Emilie was waiting patiently in her brother's office. It was weird to think this was her third visit to his office in five days when she had lived in the city for years and hadn't thought twice about where Harvey worked.
She was waiting for him to get out of a meeting. Then they were going to meet Detective Jon Finnegan, then visit her apartment.
Easy.
Emilie couldn't get her mind to stop racing.
"Harvey, you know Bayer is one of our biggest clients. I need your help with this."
Harvey let out the breath he was holding. His day was not going as planned. He glanced down at his watch then to the stack of files in front of him, then back to Louis.
"Damnit." He knew he had to help Louis. A client of this caliber was not to be left waiting, especially when there was a dangerous lawsuit being filed against them.
"Okay, I need to go rearrange something. Give me twenty minutes then we can figure this out." Harvey pushed his chair out and stood up, furrowing his brow for a moment.
"Harvey, we don't have 20 minutes. If they go ahead and file-
"Louis, you either give me 20 minutes or you won't get my help at all." His words were final as he turned away, grabbing the paperwork off the desk and retreating from the conference room.
Damnit.
The last thing he wanted to do was go head to head with Louis right now. Well, actually, the last thing he wanted to do was take a detective to his sister's apartment to figure out if her sleepy landlord was secretly filming her. But working on a tough client with Louis was not ideal either.
He knew Emilie was waiting in his office, likely pacing around and purposefully messing up the organization of his record collection. He also knew Jessica Pearson would not be happy if he caused any upset with a long term client.
Harvey hurried through the halls until he found Mike, leaning up against Rachel's desk in her office.
"Rachel, hi. Mike," Harvey interrupted their casual conversation, "Are you busy?"
"Depends on what you need," Mike shrugged, smirking at Harvey.
Harvey didn't smirk or quip back. His face was stoic.
"Just waiting for some paperwork to come through from a client - what's up?" Mike stood up from his position, giving Harvey a quizzical glance.
"I need your help with my...pro-bono case." Harvey said slowly, as if he was speaking in code. He had asked Mike to keep quiet about the situation with his sister and hoped he had kept things to himself.
Mike just nodded, "What do you need?"
"Do you have a sweatshirt?"
Emilie was sitting in the backseat of Harvey's town car. Beside her sat Mike, instead of her brother.
She knew Harvey was busy, though she couldn't help but feel disappointed. His 'promise' of being with her every step of the way had already been broken. She knew it wasn't personal, he had looked apologetic when he explained Mike would accompany her to the apartment instead.
It was one thing to go through this stupid experience with her brother that she had a strained relationship with but it was another to do it with a stranger.
Her leg was bouncing up and down rapidly as they sat in traffic. She twisted a piece of her hair between her fingers nervously as she stared out the window.
"So, do you speak French?"
She turned her head to look at Mike, dressed in a zip up hoodie and dress pants. Harvey wanted him to look casual, in case anyone saw them there and got suspicious of the suit. Mike's eyes shot down to her French copy of The Hobbit that was sitting on her lap. Not that she could read much in the car.
"I do, yeah. Not exactly fluently but I'm trying to practice," she shrugged, grabbing the book and flipping through it.
"Don't most schools just offer Spanish as a language credit?"
"I'm mostly self taught - my grandma, on my dad's side, spoke French almost exclusively. She grew up in Northern France. So, she taught me a lot when she babysat me growing up. I've tried to keep up. I can write it better than I can speak it."
Mike just nodded, giving her a small smile.
Emilie couldn't get a read on this guy. He was quick witted, cute, and his rapport with Harvey was something she had never seen before. And his loyalty was clear, considering he didn't hesitate to end his work day to accompany Emilie to meet with the detective. Was this unusual favour from her brother a common occurrence for him?
"My apartment is an embarrassing empty space," Emilie suddenly shared, an apprehensive look on her face.
"Listen, I was a poor student once, too. And just straight broke for a while. I'm sure it's not as bad as you think," Mike responded to her. His words helped Emilie feel a bit more at ease about the situation. They sat in silence for a few more blocks.
"I shuffled the order of Harvey's basketballs," Emilie quietly revealed, leaning back into the seat and closing her eyes, a smile crossing her face.
"You didn't," Mike responded to her, letting out a laugh. "He's going to kill you." She just shrugged at him. The rest of the ride was much more comfortable as they chatted. Mike was clever and had plenty of fun Harvey stories to share with her.
