Ok here we are its chapter 3 hope you guys are liking it so far thanks for reading and for your reviews

Guest: Nope this isnt a slash fic I can't see them in that way either

allen3smith: we all love abit of hurt mike and caring harvey :)

sorry if the baseball references are inaccurate im from the UK and i know nothing about baseball so I had to do some research and give it my best shot. also there were a few parts where i was just like this isnt working so sorry if it isnt all amazing

anyway hope you guys like it i'll be updating soon :)))

CHAPTER 3

(present)

Harvey made his way towards Mike's apartment. He had arranged for Donna and Rachel to have a girl's night out so he could have some time alone with Mike and find out what it was that was going on with him. Harvey and Donna were on good terms now and he had explained the situation to her and she had agreed to go along with it.

Mike got up from the couch to answer the door.

"Harvey ... what are you doing here?"

Harvey was dressed in casual clothes which obviously meant this had nothing to do with work. Harvey didn't regularly turn up on a casual occasion.

"What can I not just come down? I thought we could watch the game together." Harvey gestured towards the TV on which Mike had been watching the baseball game. It was the Yankees against the Blue Jays and Harvey and Mike were both big Yankees fans. Mike smiled and gestured for Harvey to come in. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out 2 beers as Harvey took off his jacket and slumped onto the couch. Mike handed Harvey a beer and took his seat next to him.

Rachel hurried out of the bedroom with her purse in hand.

"Harvey ... hi ... what are you doing here?"

"wow what is it with you two? Can I not just come down to hang out?"

Mike and Rachel shot each other a glance. The only times Harvey would usually come around was when he needed Mike for something to do with work. He would never just come down to watch the baseball game.

"No – I mean yes of course you can ... anytime"

Harvey chuckled in amusement as he saw Rachel lost for words.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes actually Donna and I are going to see this show and then we're going for dinner. I should get going there's some pasta from last night in the fridge if you boys get hungry." She leant forward and gave Mike a kiss and hurried towards the door.

"Bye you two have fun" Rachel called as she made her way out.

"Have a nice date" Harvey called out after her.

Harvey leant over to the side of the couch and pulled out a back of pretzels.

"You bought pretzels?" Mike asked with a grin on his face.

"Thought it was quite funny seeing you with cotton mouth last time or should I say ... cotton mouf"

"Hey if you think back to it I think you'll find that it was you with the cotton mouf"

"What are you talking about Harvey Specter doesn't get cotton mouf" They both began to chuckle as Harvey pulled open the bag.

A few hours and a few boxes of stuffed crust pizza later Harvey and Mike sat clutching their stomachs. The Yankees had thrashed the Blue Jays and both men were overjoyed about it.

"I told you we'd be nowhere without Rodriguez"

"Come on Harvey if it wasn't for Sabathia we wouldn't have come this far"

"Mike that pizza's got to you. Rodriguez led us to win"

"Whatever you say" Mike was too tired and bloated to argue with a man who he knew we could never win against.

Harvey sat up and picked up the empty pizza box placing it onto the coffee table. He put down his beer and brushed a hand through his hair. He brought his focus onto Mike who looked back at him waiting for him to say something.

"Seriously speaking now Mike, what's going on?"

Mike suddenly stood up.

"Nothing's going on Harvey there's nothing wrong with me! I am completely fine!"

Harvey stood up in front of Mike.

"Mike not for a second did I suggest that there was anything wrong with you. I simply asked what was going on but you assumed that I was talking about your wellbeing which brings me to think that maybe there is something wrong with you!"

Mike looked down at his feet avoiding Harvey's stare.

"Mike you've been acting up for the past 2 weeks there's something wrong and I'm not the only one who thinks it."

Mike's head suddenly shot up to meet Harvey's intense stare.

"Oh I get it now – Rachel talked to you. She seems to think there's something wrong with me as well and she won't stop bothering me and now you've started as well!"

"That's goddamn right Mike. And I'm not going to stop bothering you until you tell me what it is because I know for a fact there is something wrong with you!" Harvey's voice was becoming louder as he was almost now shouting at his friend.

"Well Harvey how about this – you're wrong! There is nothing wrong with me I am absolutely fine! And if that's all you have to say then I think you should leave!" The irritation in Mike's voice was clearly audible as he pointed towards the door. "Hang on a second ... that's the only reason you came here isn't it! You didn't come just to watch the game and hang out – the only reason you came is to pester me just like Rachel's been doing!

