Beating the odds

by LioSky

Something was going on with Mike, and it wasn't anything good. He felt it, and Harvey had noticed it. It was not like it was the first time either. But this time it was nothing that either of them could control. As it turns out Mike is sick, really sick. He is going to need help, and a lot of it.

70. Chapter 70 - Back to normal

Chapter 70.

Harvey was furious at Mike. But fine then, if he wasn't wanted here at the hospital, there was no reason for him to stay. He thought for a moment of letting the nurses know of the situation but then decided against it. Mike could tell them if he felt like it. He wasn't going to do Mike any favors now.

Harvey still felt angry when he got home. He decided to try and get some work done to distract himself and calm down a bit. After all, he could finally work in peace. It worked to some extent. After a quick dinner he poured himself a drink and sat down in a chair opposite the couch. As he did, he noticed that something was on the chair. When he removed it, he saw that it was one of Mike's hoodies. In fact, it was the one with a printed tie on it that he had given Mike for his birthday. A birthday that they had celebrated not knowing if Mike would get another one.

He took a sip and stared at the sweater. Damn it. He clenched his teeth. This wasn't what he had wanted. He didn't want to fight with Mike. It was just that the kid drove him insane. But Mike was sick, a small voice from somewhere back in his mind said. He had fought with and yelled at a person with heart cancer. What did that say of him?

It didn't justify how Mike spoke to him though. Just because he was sick didn't mean he got to say whatever he liked. He was still an adult; he knew what was right and wrong. And in this case Mike was wrong, and he had been wrong when he went for that walk by himself. Harvey just had such a hard time letting that go.

But Harvey didn't know what to do now. He didn't know if he had acted right himself. He had told Mike that he couldn't come home. That was the part that bothered him a lot of his own behavior. Harvey's home had been Mike's home for such a long time now that it was basically the only place Mike could call a home. And he had said that Mike wasn't welcome here. Sure, he had said for a few days, but he didn't know if Mike would see it like that when the kid had calmed down again.

On the other hand, it was for a reason Harvey said all those things. Mike had been a pain in the ass, he had lied and acted recklessly. He could stay a few days at the hospital. It wouldn't kill him. It would probably make him come to his senses. Maybe.

He threw another look at the sweater. He couldn't wait for too long he decided. Two days would be enough. Mike would realize during that time that Harvey had been serious, but it wasn't long enough to do any damage to the kid's psyche.

He placed a call to the hospital and after a while got to speak to the nurse that was attending to Mike. She told him that Mike was doing okay and didn't seem to think of it as strange when Harvey said he thought it was for the best if Mike stayed at the hospital for a while.

"Don't worry, Mr. Specter." She had said. "We are going to take great care of Mike."

Harvey thanked her and hung up. He sighed to himself. He didn't want to fight with Mike, but he couldn't help but think that this was mostly on Mike. He needed to learn that he couldn't go on however he wanted. Harvey didn't want to think about it anymore now. He went to bed.

The next morning, he got up early and headed to the office. It actually felt nice to there early, even before most of the associates. He passed the cubicles and for a second, he stopped in front of Mike's desk. It was just the way Mike had left it the last time he worked. Harvey couldn't remember when that had been. Maybe in the near future Mike would be able to get back here.

As he walked back to his office, he thought of the fact that he never had checked on the cases Mike had been working on when he got too sick to continue. He had a vague recollection that Louis had told him once that he had went through the files on Mike's desk. He didn't know if it had happened or not, it might have been at a time when Mike had been doing badly and Harvey had been too busy with taking care of him to notice other stuff.

He worked well that day, met clients, set up meetings, went to a business lunch with another partner and attended a meeting. Donna was surprised to see him there and asked about Mike. Harvey told her that Mike was fine, and she didn't question him. He probably should have told her about what had happened, but he didn't want her to accuse him of something or to tell him that Mike was sick. He knew all of that, he had the thoughts she would express. He fought all day with pushing thoughts of Mike out of his mind. He deserved some normalcy.

He went home pretty late and relaxed some at home. He tried to enjoy the fact that he had the place to himself for once. He found it a bit hard to do so though, so he went to bed early.

When he got back from a client meeting the next morning, he saw that he had a missed call from the hospital. He called them back at once. When he asked for an update on Mike, he was told however that Mike was doing okay, and it had been Mike how had called him. Harvey decided after a moment of hesitation to not ask if he could talk to the kid. He had promised himself two days. He would call Mike tomorrow or go and see him.

"Harvey. I talked to Mike earlier today." Donna came into his office the next day as Harvey came back from a rather lengthy client meeting. "I thought you said that he has been doing better lately."

"Yeah. He has." Harvey said.

"But he's at the hospital. And he didn't sound that well, he sounded rather miserable in fact. Why didn't you tell me he was there?"

Harvey sighed and sat down behind his desk. "Donna, he's okay."

"Have you even spoken to him? He asked me about you, why would he do that?"

"So, he didn't tell you what happened?"

"No?"

"When I was at work the other day, Mike decided that it was a good idea to take a walk outside by himself. It turned out that it wasn't, he couldn't make it back on his own. I had to go and get him. It could have ended badly. Then the next day he had trouble breathing and I took him to the hospital. We had a fight or whatever you want to call it, but I told him to stay there for a couple of days."

Donna listened in silence and nodded slowly when he stopped talking. "You should probably go and see him soon." She said.

"Yeah, I'll go today."

"Good." She said and then sat down in front of him. She was quiet for some time, and Harvey just waited.

"He asked me if we could go for a walk, but I said I didn't think it was a good idea for him to walk that far. He said he just wanted to do something normal and said he rather stayed inside then for me to push him in the wheelchair. Maybe I should have said yes."

"No, Donna. I told him no as well, and we were right. He couldn't do it. It was too much pressure for his heart."

"Yes, I know. But he has been sick for so long now, and he is starting to feel better, at least in his mind. It's not strange that he wants to do things that he did before he got sick."

"How often did he go for a walk in a park?"

"You know what I mean."

Harvey nodded. Of course, he did. "Well, I'm going to see him today. I'll talk to him."

Donna smiled at him. "You are doing a great job Harvey. Mike is fortunate to have you in his life."

"You should tell him that. He's probably pissed at me right now for leaving him at the hospital."

"I'm not so sure of that." She stood up from the chair. "Call me if you need me." With that she walked out of his office.

