**Content warning: descriptions and implications of non-consensual sex **

Life seemed to shift when Harvey and Emilie returned from Boston.

Everything felt okay. It had been just over a month now that they had been cohabitating and weaving their lives together. They seemed to get into a normal routine and their arguments and conflict was mainly kept at a minimum. Although in a way, it felt like the calm before the storm.

Finn's communication with Emilie had slowed down. By Wednesday, it had come to a complete stop. He wouldn't return any of her messages and she had a feeling Harvey had something to do with it.

Something strange was happening to Emilie - her initial interest and attraction to Finn was really growing. She found him fun, interesting to talk to, engaging. She wanted to know more about him. It had been a long time since she had those sort of feelings for someone - and to lose it so quickly, she was feeling defeated. Rejected. Hurt.

That initial taste of Finn - his lips as they kissed, his warmth as they cuddled, his laugh as they talked - had awoken something in Emilie and she hated that it was gone so quickly. She wanted more. She couldn't remember the last time she had feelings for someone. Ever the lone wolf, she often closed herself off from exploring those kinds of emotions. But this time, something felt different. Maybe it was the visit home that inspired her to think about a version of herself that had a future with someone.

By Thursday afternoon, she was frustrated.

She knew reaching out to Finn was a lost cause, but she did find herself heading to Ethan's for something. She didn't even want to have sex - she wanted some sort of companionship for a brief moment, some intimacy in a way she couldn't describe.

Ethan pulled her onto his bed the moment she arrived and his hands and mouth started adventuring over her body and skin.

"Hey, pause." She pulled herself away from him, placing her hands on his as he grabbed at her shirt. "Can we just, like, talk for a bit?"

Ethan gave her a strange look, but moved his hands off of her. "Are you okay?"

She just shrugged, sitting up to lean against his headboard. "Yeah I'm fine. It's just, we always dive right in."

"Okay." Ethan raised an eyebrow at her.

"So, read any good books lately?" Emilie gave him a small smile. He didn't say anything in response to her. "Any big weekend plans?"

Ethan just shrugged, "I have a date tomorrow with my cousin's friend." He shifted to sit beside her at the top of his bed.

"Oh yeah?" Emilie did her best to feign her interest. Over the past few months of their friends with benefits agreement, they had a rule where if they started sleeping with someone else, they would stop their hangouts. Nothing had ever come from any of Ethan's casual dating so far so nothing changed.

"Yeah, I think we're gonna hit it off. So, this might be it for a while." Ethan moved from his position and shifted to be more on top of her.

"This isn't talking," she said to him as he started to kiss her neck.

"Em, what do you want? An update on my fantasy hockey league? We both know this thing isn't about talking." He went in to kiss her again, this time letting his hands crawl up her shirt. She put her hands up to stop him again.

"I don't know what I want," she said quietly, shaking her head. He moved her hands away and shifted to be on top of her completely, trying to move her to lay flat on the bed.

"Ethan," she protested his actions, pushing up on his chest with her hands. "Stop."

"What's going on with you lately?" Ethan rolled his eyes as he looked at her, pulling his head away from hers. "You're the one who asked to come over today, Em." He reached down towards her waist, using one hand to fiddle with the zipper. He leaned in to kiss her on the neck again.

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind." She did her best to try and push him off of her again but he resisted. "Ethan!" She felt her breath pick up as she began to feel more and more helpless underneath him. Ethan had always been aggressive - it paired well with her feistiness in bed, too. She had never said no to him before, and they usually had pretty open communication about what they wanted, but his reaction was surprising.

"C'mon, this might be our last time, Em. Can we just do this?" He was reaching for his own waistband now, too, switching between that and still using his hand to try and pull down on her jeans.

"No, I just...Ethan, no."

She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his lips on hers. This is not what she wanted. This is not how she pictured this would go. This was the opposite of talking and intimacy and companionship.

