and his shoulders sagged, his arms felt heavy and he yearned to hold her again.

"To be honest, she's not good. I've not even seen her for a few days, we've not really spoken either since that night."

Rachel looked bereft. "Harvey, she must be so alone. I've not called her because you know I can't lie to her, I knew she would guess something was going on!"

Harvey nodded, knowing she would pick up on anything. It was what she did, none of them knew how she did it but they loved her for it anyway. That was why he had to let Donna believe he was still the same closed off Harvey, only capable of thinking about Number One and walk away from her that night. It was the only way but it was something he would probably never forgive himself for, no matter what happened.

That night as he lay in Mike and Rachel's guest bedroom, his mind was on Donna and what she was doing. He hoped she would be sleeping, as it would be 3 am in New York, but deep down he just knew she wasn't. For now he had to focus on getting through tomorrow and hoping his plan would work.

...

Their meeting at Prokop had gone exactly as they hoped and Harvey had hung around in Seattle for an extra 24 hours to make sure there was no way Meadows was getting out of this. The case was already in the hands of the FBI and his source assured him Mark Meadows was going down for his actions and for those of his partners.

Harvey undid his seat belt as the sign went off above his head, the plane had just landed and he wanted to be the first to get off. Even in business class these things weren't very comfortable for 6 hour journeys, he thought. He grabbed his bag and sailed off the plane and through the airport in record time, he didn't have any bags to collect so he went straight outside and hailed a cab to the firm.

It was late Monday morning and Harvey felt the chill of the New York air biting compared to the warmer breeze of Seattle. He was hoping Donna was at the firm, if not he would take the day to go and find her. He wasn't sure what he was going to say or how to explain but he knew he couldn't stay away from her any longer, she had been through so much and he just wanted to be able to hold her and comfort her and make her realize that wasn't who he was anymore. He just hoped she would let him.

The journey to the firm seemed to take forever, the New York traffic gridlocked and then the elevator seemingly stopping at every damn floor on the way up. Harvey had to stop himself from grinding his teeth audibly until finally they made it to the 52nd floor, he almost jogged around the corner to her office but it was empty. He frowned and turned on his heel towards the kitchen, maybe she was getting coffee or lunch? She wasn't in there either.

He bypassed his secretary without a word and marched into his office, stopping suddenly when he saw Donna placing some files on his desk and stepping back as if she was trying to leave no trace of being here. She turned around and yelped as she became face to face with Harvey, her hand went to her chest in at attempt to settle her racing heart.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" He spluttered.

"It's fine." She pushed past him and went to leave.

"Donna, wait." He stood awkwardly shifting his weight from foot to foot. "Can we talk? Later I mean? Not here."

"I'm not sure there's anything to say, Harvey." She replied flatly. Why was he trying to stoke the flames again, just when she had managed to put them out.

"I have something I need to tell you and its important."

"Sure, Harvey." She yielded and walked out the office without another word. On the walk back to her office she let her mind churn over what he could want to tell her, he had been to Seattle so had something happened to Rachel or Mike? Was that the reason for his trip? He looked tired and stressed so it obviously hadn't been a relaxing weekend away. Was that why she had barely heard from Rachel recently? Just as she got to her office she decided she needed to know now and walked straight back to his office.

"Harvey-" He had just sat at his desk when she appeared back at his door, his eyes shot up to hers and she looked worried. She shut his door gently behind her and stood in front of his desk. "Can we talk now? I don't want to wait if something is wrong with Rachel or-"

"No, no it's not that Donna. Rachel and Mike are..fine." He couldn't lie and say they were good, their concern for Donna was affecting them all.

"What is it then?" Her brow furrowed and she slowly sat down at his desk.

"I didn't want to do this here, Donna. You have to let me finish before you-"

"Just spit it out, Harvey!"

"OK, well I had Samantha dig into..Meadows," He avoided her eyes instead looking down at his hands interlaced on his desk. "She found that him and his partners were up to some shady shit, the company is Seattle based so Mike and I went along to speak to the CEO, long story short is that Meadows is going down for at least ten years and you don't need to go to court. At least not unless you change your mind, but he's behind bars and he can't hurt you." He finished and nervously glanced up to her face, she looked back at him blankly but suddenly she was blinking and her eyes were moving left to right and she was replaying what he had just told her and he swore he saw a glimpse of something in her face that had been missing for too long.

She stood up smoothing her dress down, her mind was spinning with relief and she didn't have the strength to be annoyed with Harvey for keeping his plan from her, for getting Samantha and Mike involved and undoubtedly working in the grey again.

"Thank you, Harvey." She nodded sincerely but she couldn't separate her gratitude from the fact he had left her that night without an explanation, it has been cruel and she was still reeling.

"Will you come over later?" He blurted before she could leave his office again, he had a lot more to tell her.

She stopped in her tracks but didn't turn back to him. "Not tonight." She continued out of his office and now he was the one who didn't know where he stood. She seemed to disappear after that and he didn't see her for the rest of the day. Once he finished for the day he tried to call her but her phone was off so he assumed she was having an early night and decided he would have to wait to speak to her.

