Work Text:
Beetlejuice, Bewitched & Boners
Halloween 2007
DA's Office
"Yes," Harvey answers without looking up.
"You don't even know what I'm going to ask. How do you even know I have a question?" Donna asks, hovering in the doorway of Harvey's office.
"I know you," he replies. He looks up at her and cocks his head before he flashes her a smile.
Donna had been working for Harvey for a little under a year, and it amazed her how well he knew her. She'd always been excellent at reading people, but his ability to anticipate her needs caught her off guard. For a young hotshot who spent nearly as much time chasing skirts as he did work, he was surprisingly observant. At least he was when it came to her.
He remembered what she enjoyed in her coffee, random details of stories she shared while they sipped Cameron's whiskey after hours and he even surprised her once by asking about her sister, though she swore she'd never mentioned her to Harvey.
"Well, out with it," Harvey says, waiting for Donna to explain why she'd been pacing outside his office for the past ten minutes.
"Can I have two days off?" she asks, shuffling her feet as she edges closer to his desk.
"Two days?"
"Please," she says, "it's for Halloween."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't Halloween only one day?"
"Yes, but I have this tradition where I spend the day after Halloween watching scary movies," she explains. "It's ridiculous, I know, but it's something I've done every year since college and I would love to keep the tradition alive."
"Donna," he states.
"Really Harvey, I totally get it if you can't give me the time off. I just thought that I would ask…"
"Donna," he says again, louder.
She stops talking and stares at him.
"You can have the time off."
"I can!?"
"Why do you sound so surprised? I can function for two days on my own."
She stifles a laugh and folds her arms over her chest. "Ya, right."
"You don't think I can?"
"Harvey, I know you can't. When's the last time you answered your own phone?"
"I-" he begins but promptly shuts his mouth with a pout.
"That's what I thought," she smirks.
"Are you trying to convince me not to give you the time off? If so, it's working."
"Never mind," she says, "forget that I said anything."
Donna quickly turns on her heel and with a small wave marches back to her desk and calls out over her shoulder, "thank you!"
Halloween 2010
Pearson Hardman
Dressed in her angel costume, a white slip style dress and feathered wings, Donna makes her way through the decorated lobby of Pearson Hardman. She normally didn't attend the firm Halloween party, usually opting to go out with her old theatre friends, but this year their plans had fallen through and here she was, standing across from Louis Litt dressed as a cat in the reception area.
She only planned on dropping by the party, but three drinks and a giggle fest with Rachel Zane, a paralegal at the firm she hardly knew, had changed her mind and she ended up spending the evening mingling with coworkers.
Donna chats with Jessica and complements her costume and blushes with every compliment she receives about her own outfit. She's just about to head back to her desk to grab her coat and bag when Harvey makes an appearance. He's dressed in a dark suit, a white mask half-covering his chiselled face, a lanky blonde wrapped around his left arm as he crosses the lobby and greets Jessica.
Donna rolls her eyes. She tells herself it's because two days ago he didn't even know what the Phantom of the Opera was, not because he had a twenty-something year old for a date to a party he told her he probably wasn't even going to come to. She had lazily suggested the costume to him when he mentioned Jessica was forcing him to make an appearance at the firm party, but she didn't think he'd actually been listening to her.
Donna busy's herself by fetching another glass of punch, stealing glances of her boss and his "date" only when she's certain he won't notice. She hated that he looked so bloody good in that costume. She hated herself for noticing how he looked at all, but she couldn't help it. It happened less frequently, granted, but ever since they spent the night together, she found herself noticing just how good Harvey looked at the office.
Yes, she'd always found him handsome, but before sleeping together, she easily kept business and pleasure separate in her mind. Now, things had become a blurred mess, despite her determination and dedication to maintaining their strictly professional business relationship and their borderline normal friendship.
"I thought you weren't coming?" his voice booms from behind her.
She turns around to face him and forces a smile, "I thought you weren't coming."
"Change of plans," he shrugs.
"Me too," she nods. "Who's your friend?"
"Why? Jealous?" He immediately regrets his choice of words. Of course, she wasn't jealous, she's Donna.
Before Donna has a chance to say anything else, Harvey's date joins them. She doesn't remember the girl's name, in fact, the rest of the evening becomes a bit of a blur and before she knows it she's tossing her angel wings aside and climbing into bed.
