Chapter 2

The Start Of A Very Bad Day

Harvey had noticed Mike's change in attitude this week, it had started on Monday with Mike not responding to Harvey's movie quote, he just gave Harvey a small smile. Harvey should have known then something was wrong. But he ignored it.

Then on Tuesday, Mike snapped at Louis in front of everyone and yelled at him, Harvey would have found it amusing under any other circumstance. But it was clear Mike was not in the mood to be messed with. Donna had noticed too and encouraged Harvey to speak to Mike, but as usual Harvey just said that it wasn't his problem. The thing was Harvey did care about Mike probably more than he should.; so it was his problem.

That leads to today, where Mike buried himself in work and avoided everyone by locking himself in the file room. Donna said it's because Mike was afraid of snapping at someone again; like Harvey or Jessica. Harvey didn't question how she knew this, as she was...well..Donna. But this concerned Harvey even more, and he had to find out what. Only this lead to Mike yelling at him and saying it was none of his business. Harvey shrugged it off and sent Mike home, but he was a little hurt. He may say he doesn't do feelings, but it doesn't mean he doesn't have them.

He stayed at work a little longer after that thinking about Mike. Then he had Ray drive him home, on the way though a motorcycle raced past them so fast that Harvey barely saw it, it was just a blur. He opened the window halfway as he peered out and saw the motorcycle brake fast and skid to the red light. He scoffed, at least he stopped at the red light.

Ray pulled the black sedan up next to the motorcycle and Harvey ran his eyes over the bike. It was amazing, it was clearly old but in perfect condition. Harvey had a slight interest in motorcycles but honestly he was too afraid to drive one, he's read too many cases about people dying from motorcycle accidents. His eyes moved to the person on the bike, it was clearly a man; Harvey ran his gaze over the leather jacket and tight jeans. He had to admit it was a little sexy seeing the man on the bike; badass. Which Harvey always found a turn on.

Harvey was still staring at the man when he took his helmet off, he turned his head to the side as the back of his head looked familiar. The blond hair. Then the man's head turned to the side and Harvey gasped; it was Mike! Harvey removed those thoughts he had of Mike being sexy and was shocked that Mike was on a motorcycle

"MIKE!" Harvey yelled as he opened the window fully and leant out. But it's clear Mike was somewhere else, deep in thought, this combined with the rain clearly meant Mike didn't hear him.

Harvey frowned, then saw Mike answer his phone. He swore, why didn't he think of that.

"Tom what do you want?" Lucky for Harvey, Mike was yelling so he could hear the conversation. Harvey wondered who this 'Tom' was, he didn't know anyone at the office called Tom so he must not work there. Then again Harvey didn't care about anyone else who worked at the firm, so he might.

"Out. I needed some air"

"I know I promised but I can't help it, it's just something I have to do. You don't understand" Harvey could tell from Mike's voice and face that he was upset and he didn't like it

"I'm not going to listen to this anymore!"

"Who the hell do you think you are? You're not my father"

Harvey's eyes widened at that last comment and he had a suspicion that whoever it was probably moaning about Mike being on the bike. And that it wasn't a boyfriend but someone close to Mike, a family friend?

As soon as Mike pulled the phone away from his ear and went to hang up, Harvey dialled Mike's number and watched as Mike stared at his call. When Mike hit ignore and sped off, Harvey felt his heart stop as Mike was nearly hit by a car as he rode through the red light. By the time it went green Mike had already gone around a corner.

When Harvey got back to hid condo he poured himself a glass of scotch and called Mike's number again. It rang and then went to voicemail.

Harvey watched some TV, but honestly was not paying attention as he stared at the rain and had so many images fill his head of Mike being in an accident. He couldn't resist as he dialled Mike's number again. Rang then voicemail. Rang then voicemail.

He could feel his heart racing as he paced his condo. Why was he so worried? Mike wasn't his responsibility. Except he was.

Harvey dialled again, only this time it didn't ring, just went straight to voicemail. Harvey rung another 10 times with no answer. He swore as he threw his phone on his bedside table and sat on the bed, it was 1 in the morning. Harvey laid on his bed and closed his eyes, vowing to go to Mike's place in the morning and confront him.