Later that afternoon Harvey was standing outside Mike's hospital room with his hand on the door handle. He hesitated for a moment. He really didn't want to have another fight with Mike. But he had thought of what Donna had said too, she didn't think Mike was angry.

He removed his hand without opening the door. He felt that he wanted some information first, so he went to search for Mike's doctor. He didn't find a doctor, instead he found one of Mike's regular nurses, the one named Amanda.

"Mike's been doing quite well, he hasn't been in pain, no breathing problems and normal heart activities." She hesitated a bit. "The only thing is that he has been redrawn. He barely speaks to us and he is barely eating. The eating, or lack thereof, is the only thing that worries me."

Harvey thanked her and then went back to Mike's room. He knocked and waited for a bit but didn't hear anything, so he stepped inside. Mike was awake, lying in bed, looking out the window. He didn't even acknowledge that Harvey stepped into the room. Harvey awkwardly coughed a little, causing Mike to jerk a little and look over towards him. Harvey saw how his eyes widened, but he still didn't say anything.

"Hi Mike." Harvey said. He hesitated just a little before sitting down. "How are you feeling?"

Mike just briefly met his eye before looking away.

"How have you been?" Harvey pressed on. He wished that Mike would say something, so that he knew what the situation looked like between them. Mike looked drained and sad and Harvey didn't feel like being the one that brought up their last conversion. Maybe they could pretend like it hadn't happened for a bit. Donna had said that Mike had sounded miserable, and he imagined that it was how Mike was feeling. He still didn't say anything and didn't look at Harvey. It was a bit rude, but they shouldn't fight again. He decided to try yet again.

"So…" He started. "I have heard that you haven't been eating all that much."

Mike yet again didn't answer. He just a kept looking straight ahead.

"You have to eat more Mike, you know that."

"I've been trying Harvey." Mike finally said in a small voice. The first time he spoke.

"Okay, good. That's good."

The conversation staggered after that. It didn't seem like Mike was going to say anything else. He half sat in bed with his head leaning against the pillows behind him. Harvey noticed that Mike threw him glances but he looked away every time Harvey looked back at him. Harvey threw a look at the heart monitor. Mike's pulse was much higher than it should be since he looked to be resting. Harvey understood then that he was nervous. Was he the one making Mike nervous?

He needed to say something.

"Have you been sleeping alright then?"

He watched how Mike's eyes flickered around the room before briefly meeting Harvey's eyes. He quickly shook his head before looking away again. It was almost like he was afraid to admit it.

"Well… That sucks."

Mike met his eyes now. "Yes." He said. He looked away the next second.

"What's on your mind kid?" Harvey kindly asked.

Mike shook his head a little. "Nothing."

"Nothing huh? Okay." Harvey decided not to call him on his lie. The kid looked devastated. Something was absolutely up with him. Harvey suspected what it was.

Five long minutes passed. Neither of them said anything. It was an awkward silence. Finally, Mike broke it.

"Why are you here?" He whispered. He didn't ask the question like an accusation. It sounded more like he actually didn't understand.

"I came to see you of course."

"You did?" Mike asked quietly.

Harvey had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Yes, I did." He said instead.

"Thank you."

"Why would you even ask that?" Harvey said.

Mike looked away again, he swallowed.

"You said that I could stay here until I started to act civil and stopped talking bullshit. And then you left, and you didn't come back." The whole time he spoke, Mike didn't look at him. "You didn't answer when I called."

"Mike…"

"It's okay…I deserved it."

"No, you didn't. I should have answered when you called, or at least gotten back to you."

Mike didn't answer, instead he kept quiet for a while, but it looked like he had more to say so Harvey waited.

"Did…did you tell the others not to come as well?" Mike asked quietly.

"No, of course I didn't."

"No?"

"No, Mike."

"Oh."

"But I didn't tell them you were at the hospital, Donna only found out when you called her."

Mike only nodded. Harvey nodded a little as well. Now what? Mike seemed so different from the last time he saw him. It was like he had deflated and no of the angry spark Mike had had last time he saw him was there. Now he just looked like he was sick from cancer again.

-SUITS-

When Harvey had left his hospital room, slamming the door shut behind him, Mike had felt furious. He had been so angry at the older man. Harvey kept going on and on about him going out for a walk. He knew that had been stupid, he knew that, so why did Harvey need to bring it up all the time?

How could Harvey not understand that Mike just had wanted to do something normal?

Harvey had left in anger though. They had yelled at each other. That wasn't what he had wanted. Harvey had told him that he could stay at the hospital now. What was that about? Was Harvey kicking him out? It wasn't fair. It was uncalled for, sure he could see how he had pissed Harvey off, but just ditching him?

He guessed he had to stay here then. He wouldn't call Harvey, he would wait for the older man to make contact, if this was what Harvey wanted, then he could have it.

He looked around for his phone, but then remembered that he had forgotten it at home. Damn it. He reached for the remote for the small TV, in the corner of the room, instead. Nothing interesting was on, so just chose something at random and glared at the screen. He wasn't going to think about Harvey.

A nurse brought him something to eat a while later. Mike kind of wanted to ask her if she could stay with him while he ate, but she seemed to be in a rush. It was pretty depressing to eat alone though, especially hospital food in a hospital bed. As he picked at the food he could feel how his mood was turning.

A nurse brought him something to eat a while later. Mike kind of wanted to ask her if she could stay with him while he ate, but she seemed to be in a rush. It was pretty depressing to eat alone though, especially hospital food in a hospital bed. As he picked at the food, he could feel how his mood was turning. He pushed the plate away and laid down on his side, he was facing the door, but after a minute he turned around. He didn't want to look at it, because no one would come to see him this time. He closed his eyes and decided to sleep, but it didn't work.

"Hi Mike, how are you doing?" He jerked a bit and turned his head. It was one of his nurses.

"You have barely eaten anything." She continued when he didn't answer.

"I'm not hungry." Mike said.

"You know you need to eat. Let me know if you get hungry later then. Now, lets check up on you."

Mike waited patiently while she did the checkup. He found himself wishing that it would take a long time, but it didn't, and she soon left. He was just laying there, staring at nothing. He didn't feel tired and sleeping didn't work. He had nothing to do but to think, and that wasn't always so good.

He wished Harvey would come back. He would apologize then if he did. He wondered if Harvey would answer the phone if Mike called him, but right now he didn't know what to say, and had no desire to apologize or something like that. He had said that he was sorry for lying to Harvey about that walk, he had apologized. And he couldn't help but to think that it wasn't that bad anyway, what he had done. Nothing had happened. Sure, he hadn't been able to make it back home without help, at least not then. Maybe if he had waited an hour or two, he would have been able to make it back. He didn't want to apologize again.

