Okay this was supposed to be a short one-shot, but turns out I suck at those so I had to split it into two chapters for easier reading.

Post 7.10 angst and M-Rated storm shenanigans, followed by fluff and then more smut.. and then more fluff..

Shoutout to my mains Ali & Michelle who helped keep me motivated with this one and are the most enthusiastic cheerleaders and reviewers a friend could ask for.

Hope y'all enjoy! x

Powerless

Donna presses down on the elevator button, tapping it frantically and furiously countless times until her finger almost hurts and she hears the familiar 'ping' that signals the beginning of her gut-wrenching journey to the top floor. The shiny silver doors gush open and she steps inside, blood still boiling as she replays the vivid memories of that night's intense row between her and her once best friend inside his office.

.

"You think treating me like shit is the best way to handle all of this, Harvey!?" Donna fired back after their heated late night argument.

"Well, if you don't like how I'm handling all of this, Donna.. you know where the door is. So why not just go?" he countered, somewhat reluctantly.

"Go?" she whispered, shaking her head in disgust as she bit down on the inside of her lip.

"If that's what you want." Harvey murmured, unable to look at her as he said it, his eyes landing over his desk as he stood hunched over it, grateful for the large object between them, before he watched her walk out in disappointment and defeat.

.

Her own reflection in the mirrored walls of the elevator car catches her off guard. Her hair is flat and wet. Mascara threatening to run. Her off-white Cashmere trench coat soaked thanks to the pouring rain outside. She had been standing out among the worsening storm a bit too long, staring up at his building in the heavy nighttime winds, letting the rain soothe her thoughts, keeping her mind leveled, but not allowing it to extinguish the fire in her. She can also see the anger in her eyes. Along with the hurt. She looks away before the pain overrides the frustration and she is left unable to continue on her quest, to hash things out with him once and for all. She knows she needs to be mad if she is going to say what she has to say.

As the lift pulls to a stop and the doors fly open, she suddenly feels bitter cold chills course through her entire body. Deep down she knows the stormy weather isn't to blame for the army of butterflies forcefully forming a trepidatious tornado inside her stomach.

Donna steps outside of the elevator, her heels clinking against the marble floor, echoing along with her thoughts and thudding in sync with her heart. She turns the corner and lands in front of the door. His door. One she rarely had to knock on, often just letting herself inside instead. But things definitely weren't like that anymore. Not since he had gotten with his ex-therapist who was now his ex-girlfriend as of one week ago. She didn't know how it ended, nobody did. She was unaware that he was the one to see sense and break it off, she just knew how he had been treating her since; like it was all her fault.

With a shaky inhale and another lengthy sigh, the redhead raises her finely manicured hand to the wooden barrier. One of many such divides between them within the last thirteen days, since she kissed him, and he let her kiss him.

With her head down, she gives four sharp knocks. A powerful roar of thunder outside almost drowning them out entirely.

But Harvey hears them still. He knows exactly who they are from too.

The lawyer breaths in as the hollow sounds echo throughout his apartment. They were quick and loud, telling him she wasn't here for a friendly chat. He leaves his glass of scotch down on the coffee table beside his blossoming cactus -the plant being the opposite symbolism for their relationship right now. He removes himself from the black leather sofa, wanting to stay stuck to is as he drags himself up anyway. As he makes way across the living room, he finds himself almost wishing the blizzard-like winds outside his windows would swoop in to whisk him away before he can get to the door.

Halfway down the hallway he hears another set of knocks, more impatient than the last. He tries to say something, 'I'm coming', anything, but nothing comes out. All he can picture is her broken facial expression from earlier that night at work, before she left his office. How her eyes glossed over, sparkling with a layer of fresh liquid as he spat out insults and accusations. How her voice cracked as she barked back, despite her desperate attempt to respond calmly. How her lips had quivered when she tried to speak again, but him telling her to leave had taken her aback, rendering her speechless, unable to get the words out past the lump in her throat, so instead she just looked him over, disbelief and disgust painted all over her snowy features, and left.

He watched her tall, slender frame fading down the hallway, swearing he could see her lift a hand to her cheek. Did I just make her cry? At work? His feet were itching to chase her. His heart aching to call after her. His brain trying to register what the hell had just happened between them, and forcing him to stay put.

Of course he didn't want her to go, he just meant she leave the office, afraid he would spit more angry slurs at her if she stayed. But maybe he did let it sound like something more serious, out of spite. He was determined to come across as cold and indifferent as possible. The opposite to how he felt whenever he thought of Donna Paulsen. His break-up with Paula the week beforehand still forcing him to confront the feelings he had long since locked away and thrown into the deep sea of his thoughts, since the day the redhead asked that they 'put it out of their minds and never mention it again'. Which he did without question, for her. However, the never mentioning it again part proved much easier, as he found himself thinking of that night they shared every day since.

So her kissing him, knowing he was in a relationship, confused him. And angered him. Not even so much because he was with someone at the time, which was undoubtedly a major factor in his resentment, but also because she had just done the very thing he had dreamed of doing ever since she reinforced her rule in that diner, the very thing she insisted they never do with one another again.

As he clenches his fingers around the metal handle, a sinking feeling develops in the pit of his stomach, knowing that he deserves each and every torrent of the figurative storm that's headed his way as soon as he breaks the barricade between them.

The door sweeps open. He stands there, his arm still on the handle, subconsciously leaning on it for support. His deep, sorrowful eyes meet hazel-green orbs full of fury. Her pupils the furthest from dilated he thinks he's ever seen. The whites of her eyes are reflecting the light that shone from his hallway, which also highlights her dampened locks as the mascara starts to falter ever so slightly at the corners of her eyes.

As soon as he registers her somewhat disheveled appearance, his protectiveness kicks in, "Donna! How long were you out in that? You'll catch your death!" he scolds in concern as he frowns gently, automatically moving towards her.

