"Hello Mattie. How are you? I'm so glad you're calling," Mac had answered Harm's phone. They had just returned from work and the meeting with the bank, Harm needed to pick something up in the small neighborhood store on the street and Mac had gone up ahead of him. Tomorrow they had an appointment with Mrs. Smith and they were going to give her an official offer to present to the owners. Neither Harm nor Mac had talked to Mattie since Thursday, so she still didn't know about the house. Mattie was busy telling Mac about what had happened there lately and once Harm had returned, Mac told her that they were putting her on the speakerphone. Together they told her about them making an offer on the house. Mattie was thrilled with the fact that they were buying the house together and the house definitely got her approval too.
Some minutes later, Mattie told them she had to go and that Trish wanted to talk to Harm. Harm put her off the speakerphone and Mac motioned that she was going to go back to her apartment to change. Though she spent almost all the time at home in Harm's apartment, she still had all of her clothes in her apartment.
Harm started retelling Trish about the house as well. She was shocked by the fact that they were going to buy the house together. Harm hadn't talked to her about how his and Mac's relationship had developed since Mac had broken up with Webb. It didn't feel comfortable talking about it with her when they weren't talking to Mattie about it. Trish thought they were moving too fast and stated she still didn't think that Mac had the same deep conviction of their relationship as Harm had. Meanwhile Mac had unnoticed by Harm come back to the apartment.
"Mom, Mac and I are together and we are going to continue being together," Harm said when Trish had asked them if Mac had said that she loved him.
The door slammed when Mac left the apartment. That was when Harm first noticed that she had been there.
"Mom, I have to go. I wish you'd accept her and accept us, because in this case what you say isn't going to change what I do," Harm hung up the phone and rushed after Mac.
She hadn't locked the door to her apartment knowing that Harm was going to come after her and he had a key anyway. She had gotten some leftovers out from the fridge and had started to heat them.
"I thought we were going to eat at my place tonight," Harm protested.
"Why did you tell her about us?" Mac asked. She had calmed down now, but she was still angry with him "You don't want to tell Mattie who lives with us, but you go and tell your mother without even telling me first."
"I didn't tell her," Harm continued to protest.
"Harm, I heard you."
"She already knew."
"So you told her long before this," Mac was becoming more aggravated thinking that he was just evading telling her the truth. Harm was also getting more angry with her for continuing to interrupt him and not letting him finish explaining.
"No, she saw us when she was here in May."
"You still should have told me."
"Well, this has no point when you're like this," he turned on his heels and walked out of the apartment. This time he was the one who slammed the door.
Mac continued to move the still frozen lump of spaghettis and sauce round and round in the pan, until she took the whole thing off the stove and put it in the dumpster. She really wasn't hungry. Instead she wanted to throw herself at the work she had brought home. Since her briefcase was still in Harm's apartment, and she wasn't going to go and get it, she had to work only with what she still had in her head about the case.
Eventually she was so exhausted that she decided to go to bed. Though she was exhausted she couldn't fall asleep, she just kept on moving from side to side in her big bed.
At the same time in Harm's apartment he had started making the dinner he had planned on doing. He was determined not to let her ruin that for him. He thought there must have been something wrong with the recipe, because it didn't taste at all the way it was supposed to. Then he went to work on the case he had brought home to prepare for the next day. Since they had taken a few hours off from work to go to the bank, they had both needed to take some things home from work. When he saw Mac's briefcase still in his apartment he considered going over with it, but then decided that if she wanted it, she needed to come and get it.
Exhausted he went to bed and fell into a sleep that didn't give him much rest at all. He kept turning around not feeling comfortable alone in the bed and with how they had left things between them.
At last Mac gave up sleeping in her bed and got up, putting on her bathrobe and took her keys to lock her apartment behind her before she opened the door to Harm's.
It was dark in the apartment, but because of the light the streetlights were throwing into the apartment and because she knew the apartment so well, she was able to walk quietly over the bed and sit down on her side.
"Harm," she whispered and touched his cheek. He was just barely asleep "Harm, can I stay here tonight?" she asked. She could see his eyes flutter open and focus on her face. He not so much saw as felt who she was.
"Mac, please. I'm so sorry. I don't want to fight with you," he raised himself up and pushed the cover away inviting her into the bed. Soon she was spooned together with him.
"I'm sorry, Harm, for not letting you explain. Will you please explain it to me now? I don't want to fight with you and especially not about your mother. You can tell her whatever you want. I'd just like to know..." Mac whispered to him. She was back in the place where she belonged.
"She saw us kissing in the parking lot when she was here in May and she talked to me about it afterwards so I had to tell her what was going on with us," Harm slowly told her.
Mac nodded and Harm could feel her head moving. He blew warm air into her head. "There's more," Mac stated.
"The reason I didn't tell you was that... My mother doesn't know you and she didn't think that you were serious about us."
Mac swallowed "She still doesn't think that, does she?"
"No, I guess not, but it doesn't matter, because I know you are and I don't care what she says about us or you. That's what I told her."
"You think she understood?"
"I don't know," Harm said and held on to her tighter "I kind of hung up and ran after you."
"I'm sorry about that."
"Promise we'll never do that again. We'll never leave each other angry like that."
"I promise. And soon we won't be able to either."
"I look forward to that," Mac said she was feeling sleep creeping through her whole body. She wouldn't be able to stay awake for much longer. "Do you think things we'll be OK with your mother? Is there anything I can do? I don't want you to fight with her because of me."
"Mac, you're perfect just the way you are. I know my mother would think that too, if she only gave you a chance. I'll call her tomorrow and try to talk to her. You don't have to worry about us fighting, things have always been this way with us. We feel differently about something, we try to convince the other we're right and then we agree to disagree. It's nothing to lie awake wondering or worrying about. It's been like this for as long as I can remember."
"Does that mean we're going to sleep now?" Mac said slowly.
"Yeah," Harm nodded, but Mac had already fallen asleep and didn't hear his answer. He wasn't slow to follow.
TBC