The following afternoon, Donna wakes up with a pounding headache to a knock on the door. Wrapping herself in a cardigan, she makes her way to the door. She had today off and wasn't expecting any visitors, and her headache prevents her from moving quickly to get to the door.
After the third knock, Donna swings the door open to reveal Harvey standing in the hall holding a bag of popcorn and sporting a massive grin.
"Harvey?" she blinks, still in her semi-asleep state. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to apologize," he admits.
She stares and waits for him to continue. It wasn't often that he admitted he was wrong about something and she planned on enjoying every minute of this.
"I never should have implied that you were jealous of Angelina last night. I'm sorry."
AH, that was her name!
"It's alright Harvey, I know you didn't mean…" she lets her sentence die. None of it ever meant anything. The implications, the flirting, the apologizes for lines crossed. They appeared to be trapped in an infinite loop defined by what could have been, and perhaps that was the way things were supposed to be between them. Truth be told, his comment the night before bothered her for all the wrong reasons. She was jealous when she knew she had no right to be.
"Shouldn't you be at work?" she asks.
"I took the day off," he explains. "I was actually wondering if maybe I could join you?"
"Only if that popcorn is for me," she smirks, accepting the bag from him. "And you can't complain about the movies I choose."
"Hmm, no promises."
Donna teasingly begins to close the door but Harvey extends his arms and pushes his way into her apartment.
"If I'd have known this was a pyjama thing I would have dressed down," he says, staring down at his dockers and a collared shirt.
"It's not even 11, I never start this early," Donna tells him.
"I could come back?"
"Help me move some blankets into the living room," she says, leading the way to her bedroom.
Harvey follows slowly, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he trails behind her. He looks around, she'd redecorated since he'd last been over. It saddens him, though he can't pinpoint the reason. Perhaps, he thinks, it's because their night together now seemed like it was from another life, and he supposes in an odd way, it was. He told her he would put it out of his mind, but he still found himself lost in visions of red and porcelain on long lonely nights after finding the bottom of a bottle.
"You painted," he says when he enters her room.
She tosses him a large white blanket and nods, "I did."
"It looks nice."
He follows Donna back out into the living room, where she tosses a second blanket onto the sofa and searches for the remote. Lobbing it in Harvey's direction, she gives him instructions to turn on the television while she changes and fetches snacks.
When she returns, she's dressed in an oversized cream coloured sweater and a pair of yoga pants, carrying a bowl of popcorn and a bag of candy. Donna gestures to the couch, where she and Harvey settle down on either end, each with their own blanket in their lap.
"What movie are you subjecting me too first?" he asks as he gets comfortable. Harvey leans back against the couch cushions and angles his knees towards Donna, before sinking down beneath his blanket and tossing an arm lazily over the back of the couch between them.
"Bewitched," she smiles while she sets up the movie.
"I've never seen it," he admits with a sheepish grin.
"What?!"
"I'm not a big Halloween movie guy," he shrugs, offering no further explanation.
They watch the first twenty or so minutes of the movie in silence, save for the hundred questions Harvey asks. Donna watches with amusement as he tries to unravel the entire movie plot and she smirks. "Do you want me to actually answer any of these questions or do you want to actually watch the movie?"
"If we don't watch the movie, what else would we do?" he responds without thinking and immediately regrets vocalizing the sentence. He promptly stuffs a fistful of popcorn in his mouth and avoids Donna's gaze, but he can tell her cheeks are just as red as his feel.
At some point during the movie, Donna excuses herself and returns with drinks for each of them. Placing them down on the coffee table, she rejoins him on the couch, only this time, she sits so that the arm he has up on the back of the couch is behind her head.
Harvey's breath catches in his throat at the initial brush of contact, and he stills while she gets comfortable. She ends up settled in next to his side, only to look up at him with her big hazel eyes and softly ask, "Is this alright?"
He nods, swallows, and returns his attention to the film.
By the time the credits begin rolling, Donna has her head on Harvey's shoulder, and Harvey has an arm wrapped around her shoulders, a shared blanket across their laps. Donna moves to grab the remote and begin a second movie, causing Harvey to involuntarily groan at the loss of warmth and contact.
"Just changing the movie," she explains with a shy smile.
Once Ghostbusters is playing, Donna sets the remote down, tucks her knees beneath her and cuddles back into Harvey's side.