He senses an uneasy pang in his chest then as she, without stepping out of place, gravitates her body backwards, away from him and his arm that was about to find its way to her.

She just looks him straight in the eye, a minor glower surfacing over her blank expression, telling him she doesn't want to be touched, by him.

He swallows back the hurt and stands to one side, "Do you wanna come in?"

Her stern stare tells him that was exactly what she expected him to ask anyway. Harvey feels a cold breeze brush past him as she makes her way inside, only releasing her gaze from his once she's behind him. He slams the door shut with a sigh, following her soon after.

Donna reaches the kitchen island, carelessly dropping her black Dior handbag onto the white marble counter, before she stops in the space between the kitchen and living area, turning right around on her heels to face him as he catches up to her.

"We need to talk." she spits out, well aware the anger inside her could add fuel to the fire all too quickly.

"I know." he agrees softly, eyes drifting down her wet coat, almost afraid to look at her, and the state he put her in, also hoping that speaking calmly would diffuse her anger somewhat. "I was thinking about coming to see you ..to apologise," His tone becomes more somber and defensive as she lets out a dry laugh in disbelief, "I was, Donna! I just.. what with the storm.." he mumbles, throwing his thumb towards the chaos outside the huge windows behind him, knowing a storm would never stop him from finding her, he just finds himself unable to tell her that he was too afraid to go see her. Afraid of what he might blurt out during what was bound to be another heated discussion. Words of anger and resentment possibly. But what petrified him more, was the risk of him spilling out the truth, about how he really feels about her, for her.

"Well thinking about it and doing it are two completely different things!" the redhead scoffs, "I mean, I managed to make it here just fine?" she challenges, wanting him to know what a bullshit excuse for not attempting to see her that was.

"Did you?" he quizzes, nodding towards her drenched coat before his eyes land back on her honey waves, almost dripping with water.

"Are you just tryna piss me off even further?" Her eyes narrow as her brows furrow in bemusement and frustration, "Because if so, you're doing a great job!"

He steps ever so slightly closer then, "Donna, of course I'm not-"

"Whatever, Harvey." She shuts her eyes and raises her hands mid air to cut him off, before reversing the two actions and continuing, "Like I said, I'm here to talk," she states again, trying to muster up every ounce of courage and composure, "because just ignoring what happened between us clearly isn't working out. Doing what we always do; skirt the issue, sweep it under the rug! This time, last time ..the other time!"

Her voice is charged with a tone he doesn't recognise, immediately putting him even more off ease. "You asked me to ignore the other time? To put it out of my mind! Never speak of it again!" he defends, confused and angry, his voice raising a couple of octaves.

"But I didn't ask you to ignore ME all those years ..Harvey!" she shouts back in the heat of the moment, his name a breathless whisper at the end of a loud, aching cry.

He pulls his head back, frowning, somewhat shocked and saddened all at once, creasing his brows, confused at how the one woman he felt he could never stop thinking about all these years, felt as though he had been ignoring her. He didn't know what to say to make it better, to mend over ten years of hurt, shame and torment oozing from his features now.

She reads his bewildered face easier than one of her Shakespeare scripts, forcing her to elaborate, "For over twelve years, the majority of the time.. you've made me feel like nothing more than the woman who makes your life work! Answering your phones, arranging your meetings, fixing your freaking ties!" She throws her hands in the air with vexation, a deep sigh falling from her throat afterwards, lips trembling as the pain behind her words hits them both. However, she knows deep down that she has always been far more to him than just his girl Friday. Her subconscious just wants him to challenge her, to correct her, tell her she's wrong.

"You think I don't see you? That I don't recognise you?" he objects, his head cocking to one side as his brows lower in shock.

"You think you do?" she counters, looking off to her right, shaking her head at his obliviousness.

Harvey shuffles on the spot, unsure how to word what he wants to say, knowing that she was talking about more than work. "I gave you a promotion, Donna? I see all of the hard work you do for the firm, and for me, I always have, that place can't run without you. I can't run without y-" He stops himself, unable to open up as much as he wants, just yet.

"Jesus Christ Harvey! I'm not just talking about work!" she cries, confirming what his instinct had told him anyway.

He takes a sudden turn then and before he can talk himself out of it, like all the other times he has convinced himself not to open up to her during intimate or heated moments, he takes a step towards her, eager to close the gap somewhat.

The rain pelting off the glass walls, along with the whistling winds, helps fill the hellish silence with a heavenly melody.

"Donna." he says firmly, until her eyes are trained on his, "You are all I have been able to see since that first night in the bar all those years ago." he reassures her, a softer tone to his voice as he feels himself slowly unraveling his long subdued feelings for her.

The exhausted redhead lets out a shaky breath, her thudding heart pushing the air out of her lungs. What's he trying to say? Is this just another 'you know I love you, Donna'?

Before she lets herself fall in closer to him, both figuratively and literally, she allows the raw memories of their row just hours prior to get her blood racing again, reminding her of the reason she stormed over there in the first place, the reason she was conscious to anyway, instead of going home like she initially planned.

"Well, it didn't seem like that a couple of hours ago!" she counters back bitterly.

"In what way, exactly?" he knew exactly what way, he was just at a loss for anything else to say, stalling for time, his heartbeat developing a more rapid rhythm now.

His apparent ignorance only pisses her off even further, "Don't play dumb with me, Harvey. How dare you treat me like that back at the firm today? And every other day for the last two weeks for that matter!" Donna pauses for a breath, as if contemplating her next statement before deciding to proceed anyway, "If you wanna hate me in your own time then fine, but please, do us all a favour and grow the hell up when we're at work. We've got a firm to run in case you've forgotten?" she spits out, thinking of how hard she had worked to get where she was now, and how him treating her badly at the office, may affect how others see her there.

