Chapter Text
When Harvey woke up in the morning Mike was fast asleep on the couch. Harvey stood for a few moments, looking at the kid’s sleeping face. Even asleep Harvey could see the lines of stress and sadness across Mike’s forehead so he crept quietly through the kitchen, leaving the apartment with little noise.
He wasn’t late to the office, but he wasn’t early either. The hallways were busy and bustling with people as Harvey walked to his office, flicking through emails on his phone
He spotted Rachel as exited the elevator, her eyes ringed in red. Thankfully she seemed to know better than to speak to him and darted her eyes down to the ground and kept on walking past.
The work she was supposed to have done as his associate was piled neatly on his desk when he arrived so at least he had no reason to speak to her.
The papers for Gillis were sat on the top of the pile. As much as Harvey wanted to throw the whole lot out this was the final hurdle in getting Logan out of his life for good. SO he took a breath, sat down, and flipped open the file.
The Gillis paperwork took the better part of the morning. Harvey worked through it methodically, initialling where required, flagging two clauses that needed amending before he could sign off. Routine work. The kind that didn't require much thought, which was either a blessing or a curse depending on how much you wanted to be left alone with your own head. He was halfway through the second document when Jessica's assistant appeared at his door.
-
Jessica was already stood when Harvey entered the conference room. Louis was with her, which Harvey hadn't been expecting, and the man's expression sat somewhere between uncomfortable and self-important in the specific way that meant he had done something he was proud of and wasn't sure how it would land.
Harvey looked at Jessica. Jessica looked at Louis.
"Tell him," she said.
Louis cleared his throat. "I went to see Forstman this morning. About the Wexler stock. I know things have been complicated between us, but I needed to fix what I'd done. And when I got there..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Mike was there."
Harvey kept his face very still.
"He was about to take a job with him," Louis continued. "I talked him out of it. I don't think it took much — I think he already knew it was a bad idea — but I made sure he left." He shifted his weight. "I offered him a job here. As my associate." Another pause. "He turned it down."
The room was quiet for a moment.
Harvey looked at Louis. He thought about Mike alone last night. Mike, who had apparently got up this morning and walked himself straight towards the worst possible decision available to him, and then — when Louis had pulled him back from it — had still said no to the obvious next step.
Because it wasn't the right next step. Not quite. Harvey knew that. And so did Mike, deep down.
"I'll handle him," Harvey said. "Thank you Louis." He held the man's gaze. "You did the right thing."
Louis gave a short nod, visibly relieved and trying not to show it. He glanced at Jessica, who tilted her head towards the door. He left without another word.
Jessica waited until his footsteps had faded.
"Harvey—"
"I know," Harvey said.
-
Mike sat at Harvey’s breakfast bar, munching on his bowl of cereal and letting his mind be distracted by the newspaper in front of him. He hadn’t slept well – his mind pulling up unsettling dreams of Rachel, Grammy, Harvey and his parents that all ended in heartache one way or another.
And his morning visit to Forstman had been derailed by Louis.
It had been a stupid idea, working for Forstman. So at least Louis had stopped him from making one mistake. But he was still jobless. And had no idea what to do next.
The sound of the door to the apartment opening pulled Mike out of his own mind.
“Hey,” Mike greeted as Harvey came round the corner of the kitchen.
He was dressed as always in one of his impeccable suits and had obviously been at the office already this morning. Harvey glanced at Mike and his bowl of cereal. Mike could tell Harvey wanted to make a comment, but the man uncharacteristically stayed silent, picking up his mail from the counter where Mike had left it.
Seemed like losing your girlfriend and job made Harvey Specter cut you some slack after all.
“How was the couch?” the man asked, barely lifting his eyes from the mail.
“Fine.” Mike shrugged. "I've slept in worse places."
"I don't doubt it," Harvey said, dropping the mail back on the counter. “As your lawyer I am obliged to point out that the apartment belongs to you. You bought it and Rachel has no legal right to live there if you don’t want her to.”
“She’s in the middle of law school Harvey,” Mike said around a mouthful watching Harvey grimace.
“I don’t give a shit. She cheated on you. She doesn’t get to carry on living in your house.”
“Well maybe it’s for the best,” Mike said. “It’s not exactly like I would be able to pay the bills right now anyway.”
“Really?” Harvey asked, eyebrow raised. “No job offers yet?”
Mike looked back and blinked and then sighed, lowering his still half full bowl to the kitchen side. “Louis told you.”
“Did you think he wouldn’t?”
Not really wanting to have this particular argument with Harvey at that moment, Mike hopped off the stool turning to the couch. “No. I knew he would.”
Harvey followed him over to the sofa. “So, why’d you turn him down?”
“You know why Harvey.”
“Actually, I don’t know why. You loved that job. You were good at that job and you’ve regrated leaving every minute since you handed in your notice. So tell me why you turned it down.”
“You’re right,” Mike said simply. “I did love that job. And I loved working there. And I loved working with you. But all the reasons I left are still there Harvey. It’s too risky, for both of us.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about that and you worry about getting dressed and coming back to the office to accept the job offer.”
“Harvey I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to see her!” Mike yelled out. God he was just so tired. Letting his legs go he dropped down to sit on the sofa, letting his head drop into his hands. “She cheated on me. With Logan Sanders. She slept with someone else. And it is already boring a hole in my brain so deep that that’s all I see every time I close my eyes.” Mike grimaced, screwing his eyes tight. “If I have to see her every day at work… I can’t.”
“Mike,” Harvey sighed, coming to sit beside Mike on the couch. “If that’s the only reason I can fix it. You will not have to see her. Ever. Not until you’re ready.”
“And how are you going to make that happen Harvey? She’s your associate.” Mike said turning to face the man.
Harvey looked back at him with kind eyes. “I already told Jessica to reassign her to someone else. As soon as I found out.”
Through the gaping heartache that was sucking like a black hole in his chest, Mike felt the small flutter of affection. These past few months working against Harvey had been tough for so many reasons. And he had forgotten what it felt like to have Harvey Specter 100% entrenched on your side, and the lengths he would go to for those select few that he allowed in close. It was humbling and a bit daunting to realise that Mike was one of those few. But it never ceased to make him smile.
Oddly choked at the gesture, Mike swallowed back the lump in his throat. “Thanks Harvey.”
“Anytime rookie. Now are you gonna get your ass off my couch and come back to work?”
Mike choked out a short laugh. “With an offer like that how can I refuse?”
Harvey smiled at him then, clapping a hand onto his shoulder.
Mike looked down at the hand on his shoulder for a moment. Then he reached up and gripped it briefly — just once — before letting go and pushing himself off the sofa.
"Right," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Back to being your associate."
"Back where you belong," Harvey said simply, staring back at Mike with that gaze that was steady and sure and made you just want to trust him because then you didn’t have to worry anymore.
Mike looked at him for a moment. Then he cleared his throat and looked away.
"I suppose I'm going to need a fresh suit."
"You suppose correctly," Harvey said, already standing. "There's one in the hall closet. Left over from the last time you crashed here."
Mike paused in the doorway. "You kept it?"
Harvey picked up his jacket from the back of the chair. "Don't make it weird."
It wasn't a perfect solution. None of this was. But Mike got dressed, and Harvey held the door, and they went to work.
And that was enough for now.