If a pure simplicial complex is partitionable, then its $h$-vector has a combinatorial interpretation in terms of any partitioning of the complex. Given a non-partitionable complex $Δ$, we construct a complex $Γ\supseteq Δ$ of the same dimension such that both $Γ$ and the relative complex $(Γ,Δ)$ are partitionable. This allows us to rewrite the $h$-vector of any pure simplicial complex as the difference of two $h$-vectors of partitionable complexes, giving an analogous interpretation of the $h$-vector of a non-partitionable complex. By contrast, for a given complex $Δ$ it is not always possible to find a complex $Γ$ such that both $Γ$ and $(Γ,Δ)$ are Cohen-Macaulay. We characterize when this is possible, and we show that the construction of such a $Γ$ in this case is remarkably straightforward. We end with a note on a similar notion for shellability and a connection to Simon's conjecture on extendable shellability for uniform matroids.