Harvey finds himself stuck focusing on one word used in her rage-filled rant. Hate? The thought of her actually believing that he was possible of hating her, even for just a second, almost broke him right then and there. His fears and doubts choose not to comment on that part yet though, feeling as if his opposing argument would only fall on deaf ears now anyway. She was too mad to hear the truth, her infuriated eyes sending daggers at him still. "I didn't plan on saying any of that today, Donna. It all just ..came out. I didn't mean a word of it. I've kept it as professional as possible every other day, since after the.." The fact that he can't even say 'kiss' only adds to her tempered rage as she releases a brief, dry cackle in amusement, "What? You don't agree?" he challenges, failing to fully accept how cold he had been after his break up; barely making eye contact with her at work, talking to her through other people, dismissing her ideas at meetings.

"You make me feel this small 'every other day', Harvey.." she whispers, her voice quaking as she holds up her right hand, her thumb and forefinger a mere millimetre apart, emphasising her heartbreaking statement.

He looks at the tiny gap between her digits, such a small space, the furthest representation away from the immeasurable amount of love he actually has for her. He steps closer again then, ashamed, wanting to both bury his head in the sand and run away at the same time. But his need to comfort her outweighs his own selfish wants. He also has a swelling desire to grab hold of her, hug her brains out, show her just how much he adores her, worships her, loves her, simply by the tightness of his arms around her. But then his overworked mind steps in to rule over his heart, afraid of rejection yet gain as he stops himself, swallowing back the dry, raspy lump forming in his trachea.

She is unable to withstand his lengthy silence any longer, the wind and rain somehow only amplifying the quietness this time. "I'm sorry that I kissed you okay?" she exhales somewhat reluctantly, looking away when she finishes, before finding his confused eyes again as she decides to continue, "I didn't regret it until now. Because like I told you the night after it happened, I needed to know how I felt about you, Harvey. It was driving me crazy! But I wish I never did it now. Jesus Christ, pretending like there was nothing going on between us for the last decade has been less painful than these past couple of weeks!" Donna cries before inhaling a shaky breath, "I'm exhausted, Harvey." she ends in a defeated whisper, her eyes glistening heavily with unshed tears.

His stomach performs a spontaneous somersault as he registers her words. How she regrets the kiss. He had never actually told her how he felt about it, refusing to, seeing as he was still with Paula the only other time they discussed it, almost two weeks ago now. The truth was, he didn't regret it at all. Not leaning in. Not kissing her back. None of it. Because even though he reacted with anger and resentment, which he had needed time to overcome, it had forced him to wake up from his slumber, and slowly begin to realise that he was missing out the chance at something he would soon lose forever if he didn't come to his senses. Someone he would lose forever.

"And I'm sorry ..that I broke you and Paula up." she whispers, barely able to get it out as her voice trembles with guilt.

"Donna," He closes his eyes and shakes his head slightly, rubbing his lids with his thumb and forefinger before meeting eyes with her again, desperately needing to exonerate her from the heavy blame she put on herself, "that wasn't on you," he finishes in a soft, affirming tone, "and I don't want you thinking that anymore." The fact that the woman who doesn't apologise for who she is, something he greatly admired, felt the need to say sorry for so much, truly devastated him.

She quizzes him with her eyes alone, reminding him of how his recent behaviour has directly contradicted what he just said. He inhales before breathing out slowly, "Look, I know I've been a dick lately, okay? I should never have treated you like that, ever. It makes me sick to my stomach, Donna." He waits for to focus her gaze on him again, finally ready to admit the things he has just realised himself in the last two weeks, "I ran to her because.. I was afraid of how much I wanted to run to you."

Donna feels her head spinning, desperately trying to decipher his surprising statement, before his next words hit her full force.

"I was petrified that your 'more' wasn't the same as my more. And also petrified that it was. Because.. how the hell, after all these years, was I just gonna turn into the man you deserved overnight? I was too afraid that I'd hurt you, because you're the only person I cannot stand to hurt." His watery eyes are matching her own then as his lips begin to crack under the nerves, his voice sounding higher, his mental state becoming more emotional.

"Harvey.." she whispers, faintly inching closer to him.

He gathers himself somewhat then, feeling the need to elaborate, "You didn't break us up, Donna. You just sped up the process. It was never gonna work. She was the you I wasn't afraid to be with, because well, she wasn't you. Nobody is."

She looks at him with widened eyes and a gaped mouth. The look he hasn't seen since the night he told her he loved her and then left. She doesn't know what to say, and never imagined he would be opening up to her like this tonight.

He can't take the stormy silence any longer and decides to ask her the question that's been burning at him since she uttered the stinging statement, "You really regret it?" he questions, slightly apprehensively, speaking more softly with her now, the same sweet tones he used with her when he was there to comfort her after the Malik trial, in the days before the kiss. Before his loving 'for Donna only' voice was replaced with a cold, harsh and bitterly-tuned one.

Donna couldn't help but pick up on the utter disappointment behind his reply, even though he thought he had masked it, but she was Donna. She furrows her brows, somewhat confused, thinking he would have been happy to hear her say that she wished she never overstepped the line with him. She nods anyway before sighing as she spoke, "I miss us, Harvey." the woman lets out in defeat, her nose starting to sting, her eyelids lowering as her eyes fill with burgeoning tears, "I miss you."

He wonders if she can hear his heart throbbing as much as he can, aching for her, for them both. The crack in her voice making him want to repeat her own words back to her straight away. But he can see that she has more to say, so he lets her finish.

"And I don't know how to live in a world where my best friend acts like hates me." she finishes in anguish, almost inaudibly as her voice croaks, shaking her head and biting her lip as her anger is drown out by a tearful monsoon of melancholy, finally allowing herself to show the vulnerability she had been hiding since the kiss.

