A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'm not getting as many as I was, but I appreciate the ones I am getting, so thank you everyone who takes the time to read and review and all that. I love all of you, even if you don't review :D
Chapter10-TheOffice (Posted 23 October 2011)
"And may her soul forever rest in peace," the priest said as the last bit of dirt was replaced over Mike's grandmother's urn.
At some point throughout the ceremony, Harvey's arm had wrapped around Mike's waist. So when the younger man began to cry, it was no trouble for Harvey to complete the hug by pulling him closer and draping the other arm loosely around him. He nodded to the priest, dismissing him.
"We'll see you around, Mike." Rachel said, hugging him when he was finally released by Harvey. "If you ever need anyone to talk to, you can call me."
"Thanks." Mike said, a small but honest smile reaching his lips.
"And me." Donna said. "We're all here for you, Mike. I hope you know that." She patted his cheek as if he were a helpless child before she and Rachel walked away, leaving Mike and Harvey standing there alone.
Mike felt Harvey's hand on his lower back. It'd become a common thing for him to do in the time Mike had been staying with him. At first it made him uncomfortable, but now he was almost expecting it.
"You okay?" Harvey asked.
Mike took a deep breath as he stared at his grandparents' grave. "I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I don't know. I... I just feel so bad right now but... I don't feel like myself. I don't know how I can be so full of sadness and guilt and... just bad things in general and also be feeling some kind of... calmness. I don't feel good but... I feel something good, even though everything is bad."
"Not everything is bad, Mike."
"What part of all this is good?" Mike asked, looking up into Harvey's eyes as if they held the answer.
"That you have people who care about you, people who are supporting you and want you to be okay. Even if you don't believe I'm one of those people, you can't deny Rachel and Donna."
"Why is everything so confusing?" Mike leaned into Harvey, resting his forehead against the man's chest.
"I wish I knew the answer to that." Harvey answered, running his fingers through Mike's hair. "But I don't. Sorry."
"It's alright."
Harvey's breath caught in his throat. "What was that?"
"I said it's alright. I don't want you to be sorry anymore, Harvey."
"Does this mean you forgive me?"
"I don't know. I hate seeing that look on your face. Like you've lost something. But I don't... I still... I just don't want to be here anymore. I mean... you've done so much for me in just the past few days. Put up with my crying and whining. Fed me. Watched out for me. Even saved my life, which regardless of whether I wanted to be saved or not is more than I ever expected from you."
"I did all that because I care about you."
"I know. I know you say that... but it's so hard to believe. But I want to believe it. I really want to. Because I care aboutyou, you know. And to have you care back..."
"Mike..." Harvey put one hand on Mike's hip and used the other to lift his chin. "You don't know how badly I want you to believe me."
"Harvey..."
"Just listen to me." Harvey pled softly. "I have to tell you something. It might not change your mind, but it could. But I can't tell you yet, and not here."
"What? Why not?"
"Well, for one I have to get back to work in an hour. I tried to reschedule my afternoon appointments, but there were a few urgent matters..."
"It's fine. I'll just go back to your place and..."
"Nope." Harvey interrupted him, grabbing his wrist gently and pulling him toward where Ray was waiting for them. "You're coming to work with me."
"Coming with you? But... I don't work there anymore."
"That's another thing we'll need to talk about. But like I said, this isn't the place for such a conversation. We'll talk at home, okay?"
Mike simply nodded when Harvey looked back at him.
The ride back to Harvey's place was mostly silent, save a few sniffles from Mike, to which Harvey responded by squeezing the hand he'd somehow ended up holding. Not that he minded, of course.
X
"It's a simple yes-or-no question, Mike." harvey explained, trying to remain calm. "Do you want to come back to work with me or not?"
"I don't know!" Mike whined.
"Do you like working with me?"
"Well, yeah..."
"Then come back Please?"
Mike stared, almost unable to believe Harvey had just asked him to please go back to work with him. "Okay..." He didn't miss the smile that spread across Harvey's face. "But I don't know how you're going to get them to give me my job back. Jessica doesn't seem like the kind of person who would want to give a job back to someone who quit."
"Exactly," Harvey said, a sneaky smirk replacing his smile.
X
Jessica shook her head, looking pissed off and more than a little amused at the same time. "I must admit, Harvey, I knew you liked the kid but I never thought you would go to such lengths just to get his job back."