~~SUITS~~

Mike had ridden his bike for another hour before heading home. He parked his park in his neighbour's garage; she had kindly let him keep it there as it would be easily stolen on the street. Then he went up to his apartment and took off his jacket and put his helmet on the coffee table. He pulled out his phone intending to call Harvey back when he saw it was off, he swore as it was out of battery. Mike glanced at his clock and saw it nearly 10pm. He plugged in his phone charger and sat on the sofa to watch TV.

After a while he ordered Pizza and had a few beers whilst looking through his old photo album. He was resting against the back of his couch with the pizza box and beer on the floor and album in his lap. He turned the page and saw a picture of him with his mum at the science fair when he was 10. He got 2nd place for his remote control robot he made. He had spent 2 months working on it and was really proud of it, he didn't mind 2nd place he didn't really care about winning he just liked to build things. What upset him was that his dad was too busy to go and he didn't even care that he got 2nd place or about the robot, he was to focused on some case him and his mum was working on. They were both corporate lawyers the same as Mike is now. He had dreamed of being a lawyer like them when he was younger only he had changed his mind when his dad begun to spend less time with him. It's funny how life turns out, Mike ended up being a kicked out of college and still ended up a lawyer. Yet not the way he wanted, he knew if his parents were alive they would be disappointed of how he got here, his dad certainly would. He was a fraud, how could any parent be proud of that.

Mike stared at the picture on the opposite page of his 10th birthday, his parents standing next to him smiling as he blew out his candles. That was probably the last birthday he had that he had where he actually happy. He ran his hand over the picture and frowned as the memory filled his head, he turned the page quick to cut the memory off. The next picture was of his dad and him playing catch, that was the day after his birthday and it was probably the happiest memory he had of his dad. The rest were clouded with sadness and arguments. The next couple of years got more and more tense between them both. Mike flipped the pages and saw pictures of him and his mum, him and his Grammy but no more of him and his dad. He snapped the album shut and threw it so it skidded across the wooden floor and under his bed.

He pulled his knees up to his chest and he sipped his beer thinking about his dad. Sure he loved his dad, but he just felt like a big disappointment to him, and his mum. Mike knew long before that night that his dad never wanted a kid with his brain as a son, he wanted a normal kid. Once which loved to play sport, which wasn't the best at everything, one which didn't mouth off at clients, and one he could actually be proud of. That wasn't him and it never would be. He downed the rest of his beer and got another one.