Without a second thought Harvey gravitates towards her, reaching his arms out to firmly, yet tenderly, grab hold of her own, just below the shoulders, feeling the need to rid her of that belief, "Donna. I could never hate you!" he states confidently, locking eyes with her, transfixing her with his somber stare, "I never have. I never could. And I never will. I wouldn't even know how to. No matter what you did." He inhales then, softening his voice even more so, "I'm sorry if I don't tell you that enough. Or ever. But I'm telling you now, and I'll tell you again and again until I'm blue in the face if that's what it takes for you to believe it." He was almost shedding his tears at the sight of her own cheeks, two drying tear-stains resting on her ivory flesh, peeling back some of her makeup, exposing a few of the light freckles he has often found himself staring at.

The seemingly rekindling duo share a hypnotizing stare, both allowing themselves to succumb to their ever present infatuation for one another. He couldn't help but feel as though she was unconvinced however, given his behaviour over the last two weeks, a complete contradiction to his words.

Something, a thought, a feeling, wakes her then and she looks away, still sensing his magnetic gaze under her skin, trying to pull her back in, almost succeeding before she finds the courage to speak, "I don't need you to tell me that you don't hate me Harvey." Donna whispers, her emphasis on the word not going amiss. She looks back at him, her trembling eyes freshly dilated and hinting at her need to hear something else, something more specific, something opposite to hate.

Harvey knows what she needs him to say, what he wants to say. He slides his palms down her damply coated arms until his fingers are wrapped around her hands, his thumbs encircling the racing pulse in her wrists, soothing them. He inhales, hoping the words come out with as much meaning as he feels when he thinks of how much he loves her, "How could I possibly hate the one person, the only person, I have loved, everyday, for the last thirteen years?"

Donna's brain starts going into overdrive, and at the same time feels like it's shutting down altogether. Her heart is slamming against the inside of her chest, so much so that she can feel the sound echoing inside her head as her pulse beats against her ear drum. Both organs desperately trying to decide on a suitable reaction as she processes his question, albeit rhetorical.

'Why?'
'You know why. You know I love you, Donna'

She can't help but dwell on the fact that he has told her that he loves her in the past, then failed, or refused, to follow through on the 'how' part. Ultimately furthering the wedge between them that had been slowly but malignantly growing ever since she reinstated her rule. She senses something different this time, however. Perhaps the way he's saying it to her now, and not at her. Or the way his hands are still gripping her wrists, his feet still planted firmly to the ground, facing her, not running away like the last time.

'I said it because I love you.'
'Love me how?'

She refuses to let him away without telling her exactly what she needs to hear. She blinks back a few brewing tears, swallows the dryness in her throat and hangs her mouth agape for a moment before looking him right in the eye and asking her still unanswered question, "'Loved' how?"

He himself, is still trying to process the events over the last two weeks, if not months. To understand the feelings he buries even deeper every time he sees her and has to force himself to stop staring. Every time they touch, albeit rarely, and he reluctantly breaks away as to not linger too long. Every time he speaks to her in his softest voice, designed for her ears only, and convinces himself she doesn't want to hear it.

Harvey panics in his uncertainty, not in regards to how he loves her, but with whether or not he has the vocabulary to express something he has never been able to find the right words for before. The man could spit out lawyer talk like there was no tomorrow, but to string a sentence together and tell Donna how he loves her? There was always a tomorrow for that. Until tonight.

So he decides to show her instead. Feeling as if mere words could never describe something as unique, perpetual and relentless as his love for her.

Stepping in once last time, to close the ever-shrinking distance between them, his right hand smoothly traces back up her arm and onto her neck. He feels her shiver under his touch then and he knew it had nothing to do with her having been out in the storm.

The currents of electricity now igniting each of her nerves begin to warm her body almost immediately, as an intense pool of desire develops in her lower abdomen.

He runs his left hand up her arm then too until it lands on the other side of her neck, slightly lower than the right, his fingers running through her autumn-like locks before they rest on the back of her neck, his thumb firmly planted behind her ear. He continues his right hand towards her cheek as his other thumb rests there, before wiping away the last semi-dried tear that lay under it as he lovingly settles his palm against the side of her jaw, as her brain begins to flood with a tsunami of thoughts and emotions.

Her gentle hands find either side of his rib cage, subconsciously caressing his warm, rigid body, sending welcome chills straight through him.

When he looks up from her plump, crimson lips, he finds darkened eyes staring back at him, having shed all of their hurt and anger, now just brimming with a promising readiness of love and forgiveness.

Their foreheads meet next, both shutting their eyes in unison and holding each other a moment, their noses kissing as the electric fire some six feet beside them dances against their molding frames.

His left hand runs down her drying strands which were now beginning to curl thanks to recent exposure to the wind and rain. He slowly pulls his head back somewhat so he can maneuver his mouth towards her own, her forehead already missing his warmth, until that warmth was relocated elsewhere, now hovering over her lips as their breaths mingle, both releasing a sharp sigh as the sheer magnitude of the moment tugs at them.

Donna's growing arousal is interrupted by a sinking gut then as she realises he still hasn't answered her longing question. She shuts her eyes and clenches her fingers against his white shirt, "I need you to say it, Harvey." she whispers finally.

He elicits a soft, knowing sigh after hearing her words, meeting his forehead with hers again, terrified of saying the wrong thing, which only makes him cease up, saying nothing at all.

Her eyes adjust against the dim light from the fire before she shoots her gaze back up towards him, just a mere couple of inches lower than him thanks to her heels. Her pupils flicker from his gaped mouth to his apologetic eyes. She frowns softly, that all too familiar feeling from that night in his office over a year ago, when she had asked him to explain the love he had for her and he failed to open up, returning without mercy. She pulls her head back then shaking it ever so slightly, a dry smile curling at her lips, her anger, at herself this time, quickly resurfacing, "Pathetic.." she whispers, both at him and herself, releasing her grip from his rib cage, pulling back from him completely.

