A/N: I apologize for the long wait and the late update but I've been kinda busy and I kept running into writers block. Ugh.
But anyway, I hope this chapter doesn't bore you, I tried. I really did.
So, there's gonna be a chapter three though. LOL

Disclaimer: I do not own Suits or any of its characters.

Deep down, Mike knew he was being completely unreasonable in his thinking. He knew that Rachel might have had her reasons, no matter how irrational, and that it wasn't right for him to consciously ignore her concerns. But for once in his life, Mike wanted to put himself first. He wanted to experience the kind of selfishness that comes with only caring about yourself and he briefly wondered whether that's where Harvey's suave confidence stems from.

For the first few days in which he tried to be emotionally incapable, he felt extremely out of character, especially because Mike prided himself on his ability to empathize with virtually anyone. He didn't like the thought of throwing such a defining quality out the window just for the sake of feeling important. Fortunately, that feeling didn't last long.

It was a Tuesday when Mike decided that he was going through with his plan no matter what his subconscious self did to convince him otherwise. He was going to plow through this entire ordeal and not feel a sliver of guilt by the time he was done. Of course, it was harder to ignore such feelings when his subconscious self was in the form of his grandmother. Though Mike knew that his Grammy would never outright tell him to stop being selfish (because that would require for her to acknowledge that he is selfish), his subconscious, on the other hand, was not afraid to use that against him. So for the past few days, Mike would often times find himself being berated in his head by his Grammy (or at least her voice), telling him to stop being such a dick and start being his old self again. And as much as he hated himself for it, Mike realized that he was gradually caving in. Mike knew that there was no way he was going to turn down his Grammy's requests, real or not, because she was the only person left who put any kind of faith in him. It was proving rather painful for him to try and disregard the voice that represented the sole living human being who gave a shit about him and his welfare.

When Mike walked into work that Tuesday morning, he had solemnly sworn to himself in the privacy of his bathroom that he was not going to wimp out. He was going be assertive and if anyone dared to give him a hard time, he'd call them out on their shit and Mike decided that not even Louis was going to hinder his resolve. Regardless, he'd made an exception for Donna because there was no way he was leaving her good graces after having worked really hard to get there in the first place.

Mike casually made his way towards his little cubicle, haphazardly setting down his messenger bag on the side. He was going to think about work and work only today and he was going to get things done. Today, Mike was going to emerge victorious in both his work ethic and his mission and he was going to leave the office unscathed. Or so he'd hoped.

He sat down in his chair and immediately started going over some briefs on his desk that were, no doubt, left there by Louis. The more Mike read, the more focused he became and it was for that reason that he didn't notice a looming presence above him.

"So what king of teenage girl problem is plaguing you now these days?"

Mike's head jerked up with such a sudden force that he momentarily felt dizzy. When he had blinked a couple of times and registered Harvey's presence, he almost let a sheepish smile slip onto his face but caught himself just in time. He didn't want to seem friendly. He wanted to seem unfazed. He was on a mission to cut ties and avoid heartache and there was no way he was going to fail the first obstacle of the day.

"None that would concern you. Not that anything concerns you, really." That was good. Steady voice and passive face.

"You're right. It doesn't, much less do I care about your PMS induced mood swings, though you can cut the petty attitude. I just want these patents filed ASAP." Harvey voice was sharp and clipped and practically screamed 'pissed off'.

Mike silently watched as his boss pretty much stormed off (though to anyone else, it would seem like a casual stroll) as he didn't stay a second longer than necessary. He didn't make some lame joke or reference a movie with witty quotes and Mike realized that this was rather unusual behavior on Harvey's part, especially if he wasn't directly the cause of it. Was he?

He tried to recall any recent instances in which he might have pissed Harvey off but he came up empty. Mike had been on time and he was completing his work far more efficiently than normal, so he figured that it was quite possible Harvey was mad at Louis for some totally justifiable reason or that he just hadn't had his coffee yet. However, the latter seemed like an unlikely possibility knowing that Donna was his secretary and she always had his coffee ready. Mike quickly shook his thoughts out of his head. What Harvey was feeling didn't matter to him and as long as he got his boss' work done, the rest was irrelevant.

The truth is, Harvey wasn't mad at Louis. Heck, he wasn't even mad at Mike. In fact, he didn't really know why he was so mad to begin with and Mike's previous outlandish behavior only succeeded in angering him further for some mysteriously unknown reason. He knew that Mike was trying to hide something (the kid was never good at subtlety and it was painfully obvious that Mike held back from smiling a moment ago) and Harvey wanted to know what it was. The only problem was that Harvey Specter didn't care about people and as much he loathed to admit it, even to himself, Mike was beginning to be an exception. He did care about Mike and had recently begun to feel oddly overprotective of him. It initially freaked him out but a few quick reassuring words from Donna had managed to make him come to terms with such foreign emotions.