She doesn't stop to think that this may be weird, or that it definitely wasn't something co-workers did, but perhaps it could be something friends did. She refuses to allow herself to overthink it. It was an innocent enough action that she knew wouldn't have implications, and she was enjoying the company and the warmth.
After they finish their third movie, Ghostbusters 2, Harvey reluctantly mumbles that he should go, shrugs a near sleeping Donna off of his shoulder and stands up to stretch out.
Donna slowly begins to wake and stands to join him. She walks him towards the door and smiles while she waits for him to put on his coat.
"Thanks for letting me stay," he says as he reaches for the door handle.
"It was fun, we should do it again sometime," she says.
"We should," he replies, "goodnight Donna."
"Goodnight," she calls after him before closing the door and climbing into bed.
Halloween 2011
After a night out with two girls from her theatre club, Donna spends the morning tidying up her apartment and getting ready to enjoy her post-Halloween tradition with a large bowl of popcorn and a bottle of white wine. Just after lunch, she hears a loud knock on the door and smiles. She wasn't expecting anyone, but she knew exactly who was on the other side of that door.
"Harvey," she greets him in a sultry tone she unintentionally reserved strictly for him.
"Donna," he replies, leaning against the door frame.
She steps aside and gestures for him to come in, "How was the party?" She doesn't bother to ask why he's here, she already knows.
"Same as always. Louis dressed up as some type of feline, it was loud and way too long. We missed you though. How was your night?"
"Pretty good, we won for best group costume."
"What did you guys go as?" he asks as he removes his coat and hangs it on the stand in the hall.
"Various Pretty Women outfits," she explains, "I have a picture."
Donna pulls up the photo on her phone and thrusts it in Harvey's direction, lingering next to him while he examined the photo. In it, Donna stood front and center wearing a leather skirt, thigh-high boots and a cute little wig. He hardly registers what the two girls next to her in the photo are wearing because the sudden strain in his pants startles him and he blushes before handing the phone back.
"Looks nice," he manages to choke out. "Blonde suits you." He wills himself to think of anything else, Louis is his stupid cat costume, his grandma, but he's stuck on thigh-high boots and a short blonde bob.
If Donna notices Harvey's sudden change in demeanour or the fact that his pants appear tighter than they did a few minutes prior, she doesn't let on that she does. Instead, she leads him to the living room where she already has everything set up.
He hadn't exactly been invited or even told her that he planned on coming over, but somehow she had been expecting him and it causes a pleasant warmth to spread throughout his chest.
Before joining her, Harvey excuses himself and heads to the restroom where he splashes cold water on his face and tells himself to man up. It was a costume for christ's sake. Once he manages to calm down, he joins her in the living room where she has Beetlejuice ready to play.
"Do you want to hear an embarrassing story?" he asks.
"Always."
"When I was a kid, my brother and I watched this movie and he convinced me that if you said Beetlejuice three times in the dark, he would appear. I was so terrified and he would constantly tease me by saying it two times and then pausing like he was going to add a third."
"That's cruel," she says, but her giggle says she finds it funny, not mean.
"It was cruel! I was scared of this movie for years. I haven't seen it since then."
"Do I have to hold your hand?" she teases.
"I wouldn't complain," he says softly.
"Well alright then," Donna smiles while she reaches for his hand, weaving her fingers between his before dropping their joined palms in his lap. She presses play on the movie and doesn't drop Harvey's hand until he's standing to leave for the night.
Halloween 2012
"Hey, how's Boston?" Donna grins into the phone as she leans against the kitchen counter. She was in the process of preparing popcorn for her movie marathon when she saw Harvey's name flash across the screen.
"Cold," he replies, "did you know that kids trick-or-treat for hours?!"
She smirks, pouring butter over her popcorn, picturing poor "uncle Harvey" standing out in the cold while his niece and nephew excitedly flit from house to house collecting candy bars.
"Did the kids have fun?"
"I think so, Hailey made me wear cat ears," he whines.
"Louis will be thrilled," she laughs into the phone.
He loves the sound of her laugh. It never failed to provide him with a rush of serotonin, and he found that he often tried to make jokes just so he could hear it.
"He shall ever know," Harvey chuckles. "What's your favourite type of candy bar?"
"You're not planning on stealing candy from children, are you?"
"Marcus and Katie bought way too much, Katie insisted I bring some home but I'm not a huge candy guy."
"Reese's," she replies. "And Oh Henry,"
"Noted."
"But also 3 Musketeers."
"Donna?"