Harvey had been so angry. What if he would leave Mike here for days, or even weeks? What if something would happen to him and Harvey wouldn't show up? Was he going to be alone now?

He managed to get some sleep. A nurse woke him up and wanted some blood and to check his heart. After he left Mike turned to lay on his side with his back towards the door. It felt hard to face it when he knew that no one was going to come.

It wasn't often he had been at the hospital alone, not for longer periods of time at least. Now it was his own fault that he was. He just had to suck it up and deal with it. It wouldn't be like this forever. Harvey would come sooner or later. He had to.

He slept badly that night. He had nightmares and had a hard time falling asleep. At one time his heart was rushing, and he got so scared that he pushed the button for the nurses. One nurse he hadn't seen before showed up and wondered what was wrong. She assured him that everything looked fine and then she just left. Mike had preferred it if she had stayed, at least for ten minutes.

He was tired the next day and had no apatite for the breakfast put in front of him. He chose to ignore it. The hospital ward seemed busy today, so no one nagged him about eating. The new nurse just threw a glace at the untouched plate and took it away. He just laid there, staring at the wall, waiting. He slept a little, a doctor came to see him on her rounds, he stared some more at the wall. He ate a little of the lunch but was starting to feel sad and wished that he didn't have to eat alone. That was just depressing.

He didn't want to be here anymore. He was fine enough to go home; the doctor had said so when he asked. But he wasn't wanted at home, so he had to stay. Maybe he could call Harvey. It had been a day.

He dialed Harvey's number and waited. After five signals he hung up, without leaving a voicemail. Harvey didn't answer. He didn't want to, but Mike cried a little then. Just a few tears down into the pillow, he allowed himself to do that. No one knew anyway.

The rest of the day sucked.

No one came to see him. Harvey didn't call him back and he spent all day alone in bed. One of the nurses suggested that he could go to the common area for a while, but he declined.

He felt himself spiraling down. He didn't know his psyche was this fragile. He had been feeling a lot better lately, but now after a day alone at the hospital he felt as bad he had when he had been diagnosed with his depression. He felt close to tears and both angry and frustrated. How could Harvey do this to him? Just leave him here. This was Harvey's punishment. This was the result of him doing something that Harvey didn't like.

It felt so cruel. Harvey knew what Mike thought about being alone, he knew that, and still he just left him here and didn't answer the phone and didn't call him back.

He hadn't had anything for dinner even though two of the nurses had been on him about it. One of them had left a sandwich and some tea on the table next to the bed. Maybe he would feel a bit better if he ate. He gave it a try, but the food grew in his mouth and he wanted to cry again.

No one else had come to see him either. He wondered if Harvey had told Donna not to contact him. He barely slept that night either. After one nightmare he wanted to call Harvey so desperately that it hurt in him. He didn't call though. It would have hurt worse if Harvey hadn't answered. He didn't want to risk that. Harvey must still be mad at him.

A nurse stayed with him the next morning until he finished all of his breakfast. It was the best moment so far of this hospital stay. They talked some and for half an hour things felt okay again, but then she had to leave, and Mike went back to staring at the wall. When was Harvey going to come back?

He couldn't take it anymore and called Donna. He just wanted to hear her voice. He carefully asked her about Harvey, and she seemed surprised when she said that he was at a client meeting. Apparently, Harvey hadn't told her about their fight.

He had a lot of time to think that day, much more time then he wished for. Yet he still wasn't prepared for it when Harvey stepped into his hospital room later that afternoon. Everything felt wrong. He didn't know how to act. He didn't want to say the wrong thing so that Harvey would leave again. He was just tired as well, so tired of having to act a certain way, not knowing what consequences his actions would have. He just wanted to be able to say and do whatever he thought, and he wanted Harvey to be fine with that. But that wasn't how things worked and he knew that. He had to be careful.

At least Harvey said some good things. He said that he was sorry for not having answered the phone and he said that he hadn't forbidden Donna to come over.

Still things felt strained between them and Mike just wanted to fix it. He wanted things to go back to normal. He wanted to cry a little and hold on to Harvey, and he wanted Harvey to tell him that they were okay. He wanted Harvey to take him with him home.

He didn't dare to do or say any of those things. Harvey stayed though, even if he didn't say that much either. Maybe if Mike did everything he asked, he would let Mike come back home. He felt prepared to do whatever it was Harvey wanted, to make things good again. If Harvey wanted him to never step out of the condo again, he would do it. He needed to tell Harvey that.

"I…" He started but lost the words. What was it he was going to say? How would he start?

Harvey looked at him.

"Is something wrong?" He then asked.

Mike stared at him. What was going on with Harvey? Mike tried again.

"I'm sorry Harvey."

"Yeah. I know Mike."

"No, I mean, I know how I've been behaving. I get if you don't want anything to do with me, I do. I've been…I don't know. I don't want to be like this. Just, I can't really stop myself sometimes, you know. It just comes out. I don't…" he paused.

"What are you talking about?" Harvey surprised him by saying. "Mike, we are fine."

"But I said things… I did… I was…"

"Mike, it's fine."

Mike stared at him. It didn't feel fine. Harvey had left him for two days. There was a reason for that. It was Mike's fault, and he wanted Harvey to say that they were good and that he was allowed to come home. He felt how his eyes burned but willed it away.

"It's not fine. You said that I could… you left… I waited…" He had to stop and look away because his eyes were burning again, and he didn't know what he was saying anyway. He took a deep breath to collect himself a bit. Harvey spoke then.

"Mike, listen. I know I said some things to you. And I don't know, I might have overreacted. But I was angry at you…"

"I know. I know what I did was wrong and I'm sorry…"

"No, let me finish. I know that you are sorry. And I know that you didn't mean to make yourself worse. But you have to understand that I was worried. You scared me. I got home and you weren't there. You were gone, I didn't know where you were. You scared me."

Mike slowly nodded. "Yeah I know." He whispered. "I'm sorry about that. I truly am."

"I know you are. And it's alright now. We can move on."

Mike nodded. He still needed to say something else though, before they could forget all of this.

"I know what you were trying to do, Harvey."

"What do you mean?" Harvey looked at him, like he didn't know.

"You isolated me." He paused a little. "You know that's what I… You isolated me so you would get me to do what you want. And it's working, okay. I will do what you tell me to. You know I can't handle that, so I'll do it. I'll do everything you want."

