A/N: well she's returned from war. just want to most a special shoutout to princess isa (adarveystory) for requesting this, juliana (spicas) for providing a little factoid i've excepted as canon now, and marie and alyssa for being the best betas around. enjoy!

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Prompt: Donna and Harvey exchanging keys to their apartment (post-canon) — requested by isa (adarveystory)

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We'll be fine
Aren't we given one day at a time
Love of mine
I know everything can change
So let it change
But I'll still fall for you every day

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unlatched

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Glancing at the clock on her laptop she sees it reads 8:30pm. She stretches her arms over her head and rolls her neck, though the late hour doesn't phase her. She's used to this, leaving work when it's dark, the only bright lights from the buildings and passing cars lighting up the night. It's been like this for years, but it's gotten worse over the last few weeks with the overwhelming presence of Faye Richardson hovering in all the corners of the corridors.

Blinking slowly to gather her wits, she realizes she's been so consumed in the new associate applications she's been reviewing that she can barely remember the last time she's heard from him, which these days, is odd.

As a smile adorns her lips she ponders yet again about all the changes she's experienced over the last two weeks, both good and bad. Yes, that god awful woman has entered into the firm, like a witch on her broom, wreaking havoc on everyone but, and it's a big but, the good very much outweighs the bad.

Ever since he showed up at her door the night of the trial, she can't seem to stay angered by anything at all. She finds that her job is more stressful and she misses her friends and she's still reeling with guilt over Robert and Samantha but… none of that can shake her resolve. Because she's happy with him.

She had almost forgotten what it was like to be happy, simply living her life dressed in masks of fake smiles and costumes of barely concealed sadness. That is, until he appeared in her doorway, saying everything she had ever wanted to hear from him, without uttering a single word.

It's been a whirlwind of changes and alterations since that night, but she wouldn't change a single moment. She wouldn't change waking up in his arms, she wouldn't change being carted off to her friends' apartment listening to him confess her love to her. She wouldn't change the late nights in his bed or the shitty thai takeout he agrees to order, because she loves it.

Pushing those happy thoughts aside, she reaches for her phone, unlocking it and clicking on the number one speed dial to see if she can reach him. She has a mountain of paperwork still left to do, but she decides it will be there tomorrow waiting for her. As the phone rings once, twice, then a third time he finally picks up.

"Hey," he says, quietly. It's the tone he uses just for her.

"Hey," she responds back softly. Ah, the smile is back on her face, not that it ever really left.

"It's late, are you still at the office?" he asks, his tone laced with worry.

"Yes, Harvey," she mutters out with a gentle eye roll. "I was just finishing up the last of this paperwork before calling it at night and I realized I hadn't heard from you in a while. Are you still with the Murphy Group?" He had been dragged, albeit somewhat unwillingly, to a meeting with a new client, and these days they needed all the new clientele they could handle.

He lets out a scoff and a "Yes," as his retort. "I thought we'd be out of here by now but the questions and concerns after everything that's happened recently are making me play the role of placater."

For a minute, a sadness washes over her listening to him fill her in on the meeting that's gone well over the amount of time he expected. She wanted to see him tonight. She wants to see him every night. Now that they're finally together in the way they've always wanted, it seems a pity to waste even one evening together, which is precisely why they haven't spent one evening apart since that fateful night.

"Well, how much longer do you think you'll be?" she says as she tidies up her desk.

"Honestly," he starts and then sighs. "I'm not sure. I'm sorry, Donna," he confesses.

"Harvey, you have nothing to be sorry for," she assures him. "You're just doing your job. I was going to wait for you, so we could leave together but I don't think I'll make it. I can feel myself drifting already," she says tritely while attempting to smother back a yawn from surfacing.

"I really wanted to see you tonight," Harvey whispers, so softly she can barely make it out. She smiles.

"I really wanted to see you too, Mister."

"Listen, go home. We'll try again tomorrow, and I'll see you in the morning." She can almost sense the disappointment in his voice.

"Okay," she whispers.