"Yes?"
"You like all chocolate bars, don't you?"
"I'm not one to discriminate against sweets," she remarks.
"What's the movie for this year?" he asks.
"Hocus Pocus," she says, making her way to the living room with the phone tucked beneath her chin.
"This won't come as a shock to you, but I've never seen it."
"Harvey! It's a classic," she scolds, wrapping herself in a blanket and popping a piece of popcorn in her mouth.
"Maybe I'll watch it with you."
"From another state?"
"I'm sure I can find it on the TV here," he reasons and she can hear him rustling around.
"Don't you have plans today?" she asks.
"Nope. Marcus took the kids to a corn maze and I have nothing to do until my flight home tomorrow morning. Give me a minute and I'll find it."
She grins into the phone. If she didn't know any better she'd guess that Harvey enjoyed her tradition of watching holiday movies. Truthfully, she enjoyed having him tag along for the past few years and was slightly disappointed when she learned he would be in Boston this year.
"Found it," his exclaims into the phone.
"How the hell is this supposed to work?" she asks.
"We press play at the same time. Just give me a second I want to see if Marcus has any snacks."
"You just said-"
"Snacks that are not candy bars."
"You're missing out."
"I'm trying to maintain my figure," he jokes, "If I start eating candy bars I'll have to start boxing a lot more than twice a week."
Donna bites down on her bottom lip, picturing him in the ring in a tight black t-shirt and gym shorts. Though Harvey wore suits at the office that hid the fact he was in shape, she wasn't oblivious and his physique did not go unnoticed when they spent time together outside of the office and he shed his three-piece armour.
Ten minutes later, after Harvey successfully finds a snack in Marcus' pantry, he settles down on the bed in the guest room, his cell phone next to him and he presses play at the same time he tells Donna too.
He asks his usual questions that go unanswered and notices that by the end of the movie, Donna's breathing has become laboured. He whispers a soft "Donna" into the phone and when she doesn't reply he recognizes that she's fallen asleep. He picks up the phone and whispers a "goodnight" before hanging up and turning off the television. Downstairs he can hear Marcus and the kids in the kitchen so he heads down to join them, a smile plastered across his face.
"You look happy, did you find something to do this afternoon?" Marcus asks.
"Sure did."
Halloween 2013
"Donna?" Harvey croaks from beneath a blanket as his front door clicks shut and the silence in the apartment is replaced by the sound of heels on hardwood floors.
"Hey," she says softly, "I brought you some soup."
"You didn't have to do that," he says, trying to sit up but having little luck. His face was pale and his voice strained.
"Yes I do, you're sick, Harvey."
"I'm not sick," he protests, only to have his body betray him by letting out a deep cough.
"Right," she says, seeing herself into the kitchen where she begins to reheat the soup. When she returns with a large bowl and a spoon, Harvey is once again face down on the sofa.
"Here, eat something. It'll be good for you," she instructs as she helps him sit up in front of the bowl.
"You don't have to stay, I can take care of myself," Harvey says. He'd been like this since the day she met him. Every time he got sick he insisted he was fine and he refused to accept help from anyone. She's sure it steams back to his need to be macho but today she's not going to back down.
"I know, but I thought maybe we could watch this," she smiles as she fishes the Scream DVDs out of her purse.
"I could be persuaded to watch."
"I'm going to make some popcorn."
Two movies later, Donna finds herself sitting on the far side of Harvey's couch, Harvey fast asleep with his head in her lap. She's running her fingers lazily through the ends of his hair and watching as he breathes when his eyes slowly begin to open.
"Hey, did I fall asleep?" he asks.
"A while ago, I should probably get going and let you get to bed,"' she says.
"Maybe you could stay a while longer? Isn't there a third movie?"
"There is," she states hesitantly. She didn't want to impose or overstay her welcome when he wasn't feeling well.
"Stay," he states rather than asks.
"Alright, I'll stay."
Halloween 2014
"Can you get the door?" Donna asks Mitchell as she stirs the sauce she has heating on the stove.
"Sure."
"I know I was supposed to bring the pop-" Harvey begins before locking eyes with a tall stranger and pausing. "Oh, sorry I thought you were Donna."
"Mitchell," the man says, extending his hand towards Harvey. "Donna's boyfriend."
"Right," Harvey clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth and awkwardly shuffles between his left and right foot. "Harvey," he introduces himself.