He put both his hands on the waistband of her jeans and pulled them down towards her knees. She tried to kick her legs to stop him. He just smirked and leaned down on top of her again, giving up on her lower half.

With all her strength, she pushed upwards onto his chest to get space between her and him and he fell over to the other side of the bed.

"What the fuck, Ethan? This is over." She swung her legs onto the floor and pulled her shirt back down. As she stood up, she reached down to fix the waistband of her jeans. How dare he? She contemplated turning around and punching him, but she didn't even want to look in his direction.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Emilie," he spat back at her, rolling his eyes. "You came over here, remember? You started this, you wanted this today. Don't act like I'm the bad guy for trying to follow through." She grabbed her jacket off the floor and rushed out of his room. She pulled on her boots at the front door and took a deep breath, fighting back tears. He was right. She had started it. She probably shouldn't have even contacted him if she just wanted to hang out. That's not what their thing was about. She knew he was the one in the wrong, she knew that. She hadn't said yes and he should have respected her.

But she still felt so awful, and gross. By the time she was slamming the door to his apartment and heading downstairs, she was fully crying.

Her brain raced for someone to call - anyone who could give her some comfort in that moment. She tried Leah but got her voicemail. She contemplated calling her mom but wasn't sure she could be honest. She made a desperate attempt to call Finn but hung up before having to listen to his voicemail message. Should she call Harvey? No, god no. What would she even say?

She started her journey home, wiping away her tears and doing her best to regain her composure.

Emilie knew she should probably stop somewhere and grab dinner, considering the consistently sad state of her brother's fridge. She wasn't hungry. She didn't want to think about food. Her brain kept flashing back to Ethan and she felt sick to her stomach.

She decided to just go straight home. It was early still - she could order in or adventure out later if she really needed. Or maybe Harvey would offer to pick something up on his way home instead.

She was barely in the building before she got a call from Harvey.

"Hey," she said quietly, doing her best to conceal her remaining sniffles from crying.

"Are you home yet? I'm wondering if you could do something for me."

Emilie sighed. She had been looking forward to a hot shower then maybe crawling under the blankets of her bed.

"I just walked in - what's up?"

"I left a few things on my desk I need for a case. Do you think you could bring them to the office for me? Usually I would send Donna to act as courier but we're all swamped here." He paused to say something to someone else in the room. "There's an order of cashew chicken in it for you."

Emilie let out a breath. "Uhm, sure. What files?"

"There's three large black ledgers and a file box."

"You do realize I'm working with one and a half hands here, right?"

"It's not heavy. I really appreciate it, Em."

Emilie had a quick, hot shower and changed into some jeans and one of Harvey's old Harvard hoodies she had found in the spare closet. She packed the ledgers into her backpack and grabbed the filebox, heading towards the subway. It was a quick ride, although the train was packed with the after work rush.

As she got to the Pearson Specter Litt building, she noticed a large amount of police cars heading down the street.

She checked her phone as she got into the elevator. She had a few missed messages from Ethan.

'I wasn't thinking straight.'

'I'm sorry I was out of line'

'Can you call me please fuck'

She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. She knew she didn't owe him anything. As far as she was concerned, she would never talk to him again. The elevator dinged and she shook her head, shoving her phone into her pocket.

The PSL office was pretty quiet for early evening on a weeknight. She made her way through the halls to Harvey's office, where she found her brother going over some files at his desk.

"Hey," she said quietly, knocking on his glass door and taking a few steps in. He didn't even look up from his desk.

"Can you deliver that box down to Mike in the conference room." Harvey's question came out more like a demand. She just sighed and turned around. She found Mike, Donna and Rachel all sitting in the conference room down the hall - there was huge stacks of file boxes around the room, and folders sprayed across the large table. There was also a few trays of take out food stacked up on the front cabinet.

Mike jumped up from his seat when he saw her at the door and came over to open it. She walked a few steps in and dropped the box on the table.