When they pulled up outside of Emilie's apartment, she was suddenly reminded exactly why they were taking the car ride together. As they stepped out of the car, she looked around quickly to see if she could spot her landlord's truck. While she was taking in the area, Mike walked a few cars down to greet who Emilie assumed was the detective.
This detective friend of Harvey's she had heard so little about was incredibly handsome. Emilie cursed under her breath as Mike walked with him back to where she was standing. He was tall, with chestnut brown hair and a chiseled jawline. If she had run into this guy anywhere else but here, she would have assumed he was a model, not a detective. He was dressed casually in jeans and a leather jacket.
"Emilie, this is Detective Jon Finnegan. Or Finn, I guess," Mike introduced the pair. "This is Emilie Bryant."
Emilie could tell instantly that Mike and Jon Finnegan knew each other. She could only assume this friendship Finn had with her brother was long term, considering his immediate assistance with her mess. She suddenly felt guilty for inconveniencing him, especially if the camera wasn't even a camera.
"Hi," Emilie said quickly, extending her hand out to the detective. He shook her hand with a smile on his face.
"Let's head inside then we can talk further," Finn said quietly, tucking his hands into his pockets after motioning for Emilie to lead the way. She walked towards the house and down the side stairs, unlocking her apartment door. The same empty apartment feeling washed over the group. Finn's eyes were darting around the place. Emilie just sort of stood around, suddenly even more aware of her desperately embarrassing living situation.
"So, you think there's a camera hidden in your bathroom? I saw one outside, small but not discreet," Finn said to her, pointing back towards the door.
"The bathroom is in there," Emilie motioned to the door on the left, "There's a vent above the cupboard and I thought I heard something move, like it was motion activated. Now, I preemptively apologize if I was all wrong about this situation and I don't mean to waste your time."
"He's the expert," Mike reassured her, "Even if it's nothing, there's no harm in checking the place out."
Emilie just nodded at him, swallowing hard and meandering around her small apartment. She pulled out some clothes from one of her laundry baskets stacked near her mattress and packed them into her backpack.
"Mike, come here," she heard Finn call. "Help me out with something." Emilie stood still where she was, watching as Mike fit himself into the tiny bathroom. She heard them rustling around, then heard someone say 'shit'. She took a few steps towards the bathroom and saw Finn standing on the toilet, pushing up a ceiling tile.
He hopped down and both men left the bathroom. He stopped and pointed toward a far door at the back of her unit, "What's behind that door?"
"That's the laundry area," she said, heading back that way and opening the door. She revealed a small unfinished area, with another staircase leading up into the house. To the right of the stairs was a set of washer and dryers, then on the far wall was another door. Finn pointed to the door.
"Uhm, I think that's some sort of utility room? I think the router is in there, maybe the electrical panel? I've never seen the inside."
"Look," Mike pointed upwards to the unfinished ceiling, indicating to where a thick blue wire was leading from inside the apartment to that room. Finn looked closely at the wire, then back to Emilie and Mike.
"Is this room always locked?" Finn walked over towards it, turning his head to Emilie.
"I don't try it, but I've never seen it opened," she shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. She watched him try the handle with no success is opening the door. He looked discouraged for a moment, then motioned them back into her apartment.
"Okay, I don't want to alarm you Emilie but yes, that is a camera in your bathroom vent."
Mike looked from Finn over to Emilie, who was just staring at him with wide eyes. She nodded her head very briefly.
"I'm going to come back with a partner tomorrow to arrest your landlord and get a warrant to search the place. You're not staying here, are you?"
Emilie shook her head.
"Good. Now, if he's actively watching that camera…" Emilie stopped listening to the detective. It felt like her eyes just glossed over and her brain filled with fog. This wasn't happening. This isn't real. She glanced around the apartment as Finn continued to talk with Mike. She saw Mike grab his phone and start to make a call, while Finn headed back towards the bathroom to take another look and take photos.
She felt like time paused as she stared off into the distance.
"Emilie?" She felt Mike's hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, let's get out of here." She just swallowed hard and nodded, grabbing her backpack off the floor. They walked out of the apartment behind Finn, who locked the door and handed the keys back to her.
"Keep any record if your landlord tries to talk to you, but please don't contact him," Finn told Emilie. "I'll be in touch tomorrow because we'll need an official statement."
Emilie nodded again. What else could she do? Her mouth felt dry, her brain cloudy. What was she supposed to do?