"Donna, please.." he murmurs, missing her warmth immediately, his hands moving down her biceps, "I don't know how to-"

"Yeah," she interrupts, her tone of voice verging on bitter as she almost manages to hold it together before her words begin to crack, "well you should know by now, Harvey!"

Donna gives him one more piercing glare before she wriggles out of his grip and sheds her skin of his touch, marching by him a second later, her right shoulder knocking off his in the process, sending him off balance, but waking him up completely. He reaches for her wrist but just misses, she feels his fingers graze against hers, not letting it stop her though as she continues towards the hallway, her frenzied mind forgetting the handbag she left on the kitchen island when she arrived. Her heels clinking against the hard floor feel like screws drilling into his brain, each step telling him she was leaving, and not just his apartment, but possibly his life.

"Donna!" he runs after her as he hears the door crack open, just catching that candle-like glow of orange as she slams it shut behind her.

She strides down the hallway with tunnel vision, all she can see is the elevator, her escape vessel. Much to her annoyance, she hears the door swing open behind her, him calling her name again, her choosing to ignore it, again. She reaches the shiny metal doors, hectically tapping the button, as if the ninth press would work more than the first.

He staggers down the brightly lit hallway, leaving the door fully open behind him, only caring about reaching her. "Donna! Please, give me the chance to explain!" he shouts down the corridor, his frantic voice closing in on her now.

The humming of the elevator ascending finally stops as the doors begin to separate and Donna is inside the car before they even finish opening. Turning on her heels, she presses the ground floor button over and over again, becoming frustrated when the doors don't immediately close. Fresh tears forming under her eyelids as her chest paces up and down sporadically.

Harvey finally catches up to her then, both hands slamming on either side of the elevator door, just as it was beginning to slide shut, causing them to retract again. He stands there silent a moment, until she's looking right at him.

"I'm in love with you, Donna." he breaths out, relief taking over his features as he stares her right in the eye, just three feet between them. He anxiously waits for her reaction, but all he hears is a blast of thunder that could wake the dead, followed by a blinding blue-white flash and then total darkness.

"What the..?" he mumbles into the now pitch black elevator before he sighs in both annoyance and amusement, "Of course the power cuts out now.."

When his comment is met with a deafening silence, concern hits him immediately as his eyes narrow, desperately trying to spot her amongst the sea of ebony, "Donna? You okay?"

She breaths in, completely indifferent towards the power outage, only able to focus on what was said before it. What he finally said. With a heartwarming smile that he would never see, she blindly steps towards him, the sound of her heels hitting the floor being her only reply to his last question.

He feels her hands on his abdomen next, causing the muscles there to contract on reflex as he takes an inward breath, silenced by her movements. She slowly glides her hands up his chest, feeling her way around the darkness, and around him. When her palms leave his shoulders, he feels the comfort and familiarity from two weeks ago as her arms cross behind the nape of his neck, forcing the hairs there to stand on end.

His arms drop from either side of the door and find their way under her opened coat, his hands landing on her waist, thumbs running smooth circles on each side, he can feel her skin jump under the black fabric. He can also sense her stare, even if he can't see it. He silently curses his bad luck, wishing for the power back, just so he can lock eyes on her. Then, as if the storm read his mind, her angelic features light up as a stroke of lightening forks down some place a few miles outside the glass window panel in the hallway. It was brief but long enough for him to see the fresh smile curling at her lips as he sent her one back before whispering a sweet "I love you." She hears him breath in again as the lightning leaves them blinded by the dark once more, "I've always been in love with you." He squeezes her waste affectionately, "Only you."

"I had a feeling.." she whispers back in a sweet, knowing tone, almost entirely overcome with emotion, "I just needed to hear it."

A second later their noses kiss just like in the apartment minutes beforehand. Harvey takes the lead then, pulling her towards him until their groins clash, synchronously sending electric flares coursing through them both. She can already feel the build in his pants as she leans into him. He angles his head to the left, feeling her soft lips grazing against his lower cheek.

Unable to wait any longer, having now found her lips, his mouth is on hers before their next breath. They begin slow, reacquainting themselves with one another gently, but passionately.

When her nails scratch against his scalp he releases a low moan, brows furrowed with pleasure as he widens his mouth, encouraging her to follow suit. His tongue rolls out with the next wave of kisses, his right hand slides along her back then, igniting a spark the whole way up her spine as she presses into him even further, releasing a heavy sigh as their tongues meet.

Another echoing roll of thunder hits, almost shaking the building as a flash of white light follows. Harvey tugs on her bottom lip with his teeth gently, but hard enough for a heavy moan to escape her mouth, the low, seductive sound only adding to his growing erection, "Harvv-ey.." she whines, purely just wanting to say his name.

She returns the favour and pulls at his bottom lip, quickly soothing it over with her tongue. She begins sending wet kisses along his jawline then and eventually his neck as he bows his head back, eyes slamming shut in response, her lips and limbs against his skin like this causing his entire body to feel as if it was beating with one huge, throbbing pulse.

Still left blind, he securely holds onto her back with his right hand whilst his other quickly feels around for something to lean them against. His burning flesh is met with the ice-cold mirrored wall of the elevator then.

"Donna.." he murmurs against her as their lips meet again, "you're beautiful," he blurts out hoarsely, just needing to tell her, now that he can, "you know that?"

He feels her smile against his kiss, melting his heart, "You can't even see me." she pants before returning to his mouth, her right hand now sliding down his chest, pressing against his abdomen as it lingers there.

"I don't have to see you.. to know that.." he responds confidently, his words hot against her neck now as he lightly sucks at the beating flesh over her palpitating pulse point, when a higher-pitched moan falls out of her mouth.

