Very very good writing- even if i prefere the real thing to an almost :)

Oh I loveeeed this! The concept of weaving canon moments with fiction is always so fun. I loved how you showed us their banter in the office with the basketballs and then how things professed are the bar to lead to them never touching again (until that huge years later). The weaving of what was happening with flash forwards to moments we see in later seasons was awesome... This was so cool! Loved it!

Oh my god, that was amazing, and brutal, and sweet, and ripped my heart open and then kissed it better. You are amazing with the detail, the insight, just. Wow. 3

Wow! This was so well written. I felt like I could really visualize Donna and Harvey at the bar. The chemistry that they have, and the way their bodies gravitate toward one another as drinks progress. As disappointed as I was that she stopped it, I felt that it was great story telling, and classic Darvey. So much to love about this story. Thanks so much for writing it!

So sad! But it's avery good story though. It definitely could have happend.

THE VISUALS IN THIS FIC OMG THAT KISS, AND EVERYTHING BEFORE AND AFTER THAT WOW

Thank you for adding these add-ons to what's canon however painful (yet beautiful ofc) this was. Once again, I'll live in this bubble... and yeah who's to say this didn't happen huh? hahaha This truly makes a great backstory to their unspoken no-touching rule in the years that followed... up until they kissed again in 7x10 which opened up the floodgates to more touching. Looooool because they can't help it, they're them haha It's only a matter of time now before they fuck, i mean kiss again first of course hahahah

Loved this! THIS WAS EXCRUCIATINGLY BEAUTIFUL! Thank you, you beautiful writer you! Fabulous writing!

I remember reading this fic with a smile plastered on my face from beginning to end...
Very well-written books have that effect on me.

Reading this fic actually felt like watching an episode. But with much more intensity.

And the writing, oh the writing... You are a gifted-writer.
I could and would read anything you write, darvey or not.

Okay, wow. I don't know what I was expecting when you told me this was a 'flashback' fic but this was better than I could have ever imagined and I'm both so happy and gutted.

There were so many things I loved about this. Again, you wrote Donna brilliantly. You managed to capture her humor and allure and of course she was the rational one to stop the kiss. damn her.

When he called her Don, I lost it. I want this.

When he wants to know about her friends and she doesn't think he cares but he does and acts like he doesn't. My heart, it breaks.

Then her knees are between his legs and they are whispering in each others ears. The visual you built here is so steamy and the build with the background noise that neither of them notice, I felt so immersed. Not too much detail nor too little. It was dreamlike...or drunklike? I just had that feeling when you're with someone and you've had too much to drink and you hone in and everything else is a blur. Perfect.

"the anticipation of kissing Donna feels almost as good as actually kissing her" - oh, good for you Harv - I've been anticipating this for an eternity and can't say the same hahaha. But still, beautiful line.

He almost drags her out of her seat, yessssssssssss

"She's so selfless with him, while he so selfishly wants her" wow, amazing put and again my heart bleeds. I love this line and that whole paragraph about how they don't touch any more. wow. just wow.

This was amazing. The flow, the plot, the italics that gave us a taste of what we've seen in the future, just well done. Thank you Elle.

If this is how you write when ur not in the mood, i wonder how good u normally right! this is honestly amazing, this is my first time reading it, and it's become one of my all time Darvy Fics Favorites! I cant tell you how good this is for me, the longing the angst, the way u capture both of them, its amazing I was so focused when i was reading 3 I also love fics that preserve what we know but with more info/insights, and whose to say this never happened! Just amazing, bookmarking it ;)

so as i told you before, ever since i saw the title i was already on the floor and hating myself for not having time..but here we go. *grabs tissues cause im sure im gonna need them*

flashback fics are some of my favs and you always write them so well, gosh just this scene from the show.. that tone of voice when he says 'ooh so he's Michael now?' that hint of jealousy sdkghkdjf

HE IS CALLING HER TO CELEBRATE. KJDHGJKDS i always saw this moment as him testing the waters and sort of asking her out and you're doing it here.

he orders her scotch and she mentioned the ritual and im 306 trash. and she's so supportive of him, so proud. But he always makes it about THEM. Thanking her too and I love that.

donna spending her night with him instead of her friends and they're getting drunk and sittle close. HER KNEES BETWEEN HIS LEGS. he's so in love with her

HER HAND IS ON HIS KNEE, she's playing with his tie. IM BEYOND WEAK.

"I'm a sure thing." ...

'he doesn't know how he's supposes to not kiss her' if i could summarize flashback darvey in one line it's this.

the daring to stop him part...

HE DRAGS HIS LIPS OVER HERS. IM SUCHH TRASH. OMG. and she actually tugs on his lips

THEY ARE MAKING OUT. THEY ARE MAKING OUT. HELP.
I might actually have to check if i'm not asleep and dreaming right now.

and then they break apart, the fear.

'it's okay. it's not okay to go on. but it's okay.'
IM IN PHYSICAL PAIN... they're both so scared and dkjhgd i just - no words.

"what if this is us, donna?"

THE FREAKING HUG.

this was beyond perfection, never stop writing

I just...don't know how you fucking to it? or where I'm going to begin... I didn't take one note. that's how immersed I was. nor did I even think of taking them really, just focused on reading. entirely. completely. more so than I've been in a longggg time. I'm just gonna chat the shit that comes into my head as I remember this beautiful piece okay let's go.

the opening scene was perfection. I know it wasn't your dialogue, but you still made it your own with descriptions and shit. and you know them so well, it may as well have been your dialogue because it tied in perfectly with the rest, as if I was watching the show.

it was so easy for me to visualise everything. donna with her friend, that little smile as he walked into the bar. how her friend just knew and left them to it. loveddd the line about how them only having attention for each other in a bar packed with people, made it feel more intimate than if they were actually alone together. wow.