Mike wasn't looking at him, instead he was looking at his feet, he didn't want Harvey to see that his eyes now had teared up.

"Mike, that wasn't what I was doing. I wouldn't do that."

"Yes, it was! You did. You knew exactly what you were doing! You cut me off because I pissed you off. And you know that I… that I do badly by myself."

Mike wiped away tears.

"I'll do what you want." He repeated.

He could hear how Harvey sighed a little.

"Mike, just let me stop you right now. This is not what I wanted, it wasn't my intention to bully you into obedience, of course it wasn't."

"But how else should I interpret it? You can see why I think that right?"

"Yes, I can. But I'm not that cruel."

Mike didn't answer him now.

Harvey sighed again. "I am sorry."

"You wanted to punish me."

"Well, you weren't exactly at your best behavior Mike. I'm not going to tolerate everything you throw at me, and the excuse that you are sick doesn't work every time. It just doesn't. You are still aware of what you are saying. And you lied to me. You yelled at me to get out."

Mike still refused to look at him.

"I know." He muttered. "I know I lied, but I apologized for that multiple times. And I thought you would come back."

"I'm here aren't I?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do."

They both got quiet.

"Are we…" Mike started. "Are we good?"

"Yeah, Mike."

"Thank you."

Harvey shook his head. "Don't thank me for that. And you know that I'll never abandon you. I've told you that."

"Yeah, I know. It was just hard to remember the last few days."

"You never forget."

Mike smiled a little then and stretched out his hand. His chest felt tight but in a good way when Harvey took it. Mike squeezed a it a little before letting go and leaning back on his bed. Finally.

-SUITS-

Harvey leaned back a little at his chair as well and watched the younger man. The tension in the kid's expression had went away and his tears were gone. He felt pretty guilty even though in a way he thought he shouldn't. Mike was an adult and not some child, but at the same time he was battling cancer and had his defenses hugely lowered. He understood that these two days had been hard on the kid. He had thought that he had been punished. That hit hard.

He studied Mike closer. It looked like he could fall asleep at any minute. The blanket he had had slid down a bit and Harvey got glimpse of his arm. He saw something there that caught his attention.

"What is that?" He pointed at Mike's arm. Mike followed his gaze and then quickly pulled up the blanket again.

"It's nothing." He said.

"Bullshit." Harvey pulled down the blanket again and took a hold of Mike's arm and pushed the sleeve away. A bunch of bruises littered Mike's arm, and when he turned it a little, he could see the shape of a hand. Someone had hurt him. He let go of the arm but couldn't tear his eyes away from it.

"Who did that to you?" He asked. "Who hurt you?"

"I told you it's nothing." Mike glared a little at him and yet again pulled the blanket over himself.

"Mike, someone hurt you, and I need to know right now who it was." Harvey said without raising his voice. He would make Mike tell him.

"Just let it go. It's fine." Mike said.

"That's not who I am." Harvey said. "Tell me."

"Harvey, I'm fine. Forget about it."

"No. No, Mike. You tell me right now who it was or I'll…"

"It was you, okay!" Mike said then. Harvey jerked a little at those words.

"What?"

"When I went on my little walk, and you helped me inside afterwards. It's fine, Harvey. I bruise easily." Mike actually smiled at him.

"That's not fine. I hurt you." Harvey said weakly.

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did. Let me see again."

Mike sighed but let him have his wish. Harvey yet again watched the bruises he had caused. Sure, he had been angry at Mike then, but he had never meant to actually hurt him.

"I'm sorry." He said. "You should have said something."

Mike shrugged. "No, you were right then. I was stupid."

"But that doesn't give me the right to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me. You helped me walk, I wouldn't have been able to get inside without you."

Harvey sighed and leaned back in his chair. He knew that Mike wouldn't accept his apology. He decided to let it go for now, but this added to the weight he was carrying. He had hurt the kid. His actions the last few days had actually hurt the person he cared most about in this world.

"We're quite the pair, aren't we?" Harvey said.

"Yeah." Mike smiled tiredly.

"What do you say about heading home?" Harvey asked next.

"Really?" Mike smiled again.

"Yeah, you are feeling okay right?"

Mike nodded.

"And you will eat more?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, I'll talk to your doctor then."

Harvey found a nurse who promise to let a doctor know that they wanted to be seen. The doctor arrived together with a nurse about an hour later, and after a discussion and a few tests, they were okay to leave. At first, they had been reluctant to let Mike go home, since he was scheduled for a treatment session the next day. But they were allowed eventually a wheelchair was arranged for Mike, and Harvey arranged for Ray to drive them home.

Mike was tired when they finally arrived home and he went straight for the couch. He pulled a blanket over himself and curled up under it and fell asleep. Harvey guessed that he was happy to be at home at least. Harvey was happy to have him back home as well. Things felt more right now when Mike was here again, not as empty as it had the other day.

Mike slept for about three hours. Harvey was in the room when he woke up and slowly sat up, so he walked over and sat down in front of the kid.

"How are you feeling?"

Mike blinked a few times and leaned against the back of the couch. His eyes fell close again, and he seemed to fight to keep them open.

"I'm pretty tired." He mumbled.

"Three-hour naps do that to you." Harvey smirked.

Mike smiled with closed eyes. "I'm fine." He said. "It's good to be home."

"It's good to have you here again."

Mike opened his eyes then. "Really?" He said.

"Of course, Mike."

Mike looked at him but didn't say anything.

"Do you want to watch a movie, or get something to eat?" Harvey asked.

"I think I'm just going to sleep a bit more, if that's okay."

"Of course." Harvey smiled, but it felt forced. He wondered if Mike could see that. He went to the office for a while and the next time he came out Mike was asleep. They had dinner and Mike seemed okay, they didn't talk much but Mike smiled once a while and joked a little.

Donna came by at lunch the next day. Mike went up to hug her when she arrived.

"Oh Mike, you are up and walking!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, I am. I'm feeling okay."

"That's great honey!" She leaned forward and kissed Mike on the cheek. Harvey couldn't help but smile when Mike laughed. They had lunch and then Mike suggested they play some card games.

"Come on Harvey, I'll beat you."

"In your dreams."

"I'll just count the cards."

"You know, that's cheating."

"I can't help it though. I do it automatically."

"Sure, you do."