Mike finished the pack of beer within the next hour and passed out on the floor drunk. He knew he had work tomorrow but the alcohol helped the memories from coming when he slept. He hoped his hangover wasn't that bad tomorrow, he knew Harvey would be pissed if he found him with a hangover at work.

~~~SUITS~~~

Mike however only got a few hours sleep before he was awake again and couldn't get back to sleep. He glanced at his phone now on and saw about 20 missed calls from Harvey, Mike frowned, he didn't realise Harvey was so desperate to talk to him. Mike glanced at the time it was 4am so he knew there was no point calling Harvey as he would be asleep, he could message him though;

Phone died. I'm fine see you at work tomorrow

Mike decided to keep it simple and although he said to Harvey see you at work, Mike knew he had to avoid Harvey tomorrow. He could just tell that Harvey was going to ask him what was wrong and Harvey had a way of getting people to talk. But not him, no way was he going to share his deep dark secrets with anyone; especially not Harvey

Mike went into his bedroom and sat on the floor in front of his closet staring at a box on the floor right at the back. It was labelled Mum and Dad, Grammy had given it to him a few years after they died but he refused to open it. He just couldn't, it was too painful. Now however the more he stared at the box, to more he wanted to open it. Mike clasped his hands together over his knees and drummed his thumb frantically. Finally he gave up and dragged the box out next to him, he wiped off the dust and put his hand on the top to pull open the lids when he froze.

He couldn't do this, he wasn't ready

Mike stood up and stared at the box before kicking it into the corner of his bedroom then going back into the kitchen and getting another beer. He knew he shouldn't, but it was the only way to stop the memories from haunting his dreams

~~SUITS~~
Mike was woken up by pounding on his doors and he groaned as he moved his arm and knocked a bottle onto the floor making it smash. He winced as it sounded like a megaphone in his head. Turning his head away from the sunlight streaming in, he buried it in his left arm stretched out on the coffee table

"MIKE!" Someone yelled his name and his jumped and fell off the chair and onto the floor. He rolled onto his back and put his arm over his eyes

"Mike oh my god" Mike felt the presence lean over him and grab him, then helped him back into the chair. He leant his head back against the wall with his eyes closed trying to wait for the dizziness to pass

"Here" Mike felt the same someone who helped him up push a glass against his mouth and he sipped it. The water slipped down his throat and instantly felt better than the aftertaste of the alcohol last night

Mike slowly opened his eyes as he set the glass down to see Tom sitting on the arm of his couch with his forearms resting on his knees, frowning at him

"Oh shit"

"Damn right Mike. How much did you drink last night?"

"I lost count after 6" Mike rubbed his forehead as he could feel the start of a huge hangover forming; "What time is it?"

"6:45am" Tom said glancing at his watch then back at Mike; "I have to be at the hospital by 7:30 but I had to come check on you. Please tell me you didn't ride that damn bike drunk again"

"No Tom I didn't. I'm not a idiot." Mike said as he glared at Tom

"Really? Well with the way you've be acting lately you could have fooled me"

"What are you even doing here Tom?"

"I told you I came to check on you Mike. I was worried"

"Worried?" Mike scoffed; "Well as you can see I'm fine, so you can go now" Mike said as he gestured to himself as he stood up and wobbled towards the bathroom

"Fine? Come on Mike I've known you long enough to know what that really means. Look Grammy asked me to keep an eye on you and-"

Mike stopped and swung around to face him; "Well stop it. Grammy's gone now and I don't need or want you to anymore ok? I'm not a little kid anymore falling into a bad crowd, I'm a grown man with a job and I do not need you coming here and telling me how to live my life because-" Mike didn't realise that by the end he was yelling and he trailed off

"Because I'm not your father? Is that what you were going to say?" Tom sighed; "I know I'm not your father, but I am a friend. A friend whose worried about you."

"And I told you I'm fine, so please go. I have to get ready for work"

"You're not going to work today are you? Mike you're hungover and-" Mike shot Tom a glare and Tom stopped and held up his hands

"Alright Mike. I'll go" Tom moved towards the door, but stopped and turned back to face Mike

"Here"

"What's this?" Mike took the little business card Tom held out to him; "Dr Barkley. Are you kidding me?"

"Mike-"

"No I am never seeing this quack again!"

"He's not a quack he's a therapist Mike"

"I do not need a therapist" Mike said throwing it back at Tom but he didn't catch it and it fell to the floor

"Maybe not Mike, but you do need to talk to someone; about what happened. It's clear you won't talk to me, but please talk to someone. You can't go through this alone Mike" Tom gave one last look at Mike before leaving.

Mike sighed as he walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him, he knew he was hard on Tom; he was only trying to help after all. And he's right, he does need to talk to someone about it.

Mike showered and put on a clean suit, hoping to hide the fact he was hungover; he also took some aspirin and intended to buy some proper coffee on the way to work.

He glanced at his watch again; 7:10am, if he left now he could be at work before 7:30am and hopefully before Harvey so he could avoid him and just bury himself in work. He had a lot on his mind, and combined with his hangover was not a good day to be messed with.

Just as he was walking out he saw the therapists business card on the floor, he picked it up and studied it for a few moments. Suddenly there was knock at the door and Mike quickly shoved the card in his suit pocket and answered. He winced and put a hand over his eyes as the sun streamed through one of the hall windows.