"Thank you," Mike opened the box and shuffled around through the files, before grabbing a folder and returning to his seat.

"This seems like a lot." Emilie commented, watching as they all turned through files.

"Full audit." Mike commented as he worked, "This company is suing our client for inflated market values on their transactions. And they only switched over to a digital archival system two years ago."

"Wow. So this is-

"Twenty years worth of transaction history."

"Well, good luck." Emilie gave them all a wide eyed look.

"Harvey ordered you dinner," Donna said to her, looking up from the files in her hand. Donna's gaze remained on her for a few extra moments, her eyes softening. Emilie turned away from her inquisitive eyes and headed to the stack of food at the end of the room.

"Donna," Harvey rushed into the conference room a few seconds later, phone in hand. "Did you get this email?"

"I haven't even checked my email since you so clearly established my current job duty is file analysis," Donna responded to him, motioning to the table of documents. She took his phone and glanced at his screen.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"What's going on?" Rachel asked, looking between Harvey and Donna, then to Mike.

Donna handed Harvey back his phone then stood up, "Apparently as of seven minutes ago, our entire building is on lockdown."

After making a few phone calls, Donna found out that the Vice President was in the city and had decided to make a last minute visit to a restaurant just down the block from their office building. Due to security protocols all buildings in the area had been locked down until the police and federal agents could determine there was a reasonable level of safety in the area. Or until the Vice President of the United States had finished his steak dinner.

Harvey let his sister hang out in his office while he helped work through things in the boardroom. He was feeling a bit guilty that she was trapped in the office for the evening on his account.

"Where are those ledgers?" Mike asked as he leaned back in his chair, tossing down a file he was finished with on the desk.

"Emilie was supposed to bring them too - I can go ask her," Harvey replied. He was finally taking the time to eat dinner. Donna had grabbed some coffee mugs from the kitchen and they were all sipping on wine from Jessica's office.

"I'll go. May as well stretch my legs." Mike motioned for him to stay and he headed out of the room. Rachel had left the room for a break a bit earlier too. They had searched all the documents pretty thoroughly by now, but clearly they were all stuck for the time being anyway.

Donna had slipped off her heels and had her legs stretched out onto another chair as she sipped her mug of wine. She pulled her legs down and turned her chair towards Harvey.

"Your sister was crying earlier," she said to her boss, a small look of concern on her face. Harvey took a minute to swallow his bite of food and leaned back in his chair.

"How do you know that?" Harvey asked her. "Never mind. Don't answer that." He let out a breath, reaching to loosen his tie.

"Some people cry at everything, it's a normal part of life. But I take it your sister isn't the type to cry over seeing a lonely old woman crying over ordering a single order of soup at the deli."

Harvey sighed. "Things have been quiet this week. Since coming back from Boston, everything seemed to be okay. Like we had reached a new normal. But I never really know with her. She's always on the Defense with me. She just assumes everything I say is critical or judgemental."

"Hmmm. Have you tried not being critical or judgemental?" Donna smirked at him, raising her eyebrows.

He just shook his head, laughing lightly. "I'll have to give it a try."

"Don't you remember being in your early 20s and worrying about how you should have it all figured out?"

"I did have it all figured out."

Donna rolled her eyes, "Emilie is a lot like you."

Harvey sighed. "I know."

"No, Harvey. You don't see you like I do. You will build a wall until it forces someone out of your life. Then you'll blame them for not climbing over it."

Harvey knew she was right. Donna was always right. It was one of her most reliable traits.

"What else am I supposed to do? I ask her how she's feeling or what's going on and she just glosses over it. She doesn't tell me anything."

"You're her brother, Harvey, not her father. You don't have to fix everything so maybe try to approach her like a friend who needs someone to listen, not a problem to be solved."

Emilie did not want to spend her Thursday night holed up in Harvey's office. If only she had arrived ten minutes before, she could have dropped the files and left, making an escape for her bed. But now, she was sitting cross legged at Harvey's desk, working on a project for school. At least she had her laptop with her.