Mike did win five out of six games, the last one was won by Donna. Harvey suspected that Mike let her win on purpose. Mike then announced that he needed a nap and went to the couch to lay down and Donna disappeared to the kitchen with Harvey soon following her. They quietly talked for a while, mostly about work. They stopped themselves for a moment when Mike made a sound, but it turned out that he was only snoring. They smiled at each other.

"How is he doing Harvey?" Donna asked.

Harvey glanced towards the couch where Mike was still sleeping.

"He is not doing so great at the moment. He was better for a while, but since I left him at the hospital it seems like he's doing worse again."

"You didn't leave him anywhere."

"Yes, I did. I told him that he could stay there and that I didn't want him home. He was changed for the worse when I came to see him again."

"He knows that you didn't mean it like that, and he seemed to be happy just now."

"Yeah…I guess."

"Harvey, I think that Mike have moved on from that. You should too, or you could just talk to him, ask him about it."

"Yeah, I know. I should talk to him."

Donna smiled. "That's what I keep telling the both of you."

"Yes, you do. We should have learnt by now."

Harvey made an attempt at talking to Mike later that night. Mike was in bed and Harvey had sat down by his desk. The other man had removed his hat, and Harvey could see his bald head clearly from where he sat. He looked to be asleep, but he opened his eyes when Harvey said his name.

"You feeling okay Mike?"

Mike shrugged. "I'm pretty tired." He yawned.

Harvey nodded. "You know I never intentionally thought that I would punish you by leaving you alone." He then said.

Mike looked a bit surprised and struggled up in his elbow to see Harvey better.

"I know. It's fine Harvey. If I think rationally about it, you didn't do anything wrong. I was an ass and you needed a break. No, let me finish." Mike said as Harvey was about to interrupt him. "It's just that I get a bit messed up sometimes, and I have…ehm… I can't deal with things like a normal person."

"Mike, you are a normal person. You…"

"I'm saying that I understand your reasoning now, but then at the hospital when you had left and didn't make contact, it kind of felt that my world was ending. But I don't feel like that now, I know you always have my back."

"I do." Harvey said forcefully. "And I feel guilty about what I did because I know what this illness does to you sometimes. I shouldn't have left you like that."

Mike shrugged and laid down again. "Maybe you should have. It gave me some time to think. I know that I was an idiot."

Harvey smiled a little. "No, more than usual." He saw that Mike smiled too, even though he had his eyes closed. "You want me to stay until you fall asleep?"

"Yeah." Mike whispered without looking at him. So, Harvey did. He had only needed to stay a few minutes but ended up spending a couple of hours in the room. He got some work done, but he also liked the familiarity of the situation.

Mike slept without interruptions that night, Harvey had had the baby monitor on, and had checked on him a couple of times that night, something he wouldn't tell anyone about. He had to wake Mike up the next morning, bullied him to the breakfast table and forced him to eat. By the time they were finished they were late to the hospital.

"Why is it so early this time?" Mike complained in the car.

"I don't know. I don't set their schedules." Harvey was texting Donna, telling her to rearrange a meeting he would have had this afternoon. He didn't know what she told his clients when she constantly contacted them to tell them that the meeting was moved or that Harvey would get back to them as soon as he had time. He mostly did his communication with clients by e-mail and had done for a long time. Mostly it worked fine, better than he had thought. On occasion he called or had a quick meeting at the office with them. Those meetings were often cancelled because of Mike. Like the one today, that he had set three days ago when Mike had been at the hospital and he hadn't known about the session the kid had today.

When he looked over towards Mike, he was sleeping, like he hadn't slept nine hours and forty-five minutes that night. Harvey smiled a little, the kid looked kind of cute. His hat had slid down and was covering one of his eyes.

Mike's treatment session went well. He had both radiation and chemo this time, as well as a shot with the trial drug. Dr. Jansson came to see them and told them that she wanted to schedule a bunch of tests as soon as this period of treatment was over, and Mike was due for a break. She wanted to monitor Mike's progress.

Mike was quiet in the car on their way home. He was looking out the window, but Harvey noticed that he looked away when they drove by a park. He pursed his lips a bit. He could understand Mike's wish for normalcy that he had expressed. Maybe it was time for them to do something different. He could take Mike out to see a movie again maybe, the kid had enjoyed that, that one time they did that.

Mike suddenly groaned. "Are we there soon?" He said, even though Harvey knew that the kid knew perfectly well that they still were about ten minutes away.

"Are you nauseated?" He asked.

"Yeah…"

Harvey leaned forward. "Ray? Do you have a…" He didn't need to say the whole sentence because the driver pushed a paper bag in his hand. Harvey opened it and handed it to Mike, who just glared at him, but took it.

This time around he needed to use it. Harvey wished he could have hold it, because the last couple of minutes they traveled, the car was filled with an unpleasant smell, that didn't go away, even when Ray opened the windows a little.

"Sorry." Mike muttered when he did.

The younger man was shaky when they arrived, and Harvey had to pull him out of the car.

"Shit." Mike groaned. "I think it's coming again."

Harvey held on to him as Mike puked on the sidewalk next to a tree. He glared at a middle-aged woman walking her dog, when she looked like she was about to complain.

Harvey helped Mike inside and put him to bed with a bucket and some water. He then spent the worst hours in Mike's room, while the side effects washed over him. It was especially bad this time and Mike broke down a little in the middle of it. Harvey sat on his bed and held on to his shaking body with one hand and the bucket with the other.

When the kid was finally sleeping Harvey quietly left and went to the living room to do some work. He had eleven e-mails he had to do something about today, so he went to sit down at the table and started to work.

"Hi…" Mike whispered suddenly behind him. Harvey quickly turned around to face him.

"Hi yourself. You don't look so good."

Mike shrugged and sat down heavily in one of the chairs in front of Harvey. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. It looked like he was in pain by the way he was holding an arm over his chest.

"Mike, what are you doing up? Go back to bed."

"No." Was the only answer Harvey got.

Harvey sighed a bit. "And why not?"

Mike shrugged and opted for leaning over the table and rest his head on his arms. Apparently, he had decided to stay there now. Harvey sighed a little and then continued to work. He guessed that Mike didn't want to be alone, so Harvey didn't push him to go back to bed. At least not at this moment, if Mike seemed worse, he would drag him back there.

It happened about an hour later. Mike had just been sitting there, opposite of him with his head down, but when he let out a groan, Harvey had enough. He stood up and walked around the table to Mike's side. He leaned over and placed a hand on Mike's shoulder. He felt warm.

"Mike, let's get you back to bed now. I'll come with you."