She saw Ray had pulled up and was waiting for them at the curb. Mike walked over and opened the door, motioning for her to get in. She slid across the seat and leaned her head back, squeezing her eyes closed.
"Are you alright?" Mike turned his head to look at her.
Emilie couldn't help but laugh, "No, obviously not. And I don't want to sit here and talk to a stranger about how I'm feeling, either."
Mike didn't respond. A few moments passed.
"I'm sorry. That wasn't fair. It's just that up until ten minutes ago this whole thing wasn't real. Despite this uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach, I could easily still convince myself that there was nothing wrong, my suspicions were incorrect. And now it's real." She sighed, grabbing her phone from her pocket. She noticed she had a few messages from Ethan. She worked with him tomorrow afternoon and he wanted to hang out after. She could hardly think straight but she responded positively to him, although she requested he get some weed from his roommate for them, too.
She wanted to stop feeling anything.
"Wanna go for a beer?" Mike interrupted her thoughts.
"I'm going to need something stronger than a beer."
When Harvey knocked on the door of his brother's new house, he was surprised to see his sister opening it.
"Hi Harvey!"
He smiled slightly at the sight of her - toothy smile, overalls, hair a mess.
"Emmy, what are you doing here?" Harvey asked as he walked in, placing the six pack of beer on the table near the door. The question was really for Marcus, who was sitting on the floor of his living room unpacking a television.
"Only my dad calls me Emmy now. My friends call me Emilie." Harvey raised an eyebrow at her, standing in front of him with a hand on one hip. When did his little sister grow up? Eight years seemed to fly by.
"Well, Emilie, can you put these in the fridge for your dear brothers?"
"I'll do it for a dollar." She gave Harvey a half smile. Did his little sister just smirk at him?
"Nice move, kid." Harvey pulled a dollar out of his wallet. She snatched the bill from him and grabbed the bottles of beer, dragging her sock feet to the kitchen.
Marcus stood up and greeted his brother with a hug.
"Good to see you, Harv."
"I didn't realize boys night was code for babysitting," Harvey commented, dropping onto the couch as Marcus continued to fiddle with his TV.
"It was actually code for helping me set up my surround sound system," Marcus replied to him, pausing to glance around to see where Emilie ended up. "Bobby's mom collapsed this afternoon, when she was watching Em. I'm trying to keep her-
"Distracted?"
"Yeah."
Harvey pursed his lips at the mention of his mother's partner. He had a hard time balancing his affection for his sister with his animosity towards Bobby.
"Is she gonna be okay?"
Marcus shook his head. Harvey nodded in response.
"Emilie, come tell Harvey about your new boyyyyyfriend!"
"Marcus," her voice squawked from the kitchen, then she rushed into the living room. "Lucas is not my boyfriend. He just sits beside me on the bus and shares his Fruit by the Foot with me."
"Emmy, I'll give you another dollar if you bring me one of those beers."
Harvey ignored his phone for 36 and a half minutes while he and Louis fixed the mess an idiot copywriter at Bayer had made. He left the final statements to Louis to handle and finally escaped the conference call and board room.
He glanced down at his phone and saw two missed calls - one from Jon Finnegan and one from Mike.
He called Finn back and got all the details he needed.
Mike messaged him to let him know he was at a pub a few blocks away with Emilie.
Harvey was equally comforted and annoyed that Mike was hanging out with his sister. He didn't want her to be alone, especially not knowing how she was going to react to this whole mess. But was Mike Ross really the one he wanted her to be having a drink with?
Harvey wrapped up a few more things at the office then headed out to join them.
Harvey was headstrong. He had a reserved exterior for a reason - over time, working with criminals and deceitful clients, he knew better than to be soft and trusting. Having his guard up was always going to be easier. But right now, his mind was racing about what happened next.
He knew there was nothing he could do right now to help his sister aside from just be there for her. But he wasn't entirely sure he knew how to do that. He could argue and fight for clients easily - he was the best closer in Manhattan for a reason - but protecting the people he loved called for a different version of himself.
He found Mike and Emilie occupying a tall table near the bar at Reilly's, a pub near the office.
Harvey loosened his tie as he made his way over towards them, taking a seat beside Mike. He glanced down to see Mike nursing a pint of beer, while his sister was holding onto a glass of some sort of mixed drink. An empty glass beside her indicated this was not her first beverage since they got there.