The next morning she was late for work and it wasn't until he needed her for something around 11 am that he realized her office was untouched and she still wasn't there. He rang her but again it went straight to voicemail and he hung up, concern swirled in his chest and he just had to see her.

Thirty minutes later and Ray pulled up at her apartment building and Harvey jumped out without even saying anything, he was too focused on Donna. He had had enough of elevators and took the stairs instead, running up them two at a time. Finally, he was at number 206 and he knocked gently and took the opportunity to catch his breath.

"Donna, it's me. Harvey." He stood there for what felt like eternity before pressing his ear to the door. He couldn't hear anything but he sensed she was in there so he fumbled in his pocket for the spare key she had given him and unlocked the door. The curtains were still closed in her living room and it made the corridor pitch black until he fumbled around for a light switch. Once he could see where he was going he turned left towards her bedroom, the door was closed and he gently pushed it open whispering her name.

Sunlight illuminated the curtains and he could clearly see she was lay in the middle of the bed, under duvet on her side. She was clutching a pillow to her chest whilst fast asleep. He stopped in his tracks and felt relief run through him. Donna looked truly relaxed and he realized it had been a long time since he saw her like that. But it was odd that she was still asleep at midday on a weekday when she should be in work and it suddenly struck him that she could be sick.

"Donna?" He whispered as he didn't want to startle her. She didn't stir so he sat on the edge of the bed and gently pushed her hair back away from her face before trying again.

This time she stirred and rolled onto her back one hand coming to rest on the pillow above her head, but she seemed to drift off again just as quickly. He shook by the shoulder gently, his big palm wrapping around her bones so easily he was scared he could break her.

"Donna, wake up."

"Mhmm."

"Open your eyes." She ignored him but brought a hand to her face instead. "Its nearly midday, are you sick?"

She shook her head from side to side on her pillow. "Go away, Harvey." She rolled back onto her side so her back was facing him. He sighed and just stared at her, torn between getting annoyed with her and making her wake up so he knew she was OK or leaving her to sleep as much as she needed. The fact she hadn't physically kicked him out of her bedroom after everything concerned him, she didn't even seem surprised he was there.

As she slipped back into consciousness and the confusion left her she realized she could still feel his weight on the mattress next to her, she ached for him to hold her but was still so unsure of where they stood. Was this still what he wanted?

"You're still there." She muttered into the sheets and he exhaled in reply.

"I wasn't going to leave you again." Her heart started racing and she rolled onto her back, she dreaded to think how she looked after being asleep for so long but she had month's worth to catch up. As soon as Harvey had said Mark was gone she had felt the overwhelming urge to get into her bed and sleep, and she had for almost 18 hours. She didn't know how to respond to him so instead she reached out her hand to touch his resting on the mattress. "Donna." His voice was low and deep and cut straight into her.

"I know." He reached his other hand out to gently stroke her cheek and lent down to kiss her. She kissed him back and a tear rolled across her cheek and back onto the pillow, he pulled back and kissed her tears away before lying down next to her and pulling her close, taking a few minutes to just breathe her in.

An hour later and they were in her kitchen sharing a coffee, he had filled her in on the ins and outs of what happened in Seattle and texted Mike to let him know Donna knew everything and the coast was clear if they wanted to get in touch. Donna had thanked him again and explained she had found it hard to believe he would just walk away from her like that , deep down she knew there had to be more to it and he was relieved she still had some faith in him.

He had reluctantly gone back to work and invited her over to his place later on with the promise of cooking her dinner, she had agreed before going back to bed to continue her catch up.

...

"I thought maybe you could stay the night?" They had shared dinner at his place and it was getting late, despite the being asleep for most of the past 24 hours Donna yawned.

"I can't Harvey, I've..I've not got anything with me.. You know, to sleep in and for tomorrow.." She stuttered, her pulse racing at the thought of sharing a bed with him.

"I can lend you something." He grins, seemingly thrilled at the notion. But she doesn't reply and his smile falls.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"What? No, no of course not." She put a hand on his cheek and glanced at his mouth.

"I'd love to stay Harvey." His smile returns and she can't stop her face automatically mirroring his. "But are you sure you'll be okay sleeping on the couch?" She asks too innocently and lands a kiss on his gaping mouth.

She leaves his bathroom and tugs at the hem of his Harvard t-shirt, willing it to cover more of her bare legs. His face lights up when he sees her emerge and he bites the inside of his cheeks to try and prevent looking like such a smug bastard sat up against the headboard.

"Don't think I don't know you had this planned, Specter."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He pulls back the duvet in an invitation for her to join him. She slips in the bed and he turns off the light, the only illumination coming from the moon so she can see his silhouette. He lets out a breath when she shimmies towards him, rests a hand on his chest and nuzzles into his neck.

"Goodnight, Harvey." Harvey had bedded women for fun for his entire adult life. Yet here he was nearly 15 years into a relationship without sex feeling more contentment that he ever had before.

He pulled her towards him and sighed. "Goodnight, Donna." Placing a kiss into her hair before drifting off to sleep.

...

Thanks for reading.
One more chapter? or leave it there?