"Okay." Mike whispered. He slowly straightened up, he had his eyes screwed shut and Harvey knew he was in pain.

"We'll take it slow."

With a practiced movement he slid himself below Mike's arm to be able to support some of his weight as they walked. He sat Mike down on the bed and pulled the cover away, so that he could lay down.

"You in a lot of pain?" He asked.

"Yeah. Worse than usual."

"Yeah, I can see that. You are shaking."

"Mmm…"

"Headache too?"

"Yes."

"Nausea?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry." Harvey kept his voice low and tried to be as gentle as he could as he helped Mike to lay down. He pursed his lips when he saw tears in Mike's eyes.

"Hey…" He whispered. "Do we need to go back to the hospital? Or do you think the usual pills is enough?"

"It's enough. I'm tired. Sorry."

"Don't apologize."

"But you are going to stay right?" Mike whispered and looked up at him. He looked scared.

"Mike, you know I am. I'm just getting you the meds and something to drink first. Do you understand?"

Mike nodded so Harvey left right away. When would it get better? When would Mike stop suffering like this?

Apparently not today, because Mike was openly crying when he returned with the pills. He managed to get Mike to take them and then laid down next to the kid. Mike leaned his head towards his arm and Harvey held on to his hand. A couple of hours they spent like that before Mike announced that he felt a little better again.

"That sucked." He breathed.

"You don't say."

"I just hate it sometimes."

"So do I." Harvey said.

Harvey decided to sleep in Mike's room that night, he thought that would do the kid good. He was right because he was able to be there right away when Mike woke up from a nightmare and screamed right out. Harvey's heart was beating like crazy in his chest when he threw himself towards Mike's bed, after being woken by his screams.

Mike mumbled things and grabbed for Harvey's arm and it took a moment for him to be coherent. Harvey threw his arms around him and shushed him. The man was shaking. Where was this coming from? Mike was leaning against him and quietly told him about his dream.

He had been alone in the condo and it had been falling apart. Mike had looked for Harvey and his grandmother while pieces of the roof fell all around him. As he had searched his heart had started to beat irregularly and he had ended up needing to crawl.

"And I couldn't find you." He ended.

"I'm right here." Harvey mumbled. It was close to four in the morning, his eyes felt dry from lack of sleep. Mike fell asleep against him half an hour later. For some time, Harvey sat there with his heavy weight against him, and both of his arms around Mike. Even in his dreams Mike reached out for him. It touched something deep inside him, and he didn't feel like letting go of the kid.

He did it anyway a few minutes later and both of them slept until late next morning.

-SUITS-

Mike's back was aching when he woke up the next morning and he felt sweaty. He immediately remembered the nightmare and he sighed a little when the last thing he remembered was leaning against Harvey's chest. That had felt so safe. Like he didn't have to worry about anything at all ever again. Now that feeling was mostly gone, and he felt pretty embarrassed. But he guessed he shouldn't. He did stuff like that all the time and Harvey didn't seem to mind. Mike loved him for that.

He wanted to take a shower. Harvey was still sleeping next to him. He sat up and yawned. He felt a lot better today. Yesterday had really sucked. The side effects had hit him harder than normal. He carefully crawled down the bed without waking Harvey and walked out of the bedroom and went over to the bathroom for the shower. Hopefully, Harvey could sleep a bit longer. He looked like he needed it.

Today he had a day of rest and tomorrow he had to return to the hospital for treatment. He had three more times to go and then there was time for a period without it again, a few weeks even, then followed another period of intense treatment. After that they would do new tests on him then to see how it was going. He knew he shouldn't hope for too much, but he couldn't help not to. The last thing to leave a person was hope, he had heard somewhere. He had hope. At least most days. Yesterday he had wanted to die a little.

Adam came over that day and Harvey went to work, but only after having asked Mike if it was okay at least five times.

"Yes, Harvey. Please go." Mike eventually said. "I'm good, I promise."

Him and Adam spent about four hours watching a French TV show about people coming back from the dead. Adam paused when Mike fell asleep in the middle of the third episode and started it again when he woke up.

Harvey came back, they had dinner and went to bed. Mike didn't look forward at all to go to the hospital. He wished he had a fever or something so that he wouldn't have to go. Unfortunately, he was healthy. He spent the afternoon after they got back home, throwing up about eight times. Fun times.

Rachel and Donna came to see him the next day. They played games and Harvey went for a run. A couple of days passed. Not much happened. He felt fine. Adam came over. He had the last treatment sessions, before the break. Harvey asked if he wanted to go to a restaurant to celebrate, so they did.

"Is this really a celebration?" He asked Harvey and took a sip of his water. Harvey had made him put on a suit jacket. He could barely remember the last time he had one on.

"Of course, it is." Harvey. "We are celebrating the fact that you are still alive."

"Yay." Mike rolled his eyes and Harvey smirked at him.

"No, I'm proud of you Mike."

They looked at each other for a moment.

"Thank you, Harvey." Mike said eventually.

"You are one hell of a fighter, and I know that's it not easy for you most of the time."

Mike smiled and felt a little embarrassed. This really was a celebration according to Harvey.

"I know it's not easy for you either." He said. "I'm still alive because of you."

"You have done all the fighting."

"You have literally saved my life a bunch of times."

Harvey nodded. "Do you think this is some kind of contest?" He smirked.

"Am I winning?"

"Against me? What do you think?"

Mike smiled and rolled his eyes. He then raised his water glass against Harvey's, and they had a nice evening. They stayed for so long that Mike was starting to get a bit worried about Harvey. Normally he never allowed this sort of things, he always wanted Mike to get to bed on a reasonable hour. Was the older man going through some sort of mental thing? But he decided not to worry about it, instead he enjoyed the nicest evening he had had in a long time.

That was why what happened next came as an unwelcomed surprise.

Mike didn't know where it came from. It was just there one day. A terrible pain in his chest. It didn't really help when he tried to breathe shallower, it wasn't that. It was something else. At first, he had thought it was normal pain he felt during the treatment and he had taken the usual pain meds; however, this pain didn't stop. Besides, it was a few days ago now since he had the last treatments. Now was supposed to be a time or rest and healing, his doctor's words. This wasn't relaxing.

It was there when he woke up this morning and now, close to lunch time it was still there, just as intense as before. It made things to him, not very pleasant things. He got angry, annoyed, and sad, all emotions mixed together, one suddenly bubbling up stronger than the other, to just as sudden die to leave room for another.