"Harvey," Emilie greeted him, taking a moment to push her hair back. "You missed a thrilling apartment tour."
Harvey just sighed and looked over at Mike. "Please tell me you ordered something to eat?"
"Just a beer so far," Mike paused, then looked over at Emilie, "And three vodka sodas."
"I'll be back," Emilie announced, sliding off her chair. They watched as she headed towards the washrooms.
Harvey looked around for a waitress. He ordered a beer when someone finally stopped at their table, burgers for him and Mike and a veggie burger for his sister.
"Thanks again for going with her," Harvey turned to Mike, a look of genuine appreciation on his face.
"Of course," Mike replied, "Your sister is actually pretty clever. Sassy as all hell, but she seems to be down for talking shit about you so we have that in common."
Harvey rolled his eyes, "Well, you do have the maturity level of a young 20 something female so I'm not surprised you get along."
He let out a long breath and took a sip of the beer that had been delivered to the table for him.
"Honestly, the whole thing is a mess. I can only guess how she's feeling, she seems pretty freaked out," Mike said, rubbing his thumbs along his condensed glass.
"Yeah, well, I don't know how to deal with it," Harvey pinched between his eyes for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut.
Harvey knew he could give himself an out here - he didn't have to deal with it. He could call his mother and Bobby. They could help, too. He could rent her a decent apartment and check in with her every now and then. He was busy with work.
But every time those thoughts crossed his mind, a sense of guilt accompanied them. He spent years without much of a relationship with his sister. He owed it to himself and to her to be there for her now.
Emilie returned to the table, interrupting their chatter. Her cheeks were flushed red. She grabbed her glass and finished the rest of her drink.
Harvey watched her closely - he wished he knew what was going on in her mind.
"So, how was your extremely important emergency meeting?" It was clear to tell she was feeling the effects of her three quickly consumed drinks but she was doing her best to remain pulled together. Harvey knew his sister started to drink early on in high school, something he was always annoyed his mother couldn't reign in.
Mike followed up. "How'd Louis handle McArthur?"
Harvey just shrugged then smirked, "The solution was staring right at him. He just needed expert guidance."
"Can I get you another drink, sweetie?" The waitress reappeared and paused in front of Emilie.
Harvey answered before she could respond, "She'll have a glass of water. Thanks."
"Sure," the waitress smiled at Harvey, "The veggie burger is taking extra time, but your orders will be right up."
"You ordered a veggie burger?"
"It's for you," he replied.
"I'm not hungry."
"Well, you need something to soak up that alcohol so we can talk about what the next steps are here with this whole situation."
She scrunched up her face, giving him an irritated look, "Mike already told me what's next." She paused, raising her hand, counting on her fingers. "Arrest. Investigation. Arraignment. Bail. Plea. Charges. Blah blah blah. Oh and that the justice system is incredibly slow."
Harvey couldn't help but laugh at her summary, "When you lay it out like that it seems so easy."
He didn't want to make light of a serious situation but maybe that was what she needed right now. A distraction.
"You've gotta admit she has a better grasp on how the law works than some first year associates," Mike chuckled, taking a drink of his beer.
"Mike also told me that female bartender over there shut you down a few weeks ago when you asked her out."
Before Harvey could react, the waitress returned with their food.
"Oh yeah, what else did this smartass tell you?"
"So, are you going to tell me what's really going on? Or should I just wait to handle the HR complaint about you chewing out that junior associate?"
Harvey plunked himself down on Jessica's couch. It had been a very long, frustrating week. Usually the weekend arriving was a relief.
He rubbed his hand across his face as he thought about his response.
"Is this about that pro-bono case you're being so tight lipped about?"
He leaned back on the couch and nodded.
"It's hardly a pro-bono anymore. It's for my sister."
"I didn't even know you had a sister, Harvey." Jessica stood up from her desk and paused. "Drink?"
"Please."
She took a few moments to pour them each a short glass of scotch, then sat down beside Harvey on the couch.
Harvey relayed the whole situation to his boss, detailing the history of his relationship with his half sister and how he wasn't sure if he was handling it very well.
"Tuesday night after she gave her account to the police and prosecutor, she went out and came home late, high as a kite."
"So?"
"So?" Harvey looked at her, confused, "Do I just let her do that? Not that I have any authority over her. Or that she would even listen to me. She won't even talk to me about how she's feeling, I think she's doing everything she can to avoid it."
