Quick little one shot inspired by the Darvey scene from the season 9 promo; my take on the conversation surrounding "man, you're gonna make me cry" ~ enjoy~

She had planned on stopping by Mike and Rachel's old apartment quickly before meeting Harvey, Louis, and Sheila for dinner. The night was a favor to Louis for covering an early client meeting on a morning that she and Harvey had wanted to do anything but get out of bed. She was looking forward to the night and despite his heavy eye roll and outward reluctance, she knew Harvey was too.

When she told him she'd meet him at the restaurant, he asked to come to the apartment with her. She'd teased him about not being able to survive 45 minutes without her, but he countered saying he hadn't seen her all day since he'd been in meetings. She rolled her eyes at him but as he placed his hand on the small of her back, her insides flipped. They'd been them for a few weeks now, but she was still getting used to this version of Harvey. The one that was all in, that was open with his affection, and showed her just what he was feeling.

Mike and Rachel had left for Seattle quickly and with the wedding, hadn't had time to sell their condo. They'd found a short term renter for a couple of months, but now they were ready to put it on the market. Rachel had asked Donna to pick up the keys left by the renter who'd moved out and drop them off with the real estate agent they'd be working with.

At the apartment, Donna went into the kitchen and grabbed the keys and paperwork off the counter. She slid the documents into her purse and added the keys to her own keyring so she wouldn't lose them. As she turned around, she saw Harvey standing in the middle of the living room, hands shoved into his pants pockets and eyes towards the ceiling, clearly deep in thought.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" she asked softly, moving to join him.

"It's just," he paused, letting out a breath, "it looks so much bigger when it's empty," he explained, "it's almost like they were never here."

A sad smile spread across her face as he finished. She knew what he was feeling, because she was feeling it too - they were both missing their best friends.

"To me," she started, "they're everywhere in here."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there," she said, pointing to a spot on the floor to the right of where the couch used to be, "is where Mike asked Rachel to marry him. And there, in the kitchen, Rachel and I planned their wedding - and drank lots of wine," she said with a laugh and a smile as the memories came flooding back to her.

"And over there," she continued, pointing behind him to the archway near the front door, "you and Mike fought over plenty of bullshit about cases I'm sure you don't even remember," she said with a smirk, which made him crack a smile.

"Okay, okay," he said, raising his hands in the air to admit defeat, "you're right," he said as she shot him a small smile and a look he knew meant I always am.

"They had a whole life here," he said, taking a step closer to her.

"They really did," she echoed, looking around the living room once more.

"And they were really happy," he continued.

"Well, if you ignore that whole prison thing," she joked, which made him roll his eyes, "but yeah," she breathed, a smile stretching across her face, " they were really happy here," she agreed.

"I want that," he said matter-of-factly.

"What?' she asked, genuinely unsure what he was about to say next.

"A whole life, and all the happiness that comes with it, with you," he explained, a smile spread across his face that reached up to the corners of his eyes.

"Are you," she paused, shooting him a questioning look, "are you about to propose? Because -"

"Not today," he said with a smile, "but I want that too."

"Man, you're gonna make me cry," she said as she watched his already wide smile get even bigger. She felt a couple tears prickling in the corners of her eyes as he took a step closer to her, his hands coming to rest loosely on her waist.

"I'm just getting started," he said, which made her let out a breathy laugh. She brought her hands to rest on his elbows as he kept talking.

"I once told Mike that I admined the relationship he has with Rachel. Because it's real; yeah they fight and have disagreements, but they love each other absolutely unconditionally. When I first said that to him, I never in a million years thought I'd have someone who would love me the way that Rachel loves Mike - despite all of his flaws and mistakes."

"Harvey -," she breathed, her vision growing blurry as tears threatened to spill.

"But you're here," he continued, "and I want it to be you and me for the rest of our lives," he declared, looking her straight in the eye, "because I love you Donna, so much."

She didn't say anything right away, just continued to look back at him and soak in all he'd just said to her. It wasn't the first time he'd said he loved her - those words came the morning after he'd showed up at her door - but this was the first time she'd heard it with so much emotion. She'd gotten over the initial surprise of him showing up for her, and reality was starting to sink in. And the reality was far better than anything she could have predicted, because Harvey Specter loved her just as much and in as many ways as she loved him.

"What?" he asked smartly, as he took in her expression staring back at him - one he understood to be equal parts awe and admiration. "Was that too honest? Too much communication?" he joked, alluding to a conversation they'd had in one of their first days together. They were both in this relationship for the long haul, and in order for it to work feelings needed to be discussed freely.

Understanding what he was referencing, she rolled her eyes at him as a smile to match his spread across her face. "You're an idiot," she said with a shake of her head as her hands came to rest on either side of his jaw, her fingers toying with the short strands of hair at the back of his neck.

"And?" he asked with a smirk, encouraging her to continue.

"And," she said with a breath, "I love you too," she agreed before pulling him for a kiss, because if there's one thing she'd learned over the last thirteen years, it was that kissing the love of your life was something that should never be taken for granted.

"So," he started after breaking the kiss, his husky breath whispering in her ear, "what do you say we skip dinner and I take you home?"

"Harvey," she sassed, pulling her head back slightly so she could look him in the eye, her hands running over his shoulders and coming to rest on his chest, "if I remember correctly, that kind of proposition is what made this dinner happen in the first place, so unless you want to owe Louis again I suggest you keep it in your pants for a couple more hours."

He rolled his eyes at the smirk spread across her face and couldn't help his own smile that formed in response.

"After?"

"After," she agreed, "I'm all yours," she said as her hand found his and they made their way to the door of the apartment. He angled his head down to plant a kiss to her hair as she reached to turn off the light next to the door.

"My answer is yes, by the way," she said softly as they walked the few blocks to the restaurant.

"Answer to what?" he asked, turing to look at her to see a smile stretched across her face.

"When you do propose," she explained, her eyes turning to meet his, "I'm going to say yes."

Thanks for reading! And as always, leave a review with your thoughts!