She had received a curt message from Finn, apologizing for not being responsive or taking her call but that he overstepped and he couldn't talk to her until after the trial. His words sounded just like something Harvey would say.

It made her want to cry all over again but she resisted. She turned her phone off completely to avoid the temptation of responding to him, and to ignore any further communication from Ethan. She was dreading seeing him at work the next day.

Mike showed up at the office door a little way later.

"Any news?" Emilie asked him as he walked in. He leaned against the couch.

"All we know is we still can't leave," Mike replied to her, shrugging.

Emilie just nodded, leaning back in Harvey's chair.

"Harvey said you also brought a few ledgers?"

Emilie pointed to her backpack that was sitting on the round table. Mike walked over there and pulled the three books out. He sighed when he took in the size of them.

"I don't have any more brain power tonight," Mike lamented, leaving the books on the table. "What are you working on?"

Emilie raised her eyebrows at his question. She wasn't used to anyone taking any interest in her boring school projects.

She turned her laptop to show him her screen. "I'm in the middle of planning out an interactive projection for my friend's end of semester art exhibit. This program should take her seamless designs and scale them with user interaction. It's lofty but I've almost figured it out. It's just all back end coding right now and my wrist is struggling."

"So you'll run this program and-

"Paired with an infrared sensor, people will be able to manipulate it as it's projected." She moves her arms around, motioning to the scale of the projection.

"Wow, that's pretty impressive." Mike nodded, giving her a small smile. "So, senior year right? Any plans for after graduation?"

She pulled her laptop back in front of her, then shut it closed. "Ideally a job somewhere on the West coast, maybe California but it depends on what I can afford. I just want to experience something else."

"I have a friend who has a start up in San Francisco, actually. Cost of living can be steep but in the right job, I'm sure you could make it work."

"Yeah, well, you saw my living situation before. I will live in a shoebox if I need to."

Their conversation carried on for a bit. It lead from school work to college to YouTube videos of TV news anchors breaking on camera.

Mike eventually grabbed the ledgers and figured he should get back to work.

He paused and turned to Emilie before leaving, "Hey, it's not my place but I wanted to tell you I heard Harvey yelling at Finn over the phone yesterday."

Emilie just sighed, leaning an elbow onto the desk and propping her head up. "I figured. Finn very politely cut me off."

"You know Harvey is only looking out for your best interests, right?"

"Yeah. Whatever. It still stings." She shrugged, looking away from Mike. All her energy washed away when he left without saying anything else.

Mike carried the ledgers back down to the conference room. Donna and Harvey were stacking most of the documents back into boxes.

"Do we not need these?" Mike placed them down on the stack of boxes, then dropped into a chair.

"We've given up," Donna announced, taking another sip from a mug of wine. Harvey just smiled at her and nodded in agreement.

"I think Emilie's mad at you," Mike pointed at Harvey, as he reached for a mug on the table.

Harvey shook his head and squinted his eyes at Mike, "I don't remember asking for your opinion."

"I'm just saying - her mood completely dropped when I mentioned Finn and -

"Is that who you were yelling at on the phone?" Donna turned to face Harvey.

Harvey just rolled his eyes, looking at each of them for a moment, then leaned back in his chair. "You both need to just let me handle this. I did what I had to do for this trial to go safely and easily for my sister."

Before they could protest his statement, Rachel appeared at the door, "Hey, I just ran into Paulo downstairs - they're a few short for poker. Who's in?"

"Oh, I can definitely steal more of Paulo's money," Donna announced, standing up.

"My thoughts exactly,' Rachel smirked at Donna, then looked over to Mike. "You coming?" He grabbed the mug on the table and finished it off, then followed Rachel out of the room as he rolled up his sleeves.

"Harvey?" Donna turned back to Harvey as she got to the door. Harvey shook his head and motioned for her to go.