Without another thought he's pushing them both towards the wall. Her back lands against the glass as both of her hands claw at the ends of his shirt, impatiently pulling it out from his pants, thankful he wasn't fully suited, what with it being almost eleven o'clock at night. Her nails rake against his flesh as her hands slip under his clothing, reaching as high as they could under the buttons, eager to feel his skin on hers, until she had to pull them out again, even more eager to unclothe him now, to get a better feel. All the while, he's leaving light marks on her neck, something she can't even pretend to care about right now as her eyelids shut and her eyes roll backwards. Her blood boiling, but not with anger this time. Her groin pooling with desire, as she forgets about the rest of the buttons.

He takes to her chest then, her V-line just low enough to allow him to suck on the exposed flesh of her breasts. Nipping at her skin and soothing it over with wet kisses repeatedly before his right hand joins to slowly, yet fervidly, massage her other breast.

She misses his lips on hers then and pulls his head up towards her, the lack of vision helping enhance all of their other senses as their mouths collide again. He rests his forehead against her shoulder afterwards, needing a moment to gather himself as the longing ache in his crotch becomes too much to ignore any longer.

After a brief, heavy-breathed rest, both his hands are under her coat again and trailing down her hips until they're supporting the backs of her thighs. His fingers travel down the silky fabric then as he's kissing her, bunching the dress up as his hands glide up the sides of her smooth limbs, his nails pleasurably digging into her with a unrelenting desire, leaving fading rosy marks in their wake. She releases a sigh that he feels down south and without further hesitation he's lifting her up, pressing her against the mirror once more, as she wraps her legs around his lower back, her heels digging into him through his suit pants.

She's about an inch or two higher than him now, a devilish smile curling at her lips as she looks down in his direction with darkened, heavy eyes, that he of course can't see. Her right hand leaves her left at the back of his head and slides down his jawline, sweetly and seductively all at once, as she rests her forehead on his, both regaining their breath as reality catches up with them.

Before any shred of doubt can consume her, his lips are finding hers again, his left hand squeezing her thigh as his right glides up her waist and onto her neck, holding her in place for a bruising, lip-plumping kiss. As they continue, his hand glides diagonally down her neck and chest and over her left breast, slipping under the stretchy fabric with ease, until he's cupping her through her bra, which doesn't last long at all as his thumb sneaks under the material to tease her already erect nipple, pressing in firmly as he slides across the sensitive flesh, repeating it back and forth until his name is a curse, a whisper, and a moan falling from her mouth all at once.

His teeth nip at her neck next, soothing it over with his tongue then before he makes trails towards her breasts, removing his hand as he buries his face in between them, quickly trying to decide which one to tease first. He goes for her right this time, almost buckling at the knees entirely as he remembers how they tasted with whipped cream. Although he soon realises that they're just as good without it, if not better.

Her legs grip around him even tighter, pulling his burning groin against her own for support as she remains firmly wedged between him and the wall. He allows his free hand to slip under her dress next, teasing the lacy material he finds underneath as his fingers massage her hip, giving rise to goosebumps there, and everywhere.

Donna just blindly kisses him wherever she can at this stage; temple, jawline, neck. Both of them moaning and panting loudly between their frenzied movements. She finds herself cursing the blanket of black that has fallen over them, desperate to lock eyes on him, to see his features as she touches them, her right thumb sliding over the two distinct moles above his left brow for the first time since the other time.

As his gentle fingers trace down her skin even further, slipping in between her legs and under her lingerie, she bows her head back, lightly bumping it against the glass behind her. He feels her muscles contract under his touch, almost ending him completely before he has a chance to continue downwards. But he soldiers on through the ever-growing ache in his manhood, his thumb finding her heated centre with ease, simply unable to forget exactly where the spot was even after all these years.

"Harr-" she breaths out hot and heavy, unable to finish his name, biting his ear lobe as he tortuously sucks on her neck, motioning his lips in sync with his handwork.

"Donn.." he parrots with a lazy grin, smirking against her reddening skin, kissing each freckle he knew to be there.

He has to slow down a moment once he realises how wet she is for him, heavily resting his forehead into the crevice of her neck, lightly pecking at her pulsing flesh as he sighs into her, still massaging her where it matters most.

He looks up then, his nose grazing off of her chin as he raises his head level with hers, before she's kissing his lips once more, riding against his thumb, "Harveyy," she moans into his mouth, "what are you.." she kisses him again, missing his lips too much between words, "waiting for?" she finishes in a hoarse whisper designed to turn him on even more, if that was even possible.

Harvey deepens the kiss before he smirks against her, delighted at how impatient she was getting, wanting him so badly, as he did her. He deepens his forefinger next, sliding it into her as she moans against him, pressing the digit against her inner walls as his thumb flicks over her pulsating clit. He repeats the motion a couple of times before his middle finger is joining his index then, easing into her slowly and pleasurably, wanting to give her as much satisfaction as possible, especially given the excruciating wait they've had to endure all these years.

A few heated moans escape her lips as he presses into her walls, curving his fingers, gently stretching her, teasing her, finding the exact area he remembered to be her weakest spot. As her abdomen tenses, sharp, hot bolts of electricity run through her groin, her mouth now permanently agape even as she tries to bite her bottom lip, her fingers scratching his scalp as all the sexual energy rapidly courses through her body, her cells electrified with endless endorphins.

He's kissing her neck passionately, with a cause, thumb still smoothly working away outside of her whilst both his fingers eased in and out, gradually picking up the pace once her tightening grip around his neck and her heels digging further into the back of his thighs told him she was almost there. Her whining and moaning helped tell him too..

As she feels the release building up inside of her she grabs his face, pulling his lips to hers, teeth almost clashing, tugging his bottom lip lightly yet passionately, her head bowing back then as she releases her highest pitched moan of the night, maybe ever, her orgasm having reached its peak, finally escaping her as she rides it out against his now slowly moving digits.