"You've got that right and I'm not leaving until you tell me what it is that's wrong with you because I think you'll find Mike that both Rachel and I actually care about you!"

"Look Harvey I don't give a shit what you say" Mike's face had become red and he was becoming breathless but he still carried on shouting (ignoring the fact that Harvey had admitted to caring about him) "Just get out of here Harvey ok just go!"

"Mike like I said before I am not leaving until you tell me. You need to calm down Mike we can sit down and talk about this"

"Calm down? You really want me to calm down?!"

"Mike-"

"No you really want to know what's wrong with me huh? Well I have cancer – lung cancer – and chances are I'm not gonna make it through the next few years! You happy now? You finally know what's been eating at me for the past 2 weeks and do you still expect me to calm down?!"

Harvey was speechless. He didn't know what just hit him. It was as if a knife had been shoved into his heart. His eyes widened as he stared at his friend. The only other time he remembered feeling like this is when he had found out his father had died. He swallowed hard attempting to get rid of the lump in his throat.

"Mike I –". He placed a hand on Mike's shoulder. He had no idea what to say. He was speechless.

"Well Harvey you really wanted to know and now you've found out – I'm dying Harvey. There's a about a 10% chance I'll make it through the next 5 years." Mike's face was bright red and his eyes were filling up with tears.

Before he had a chance to think it through, Harvey brought his friend into a tight embrace. Through the years they had known each other, not once had they hugged but right now Harvey needed it as much as Mike did. Harvey held him tight rubbing his back while Mike sobbed into his shoulder.

"I don't wanna die Harvey, I don't know what to do" The pain and desperation in Mike's voice brought tears to Harvey's eyes and his grip on Mike tightened as he desperately tried to blink them back. He didn't know what to say or do. His mind was still trying to process the news.

After what felt like hours, Mike pulled away rubbing his eyes.

"Let's go get some air." Harvey said softly placing a hand on Mike's shoulder.

They both grabbed their jackets and headed for the door avoiding each other's gazes.

10 minutes later, they both found themselves sitting on a bench close to Mike's apartment. Neither of them had uttered a single word or even dared to look at each other.

"So when did you find out?" Said Harvey deciding to break the silence.

"2 weeks ago. The day after I was in hospital." Mike leaned forward and held his head in his hands.

"But at the hospital all the reports came back clear they said nothing was wrong" Harvey was trying to think of every excuse to make the news be anything but true.

"They called me the next day, they told me they wanted to run a few more thorough tests cos they thought they may have found something. And then – and then they found it" Mike sighed heavily.

"So for 2 weeks, you've been suffering alone and god knows how much longer you would have if I hadn't interrogated you like I did" The thought of Mike having to deal with it on his own made Harvey sick.

"You think it's easy for me? I just kept telling myself that it's not true that I'm fine and there's nothing wrong I just – I was living in denial and I guess telling someone about it makes it true and I didn't want that. And then they gave me my medication which made it more real and just got to me even more and-" He reached into his pocket pulling out a few boxes "and I have this shitty inhaler and oxygen mask for when I become breathless and when it gets worse I'll have to sometimes hook onto an oxygen machine. I didn't want to believe it Harvey."

Harvey looked over at the younger man with his eyes filled with sympathy. The pain in Mike's voice hurt Harvey more than anything.

"And what about Rachel?"

"What about her?"

"Mike you need to tell her"

"But how do I do it Harvey? I know she's worried and I know how much she cares about me which just makes it worse. She won't be able to take it. I mean we haven't even got married yet and I've found I'm going to die that's not going to go down too well is it?"

"Mike you're not going to die."

"You don't know that Harvey! The survival rates are the lowest out of all the cancers Harvey there's a 90% chance that the average person won't survive longer than 5 years! The odds are completely against me"

Harvey's jaw tightened as he looked hard at Mike.

"Mike I don't care what the goddamn numbers are and I think you're forgetting that it's 90% not 100. And for your information Mike, you aren't an average person – you're way more than average. And you don't look at the odds, you look at the man and the man I'm looking at is one hell of a fighter and is definitely NOT going to let cancer kick his ass." Harvey wasn't having it. He wasn't going to let Mike die no matter what the bullshit survival rates were.

Thanks for reading :))

would really love some reviews :)

also if you guys have any ideas about what could happen next, i would love to know :))