"Oh, Donna's boss," Mitchell smiles as he makes the connection. "Did you want me to grab Donna?"
"You know what, I didn't realize she was busy, it can wait," Harvey says.
"Are you sure, she's just right in the kitchen?"
"I'm sure. Enjoy your night, Mark."
"It's Mitchell."
"Yup," Harvey nods as he presses the elevator button a third time and the doors happen to chime open.
He steps onto the elevator with a small wave and watches as Mitchell closes the door. In frustration, he punches the side panelling in the elevator car and immediately regrets his decision when his hand instantly bruises.
He exits the building with a scowl and marches over to where Ray is idling near the curb.
"Will Ms. Paulsen be joining us? We should get going if you want to get to the theatre sir."
"There's been a change of plans, you can drop me off at the bar up the street," Harvey instructs. He slides into the back seat of the car and makes a quick phone call, informing his contact at the local movie theatre he'd rented out to watch Halloween movies with Donna, that he wouldn't be needing the theatre after all.
"Who was it?" she asks when he returns to the kitchen.
"Your boss," he says, looking to Donna for an explanation. In all this year's Halloween commotion, she'd completely forgotten that Harvey would likely show up for their movie marathon. To make matters worse, she hadn't had a chance to tell Harvey she was seeing someone, and though she knew a boss shouldn't care about his employee's love lives, she knew he would care. Harvey had never been welcoming when Donna was seeing someone, and she can't imagine he was very pleased with Mitchell when he answered the door.
"What did he want?" she asks, opting to play dumb so she wouldn't have to explain the nature of her and Harvey's complicated personal relationship.
"Something work-related, he said it could wait until tomorrow."
"Right," she sighs, returning her attention to preparing dinner.
"We should watch a movie after dinner, maybe something spooky?" Mitchell suggests.
"Hmm, I don't really feel like watching anything, I was hoping to have an early night," she says.
"Not a problem," Mitchell says, "I'll get out of your hair after dinner."
It's the first year since college that she doesn't watch a Halloween movie on November 1st.
Halloween 2015
Donna paces the length of her hallway, peers out the peephole and turns around to begin the process over again. It was nearing dinner time and Harvey had yet to show up for a movie. She glances at her watch, adjusts one of the pillows on the sofa and begins her pacing routine over again.
After last year's incident, she worried something like this might happen, but she and Mitchell ended things not long after his run-in with Harvey and she wasn't currently seeing anyone so she hoped Harvey would still make an appearance. Over the past few years, she'd come to think of this as their tradition, which she knows she has no business doing, but subtly and subconsciously, he had become part of one of her favourite days and now she can't imagine it without him.
Before she has time to overthink, she impulsively decides to head to his apartment and ask why he didn't show up. She grabs her jacket and shoes and is hailing a cab, giving the driver Harvey's address, in a matter of minutes. She considers the possibility that he could be at the office, but her instincts tell her to head to his apartment first.
Once she's outside his apartment door, she raises her fist and knocks three times.
"You didn't come over," she says as soon as he swings the door open.
"I didn't think you wanted me imposing on your traditions."
She glances at him and realizes he's wearing pyjamas, he'd still taken the day off even though he hadn't come over.
"Harvey," she smiles.
"Donna," he interrupts before she can continue, "I didn't mean to intrude on your time. I know this day means a lot to you."
"Do you know why I'm here?" she asks.
"Honestly, no. I thought you'd be half a bottle deep while watching some ridiculous movie you've seen a thousand times by now. What are you doing here?"
"Why did you take today off?" she questions him.
"I- I'm not sure," he admits.
"Harvey," she says again, "You're not wrong, I do love this day. But over the past few years, I've loved getting to share it with you. You not showing up today felt wrong."
"Are you sure?" he asks.
"Absolutely. Besides, if I don't culture you, who will?"
"You really waited for me to start watching today?"
"I was about to call your name three times to see if you appeared."
"I'm not sure it works that way," he chuckles.
"I wouldn't be so sure."
"It only works with his name."
"You mean only if I go, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetle—"
Without warning, he steals her next breath by leaning down and brushing his lips against hers.
He pulls back and blushes. She looks up at him with curious eyes. "What—"
"It's bad luck to say it three times."
"Right," she mumbles, absentmindedly crossing the threshold of his apartment and stumbling back into his arms, pausing inches from his face. She draws in a shallow breath and locks eyes with him while he pushes the door closed.