He utters out further details, telling her that as soon as the Murphy Group signs the new representation agreement, he'll have to drop it by the office because he doesn't want it getting lost in the fodder and how he also left all his belongings at his desk, thinking he'd be back sooner than it turns out he will be. She's finishing sorting her paperwork, when she hears him pause and then say, in that shy whisper, "I love you, Donna."

God, she'll never get tired of that, not for as long as she still has breath in her lungs.

"I love you too, Harvey," she whispers back.

Ending the call, the smile that lights up her face at those words and the man saying them almost makes her blush. If she were anyone else, she'd be disgusted. But this isn't happening to anyone else it's happening to her and so she tampers down the feeling and collects her things, placing documents in her bag. As she manages to shove down a few more applications in her briefcase, her hand hits cool metal.

Pulling her hand out of her bag she remembers what she had placed in there two days prior. A key. But this key is not just any key, no, this is the key to her apartment. The smile stays put on her cherry red lips and she gets the most Donna idea she's ever had.

She hurries out of her office, key in hand, making her way down the hallway, passing by her old cubicle. Letting herself into his office, she spots his laptop open on his desk and some residual paperwork leftover from this evening.

Grabbing a sticky note from the stack and placing it on top of his now shut laptop, she writes in her delicate scrawl, "We waited long enough. Come home."

Feeling no need to sign the note, because he knows her handwriting but even more so he knows her, she gently rests the shiny metal object atop the note she's written and hastily exits his office, the smile still ever present on her face.

—

He's tired. He knows new clients are important but so is his woman, and thanks to the multitude of questions he was bombarded with from each member of The Murphy Group tonight, he's missed her. He's still missing her. However, it's done now. They had dotted the i's and crossed the t's on the paperwork and he's proud he was able to win them over, after the evening he had to sacrifice to their neediness.

Paperwork in hand, he exits the elevator and haggardly makes his way to his office, taking a subtle glance at her old cubicle and mentally congratulating himself for finally pulling his head out of his ass.

Finally arriving at his desk, he places the paperwork in the corner of it, and shuffles all the other paperwork he'd left strewn about into some semblance of order. As he prepares to gather the few things he'll take home with him, attempting to make a quick getaway, he spots it.

Holding the key in his palm, feeling the cool metal and the deep gravity of its meaning, he reads the note placed underneath.

"We waited long enough. Come home."

The corners of his mouth twist up into a genuine smile and he holds back a contented sigh. It's perfect. She's perfect.

He gently peels the note off of his laptop and places it in his top desk drawer for safe keeping, because like hell he's going to forget this moment or just toss it aside. As if the actual object didn't hold enough meaning, a love letter written in Donna. That's something he's never going to let go of.

Rolling the key around in his palm, finally noticing the engraved "HS" on the center, the other hand is driven straight into his pocket, his own hand hitting hard plastic and cool metal. Pulling out a similar shaped key, he reviews both in each palm, wondering how such tiny objects can hold such great meaning. He places the key to Donna's apartment into his right pocket and then holds up the key to his own between two fingers, watching as it dangles freely from the Alexander Wang cactus keychain he's attached it to.

Of course, she'd beaten him to it. She's Donna. She's always one step ahead of him.

Lately, Harvey's rather enjoyed taking her by surprise. He can tell she holds back gasps and tears every time he confesses his feelings. He hates that he ever made her doubt him. The hate falls away though as he grabs the pad of sticky notes on his desk, shoving them into his pocket, vowing to remember to replace them when he returns in the morning. Hastily exiting his office with his belongings, he trudges to the elevator with barely contained enthusiasm.

He knows Donna will be asleep when he arrives tonight, but he can't wait to turn the key to his future and crawl into bed with the feisty redhead who he finally gets to call his everything.

—

Turn. Twist. Click. Unlatch.

He never thought the sound of a key turning in a lock would bring a smile to his face.

He enters her apartment quietly, finding it dark. Shedding his jacket and folding it over her couch, he toes off his shoes to avoid the scuffing sounds and makes his way into her bedroom.