"Harvey, can you blame her?" Jessica took a sip of her drink and shifted on the couch. "Look, I don't know your sister and maybe you don't either. But if I were in her shoes - displaced from my home, feeling violated and frightened, sleeping in my brother's spare room, a brother whom I have a tarnished relationship with - I think I would be feeling pretty lost."
Harvey sighed. He knew she was right. All those things had crossed his mind but hearing Jessica say them out loud made it all pretty clear.
Jessica continued on, knowing she didn't need Harvey to respond. "Okay so, who's the prosecutor on this?"
He rolled his eyes, "Some new kid. Gregory Wright. I'm hoping he can handle it."
"And who's representing her landlord?"
Harvey let out an annoyed groan, sipping his scotch, "Patrick Boone."
"Oh, that's unfortunate."
"On a normal day, I can handle Boone. But I have no idea if the prosecutor is ready for him. He's probably going to make this whole thing as slow and painful as possible. The fact that he plead Not Guilty already leads me to believe they have some elaborate defense plan."
"Well, let's just hope that investigation unearths enough evidence to charge him."
"He's already claiming the cameras were never actually recording anything."
Jessica scoffed. "There are some real sick bastards in the world, Harvey. I'm sorry your sister is the victim here."
"Yeah, me too."
"I think maybe you need to start with the basics: ask her how she's feeling. Always ask. See how it goes."
Harvey nodded. "Thanks, Jessica." He stood up, finishing off his drink.
"Oh and Harvey?" He paused at the door before he left, turning his attention to her again. "You'll apologize to that associate first thing Monday morning. If he even comes back."
"Yes, mom."
"Hi mom," Emilie said into her phone, "Hold on, I'm going to put you on speaker." She dropped her phone on the bathroom counter as she continued to straighten her hair.
"How's the new school year going, Em? Dad says all you've been sending him is pictures of your old looking professor."
"He looks like a muppet! I know it made Dad laugh."
"It did. But we also want to know how everything else is going? How's Jackie and the cafe?"
Emilie couldn't help but smile at her mom's response. Her voice was a comfort after a stressful week.
They chatted for a while as Emilie did her hair and makeup. She filled her mother in about her classes and work, carefully avoiding anything about her apartment situation.
"Emilie?" Harvey's voice echoed from the front of the apartment.
"Shit," Emilie murmured under her breath, dropping her makeup brush and grabbing her phone.
"Is that Harvey?" Her mom's voice came through the phone.
"Yes," Emilie switched her off speaker, holding the phone to her ear.
"Emilie?" Harvey's voice repeated. He finally found her in the bathroom beside the spare room, eyes wide pointing at her phone. She mouthed the word 'mom', pointing at her ear.
Harvey grimaced for a second.
"Emilie, what's going on? Are you with your brother? You nearly chewed my head off last time we talked and I mentioned his name."
"Hold on," Emilie just gulped and pulled her phone down. "You're on speaker again."
"Hey mom," Harvey said slowly, unsure about how this call was going to go.
"About time you two made up," Lily's voice was full of relief as she spoke.
"A pipe burst at my apartment, so I'm staying at Harvey's for a bit," Emilie spewed out. Harvey gave her a confused look and she just shrugged in return, eyes wide, mouthing 'sorry'.
"Really? Harvey, that's so nice of you."
"Well, don't sound so surprised."
"I just know you like your own space. You were never the type to share."
Emilie jumped in, "I was really in a bind, it should all be sorted out in a few weeks then I'll be out of his perfectly styled hair."
Harvey shot her an annoyed glance.
"Well, I'm just glad you're both managing to be in the same room together without yelling at each other."
Emilie just sighed and looked away from her brother. Lily said her goodbyes to her children then hung up a few minutes later.
Harvey and Emilie looked at each other and spoke without saying anything. That was awkward.
"Pipe burst? You know you'll have to tell her and your dad eventually, right?" Harvey crossed his arms and leaned on the doorframe, watching as she continued on with her makeup.
Emilie chose not to respond.
"Are you going out?"
"I am," she replied, making eye contact with him through the mirror. "Why?"
"Just asking," he responded, "I was going to see if you wanted to go for dinner."
Emilie paused briefly while she looked at him. Dinner was an odd request. She worried he had some ulterior motive. Despite sleeping two rooms away, they hadn't seen much of each other the last few days. Truthfully, she had been avoiding talking to him as much as possible.
"Rain check, I guess." She continued on with her makeup, pausing to look at her progress.