He knew he should probably go talk to his sister. He grabbed his mug of wine and finished it off, then headed towards his office.

Emilie couldn't bring herself to do any more school work. All her motivation had disappeared and she just desperately wanted to go home. Considering no one had left the building yet, she assumed they weren't going anywhere.

She stood up from Harvey's desk chair and wandered around his office, pausing to flip through his record collection.

Mike reappeared, sleeves rolled up and shoes off, "Hey, a bunch of us are going downstairs to play poker with some of the investment bankers. Wanna come?"

She shook her head, giving him a polite smile, "I'll pass." He hurried away.

She continued her search through the wall of records. She finally found one of interest to her, it was like a hug for her heavy heart. Rumors by Fleetwood Mac. It was one of her mother's favourite albums.

She made her way over to Harvey's record player and put it on. She kicked off her shoes and fell onto the couch, laying on her back and squeezing her eyes shut.

Emilie was used to being alone. But she wasn't used to this feeling: loneliness. It had been a long time since she felt so isolated.

She just laid there, still. The soft folk rock playing in the background put her at ease. She fought off imagines of earlier - Ethan pressing against her, fighting him off. She shook her head again and again, doing her best to calm her racing mind.

She focused on the music playing instead.

It reminded her of growing up. Emilie would be the first one to admit she got her way more often than not as a kid - not because she was spoiled, but because her mom didn't try very hard to parent her. Lily was a good mom, of course, but she didn't want to raise another kid. She and Bobby took it in stride, but they knew they were old parents. And for Lily, having a child so late in life had been hard, physically. It took a toll on her mental health especially and Emilie felt that early on.

The calm music reminded her of the good early Saturday mornings. Her dad was out of town at work. Her mom was making breakfast, singing along to Dreams.

But there was also the slow, quiet Sunday mornings where Lily didn't leave bed. When Emilie would pour her own cereal and eat in front of the TV. When Marcus would take her out for the afternoon.

It wasn't until she was a bit more grown up that Lily started to work on herself again. Heal her demons. Go to therapy. But for Emilie, she felt disjointed still. That's probably what lead her to act out so aggressively in high school - her mother actually started giving a shit about her again, and she hated it. She couldn't just get away with everything anymore. People cared.

It was a long road to get to where she was now.

But the memories remained. That same Sunday morning loneliness flooded back.

Suddenly, she heard someone singing along to the music, quietly. Her brother.

"This reminds me of mom," Harvey said quietly, taking a seat on the chair near the top of the couch.

"I was just having the same nostalgic thoughts," Emilie replied to him, as she stared up at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry you're stuck here tonight," Harvey continued. "Hey, is that my sweatshirt?" His eyes gazed over the red Harvard crewneck she was wearing.

Emilie let out a stiff laugh, "Yeah. I found it in the closet. It just looked comfy. Sorry, I should have asked."

"No, it's okay. Just don't wear that here during the day. Certain alumni would hiss at you about wearing it if you didn't attend Harvard."

"I've only had a brief interaction with him but I assume that certain alumnus is Louis."

Harvey couldn't help but laugh. "Yes. He does leave an impact, doesn't he?"

Emilie just smiled for a moment, still staring up at the ceiling above her.

Harvey just stared over at his sister. Something seemed off about her. Maybe she was tired. Maybe she was just overwhelmed with school. Maybe the impending trial was stressing her out. He didn't know how to ask. He figured he needed to start slow.

He stood up to pour himself a drink. Then he walked over to the record player and moved the needle to a different track. The sudden pick up of Go Your Own Way flowed out of the record player.

"You know you want to sing along to this one, Em," Harvey called across the room to her.

Emilie rolled her eyes as her brother started to sing. She propped herself up to watch him start to rhythmically move around the office, making his way back to her. She couldn't help but laugh when he got to the chorus, semi-successfully hitting the drawn out notes.

"If I could...baby, I'd give you my world. Open up, everything's waiting for youuuuuuu.."