She's nestled under the blankets, turned facing the door, the only light in being cast from the gap underneath the door to her ensuite bathroom. A light she clearly left on for him, knowing he'd show up. He takes a moment to admire her sleeping form, her red hair fanned back across her white sheets, the slight tilt upward of the corners of her mouth. She's happy. God, he loves being the one to make her this happy.

Quickly but quietly making his way through the door to her bathroom, he opens and shuts the door in a haste so as not to wake her. Stealing a glance in the mirror, he can't help but roll his eyes at his face. He may be egotistical but this goofy grin makes him look like an idiot. "Her idiot," he whispers.

Jesus, they're sickeningly happy, he thinks with a shake of his head, grin still residing on his face.

As he reaches to empty his pockets, he pulls out the stack of sticky notes he placed there earlier and the pen from his vest pocket, setting them aside along with the cactus keychain and the key to his world. He proceeds to undress down to his boxers, grabs his toothbrush, the one that he still can't believe has been there since their first night together. Rinsing his mouth and washing his faces, he reaches for a towel and then places it back on its holder.

Stealing one last glance in the mirror, he grabs for the stack of sticky notes and his pen. Perusing her bathroom counter top, littered with all sorts of creams and oils, he considers his options.

He knows she'll be up before him, she always is. He knows that when she wakes up, she'll rise from the bed and make her way into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Eventually, he's going to call her out on it, that he knows she doesn't wake up smelling and tasting like spearmint; but he figures he'll wait just a touch longer. He likes that he has a secret about her that she doesn't know he knows. He thinks it's adorable, though he'd never say that out loud.

Finally zeroing in on his target, he clicks his pen into place, rips a note from the top of the stack and scribbles in his slanted handwriting, "I'm home now. You should be too." Placing the sticky note directly in front of the holder containing both of their toothbrushes, he deposits the plastic and metal right on top.

As he settles into her bed gently, so he doesn't disturb her, he lays flat on his back staring up at the ceiling, smiling to himself. Man, he truly is the luckiest bastard on the face of the earth.

With that thought repeating in his head, he feels the mattress dip and rise and then there's an arm slung across his chest and Donna's head is on his shoulder and she's molding her body into his side, unconsciously.

Just as he's pulling her slightly tighter he hears her barely audible "missed you" and then she's breathing deeply again and falling deep into slumber and his heart leaps in his chest because she won't remember this in the morning but he will, and he'll hold it with him forever.

God, she really is perfect, he thinks as he drifts off.

—

The sunlight dwindles in through the pulled together curtains and she shifts in her sleep. The first thing she feels is warm skin and the first thing she hears is a dull thump. A heartbeat.

He's here.

She thought she might have dreamed it. Then she remembers this is her reality now.

Her eyelids flutter open softly and she inhales the scent of him deeply. Tilting her head up towards his face, she briefly studies the wonder that is Harvey Specter. In his sleep, he appears more boyish, almost childlike in his calm mannerism. God, she loves him like this. All rumpled and smelling fantastic and calm. She finds she likes Harvey Specter calm.

She notices the slight smile gracing the corners of his mouth and she almost gasps, would have if she was afraid it wouldn't wake him. He's happy. She finds she likes Harvey Specter, happy, even more. And the fact that she's the cause of this happiness? Damn.

She quietly slips from his arms and then the bed, heading into her bathroom. She knows it's silly, she knows she's being a complete fool trying to convince him she wakes up smelling minty fresh but she likes to hold onto a bit of her mystery, at least for a little while longer.

Not to mention, she loves the quiet hum he lets out in the back of his throat that she feels rather than hears first thing in the morning when her lips finally touch his own.

Running a hand through her hair to calm a few strays, she glances down to grab her toothbrush from the holder and notices something green, placed atop something neon yellow, that wasn't there last night.