Harvey stiffly walked past his secretary's desk, so wrapped up in his thoughts that he missed Donna's look of concern. When he reached his desk and moved to sit down, Donna was already through the door and was shutting the glass panel behind her. Before she could turn around and approach him fully, he spoke.

"He's definitely hiding something."

"You think you know what it is?" She hoped Harvey did because she kind of had an idea and was secretly hoping that she was wrong.

"Not a clue. I mean, he's pathetic when it comes to pretending but even if he wasn't, I have no idea where to start fixing it."

It was then Donna had realized that she'd never seen her boss/best friend so weary.

"You really care about this kid, don't you?" Perhaps it was the softness of her words or the sincerity in them, but Harvey looked up at her with an unreadable expression. She was half expecting him to immediately outright deny it but she was surprised when he said nothing of the sort.

"Care is a strong word but I guess hiding it from you would be pointless, so I suppose I can freely admit that I might be just a tad bit concerned."

Harvey had this look on his face where he seemed as if he regretted his choice of words the instant he'd said them, but suddenly his expression softened as if he didn't really mind the idea of being concerned about his wayward associate. It was something that did not escape Donna's notice.

"Concerned and caring are the same thing, Harvey."

"In what world? I'm simply concerned that he'll be lacking in his work because of whatever problem he's facing and that makes it sort of my problem too. You think I was concerned about his feelings? Oh please."

Harvey looked at his secretary in disbelief. Where on earth did she come up with that? But then again, she was his best friend and the one person who knew him inside out. Whether or not he acknowledged his fraternal instincts for Mike, Donna would and she would know it far before he did so maybe she was really on to something.

"Well, that's a weak defense, even for you. You and I both know his work has been above and beyond perfect this past week." Donna was not about to let Harvey get away with faking ignorance. She knew Harvey was worried and she was going to get him to admit no matter what.

"Perfect is a bit a stretch, don't you think?"

"Harvey." That's it. He's been warned. There's no way out of this one.

"What do you want me to say, Donna? I really don't know what's going on with him and frankly, I'm not going to help him unless he asks for it. He's a grown man and he can handle his own issues."

"But that's just it, Harvey. He's always been handling his own issues and he wouldn't know how to ask for help if ever realizes that he needs it."

Ok, so he'd never say it out loud but that might have gotten to him a little bit. It made sense after all. Mike probably didn't even realize that there were people who could help him and would be willing to do so. Harvey knew that, while he'd be the last person, Mike had other people he could approach. Like that paralegal he's always going on about.

"What about his little paralegal friend? Why don't you ask her to stake out on this mission?"

"I was hoping you would figure it out on your own because I don't want to be the one to acknowledge it."

"Acknowledge what?" Was he sweating? Dear Lord.

"Rachel might be the reason why Mike's acting...strange."

"They broke up?" That's it? They broke up?

"Well, yes. But I feel like there's more to it. This morning, I met Rachel at the elevators and we were just...you know...casually gossiping and then I asked her about her and Mike and well, she got all angry and said that she wanted nothing to do with him and that he doesn't know what's good for him half the time. So I quickly changed the topic because I didn't want a sobbing paralegal on my hands."

Donna didn't know why she said as much as she did but she was afraid of the implication of her own words and tried to wrap it in as much nonsense as she could. Perhaps for her own satisfaction, she just wanted to drown out what she was trying to say. Unfortunately, the expression that dawned on Harvey's face did little to help with that.

"You don't think.." He trailed off in fear of saying the word because saying it would mean believing it and he really didn't want to believe it.

"It's possible. He hasn't spoken much this past week."

The silence that followed was deafening, to say the least. Both Harvey and Donna were lost in their own world, desperately trying to disprove their theory on Mike. Donna was about to turn around and leave when Harvey's voice stopped her.

"Do you think we should intervene?" There was a genuine look of confusion on the man's face and it was clear that he was completely unsure of what to do in this situation.

"I'm not sure, Harvey. It might just push him further away."

Donna really didn't want to leave the puppy alone, especially now that she suspected he was depressed but there wasn't much she or Harvey could do. They would just have to keep a close eye on him and make sure he didn't fall too deep.

"I don't like where this is going, Donna. And get Rachel in here when you get the chance."

Thank you sticking through to the end. It's probably not what you wanted it to be but I hope you enjoyed reading it. In any case, read and review and wait patiently for chapter three. Haha. I decided I'd throw Rachel into the mix a little bit so...