He plants kisses the entire way up the centre of her neck, reaching her chin before she straightens her head again, lazily, finding him for another blindfolded kiss. Their foreheads meet next as they rest against one another, both coated with a light layer of sweat, both panting, especially Donna, still coming down off of her recent high as he smoothly slides his fingers out of her, his hand running down her leg lovingly and lazily as she eventually unwraps them from his waist. She's standing up again now, yet still needs his hand around her back what with her legs feeling less stable than jello. The fact that it was Harvey who she had just received an earth-shattering orgasm from making her even weaker.

Their noses meet next, his head bending down and inch or two to meet her, both looking into the other's eyes, desperate to see each other in the non-existent light.

"Well.. that was.." Donna exhales, still in disbelief, still holding onto his neck at either side.

"Well overdue." Harvey finishes, pressing his lips to hers after a hoarse chuckle exits her throat, "Not that we're done yet, I hope..?" he adds as he smiles against her, his hands tightening against her waist, pulling her into him as his hardened length pressing against her gets her all worked up again.

"Ohh," she teases in a low tone, kissing the corner of his mouth with a smirk that he feels so clearly that he can visualise it perfectly before he swears he can almost hear her left brow quirking upwards, "we haven't even started yet, mister." she finishes, voice deep and seductive, her hands falling from his neck, smoothly making their way down south, her left stopping at his rib cage, her right continuing on its journey as the tension inside him tightens even further. His head falls into the crook of her neck, pecking her skin lightly as her hand comes to a sudden halt, only to strengthen its grip around his clothed crotch.

He grunts under the amazingly torturous contact, pulling her in even closer, "Donn-ahh.." he murmurs, the action almost leaving him voiceless as she starts to unzip his pants, "you don't.. have to," he whispers between sharp breaths.

"Oh I know." she reassures him, her tone of voice all too reminiscent of the one she used that night over a decade ago.

As her fingers make way to unbutton his pants, his hands clasp around hers, stopping her, what they are doing and where they are doing it suddenly hitting him, "Donna." He can't see her, but he knows what her face must be like, brows furrowing lightly in confusion. So he explains, squeezing her hands tightly, his thumbs caressing the backs of her palms, "I think you deserve a bed at least, don't you?"

She can hear him smiling as he says it, relaxing her immediately. It really dawns on her then that Harvey Specter is asking her to bed. Her eyes begin to well up as her heart flinches, pulling him in for another burning kiss before they venture to reenter the apartment, "I love you, Harvey." she whispers the second she pulls away.

"Good." he whispers back, squeezing her waist as he did so, "Because I don't need anybody else to love me. Just you."

The silence is filled with the sound of her inhaling rather quickly, lips trembling as she tries to speak. He kisses her before she has to though. "C'mon, let's get you inside, out of this damn coat." he chuckles, still worried she might catch pneumonia if she stayed wrapped in the dampened clothing any longer.

"And this dress.." she whispers hot and heavily into his ear, kissing from his lobe down to his jawline, wishing she could see his reaction.

Harvey swallows the newly formed lump in his throat and kisses her senseless for another minute, both breaking apart with heavy panting then as he guides them out of the elevator, his right hand patting down the wall and then the door which was still left open from the power outage. His other hand finds her right one and fingers and thumbs interlock immediately, the heat of his hand sending a hot flush of energy right through her, forcing a sweet smile to crack at the corners of her mouth.

Right on cue then is another ear-piercing, cloud-shattering rumble of thunder. Harvey knows what's next to follow and turns to look at the redhead while he has the chance. The accompanying flash of lightning sets her features aflame, bouncing off of her molten locks which were almost dry now, and a hell of a lot curlier than her usual blow-dried hairdo allows him to see. He's all too soon blinded by the darkness again. The only glimmer of light being the emergency exit sign to their left.

Harvey tightens his grip on her hand, slowly walking them into the vast ocean of onyx, trying his best to guide them. But it's just the blind leading the blind as he hears a sharp thud followed by a giggly "Shit!"

He immediately turns back, her body colliding with his as she doesn't anticipate his move, "You okay?" he asks, his left hand still squeezing hers while his other palm finds her waist.

Donna lets out an amused chuckle, "I'm fine, Harvey, just didn't see that corner there ..what with the complete darkness and that.." she finishes humorously, sounding rather nonchalant as her heart really beats out of her chest over his adorable concern. Her fingers tighten around his then before her free hand finds his chest, feeling his own heartbeat beating simultaneously with hers.

Next thing she knows her back is against the nearest wall, her lips burning as his own set them aflame before his tongue peeks out to soothe them between nipping and tugging, soon joined by her own then. Her fingers are grabbing his ribs through his disheveled shirt, pulling him into her with force, lust and impatience. He's pushing up against her, exhaling deeply between kisses, desperate to taste as much of her as possible, his still hardened manhood rolling up against her groin as she lets out an excitable moan. She's sandwiched between him and the wall then, a rock and a hard place ..a very hard place.

He slowly pulls back, sooner than she had expected, remembering the reason he wasn't having her in the elevator right now in the first place; she deserves the best.

He rests his forehead on hers, both of them shutting their eyes as they steady their breathing, as much as possible anyway. His hand cupping her cheek next, "Can we get inside now?" he pants hazily, immersed in a fog of arousal.

She kisses his nose with her own then, "Yes. Please.." she whispers back, trying to catch her breath still.

He turns his back to her then, letting go of her entirely, catching her off guard before she realises what he's doing when he speaks, his voice coming from a place about a foot lower than her, "Okay, jump up." he orders with a hidden grin, crouching down slightly, waiting for her to mount him.

The redhead lets out a hearty chuckle filled with adoration and amusement, she can barely speak between words as her pulse races at the thought of jumping on Harvey Specter's back, "You," she laughs, "want me… to get on your back?"