"Is that what you're wearing out?" Harvey asked her, eyeing her outfit.
Emilie gave him another confused glance. She looked at herself in the mirror to review her outfit: ripped dark denim skinny jeans and a cropped black tank top.
She turned to face him, placing a hand on her hip, "Yes. Did you want to share your fashion advice?"
It was moments like these that Harvey had to resist rolling his eyes and giving his honest opinion to her.
His honest opinion, which was that she should put a turtleneck on before leaving.
"Nope." He pursed his lips, standing up straight. "Maybe just wear a jacket. That shirt looks drafty." He just nodded his head after he spoke, as if that was the smartest thing he could think of.
Harvey ended up at dinner that evening anyway - with his cancelled dinner date from the previous weekend instead.
And it was fine.
Her name was Caroline and she worked in media. She was gorgeous, kept up a conversation and laughed at his jokes. But Harvey knew his heart wasn't in it. And when she obviously implied they take things back to her place, he had to politely decline.
He headed home alone, watching his phone for the time. It was barely even ten o'clock.
An hour later, he was sitting on his couch with a glass of wine, catching up on episodes of Survivor.
His phone buzzed not long after, and he was surprised to see a message from Mike: 'You'll never guess who's at the same karaoke bar as me right now.'
'Are you really admitting to being at a karaoke bar by choice?'
After Harvey sent his response, he received a video from Mike. He tapped to play it on his screen and raised his eyebrows at what he was seeing.
After a few loud shouts from the crowd and people sitting near Mike subsided, Emilie's voice could clearly be heard, as she stood singing on the small raised stage, microphone in one hand and mixed drink in the other. She started to sing Drops of Jupiter by Train, and despite her presumed intoxicated state, she sounded just like he remembered. She always had a great singing voice.
Another message followed from Mike: 'She also flawlessly rapped a Macklemore song earlier. Weird choice for karaoke but impressive.'
'Do you mind keeping an eye on her? Do not under any circumstances buy her any drinks, so help me God.'
'Sure thing, boss.'
'Also, that CCR song you're thinking of doing for karaoke is a terrible choice.'
'How the hell did you know what I was going to pick?'
Emilie's first choice for a Friday night adventure usually wasn't a karaoke bar, but Leah had insisted she come out.
She had met Leah by accident in the library in her second year, they were both lamenting over the lack of salty snacks in the vending machine late one night. And that was it.
Emilie had slid right into her circle of friends - all creative types enrolled at Tisch. It was a nice break from her tumultuous friendship with Cassie.
This particular night out was lead by Claire, who was studying musical theatre and loved karaoke.
Their group shuffled into a big booth at the bar and split pitchers of beer, drinks and trays of shots. Claire usually slapped her dad's Amex down on the table during nights like these so overindulging was easy.
"Claire, I swear if you do one more song from Wicked they're going to kick us out," Emilie put her hand on her friend's shoulder.
Emilie turned her head to the stage as she heard her song and name called out. "Round two!" She slid out of the booth as her friends cheered obnoxiously, grabbing the sweaty microphone from the music guy.
She decided on her go to classic karaoke song by Train, and closed her eyes as she belted it out.
After her song, she headed directly to the bar with Leah. She saw a familiar face as she ordered her drink.
"Mike!" She exclaimed, smiling at him.
"Emilie, hey," Mike replied to her. He turned to Rachel, who was standing beside him. "This is Harvey's sister."
Rachel offered her hand to introduce herself over the crowd of the bar.
"You guys work with Em's brother?" Leah interrupted as they chatted. "He's so handsome."
"Half brother," Emilie corrected her friend. "Also, gross." She paused. "I think we should do a shot." Emilie was already feeling pretty buzzed but knew well enough she was intending to get drunk. And stop feeling things.
"I've been forbidden to buy you alcohol," Mike commented to her, putting his hands up in protest.
"Four shots of tequila, please," Emilie called to the nearest bartender. She reached into her small purse for cash. "I'll buy. So you're not breaking your moral code for my sake." Emilie smirked at him.
Mike glanced from Emilie to Rachel, who just shrugged.
"I don't think this is a good idea," Mike looked down at the golden liquid in front of him. His evening out with Rachel and her friends was supposed to be easy, and not end with him puking. He especially didn't think he'd end up shooting tequila with Harvey's sister.