He was dealing with it the best he could. It was so annoying though, because yesterday he had been fine. Rachel had been by and they had been sitting next to each other on the couch, watching a Netflix show. He had been happy. Now that was all gone.

What had he done to deserve this? It was like his illness was compensating, you had a good day yesterday, time for one from hell, it was saying.

It was Harvey's turn to stay home with him today, Adam was scheduled for tomorrow. He was laying on his stomach on the couch with a hot water bottle pressed against his chest. He had taken all the allowed pain killers but wanted more. It still hurt. Every breath he took was like pushing a button that distributed a little more pain. He tried not to let out any breaths, but he got a little lightheaded from that. He felt nauseated too. He let out a groan.

"Damn it!"

"What?" Harvey called from somewhere. Mike ignored him. Why wasn't he here anyway? Harvey was supposed to help him! But he didn't know what Harvey would be able to do about this. Someone was jabbing thousands of sharp, thick needles into his chest. It was an intense pain that he rarely felt. He had started to freeze too; the hot water bottle didn't help much. It wasn't that warm anymore. In frustration he pushed it down on the floor. He groaned and tried to find a position that would hurt less but found none. He ended up on his stomach, with his head turned against the wall. He had the cover almost over his head, he felt so cold. He wished he had another blanket or something. He didn't have the energy to get up and find one, besides, it hurt too much.

"Hey! What were you yelling about?" Harvey was there.

"I wasn't yelling." Mike muttered.

"What where you calmly expressing then?" Harvey asked.

Mike rolled his eyes at him, even though Harvey couldn't see his face.

"You okay?" Harvey asked next and Mike heard how he picked up something from the floor, probably the hot water bottle.

"No." Mike mumbled. He wasn't okay. Couldn't Harvey see that?

"Anything I can do?" Harvey asked.

"No." Mike said.

He could hear how Harvey sighed behind him and Mike felt annoyance again. Why would he sigh?

"Okay, then. I'll be in the living room." Harvey said and started walking out of the room.

"I'm cold." Mike said then, before he left.

"Okay." Harvey said. "I'll get you something more."

Mike didn't move as he felt how Harvey draped a blanket over him, or maybe even two of them.

"Thanks." He mumbled as Harvey was done. Harvey squeezed his shoulder and left the room. Mike wanted to call him back, he didn't want Harvey to leave him here like this. He was in pain, damn it. But apparently Harvey didn't want to be bothered with him today and Mike didn't want to force him to stay if he didn't want to. He pulled the cover closer to his body, he didn't understand why he felt so cold.

He was just laying there, staring into the wall. His chest hurt at every breathe and he was so cold. He might be shaking. He didn't know what else to do about this, so he just waited for it to stop. It had to stop sooner or later. He would feel better then. He could go out and join Harvey in the living room then.

It seemed like the painkillers weren't working. His chest felt so tight. He could feel cold sweat along his back, even though he still was freezing. Why couldn't he get warm. When was Harvey coming back? He didn't know for how long he had been laying like this now. Just staring straight ahead. He felt a bit nauseated.

He had thought that he was getting better. He had really believed that he had. But this illness still had him in its grip. It wouldn't release him. He knew it still could kill him. It was a while ago since he thought about the possibility of dying. He feared it so much sometimes. It would just end. He would be nothing.

When he was younger, he had been to church with his parents. They had believed in God, Mike had too. But after their accident he had stopped believing. God wouldn't take his parents like that, not the God he had learnt about, but they were gone, and he was alone. He had stopped believing, and even if he sometimes wished that he still believed in something greater, he just didn't. It would be nice though if it was an afterlife. If when he died, he would get to see his family again. Hug his parents again. Tell his mum that he loved her and tell his dad that he was sorry and then hug him too. He would get to see Grammy again. He missed her so much.

At times during his illness he had wished he would be gone. He had wished for it to end, just to get away from the pain and sadness, the constant struggle.

But Harvey had been there. And Donna and Rachel. Harvey had been next to him, pushing him in the other direction. He wanted Mike to fight. He wanted Mike to stay.

Harvey was sacrificing so much for him. Mike knew that the older man had put his own life on hold for him, to help him live. Harvey had kept him alive on so many occasions. When Harvey was there everything felt a little easier. He didn't want to die then.

He missed his parents though. He remembered once at the hospital when he had talked about that with Harvey. He had been angry about something; he had screamed at Harvey. He had said that he wished that Harvey was his dad. It had been embarrassing. But Harvey had said that it was okay if Mike thought about him that way. He had said that he thought about Mike as his son. He had said that they were family.

Mike wanted him to come. He called out.

-SUITS-

"Harvey…"

Harvey put the duster down and straightened up. He had been cleaning the bookshelves, to get rid of any dust that might be there. Mike needed it cleaned and dust was bad for him. Now the kid was calling for him. He went to the bathroom and washed his hands before he walked over to Mike's room.

The younger man was in the same position as he was one hour ago when Harvey last had checked on him. It looked like he still was in pain. Apparently, the pain killers didn't help this time. He thought he could see that Mike was shaking slightly, where he was, curled up, facing the wall. He looked so small like that, like a little boy, not a grown man. He was dressed as usual in a hoodie and a hat, that was pulled deep down. How he was dressed didn't make him look any older.

Harvey pursed his lips. Mike had been in pain for pretty much the entire day. He hadn't been able to get Mike to eat anything today either. He had said that he wasn't hungry, and the look he had had on his face then had made Harvey let him go without breakfast. He just had half a glass of juice.

Harvey sat down on the edge of the bed behind Mike.

"Did you call for me?" He asked.

"Yeah…" Mike whispered.

"You still in pain?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Sorry. I'll get you some more pills, but do you think you can eat something then?"

"I don't want anything. I feel sick."

"Alright." Harvey couldn't help but sigh. He didn't want to force Mike, but he needed to eat. He was so skinny. "How about some tea? Or yogurt?" He tried.

He heard how Mike breathed deeply. "Okay." He said then.

Harvey smiled to himself and leaned forward to squeeze Mike's neck a bit. The kid groaned and pushed himself away though. Harvey apologized and said that he would be right back.

Mike was in the same position as he returned.

"Can you sit up Mike?" Harvey asked. The kid didn't move.

"You want me to help you?" He asked then. "I can raise the bed."