Harvey's smirk was full of pride this time as he explained, "So, what's it going to be? Let him come back to work, or face a law suit for failing to give him grieving time after the loss of a family member?"
"Who would represent him in this case?"
"I would, of course," Harvey announced.
"You?" Both Jessica and Mike asked, surprised.
"Yes. Who else could I trust with something as important as this?"
Jessica glowered at him. "You do realize you'd be going up against Pearson-Hardman, the firm that made you what you are."
"I do. And if that's a problem, I'm sure there are plenty of other firms out there who would love to have Harvey Specter on their team."
"You'd really give up everything you have here? For him?" Jessica nodded towards Mike, who was feeling anxious.
Harvey looked over at him, appearing to take some time to consider his answer. But Mike could see in his eyes that he'd already made his decision. "Yes. I would."
"You can't sue us, Harvey." Jessica said, a hint of regret in her voice. "He quit, we didn't fire him."
"Yeah we did. I did. I told him if he left, he wouldn't have a job anymore. I didn't give him a choice, I forced him to quit. And I was wrong. But since I was acting on behalf of the firm-"
Jessica held up a hand. Not in defeat, Jessica Pearson was never defeated, but it was obvious she was giving Harvey what he wanted. "Fine. Welcome back to the team, Mike. You can start tomorrow."
Mike's jaw dropped. "For real?"
Jessica nodded. "I don't want to lose Harvey, but in all honesty, I wasn't very happy to lose you either. You may be just an associate, but you have a bright future ahead of you and I'm happy to accept you back now that I know the circumstances. But be aware that I'm not a fan of quitters, so if it happens again..."
"I understand." Mike smiled. "Thank you so much. I have to say, I was actually starting to miss my cubicle," he said as he and Harvey stood and left Jessica's office.
"Cubicle? No way." Harvey shook his head.
"What?"
"You're not going back to your cubicle."
"So... what, I'm supposed to do my work on the floor? Wait, that actually doesn't sound that bad. Lot's of space to spread out the files I'm working on, not having to worry about the person next to me kicking the divider..."
"As if I'd make you work on the floor."
"Supply closet, then? Still more room than a cubicle. Or maybe in a bathroom stall in the men's room down that little hall that, even though there's no official rule, is reserved for puking and particularly large shits..."
Harvey almost laughed at Mike's seriousness. "You're going to stay in my office," he explained as they reached said room.
"Yeah, because I have no where else to go for the rest of today. But what about tomorrow, when I actually have work to do?"
"I told you, you'll share my office with me."
"...What?" Mike was clearly confused.
"I put in a work order to have another desk set up in here for you."
"When did you do this?"
"This morning before we left."
Mike stared at him. "But... how did you know I'd..."
"I didn't. I just wanted to be ready in case you did want to come back. It'll be here tomorrow afternoon. So you might actually have to work on the floor for a bit..."
Mike laughed a little and caught the small smile on Harvey's face. "Why are you sharing your office with me? Seems like kind of a strange thing to... oh... I get it. This way you can keep your eye on me."
"That's part of it. I hope you know I'm not trying to make you feel restricted or anything. I really just want to be able to watch out for you. I don't want the other associates hassling you and I don't want Louis giving you piles of work simply because he hates me."
"Okay," Mike said, giving up. He could tell he wasn't going to have any say in the matter. "What should I do until it's time to leave?"
"Here." Harvey reached into his briefcase and handed Mike a thick novel. "Memorize this."
"Pssht." Mike scoffed at the lengths. "I'll have this done in no time."
"Well, get to it. If you finish it before I'm done with everything, take a nap or something."
"Yeah, sleeping at work. That'll look good."
"You only start tomorrow," Harvey reminded him. "Get some sleep if you want to."
"Eh." Mike shrugged, sitting down on Harvey's couch and opening the book. RocketBoys, by Homer Hickam, Jr.. It was one he'd never read. He saw Harvey eye him every once in a while as he paged through the book, memorizing every word. He had it finished in a little over an hour. Since he still had a lot of time to kill, he took Harvey's advice and stretched out on of sofa. He wasn't really tired, so when he closed his eyes he expected to just lay there, wide awake. But within a few minutes, he could feel sleep threaten to take over. And as he drifted off, he swore he heard an amused chuckle, but passed it off as a sleepy delusion.