"What Harvey doesn't know won't kill him, champ," Emilie put her hand on Mike's shoulder, smiling. "Unless you just want some warm milk and a baby blanket instead."
Rachel couldn't help but laugh, "I can see the resemblance to Harvey now."
Mike rolled his eyes at Rachel then turned to Emilie, "I will do one shot with you and we will never speak of it again."
Over an hour later, Emilie was standing outside the bar with a cigarette in her hand and she was drunk. She had set out to really release her inhibitions and she accomplished that mission. The only problem was she was over it. She wanted to go home, even though all her friends wanted to go back to the NYU residence for a party.
"C'mon, Em," Leah threw an arm on her friend's shoulder. "We'll stop at your favourite corner store for Doritos."
"No thanks," Emilie responded, taking a drag of the cigarette - she had sweet talked some stranger into giving her one. "I'm gonna pass out or throw up."
Mike and Rachel walked out of the bar next, saying goodbye to some friends who headed down the street. Mike stopped in front of Emilie and Leah.
"You two okay?"
Emilie nodded, dropping her cigarette to the ground and stomping on it with her foot, "You didn't see that." Mike just raised his eyebrows at her and smiled.
"Can you call her a cab? I've gotta go." Leah leaned in to kiss Emilie on the cheek then waved to Mike and Rachel as she dashed down the street to catch up with their friends. Emilie sighed, then stumbled back to lean on the side of the building.
"You need better friends," Rachel commented, extending a hand to Emilie to help steady her.
Mike reached for his phone to call a cab but Emilie protested, "I'll walk! It's only a few blocks to Harvey's."
Mike and Rachel looked at each other for a brief moment. They were not going to let her walk home alone. Mike was also assuming he could not convince her to take a cab. "Well, let's walk then."
As they headed away from the bar and towards Harvey's building, Mike texted Harvey: 'walking your very not sober sister home right now.'
Harvey met Mike, Rachel and his not sober sister in the lobby.
"It was so nice to talk with you," Emilie was leaning on Rachel, resting her head on her shoulder. "I meant to tell you - you are stunning. Like you could be a model."
"She's too short to be a model," Harvey piped in, "Let's move this along."
"Grumpy," Emilie muttered under her breath, "Thanks for walking me home. Or here. Thanks for walking me here. To Harveyshome." She pointed at Harvey, then turned to Mike and Rachel, saluting them as they walked out the door to a cab that was waiting.
Emilie braces herself on the railing in the elevator - to keep from falling over and in anticipation of a grand Harvey speech. He didn't say anything as they made their way up to his floor.
Emilie kicked her shoes off at the door and stumbled into the apartment, stopping to sit on a stool at the island. Harvey grabbed a glass from his cupboard and filled it with water for her. He left it in front of her.
"Drink." She grabbed it and took a sip, turning to him and giving him a fake smile.
He rolled his eyes and headed out of the kitchen to search for some Advil and something for her inevitable nausea.
"Mike sent me a video of you singing earlier. You've still got it, kid."
"Great. Someone else recording me without my consent," she replied to him, her words slurred and her voice quiet. Harvey didn't respond to her, standing just outside his bedroom door, he watched her at the island.
"And stop calling me kid!" She laid her hands down on the counter, bending to rest her head on them. Harvey still didn't respond. He walked over back over to the middle of the room slowly, watching as her back started to move up and down, indicating her breath picking up.
"Emilie, are you okay?"
He could hear her sniffling as she rested on her arms.
She was crying.
"Emmy," he said quietly, walking over to her quickly. He didn't know what to do. He stood beside her and extended his hand out to rub her back.
He could hear her crying louder as she lifted her head up, turning her body slightly to fall into Harvey's chest. He put down the things in his hand and wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't remember the last time he hugged his sister.
"I know you don't care, Harvey, but I'm not okay. Can't you see I'm not okay?" Her body was shaking as she sobbed into his sweater.
"Shhh, it's okay. I'm here. I've got you."
A/N: We are really digging into these two emotionally reclusive siblings now - i loved picturing them making faces and mouthing things to each other while Lily was on speaker phone! It's going to be tough to crack open his sister but I think Harvey is always ready for a challenge.
Thank you to all the people who read the last chapter - I've been nervous about writing for Suits but you've all made me feel welcome and like maybe I know what I'm doing. Big kudos to Andelin, maria iancu 0725 and cicia724 for taking the time to review. I appreciate your thoughts and feedback SO much. I will always be grateful for any review