Lifting the item into her palm, she fights back the tears that prick the corner of her eyes threatening to spill over. Nestled in her palm, is quite possibly the most romantic gesture any man has ever bestowed upon her. In her hand, she holds the most adorable cactus keychain, adorned with a leather tassel to match the light green accents. Attached to the golden ring is a key. The key to his condo, etched with a scripted "D" on both sides.

Clutching the key in her hand, refusing to let it go until absolutely necessary, she directs her gaze back to its resting place and picks up the neon yellow note. Running her index finger across his hasty scrawl she reads.

"I'm home now. You should be too."

With a deep inhale in, she sighs out an exhale and feels one lone tear slip down the corner of her eye.

The last time they exchanged keys, it was for him to give her key to another woman. Now, she sees it shining in the light and knows this is a new key, one he took the time to etch her initial into and attach to a cactus keychain. She finds herself letting out a quiet giggle at how adorable he is, though she'd never dare tell him that.

Placing the key down briefly, she makes quick work of her teeth, gives herself one more glance over and then picks up the key and barely manages not to skip back to bed. To him.

—

Slipping back into bed softly, she settles against the pillows and feels him start to stir, but refusing to succumb to the early hour. He's turned on his side, facing her, his hand reaching out to the pillow where she's supposed to be. It makes her heart crack and sizzle in her chest like Pop Rocks.

Donna slowly settles herself under the blankets turning on her side to face him, nose to nose, her eyes fluttering softly, waiting impatiently for him to wake. She waits what feels like hours, but is actually two minutes, and then she reaches her hand over to him, cupping his jaw in her palm and presses her lips to his.

She feels him give into her, deepening the kiss and then she feels that low hum that lights her insides on fire and before his eyes are completely open, she brings her other hand that's holding the dangling keychain up between their noses.

His eyes open and his signature grin, though softer in the morning, greets her. She's smiling, radiating happiness as she clutches the keychain like her life depends on it.

"Mm… good morning," he murmurs out in the low, gravelly tone.

She continues to stare, the radiating smile still sitting on her lips.

"What?" he questions in that same tone.

"A cactus, Harvey?" she says with a giggle. "Really?"

He shrugs and then unleashes the full Specter grin on her, leaning over to peck her lips softly.

Pulling back, he retorts, "Seemed fitting, don't you think?"

They spend the better part of the next five minutes just gazing at each other, having a conversation with their eyes that speak greater volumes than anything they could put into words at the moment. They are fluent in an unspoken language that no translator could ever begin to understand or dissect.

Finally gathering her composure, she reaches behind her to set the key on her nightstand, then turns back to him, finding him still staring at her. Raising her hand to cup his jaw once more in her palm, she caresses his jawline sweetly, running her fingers across his cheekbone up to his brow bone, tracing the contours of his face like she's trying to memorize every little detail. She finally runs her fingertip down the bridge of his nose, taps him on the tip of it and then brings her hand to rest between them.

Harvey, barely able to contain himself, grabs for her greedily, planting his lips on hers, immediately deepening the kiss and hearing her gasp. When the struggle for oxygen becomes apparent, Donna pulls back inhaling audibly.

"What was that for?" she whispers softly.

She sees him run his eyes over her face, his brown eyes tracing the contours of her face returning the favor that her fingers just granted him.

He pauses, then says, "Because, we're home now, Donna. You're my home now."

Feeling the tears prick the corner of her eyes again, she gulps in a breath and decides right then and there that this is it for her. She can't ever go back. They can never go back. The fluttering feeling in her chest lights her up and she finds herself melting down to her core.

Taking his face in her hands, she pulls him forward on top of her as she rolls onto her back and kisses him with all the intensity she can manage at the moment and just like always, he gets the picture and as he settles on top of her, she confirms two things.

One, that this is without a doubt, the best morning of her life and two, that they are going to be so very late for work.

Oh, Harvey.

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Oh I want you to know
You're not in this on your own
Oh because darlin'
I would never let you go

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Song: Love of Mine by The Hunts

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Thank you guys so much for reading! comments / reviews / criticism are always welcome!