"Your tie is crooked," the older man before him said, teasingly. "When are you ever going to learn to do this properly?" he said, smiling, as he neatened the the younger man's tie.
Mike was happy, nearly deriliously so, as he always was when with Harvey, as he'd been the last few months.
"I...uh..I have a question to ask you," the older man, Harvey, whispered, somewhat hesitantly.
"Shoot. I'm all ears." came the reply, equally as hushed.
Harvey bit down on his bottom lip, visibly anxious.
"Would you-" he stopped and cleared his throat. "Would you marry me?"
"MARRY YOU! HARVEY! What are you talking about? Don't you think its as bit soon?"
At these words the older man's face visibly hardened.
It was slight but Mike knew him well enough to know that he had hurt him deeply.
"Harvey, shit, no. I didn't -"
"Forget it," came the curt reply. "Wouldn't want to be late for work.,"

* * *

They were completely swamped with work, leaving precious little time for Mike to talk to Harvey. In these moments, which were rare, Harvey was either too busy or mysteriously nowhere to be found.
His mind wandered to thoughts of Harvey and the proposal from earlier, and their relationship in general.
What they shared was undoubtedly genuine. The kind of love you only ever found once. Where one persons secrets were both their secrets. Where they had intricate conversations within the meeting of their eyes in a simple glance.
They might as well have been the same person.

* * *

Mentally willing the elevator to move faster, even as his phone beeped and he rushed to answer the message. It was Harvey, wanting to know where Mike was. Mike could tell from the short, terse messages that Harvey was still upset about that morning.

where are you? downstairs waiting.

Mike didn't even bother replying, placing the phone in his pocket just as the elevator doors opened.
He rushed outside the building, immediately seeing Harvey waiting in front of the car. He didn't expect much of a warm welcome, it still stung deeply when Harvey turned and stepped in the car just as Mike began getting closer.
Mike followed suit, stepping into the deafening silence of the car. They drove on, Mike growing more and more unable to handle the silence anymore.
"We can't go on-"
"Mike." Harvey said, brusquely. "Not now."
"I'm not a child, Harvey. We need to talk about this."
"Seriously, Mike," he said, harsher. "Not now."

* * *

"I think I should start off with an apology." Mike began as Harvey stood at the kitchen counter and poured himself a drink. He waited for the older man to turn and face him before he continued.
"God, I'm terrible at this." Mike bit down on his lip slightly, turning his face to the side and taking a deep breath. "It was unexpected, you know. And reaction was more of a reflex than anything else."
For the first time that day Harvey looked properly at him, seeming to soften greatly.
"I don't want to push it, but I need to know. I need an answer. If I asked you again, would you marry me?"
Mike hesitated, not knowing what to say, opting for the truth. "If you asked me again three, four, years from now then who knows, then maybe yes. I don't know a out right now, Harvey. I love you, God, how I love you and someday I would love to marry you. But not now, not so soon."
There was that deafening silence again, the earlier hardness returning to Harvey's face.
"Three, four years from now? What would be different? I love you, Mike, and you love me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I assumed that you would want the same."
"Why the hell are you acting like this, Harvey?" his voice rising, uncontrollably. "Yes, earlier my reaction was shit, but now I'm explaining myself and you're pushing me away. I love you, you know that. Why can't that be enough? Why would me not wanting to get married make you feel any different towards me?"
Harvey inhaled deeply, closing his eyes before letting it go.
"I'm tired of being your lover; your ' bed-mate '. I want to be so much more than that. I'm not willing to stay in a dead-end relationship."
The younger man let out a deep angrily breath, a wounded look fluttered across his face before being replaced by a harder, colder expression.
"If you aren't ' willing ' to stay in a ' dead-end relationship ', then maybe you should just move on and find someone else. Maybe it should just be over between us.'
With that he turned around, rushing angrily out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him without another look back and no intention of ever returning.