June 8th 2001

Bess was grateful as she sat there, chilled to the bone in the old cathedral, that her brother Aidan had been able to plan the funeral service himself. His wishes were very clear:

1) Music. Tons of it. He didn't care what, so long as Bess sang.

2) Bess and Harvey were both required to speak, though Bess would deliver the official eulogy.

3) Bess and Harvey were to act as pallbearers, along with several of Aidan's other closest friends.

4) That there be a huge party afterwards at the family home, complete with a jazz combo. Bess had protested the final point, but Aidan insisted that it would lift spirits. And he would be damned if his funeral were entirely depressing.

5) Food. Tons of it. If there was anything Aidan had loved during his life, it was food…and Bess.

Harvey had been told to sit with the family. As Aidan had put it to him, "You're my brother, you idiot. Sit with our family." And so, Bess sat there, her head on Harvey's shoulder, tears silently falling from both their eyes.

Harvey's speech had been beautiful, full of love, the kind that made people laugh and cry all at once. As soon as he returned to her side, Bess clung to him. She would be lying if she said she were mentally present for the entire service. Most of it she spent contemplating how good Harvey smelled, like soap and rain, fresh cut grass, his cologne and something that just smelled like him. It was as though her mind had shut down, oblivious to what was occurring, because she simply couldn't stand it anymore.

Harvey's gentle tones roused her from her thoughts. "Bess," he said. "They're waiting for you."

She looked up, slightly confused, and then it registered. It was time for the eulogy. She nodded her head, took the rumpled pieces of paper beside her into her hands, stood, smoothed her dress, and walked up to the lectern.

Bess observed the sight before her. The church was huge, easily seating over six hundred people, and every pew was stuffed to the gills. People had lined the walls and were standing throughout the entire service, which at this point had gone on two hours. It was somewhat overwhelming. Drawing a shaky breath, she began.

"Growing up, Aidan and I would spend hours in the library at home. For those of you who were our childhood playmates, you would know that this was hardly academic or entirely educational. You see, Aidan was a book worm, but he also had a penchant for acting out the most exciting parts of whatever book he was reading at that point." Here she paused, allowing the friends who knew what she was talking about to burst into a fit of giggles, Harvey among them.

"By the time I was five, I had participated in several heists in the Old West, sailed all seven seas, hunted for buried treasure, and led Frodo Baggins back to the Shire, all without leaving my apartment. And so, I remember, did many of you." She smirked a bit when she saw Mark Henson, who was one of the fiercest pirates and warrior elves around.

"We both eventually grew out of our desire to leap about the library, sliding down banisters and rigging sails from the ceiling. But the library remained one of our favorite places."

"It was there, when I was fourteen that I discovered Wuthering Heights, which quickly became my favorite novel, especially given my propensity for tragedy." Again, more laughs filled the church.

"There's a passage I wish to share with you, one that Cathy speaks about Heathcliff, though for me, it always and forever summed up my love for Aidan."

At this, Bess almost lost her nerve. It was as though saying those words aloud would mean that Aidan was well and truly long. Bess looked desperately to Harvey who stood instantly, walked to the lectern and took her hand. She took a deep, slow breath and said, in a voice clear and calm: "He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."

She paused then, letting the sentiment sink in for those present and giving Harvey and grateful glance before she continued.

"Before he died—and how he did it, I will never know—Aidan managed to get a hold of a first edition copy of Wuthering Heights, a gift for me."

She started crying then, soft and slow, but she smiled nonetheless, remembering how everything happened. She laid down the papers and stepped out from the lectern, simply talking.

"Aidan and I had this thing for writing letters. Most of you know how he spent a semester abroad in Germany, and the whole time he was gone, we wrote letters to one another every day, even though email would have been far quicker. There was just something about holding something tangible in my hands, something from him, that made the distance seem not so great."

"So, last night, I finally opened the book he gave me, straight to the page where Cathy tells Nelly that Heathcliff is more herself than she is…"

Her voice broke there, and she looked back at Harvey. He had been there when it happened. He simply smiled and nodded, urging her to go forward.

"And there was this little, folded piece of paper, right there, pressed between those pages. And when I opened it, all it said was 'Dear Bess, You know. Aidan'"

Almost everyone in the audience understood what that meant, the weird habit the siblings had of never saying 'I love you,' how they needed something more, something for them.