"Wow Mike you don't look so good" Mike peeked through half lidded eyes at his blonde neighbour

"Beth you sure know how to compliment someone" He leant against the doorframe feeling the effects of the hangover; he hadn't had breakfast he was hoping to get something on the way to work.

Mike saw her standing there watching him closely; " I was just heading to work. What do you need Beth?"

"I heard you come in late last night and then the yelling this morning..I was worried"

"Why is everyone worried about me, I'm fine. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go to work" Mike pulled out some sunglasses from his messenger bag and put them on as he locked his apartment door. He took a few steps and felt sick so he had to grab the wall

"Are you sure you should be going to work?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. Don't worry." Mike said as he carried on walking towards the stairs

"Are we still on for dinner tonight?" She shouted after him and he winced at the volume

"Er yeah sure text me later" Mike waved his hand as he left

Mike was in no condition to bike so he got a cab, it dropped him off a few blocks away from Pearson Hardmann at this amazing coffee place Rachel showed him. He walked in and groaned there was a queue a mile long and he was not in the mood to wait. He grumbled and turned to leave when a guy ran in the same direction and they collided into a waitress and all 3 fell to the floor.

Mike was on his back and it took him a second to regain his focus. He was pretty sure his shoulder hit a table on the way down and he heard the smashing of class and shouts.

He moaned as he rolled onto his front and put his hands onto the floor to push himself up; when he winced as he pushed his hand into a piece of glass. He snapped back his hand and glanced at it, there was small pieces of glass all over his left hand.

"Oh my god. Are you ok?" Mike looked up at the women who he collided with and she was kneeling next to him staring concerned at his hand.

"Yeah it's nothing" Mike winced as she helped him stand and he was pretty sure he was going to have some severe bruising on his left shoulder.

"Are you ok?" Mike asked as he gave her a once over with his eyes and assumed she was. He used his right hand to grab his left shoulder which throbbed in pain.

"Yeah I'm good I didn't really fall. I just stumbled. You were the one who fell. Should I call an ambulance?"

"No I'll be fine" Mike assured her and finally got a look at the rest of the cafe. Mike noticed a small crowd had formed watching the altercation;

"You!" Mike felt someone grab his left shoulder and he yelped in pain as someone spun him around. "You spilled coffee all over me and I have to be at work in 10 minutes!"

"Hey it was you who ran into me!" Mike yelled back as he pushed the man away and gritted his teeth through the pain. The waitress who helped him came to stand next to him

"Get me some napkins" The man barked at the waitress as he stared down at his coffee stained shirt. She glared at the man

"You should be apologising to her not ordering her around. Seeing as it was YOU who ran into us."

"Excuse me?" The man narrowed his eyes at Mike, but Mike wasn't intimidated he was pissed off

"Are you deaf? I said you should apologise to her and me. Right now" Mike said and everyone went silent

"Who the hell do you think you are? I'm not apologising to some pussy in a suit and some slut." Mike snapped and his punched the man with his right fist causing the man to stumble back and grip his nose which was dripping blood.

Mike straightened his back and shook his hand now numb after hitting bone. He's pretty sure he broke the guy's nose.

"I'm calling the cops!" The man yelled as he tried to cover his nose

"Oh yeah go right ahead and I'm going to tell them that I'm suing you. You see you just made a big mistake, I'm a lawyer at Pearson Hardmann and I've got about 15 witnesses here who saw you run into me and Miss-" Mike stared at the waitress who smiled;

"Parks, Samantha Parks" Mike smiled back

"Miss Parks. And I'm sure I can get a few of them to agree to testify that you intentionally knocked us over and caused both damages to this cafe and injuries to myself and Miss Parks. Now you're a smart man and you'll agree that a lawsuit like that could work out quite expensive and for a man like you well that could ruin your reputation."

Mike saw bits of fear in the man's eyes as Mike took a step forward;

"I could however now sue you as long as you apologise to myself and Miss Parks along with everyone here. As well as pay for any damages you caused to this establishment, and you are going to pay for everyone's cup of coffees."

The man gaped; "I-"

"You what?" Mike took a step closer

"I'm sorry" Mike smiled having won a huge battle. He wouldn't have actually sued the man, it would have been a waste of time, but he didn't know that.

"Good" Mike smiled at Samantha. Everyone clapped as the man whipped out his wallet and a few people slapped him on the back saying good job.

"Oh and leave a very generous tip" Mike said as he leant forward and whispered in the man's ears before stepping back.

"That was amazing!" Samantha said as she hugged him

Mike grabbed a couple of napkins for his hand and she grimaced in sympathy as she stared down at his hand.

"You should really get to a hospital"

"No I got to get to work or I'll be late" Mike glanced at his watch; 7:32am. "Too late. I already am" Mike shrugged his shoulders; "I got to go" He stopped up and moved towards the doors when he stopped him

"Wait you can't just go..your hand"

"I'll get it sorted at work, we have a first aid box."

"I'm coming with you."

"No there's no need really. I'll be-"

"Look-"

"Mike"

"Mike you helped me out back there, let me help you. I'll throw in a free cup of coffee and a muffin" Mike felt himself nearly drolling as he was dying for some coffee

"Deal" Mike smiled as he waited for her to get the coffee and muffin and they made their way to Pearson Hardmann. Mike was going to have one hell of an explanation for Harvey