"Oh my god, stop," Emilie continued to laugh, sitting up on the couch to watch him.

"You can go your own waaaaaay," Harvey pointed at her to sing the next line.

She rolled her eyes but gave in, "Go your own waaaaay."

"Yes, there we go," Harvey clapped his hands together, then extended his hand out to her. "C'mon, let's go for a walk." She took his hand and he helped her stand off the couch.

They walked slowly throughout the office, which felt very peaceful and still. Harvey lead her to the elevators and he took them down a few floors. Emilie knew the office was vast but was not aware of the research library that took up two floors.

Harvey liked the library. He didn't spend much time down there now, but the walls of books and the calm, quiet atmosphere reminded him of a simpler time. Life was very different when he used to huddle over books in this space.

"Wow," Emilie barely whispered out as they walked through the endless shelves of books.

He motioned for her to follow him as he dipped further into the space. He lead her to a small corner that housed a plush couch, some chairs and a coffee table, directly underneath a large replica of the painting Wanderer Above the Sea Of Fog. Emilie recognized it immediately from one of her mom's old coffee table books.

"I like this little nook," she commented, taking a seat on the couch and staring up at the painting. Her brother took a seat beside her.

"Me too," Harvey agreed with her. "It was my favourite place to hide away and nap when I was an associate."

"It's nice."

"Listen, Em, I know you're mad about this thing with Finn but-

"I don't want to talk about it. I'm not mad. I was being immature. You did the right thing. I'll get over it."

Harvey decided not to say anything else. She seemed pretty final in her statement.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes.

"You didn't used to bring girls down here to hook up, did you?"

Harvey let out a laugh, "What? No. Well, maybe once or twice."

"Augh, gross. I hope they've replaced this couch."

"Oh stop. Coming from my little sister who made it very clear that her relationship with her coworker is a friends with benefits situation." Harvey turned to look at her, smirking.

Emilie's face fell when he finished talking. "Well, actually, that's over now." She leaned back onto the couch. "Do we know when this thing will be over so we can go home?"

"What happened?" Harvey shifted to look at her, ignoring her attempt to change the subject.

"Nothing. It doesn't matter."

"I feel like it's not nothing." Harvey pushed. "I know you were crying earlier." Okay, he didn't know that. But he trusted Donna's eye and instinct.

Emilie squinted her eyes as she looked over at him, "Bullshit."

"You do realize it's my job to analyze the small details in my clients. You really think I don't see your shifts in mood?" Harvey replied to her, letting out an annoyed laugh. "You purse your lips and pull at your hair when you're anxious. Your whole body tenses up when I mention your dad. If your eyes are red after a shower I know you've been crying. You think I don't notice?"

Emilie just stared at him. It's not that she assumed Harvey didn't care - it was more that he wasn't interested in caring more than he needed. Clearly he had been paying more attention the last few weeks then she realized.

She pulled her legs up onto the couch and hugged them towards her chest.

"And you do that when you're uncomfortable. Tell me what's going on." Harvey's eyes were soft as he looked at her.

Emilie swallowed hard. "I just.. today especially.. hmm." She paused. "You know, earlier you mentioned that album reminding you of mom. It reminds me of her, too. But it also reminds me of this weird lonely feeling in my childhood. I know you think I was this spoiled princess growing up but the reason I got my way all the time was lack of resistance."

Harvey opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself.

Emilie continued.

"What I'm trying to say is mom and my dad did not raise me the same way as mom and Gordon did for you and Marcus. Mom was sad, like postpartum sad, for years. And dad worked in and out of town. So I got my way because that was the only option. And now, even after mom went to therapy, dad's retired, and we've all kind of resolved our family issues, there's part of me that really struggles when things don't go my way. Like when I have a crush on someone and my brother shoves the term conflict of interest in my face over and over again. Don't roll your eyes."

She gave him a side glance and he raised his hands innocently.