"I think that sums it up pretty well," she said, simply. "You know," she said, shrugging her shoulders and smiling through her tears. "Every one of us was drawn here because we knew and loved Aidan. And there is nothing I can sit here and say about him, about how talented and smart and kind and caring and loving and giving he was that you don't already know."

"When I asked Aidan what he wanted me to tell you all, he said this." She pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of her suit jacket and read aloud: "Tell them that I loved them all, that I loved every minute I spent with them, even Mark Henson, even when he stole my pirate sword in the 3rd grade."

At this, the cathedral erupted into laughter. Anyone who had known Aidan knew of that incident. It was one of his favorites.

And looking out at the group before her, Bess couldn't help but laugh along with them, full and loud and filled with joy. And in that moment, Aidan was there, in his own way. She smiled again, happy to see this.

"So, this is how I ask you to remember my brother, as you do in this moment, as a man who loved us all, who, always wanted to bring us joy and make us laugh."

Everyone nodded and smiled as Bess walked down from the lectern, her hand threaded through into Harvey's since he had somehow caught up with her. She paused briefly by Aidan's casket, kneeling down and leaning her head against the cold, dark wood. "You know," she said simply, and then she returned to her seat where Harvey held her for the rest of the service.

The party had been going for six hours by now. It was nearing two in the morning, and only the really dedicated people were left, but that easily amassed to forty people. Bess had been sure that Aidan was wrong about the stupid party, but in the end, he had been right, just like always. It had been an absolute riot. Someone, though Bess wasn't sure who, had been wise enough to order a keg, and the vast majority of the party was spent re-enacting hilarious incidents from Aidan's life, telling stories and sharing lessons they had all learned together. The air was thick and full of her brother tonight, so much that Bess could barely breathe anymore.

And that was how she found herself on the roof of the building. Her balcony was one of her favorite places, but it wrapped around the apartment, and there was no guarantee of privacy from it tonight. Instead, she shed her shoes, let her hair down from the chignon it had been in all day and took to the roof.

She wasn't up there for long before she heard someone approach, and she was positive of who it was. It was no secret that Aidan's one request from Harvey had been to look after her, so she was not at all surprised to see him when he sat beside her on one of the chairs she and Aidan had dragged up there several years ago.

"How're you doing Elisabeth?" he asked.

She shrugged in response, not entirely sure. "I feel weird today," was her response.

He nodded and looked out over the city, all the lights blazing. "It sorta feels like he's still here, doesn't it?"

She contemplated that for a bit, then smiled. "Yeah. He was here today." Drawing a deep breath, Bess tucked her feet under herself, adjusting her dress so that it covered her legs.

"I think the thing I'm gonna miss the most is being called Bess."

Harvey threw her a quizzical look, then she saw recognition register on his face. "Yeah, why was he the only person who called you that? I tried calling you that once when I was thirteen, and you threw a complete temper tantrum, if I remember."

She laughed at the memory, head falling back as she nodded. "Yeah, I was a spitfire."

"Was?" he quipped back, not quite dodging quickly enough when Bess playfully punched his shoulder.

Bess ran a hand through her hair, ruffling it a bit. "Aidan couldn't say his Ls when he was little. Did you know that?"

Harvey shook his head, but remained silent, wanting to know the rest of the story.

"Well, he couldn't, which was no problem until I was born. But, whenever he talked to me or about me, I was Ewisabeth." A giggle escaped her mouth. "And he hated it because he knew he wasn't saying it right, and my mom and dad felt bad. And calling me Liz or Lizzy clearly wasn't gonna be of any help, and he was really sad about it. Then dad told him that Queen Elizabeth I was often times referred to as Bess. And that he could say, so that was what he called me, and it stuck, even after he learned how to speak properly. And it was our thing, which is why he was the only one allowed to call me Bess." She smiled, and Harvey knew that she was replaying the sound of her brother saying her name in her head. "I'll miss having someone in my life to call me that."

"I could," he responded without thought.

Bess turned her head and looked at Harvey, then smiled. It was such a natural thought. Everyone used to joke about Harvey and Aidan, the ultimate bromance, bromates. It seemed only appropriate to let him take over Aidan's name for her.

"Okay," she said, a nostalgic smile still lighting her face. Then she held out her hand to him, an honest and sincere look on her face. "Hi," she said. "I'm Bess Covington. Nice to meet you."

"Harvey Specter," he said back, taking her hand in his own and giving it a firm shake. They both smiled then, and Bess laughed just a bit before scooting closer and laying her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks Harvey."

"Sure thing, Bess."