~~~~SUITS~~~~

Harvey got up early so he could make sure he didn't miss Mike; to make sure the kid got to work on time and talk about last night.

He arrived at Mike's at 7:15am, giving him 15 minutes before he had to be at work. For some reason he hesitated at Mike's door, unsure if this was a good idea. Then he remembered he was Harvey Specter, the best closer in New York he could do this. He banged his fist on the door and waited. It was silent on the other side, the kid couldn't still be asleep could he?

"Mike" Harvey yelled as he thumped his fist on the door again

"You looking for Mike" A blonde women appeared in the doorway of the apartment next to Mike's

"Er yeah"

"You just missed him, he left 5 minutes ago to go to work"

Harvey rolled his eyes, the one day Harvey decides to visit Mike the puppy chooses to be early. He nods his head at the women; "Thanks" and stars to walk away

"Are you Harvey?" Harvey stops mid step and pivots back to her with a curious look on his face.

"You are, aren't you?" Harvey saw the women smirk and cross her arms, as she eyed him up at down and nodded

"I see what Mike was talking about. I get why he likes you" The women chuckled and Harvey was at a loss. He just stared at her baffled and she frowned as the colour drained from her face

"Oh my god, he hasn't told you...I'm sorry..I just assumed that you...that he..that you and him.."

Harvey's eyes widened as he realised what she meant;

"Mike likes me?" Harvey asked and she swallowed

"I'm sorry I was mistaken..I er..I was thinking of a different Harvey.." Harvey raised an eyebrow

The women sighed; "I've really screwed up haven't I? I mean there he goes and confides in me and I go and spill it to the one person I shouldn't."

Harvey smiled, he liked this women

"Harvey Specter" He held out his hand

"Jennifer Allen. Mike's neighbour and apparently gossip friend" The women smiled back

"Friend huh?"

"Yeah why?" The women searched his face

"No it's just I've never met a friend of Mike's who was a women"

"Ah well you see we did flirt a bit to begin with, but Mike shut me down saying he only had eyes for one person and well now I know why." The women chuckled at him

"I should be going" Harvey suddenly felt like he was on display as the women stared at him

"Wait look what I told you about Mike..can you just forget I told you...he..Mike's done a lost for me and I hate for him to lose trust in me...plus he didn't look so good this morning..so could you just not mention anything and maybe give him a break"

"What do you mean he didn't look so good?" Harvey frowned and stared her down

"Oh god. There I go again, no I'm not going to say anything you're his boss and-"

"I'm not going to fire him, just tell me what's wrong with Mike"

The women sighed; "Well it's just things I've noticed lately, he's been riding that bike of his more frequently and later at night. That and the fact he always seems to be arguing with some guy either on the phone or in his apartment. And I think he was hungover this morning"

Harvey processed all she said and got three things out of that; one, Mike was riding that stupid bike through the city at night (which Harvey was furious about), two, Mike was fighting with some guy, Harvey was pretty sure it wasn't a boyfriend after what Jennifer said, it could be the person on the phone last night to Mike, and three, Mike was drinking. And for Mike to be drinking the night before work is not good.

"Look all I'm saying is he's going through something right now and I think he needs to know he has people who care" Harvey took his words to heart like she meant him, and she probably did. He nodded and smiled at her and he left

He was both angry at Mike and worried about him. The fact Mike liked him was surprising and Harvey didn't know what to do with that information. He didn't feel the same way, he liked women and he barely saw Mike as a friend, no way he felt the same way. Now he had two choices say something, in which case Mike might get embarrassed and shut down, or two, he ignore it and hope it goes away. He knew straight away which route to take, because he was certainly not going to talk about his feelings. He would just wait for Mike to come talk to him

However fate had other plans.

As Harvey Specter walked into the Pearson Hardmann building at 7:40am, he noticed a change in atmosphere at the law firm. Some people were giving him strange looks and there was a small crowd outside his office and whispering.

"What the hell is going on?" Harvey bellowed and the crowd dispersed and he finally saw into his office, he saw Donna and Jessica in his office talking to someone who he couldn't see. Until he got closer and he saw it was Mike and some girl. That was when he noticed Donna holding Mike's left hand which had pieces of glass in it. and she was saying something to Mike as she touched near the wound and Harvey saw Mike wince.

Harvey barged in; "Would someone like to tell me what's going on?" He stared at everyone until landing on Mike

"Mike"