She can't see him but she can sense his mock frown by the way he talks, "Yeah come on, jump up, we haven't got all day."

"Your back is already killing you from crouching down more like!" she teases, eliciting an eye roll from him that she can only assume he lets out.

"Do you want to make it safely inside or risk another damn wall taking you out?" he breaths out through laughter, the boyishness in him quickly returning, the man he was when he met her almost thirteen years ago showing his face once again. Not that she could see of course, but it was more of a feeling anyway, something they could both sense.

He hears her heels step forward against the marble tiles then, her palms swatting his lower back trying to find the perfect position for them to hold onto, "My shoulders are up here.." he teases as her hands remain too low for too long.

She bites her lip then, her nostrils flaring as she smirks at herself for even thinking it, but then she remembers, she is allowed to think that now. So without further hesitation both her hands are dropping even lower, each taking hold of a firm cheek before squeezing tightly, "Nice ass, ponyboy."

A girlish giggle tumbles out of her mouth a second later as he straightens up on reflex, "Donna!" he laughs, unable to mask the sound of his amusement in his tone, not even wanting to.

"What?" she says innocently, feigning bemusement, "It's not as if I ain't gonna see it in a few minutes anyway.." she mumbles to herself, letting him hear every word, "or haven't seen it before.."

She hears him turning back to face her then, before his hands are under her coat and on her waist once again, her muscles jolting in both surprise and arousal, "Yeah, well we won't be seeing anything.." he steps closer, voice low and soft, charming and flirtatious, as his hands glide over her ass next, squeezing her slower, more gentle than she did him, "if this power doesn't come back." She swears she could detect a hint of disappointment in his tone at the fact.

Her hands are on his chest as his fingers press into her flesh once more, he's kissing her neck again, simply unable to resist her now that he doesn't have to, now that her rule seems to have evaporated. She sighs with delight as he sucks on her pulse, her eyes rolling backwards, "You surely.." she bites her bottom lip as his mouth movements pump fresh endorphins around her entire body once more, "have candles..?" she finishes with a sharp breath.

"We'll never know if we don't get a move on.." he mumbles into her neck, kissing his way up to her jaw line next, then her cheek, before targeting her swollen lips, wishing he could see how red they must be now.

"You're the one still kissing me!" she chuckles lazily still not letting go of his collar, however.

They both laugh into each other's kisses then, the ridiculousness of them not going amiss on either side. He eventually forces himself to pull away, turning his back to her, crouching once more, "Now can you just hop up this time?" He seemed to want to give her a piggy back more than he needed to.

"Okay, mister bossy pants!" she retorts with classic Donna exaggeration. "But just so you know," She puts her arms around his shoulders, crossing them under his chin as his hands find the backs of her thighs, running up under her flowy, above-the-knee dress as his fingers grip her flesh, giving rise to every goose bump she owns. She starts with a small jump, pulling herself up, but he does most of the work, hauling her up onto his back as he straightens up, immediately feeling her silky strands tickling his neck before her hand runs under his shirt and down his chest. His own hands are now firmly under her long thighs just before the knees as her smooth legs hang by his sides. "..you're never gonna hear the end of my cowgirl jokes now." she finishes playfully, seductively whispering into his ear, letting her lips graze his lobe before she nips at the flesh, her thumb purposefully gliding over his nipple as she continues running her heated palm under his half-opened shirt.

"Oh," he counters with a smirk, taking small, measured steps towards his apartment in the thick, murky blackness, only guided by the positioning of one or two emergency exit signs, "the reverse cowgirl is nothing to joke about.."

She pulls her head back slightly, brows lowering as a pleased smirk forms at her lips, wondering was he referring to one of the many positions used during their last time.

He feels the questions rolling around in her head, deciding to answer before they burn holes through her brain and into his, "Yes, I'm referring to the other time." he grins, donning an all too satisfied smirk, his pearly whites almost lighting up the hallway for them.

Donna releases a short chuckle, the sweet, soothing vibrations making his breath catch in his throat, "Giddy up, horsey." she mocks, pinching his chest lightly as her heels tap his legs as if she's on an actual horse, "We've got some catching up to do."

"Alright Mrs Ballard.." he grumbles with a smirk, only all too excited for the catching up.

"Who?" Donna quizzes, her brain sifting through a list of his favourite movies, knowing it was a reference to some character.

"Gun Fury?" he asks, afraid she doesn't know what Western he's referring to, mock disappointment oozing out of his words.

"Oh because she's played by Donna Reed?" she challenges light-heartedly.

"Noo.." he says unconvincingly before stopping in his tracks as she lightly tuts, "because she's smokin' hot."

"Smooth.." she responds, shaking her head before giving up her unimpressed act and kissing his left cheek, "Now let's get a move on, I'm getting impatient here!"

He just laughs and shakes his head, refraining from commenting on the fact that they were both the ones holding them up with the movie conversation. The fact was, as much as they were desperate to make it to the bedroom and stay up all night, they were both overjoyed just being able to talk to each other again, after two agonising weeks of angst and anguish. If not two months. Two years. Twelve. Their witty banter already returning ten fold, now just with the added bonus of being able to say all the things they've always wanted to.

His thumbs begin caressing the sides of her thighs as he walks them slowly to what he knows to be his doorway now as he can just about make out the city lights in the far distance, glimmering hazily behind the glass panel inside his apartment opposite his front door as the thick rain and huge thunder clouds helped diminish their light. Reckoning that they're about fifteen feet away, he silently thanks himself for leaving the door open, the tiny lights now being the only type of flashlight for them as they get closer.

"Looks like they weren't left without power." he nods towards the lights as she raises her chin from the crook of his neck to look up.

"Hmm, looks like it." she hums against him as her heart races with every step he takes, knowing each one was bringing them closer to his bedroom.