Hey Everyone!
So this chapter is one of the longer ones, and it's filled with Harvey/Max goodness, with a little of Mike/Rachel fluff.
Hopefully it will still your beating hearts.
Enjoy!
P.S. Suits isn't mine.
The sound of paper being processed through a printer was the only noise in the small print room. Mike had been photocopying claims for Harvey, and he knew that Harvey would want them done as soon as possible. Well, the Harvey who wasn't sleeping with Max would have wanted them done as soon as possible. Now, he would probably get a tad bit frustrated, and get over it very easily. As he was placing the file down, he heard the photocopy room door open. He turned to see Rachel sneaking into the room, turning around and locking the door. Before he could utter a word out, she walked up to the blond, grabbing his face between her hands before pushing her lips onto his. Mike, taken back by Rachel, slowly grabbed her hips as she pushed herself closer to Mike. Before Mike could pursue anything, the brunette pulled away, letting go of his face.
"Not to sound rude, but what was that for?"
Rachel sighed as she walked to the door.
"I had to do that before I lost my nerve," she said, leaving the print room, "Friday, at six? I'll text you the address."
Mike subconsciously touched his lips as the pages kept printing. He was shocked that Rachel would do something so bold. But why? Was it because she felt like she needed to? Or was it that she felt that she wanted to? And a date? Why now? Why, in general? What had gotten into Rachel, causing her to be spontaneous?
Whatever the reason was. Mike had to get back to work, which was now an impossible task. Tomorrow was a big day. Tomorrow was the day that changed his life forever, and the only thing he could afford on focusing on was his work. No Rachel, no nothing. Later on in the night he would think about it, maybe have a drink or two...or three. But for now, he was going to photocopy until his fingers start bleeding from paper cuts.
With a last brush of her mascara, Max fluttered her eyelashes, quickly drying them. It was Max's day off, finally, and on the previous night she had planned to sleep in. Yet, knowing that she would probably beat herself up for sleeping in on such a nice, warm day, she slept early and woke early, planning on just spending the day out shopping, or at the park, or even both. Although glad she had a day to herself, it would have been much better if she had a day to herself and Harvey. But alas, she never had suck luck. Pulling on her favourite white haltered vest top, she found her matching high-waisted gray plaid shorts. Going to grab her high-heeled white cork shoes, she stopped when she heard a knock on the door. Odd, it was nine o'clock on a Wednesday and someone was knocking at her front door? Walking towards the door, she slid the peephole cover to the side, looking through the little glass lens.
As the cover slid back to it's original spot, Max couldn't help but smile. Unlocking her door, she was greeted by her brunette boy, who was questionably dressed. He was not in his normal attire of one of his dashingly gorgeous and pristine suits. Yet he was in a dark wash pair of jeans, a white v-neck t-shirt, a gray cardigan that was unbuttoned, and black loafers.
She smiled as she leaned against the door, "Why do I have a feeling that this isn't just sheer dumb luck that you have a day off the same day that I do?"
"I don't leave anything to luck," he said, walking into Max's house for the first time.
"So now you're just a borderline stalker?"
Harvey wiggled his eyebrows, "If you don't like it, then sue me."
It was just like he imagined it. The walls were either covered with bricks, or painted a blue-ish turquoise. On the wall with the door, it held a giant bookshelf that reached the ceiling. The bookcase was so full, Max ended up stacking books along the wall that was to the right of the door. On the same wall held a very large flat screen, with a long beige couch. Beside the living room, in the right corner was the dining room, and a door leading to a washroom. On the wall opposite of the door held two windows on either side of the wall, leaving a gap in the wall between them. With it, Max filled it with pictures. Since none of the pictures were in frames, Max had a wall literally covered in pictures. In the right corner, she placed her desk there, which was absolutely filled with papers, and her laptop. The wall to the left of the front door had the kitchen; a sleek, white modern kitchen with stainless-steel appliances, and white marble counters. He noticed the glass cabinet over the shelves holding several different types of wine. In the nicely lit cabinet, he noticed three wines sat on the expensive wood: a 1961 Cabernet, a 1955 Pinot Noir, and in the middle was a 1943 Bordeaux. A door was on the wall as well, and Harvey assumed that it was her bedroom. To Harvey, Maxine's house was so... Maxine.