I could hear them hauntingly well as they spoke (flirted!). fetus them. so cute.

donna getting all touchy as she tells her joke. which he can't even concentrate on bc, well, donna fucking paulsen is touching him. ugh, my stomach did flips. his hand on her motherfucking thigh for christ sake. you showed no mercy. and I was a slut for it.

I had absolutely zero expectations of anything happening between them because of the nature of the fic. And even when it started to heat up I was like, okay she's gonna stop it before anything happens. AND THEN THEY FUCKING KISSED LIKE WHATTTTTT. CHOKED. MOUTH DROPPED, THE WORKS. I EVEN SIDE EYED AN INVISIBLE PERSON AS IF I WAS IN THE OFFICE AND THE CAMERA WAS ON MY FACE I WISH I WAS JOKING. okay let me calm down.

I was so happy it went this way because it's canon to me - until proven otherwise - that they had a slip up not too long after the other time. like, how could they not? oooof. so hot too. wow. I felt like I was in the bar spying on them like a pervert as I sip my beer and grin (to the camera, because I'm on The Office, remember)

I just don't know how to describe everything I felt properly, and do it justice. like. ugh. fuck. I'm so mad I haven't read fic in so long because this has been waiting for me all that time! we could have been discussing this!

you're such a great storyteller. your style. fabulous. an eye for detail I could only dream of. how you speak from their minds with your narrative. perfection. utterly captivating. drawn to every word. spectacular. flawless. extraordinary. never seen before. all the lady gaga meme words I can't recall now because my mind is still focused on harvey's hands on her thighs and her teeth tugging his lip.

when they parted, I felt empty. I knew it was coming but that smut hoe side to me wished you'd went AU with it hebe bebe. but also, no, because the way it is is just...gorgeous? and my new headcanon. this happened, okay? okay.

omg also nearly forgot! the whole "is it okay if we hug?" thing! that was soooo clever! cause I truly believe something like this could have happened because it makes so much sense with them acting like they're "always" okay at hugging in 7.11 when we'd barely seen them touch before that? one of my fav parts of the fic (1 of 2537272).

which leads my train of that to my next fangirling rant: EVERY single word you wrote in italics. soooo accurate. even though the show is too ambiguous, and won't tell us these things, I have no doubt he felt this way during all those moments. wondering is she actually always right all the time, and if not, could she have been wrong about ending things during their drunken celebration night. ugh, my feelings. and the way you talked about them consciously/subconsciously deciding not to touch anymore. at the cab as they hugged (TOO BRIEFLY FOR HIM, MY HEART) and just knew they couldn't touch anymore. bar brief shoulder bumps etc that we all know they secretly do on purpose hehe.

anyway, I know I'm forgetting a million perfect little details but I'm just gonna take a cop out and say that doesn't matter because if I mentioned everything I liked, I'd be writing all day and you'd be reading a fic length review.

elle, thank you. can't wait for you to kill the fandom with your next gem which I still haven't recovered from.

~nothing quite made my heart ache~ like this piece of art that should be on display in The Louvre.

ALL my love,

etty, x.

i loved it

You’re so brilliant. No one makes their almosts as perfect as you. I think you wrote their banter perfectly and I simply love them even more through your words.

Oh my.

I don't care what the scripts say, let's all agree that this scene actually took place off-camera. It explains so much about their relationship, their odd intimacy where they are so connected (but they never touch). This makes so much sense, that I'm just going to pencil it in as if it belongs there.

Nicely done. Thank you.

ANOTHER KILLER ONE imma pretend to be shocked here
I love your ability to set up a scene we have already seen, but you add all these extra little details that makes it all wosbskskjss like “He leaves his office while she pats his ball with a way too self satisfied smile on her lips and he's sure there's a metaphor there he's just not willing to dwell on.” I loved this so much?

I get weak every time he calls her “Don” ASDFKL

You have this uncanny ability to get their banter just so head on I can’t even fathom it you could so write for the show no doubt.

All the little details how he feels her close, tells her a story into her hair which he could smell and he’s getting all boyish and crazy next to her. IS IT GETTING HOT IN HERE OR IS IT JUST ME

omg when she plays Janet and pretends he’s the guy woshsjsks POOR HARVEY and try to keep it in your pants (good luck)

Ok the whole lead into the kiss made me hold my breath no joke idk how you can prolong it like you do and describe it in such a way it feels like I’m watching it IDK HOW YOU DO IT BUT ITS A GIFT and the kiss itself my god- I’m- I need a moment. I love when writers write more than “they kissed a lot for a while” etc bc I know the patience and frustration that goes in writing these descriptions so I’m just clapping your brain

I tried quoting a part of it but then almost quoted the entire thing but I have to say this part “He's blind, except for the occasional glimpse of red hair, pale skin and reddened lips before his eyes.” hit me in the damn feeeels.

“She looks fearful” OH I felt that in my bones. I can SEE IT. Gosh and then their tentative convo and the “someday in the future” lines WHY U GOTTA DO ME LIKE THAT ELLE. And then she has to go and ask him how he is and ask for a hug and this is now canon that this happened (I mean I always thought they slipped again after ToT but now I have concrete visuals).

Anyway. Ya killed me again I hope you know that.