Title: It's Always Been You
Summary: A drunken Mike shows up at Rachel's doorstep, and that's when she starts to forgive him for what he's done.
Author's Note: This fandom is missing so much Mike/Rachel fanfiction. Here's my attempt to ease your pain a little.
No matter what happened between them, in the end, Mike always found himself drawn to Rachel. He first thought it was mere attraction, an innocent crush on a beautiful, intelligent woman. But as the days slipped into weeks, and those weeks blurred into months, he started to love every other aspect of her.
The way she was always so passionate about making it on her own. She had the motivation and intelligence to bring herself to that well-deserved place on the top, and he knew it.
He loved her taste in cuisine. The 'quick bite' was very common for Mike, because A) he wasn't much of a kitchen prince and B) he was just so used to hamburgers and fries. So when Rachel invited him to join her at a four star Greek restaurant (on Pearson Hardman's costs, of course), he was surprised to listen to her talk enthusiastically about food that was just going to disappear within a few seconds anyway. Food…he had learned, somehow sparked something inside of her, something which he adored.
It took him a year and a half to admit that deep in his heart, he would always want Rachel, no matter what. He couldn't possibly know if he was going to love another woman, or lose his job, or something else. But he did know that he would never stop wanting to be with her.
So it wasn't really a surprise when Mike found himself on Rachel's doorstep. It was 4 o'clock in the morning, though his mind was not aware of it at all. He was staring at the wooden door groggily, his feet barely able to keep him standing up. He knocked.
Nothing.
He gulped a little and blinked heavily, as he tried to focus on the door instead of the alcohol that was rushing through his body. 'Rachel…' he found himself muttering, and his hand banged on the door yet again.
He swore he could hear something – someone? – stumble on the other side of the door, and he took the opportunity to knock – more like bang – again. A pair of footsteps grew closer, until they stopped. He swallowed as he waited anxiously.
There was a short silence, until he heard an unsure voice through the door. 'Who's there?' He could hear her unease, partly because it was way past midnight and she was still half-asleep.
'Rachel…' He tried to speak up as loud as he could, but he could only manage to speak just above a whisper. If he could see through that door, he would've noticed the baffled look on her face.
'Mike? What- what are you doing here?'
'Can you just let me in, please? I need to talk to you.'
She didn't respond. He thought she didn't hear him, and was about to repeat himself when he heard her unlock the door, then opening it with a soft creak.
Her hair was completely disheveled, she wasn't wearing any make-up, and she was only dressed in an oversized college sweatshirt. But even in this state, Mike couldn't help but force back the urge to drop his jaw in awe.
She noticed his behavior, and let her gaze fall to the floor as her cheeks started to flush bright red. 'What's going on?' She looked back up at him, hazel eyes meeting light blue ones.
He gulped for what felt like the sixth time that night. 'You're beautiful.' He spouted out, breath reeking with alcohol, but eyes filled with blunt honesty.
She had no proper response for that, so she just tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and shifted away from him, allowing him to move into her apartment. 'Seriously, what are you doing here? Are you drunk?' She sniffed the scent that hung around him and pulled a face. 'Why would you get drunk on a work day?'
Mike rolled his eyes, and almost lost his balance in the process. Rachel quickly reached out to grab a hold of his arm and helped him get seated on a nearby chair. Mike leaned back, sighing heavily. 'Tess…was a mess.' Upon realizing his accidental rhyme, he chuckled, then turned back to being serious. 'We didn't work out.'
'Oh.' Rachel tried to act nonchalant. 'I'm…sorry.'
'You don't have to be.'
'I don't?'
Mike shook his head. 'Nope.'
She eyed him warily. 'So…you just came here to tell me about what happened with you and Tess? You could've called.'
'I didn't want to.' Mike grabbed the sides of his chair to steady himself as he rose back to his feet. 'I want to be here. With you.' He was about to step forward to invade her personal space when everything clicked in her head.
'No.' Rachel shook her head furiously, her brain repeating every moment that Mike had hurt her. 'I'm not like your fall-back girl that you come back to every time you mess up a relationship.' Mike desperately leaned forward, aching for some sort of touch, which he got. But not the touch he had in mind. Rachel had her hands placed on his chest to keep him from kissing her, no matter how much she wanted him to kiss her. He hurt her too much to let him get there so fast again.
'You're not a fall-back girl. You're every girl.' Mike told her, and Rachel grinded her teeth, wanting to believe him after everything that happened. 'It's just that…' He looked away for a second, eyes filling with grief. 'It's been a tumultuous couple of weeks and I've never been the best at making rash decisions. I wanted you, Rachel, but we couldn't happen. So then Tess came along and I thought it was easier, but…' He paused for a second to find the right words. 'It's always been you.'
'Well, that's really nice of you to say, Mike, but-'
'I'm sorry, Rachel.' His words obviously struck a nerve, and Rachel couldn't help but get a little misty eyed when Mike's attempts to get close to her stopped. He stopped leaning into her hands, and stood still. 'I've made a lot of bad decisions, said a lot of stupid things. I hurt you a lot in the process. I'm sorry that I'm a screw up when it comes to you. I want to fix that, I really do.'
Rachel heaved a long sigh, her arms falling back to her sides again. 'You're not a screw up, Mike.' Maybe a little. She added in her head, but chose not to say it out loud.
'All I need to know is that we're not completely off the table. That you'll give me a chance to prove my worth.'
Rachel bit her bottom lip, scrutinizing him as he tried to offer her a gentle look, the one that was so typically Mike Ross. That one look offered her comfort and a sense of happiness whenever she received it, so she sighed. She could never really draw Mike out of her life even if she wanted to.
'Okay.'
It was all he needed to hear.
Author's Note: I don't think Mike is an asshole for what he did to Rachel, I just think that she got hurt because of him too many times and I don't think she'd like that to happen again. Also- who liked my Friends reference? Lobsters ftw! (Oh hey, please leave a nice review, hopefully it'll help me to update faster and perhaps write more stories which I know you want. I have a tumblr.)