"But this week - that weird lonely feeling came back harder than ever before. I'm trying to deal with it but I've always just had to be okay with being alone. I can be alone. But it's different than lonely."

Harvey was surprised by the words coming out of his sister's mouth. He didn't anticipate her opening up like this.

"Then today.." She trailed off, hugging her legs tighter. "I went to Ethan's for something. Not sex but, a different kind of company. Some sort of attention, I don't know." Emilie couldn't believe she was sharing this with her brother.

"But he wanted more and I didn't so he just took over and.." She trailed off again. She shut her eyes and wiped off a tear that was falling.

"Emilie," Harvey felt his heart rate increase as he listened to her. If he was piecing this together correctly…

"I got away before he really did anything. It's just, whatever - it was my fault anyway. I mean that's the only reason I go over to visit him so I can't blame him for wanting -

"You're fucking kidding me," Harvey stood up off the couch, his hands balled into fists. He started to mumble as he processed what she had told him. "I'll kill him. That piece of shit."

"Harvey, he didn't...it doesn't matter now." She was crying.

"Em, that's assault. Physical or sexual or whatever - its assault. No one has any authority to even touch you without your permission. God, how dare he even think - fuck."

Emilie just stood there watching Harvey talk to himself, as he paced around the small space. He finally turned to her, eyes wide. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Before she could respond, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. She did not know who this version of her brother was but she appreciated the comfort.

"I'm okay. I'm just disappointed in myself." She spoke into his chest.

"Don't be. It takes a real awful person to assume a woman owes him anything."

"Yeah, well, I wish I had done things differently."

"Em," Harvey put his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her. "You didn't do anything wrong." He pulled her in again. "And thank you for telling me. Now, tell me where he lives."

She let out a laugh. "Yeah, okay. You think you're gonna go beat him up or something? The building is on lockdown, Batman." She looked up at him to see he wasn't laughing.

"I know that. But Jon Finnegan has been grovelling to me all day after I yelled at him and he's not on lockdown."

She gave him a quizzical glance. "Harvey."

"What? A little scare tactic can go a long way."

Emilie was relieved to find out Ethan called into work Friday morning. After her big heart to heart chat with Harvey the night before, and finally getting to leave the building around midnight, she was exhausted. But it was easier knowing she wouldn't worry about Ethan all day.

Emilie could see something change in her brother after their discussion the night before. He was a bit less defensive when he talked to her, a bit kinder. Perhaps they were finally understanding each other.

She was surprised to get a visit from Finn at the end of her shift. He was waiting in the cafe, nibbling on a peanut butter cookie when she walked out of the back room.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him cautiously as she pulled her hair out of the bun on top of her head. She combed it out with her fingers as he smiled at her.

"I just got off work too. I wanted to see if you would be interested in accompanying me to the dog park."

Emilie let out a sigh, "I don't think either of us want the Conflict of Interest speech again."

"I talked to Harvey last night. He thinks a platonic friendship would not been seen as inappropriate. Plus, this trial will be over in a few weeks and should be pretty cut and dry."

Emilie hesitated.

"Unless you don't want to meet Pippin. I mean, he's going to be super sad about it considering how much I've been talking about you lately."

She smiled at him. "Okay, only because I can't go on picturing his sad puppy face. Platonic friendship it is."

A/N: Well, there we go. Sorry to crack Emilie open so much lately but there's a few more seeds to lay before we get to the trial. More Mike+Emilie+Harvey to come next chapter, and some more Donna for you Donna fans. Will Harvey punch someone in this story? I THINK SO. Do we really think Emilie and Finn can be platonic friends? OOOH boy.

Thank you for all the reviews and support last chapter. I know young Emilie was a brat and grown up Emilie is still, well, growing up - but I appreciate all the feedback and hearing your feelings! Thank you Guest (x3), Andelin, cicia724, realawesome and LilSparrow7. YOU ARE ALL THE BEST. And everyone else who read along the way so far.