"Okay." Mike agreed and Harvey grabbed the control for the bed and started raising it. Mike made no attempts of moving to lay on his back, even though he was about to be bent in half. Harvey reached out and helped him. Mike moaned in pain and pressed his hands towards his chest. He looked close to tears as he looked up at Harvey, but then he screwed his eyes shut. Harvey patiently waited until Mike had some control again and held out the pills for him as well as a glass of water.

"Thank you." Mike whispered and unhappily accepted the bowl of yogurt Harvey held out for him next. Harvey sat down on the edge of the bed again, carefully as to not jolt the bed too much.

He noticed how Mike jerked a little as the first spoon he put in his mouth, as if it pained him.

"You okay?" He wanted to know.

"It's cold." Mike said.

"Yes, I had it in the fridge." Harvey said and earned himself a glare.

"Take a few more." He pressured as Mike tried to hand him the bowl a few minutes later.

"But…"

"Come on Mike."

"Okay." Mike mumbled to Harvey's surprise. He finished everything, while Harvey kept him company. Harvey didn't like the way Mike was still shaking. Did he have a fever? He reached out a hand and placed it on Mike's forehead to find out. No, that wasn't the case. He didn't say anything as he saw how Mike for a moment closed his eyes and leaned into his touch. What was going on with the kid?

He took the bowl from Mike and then helped him to lay down more comfortable against the pillows.

"Everything alright?" He wanted to know.

Mike looked at him for a long time and seemed to hesitate. He pulled at the cover a bit and Harvey moved off it.

"I'm so cold." He then said.

"Well, you don't have a fever." Harvey answered.

"It's possible to be cold anyway. Can you give me a blanket?"

"You already have two."

"But I'm still cold." Mike whined and looked away.

"Okay. I'll see if I can find something. I'll heat up the water bottle as well." He stood up and picked it up from where he had placed it earlier on the nightstand.

"Please, come back though." Mike said in a small voice.

Harvey smiled at him. "Of course. I'll hurry." He said. Mike must be pretty miserable now, to ask for company. Harvey couldn't help but feel bad about the fact that he left Mike alone earlier. He had known that he was in pain. He soon returned with a hot water bottle that he helped Mike to press against his chest.

"So, you want some company then?" Harvey asked and sat down on the bed again.

"Yeah." Mike mumbled. "I don't know why I'm so cold."

"Hm…" Harvey said. "Well, let's see if I can help with that."

Harvey moved a little and sat down next to Mike, closer, so that they were shoulder to shoulder. He laid an arm behind Mike and then pulled him a bit closer, so the younger man was leaning against him. He then pulled the cover over the both of them.

"How is this?" Harvey asked.

"Good." Mike mumbled. "A little weird?"

Harvey laughed a little. "Yeah, maybe."

Mike didn't say anything else, but Harvey felt him breathing heavily against him, he felt tense.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" He asked after a while.

Mike hesitated a little. "Yeah…" He said then.

"I'm sorry."

"The… the painkillers might help."

"Let's hope so."

After some time, Harvey felt Mike lean a bit more against him. He was starting to relax. Harvey just waited. He found himself stroking Mike's arm a bit.

"Are you still in pain?"

"Yeah." Mike answered at once. Shit. Harvey felt sorry for him.

"Are you okay then? Can you handle it? We could go to the hospital if you want."

It took Mike some time to answer.

"I think it's going to be okay."

"Let me know if it gets worse." Harvey told him.

"Okay." Mike mumbled.

Some time passed and they remained in the same position. Harvey hated the knowledge that Mike was laying here next to him in pain, and that he couldn't do much more than he was to help him. He was a bit surprised when Mike suddenly started talking, Harvey had thought that he was about to fall asleep.

"I've been thinking about my parents." Mike said.

"Yeah?"

"If I… If I will get to see them again. If I… you know. If it ends."

If it ends, he said. Harvey noticed that he tightened his grip around the kid just a little bit and forced himself to relax. He swallowed before he answered.

"What do you think, Mike?"

"I hope so." Mike's voice was low and a bit shaky. "Sometimes I think there will just be nothing, but I'm hoping that they will wait for me."

Harvey was glad that Mike couldn't see his face. He felt how his eyes started to tear up. He didn't want to be talking about subjects like this. He knew he had to though, this wasn't something he could just dismiss. But what should he answer?

"Mike… I hope you won't find out in a long time."

Mike didn't answer him, and Harvey quietly started to panic and think that it was the wrong thing to say. He needed to say something else.

"Do you miss them?" He asked. Wanting to steer the conversation away from the whole dying thing, but he wasn't sure that this subject was that much better.

He felt how Mike shuddered a little and how he then pressed himself a little closer towards Harvey.

"Yes…" He whispered. "So much, sometimes. Like now. I don't want to be alone, but I'm supposed to be better. And I don't want to keep bothering you all the time. So, I just miss them and Grammy."

"Mike. You never bother me." Harvey started to say, but Mike interrupted him.

"Yes, I do. I bothered you so much that you needed a break from me. But I get it. I know that you have your own life, and I'm keeping you from it. You have put your life on hold for me. So, I want to let you live it again now. But I… I can't sometimes."

"Will you let me speak now?"

Mike huffed, or maybe laughed, but was quiet, so Harvey continued.

"I have changed my life, Mike, I'm not denying that. But it was always my choice. You have never forced me to do anything. And you don't bother me. In fact, I want you to come to me if you feel like you want to. I will be here. I want to be here. Do you understand? If I can help you feel better in any way, I want you to tell me, and I will do my best to help. You get it?"

Mike was quiet until Harvey squeezed him a bit.

"Yeah, okay. I get it."

"Don't ever feel like you are bothering me."

"Okay."

They were quiet for a bit.

"I'm sorry that you don't have your family with you, Mike." Harvey then said.

"But I do." Mike said quietly. "You are my family."

Harvey smiled with tears in his eyes. "Yeah, kid. Thank you, Mike."

Mike squirmed out of his grip now and leaned back to be able to look at Harvey. Harvey could see the lines of pain in his face from the movement, but the kid ignored it.

"Why are you thanking me?" He asked.

Harvey shrugged. "For being here." He said.

Mike stared at him for a while. Then he smiled, a genuine smile and resumed his previous position, leaning against Harvey.

"Okay, Harvey." He said.

Harvey put his arm back around Mike. He smiled a bit to himself. This had been a good talk. He felt kind of warm inside. He still had the kid here. They had had some close calls, but Mike was still here. Harvey could still help him feel better, and that was a good thing.

-SUITS-

Thanks for still following this story! I love your reviews, thank you for those. I'm slowly working on finishing this story. Bear with me :)