The house itself was cluttered with nick-knacks from foreign countries, and picture frames from her friends. Flowers littered the place with lovely scents, and paintings hung from the walls. Harvey walked closer to her wall of photos, seeing Max in her teens, happy with a bunch of her friends in a few pictures. He saw pictures of her posing for the camera in her prom dress with her date, a strong smile on her face. Pictures of her high-school graduation with her mother by her side were stuck on the wall. Max was holding her law degree with a middle-aged man in one picture made him stop for a second. The man had a lot of salt and peppered hair on his head, and with his smile, his blue eyes shone through. He saw pictures that were taken from the office, some just of Max, some with Mike or Mike alone, and even some with Rachel. The one that Harvey loved the most is when Max was holding scissors to one of Mike's skinny ties as Mike drunkenly tried to keep his tie in one piece with Rachel laughing at him. He also caught a glance of two women sitting at a table; Maxine, and an older woman who was a spitting image of her. Or in actuality, it was Maxine who was a spitting image of the woman. He heard the clicking of Max's shoes from the right of him, and his spoke to her without looking away from the picture.
"Your mom?" Harvey said, pointing to the specific picture.
He heard Max's 'mmhmm', "It was the most recent picture of her before she passed."
Harvey turned to look at Max then. If it wasn't for the fact that he had a day planned out he would have done her right there and then. She looked ravishing, with her hair in a messy bun with her bangs framing her face. Large half-pearl earrings stood out against her lightly tanned skin. Her bold pure metal necklace accented her skin perfectly. Her white halter vest top did justice to her bosom, as her gray and pink plaid high-waisted shorts did wonders for her legs.
"We need to leave before I start doing something I would love to do."
Max laughed, turning to grab her clutch off the table.
"Maybe next time, babe," at the sound of the word, Harvey rolled his eyes. She had been teasing him non-stop after using a word he never did use.
Turning around to lock the door she heard Harvey's cellphone ring, which he walked farther away from her to answer. Turning the key on the dead bolt, she had got a wicked idea. She could see Harvey was hanging up his phone, so she began walking towards him. As soon as she shoved his phone in his front pocket, Max began walking past Harvey.
"Nice ass," she said as she approached him, giving his butt a good appreciative smack before walking down the hallway. As she pushed the elevator button to go down to the main level, Harvey appeared in front of her, lifting her by the legs and wrapping them around his waist. He held her up as she placed her hands behind his head.
"You little minx," he said, embracing her.
"Careful, you might start doing something you would love to do, babe."
As they walked down Terrace Dr, Max couldn't help but love the moment she was in. As her right elbow held her white clutch, her left hand was placed comfortably in Harvey's warm, semi-rough right hand. With her heels on, she was just a couple of inches shorter than Harvey, instead of him almost a head taller than her. They were walking close to each other, enjoying each others company. As they began to see the Bethesda Fountain, Max couldn't help but smile. She remembered shoving Mike in the fountain, but not before he pulled her in. It was one of the worst decisions to make in October, yet she loved the memory. Quickly letting go of Harvey's hand, she half-ran towards one of the ice-cream stands where actual ice-cream was scooped out of a bucket. She politely asked for a vanilla cone, which she accepted with gratitude. Before she could go into her clutch, Harvey gave the vender a twenty, and told him to keep the change.
"That was very kind of you, Mister Specter," Max said, slowly licking her ice cream.
Harvey smiled, "I have to pay you back somehow."
Max laughed. She remembered their first date, and how if she didn't stay at the bar things would have been differently. Harvey had asked Max so many times why she did stay, but all she did was smile and told him to just be thankful she didn't leave.
Before Harvey could respond, his eyes caught onto two suspicious men down the street. Around the corner, they were very big and somewhat built. They had good suits on. Not to the point where Harvey would wear one of the ones that they were wearing, but they were pretty prices. Gold jewellery hung from their wrist and neck as they had sun glasses on. Harvey couldn't help but feel a nagging feeling in his stomach. I've seen these men before, Harvey thought as the men began to move closer to them. With a sigh, Harvey shook it off, thinking it was his paranoia, and jumped back into the conversation.
"At least give me a hint on as to why you stayed that night," Harvey said, walking right beside her.
She thought for a moment, "One reason might have been that I wanted to drop kick you over a table."
"The thought arouses me more than amuses," Harvey said, giving a growl to her ear.
Max giggled, enjoying another lick of her ice-cream.
"Oh wait, I've been meaning to do this," she said pulling out her cellphone.
"Call Mike to brag about your day off?"
"I'm not that rude," she said, "Now pose."
"As soon as I buy a Queen record," Harvey said backing away.
She rolled her eyes at Harvey. She had never met someone who absolutely loathed getting their picture taken. She needed a picture of him on her wall to show that he was actually a part of her life, which is why she had the wall of pictures; pieces of people in her life. Also, she loved pushing Harvey out of his comfort zone.
"You do realize I am either going to take a picture of you now or use the one I took of you when you were sleeping."
Harvey's lips pursed. Woman and their sneakiness...
She played with her cellphone, "There might have been drool, Harvey."
The lawyer sighed in defeat, causing Max to sinisterly smile.
"Only if you're in the picture as well," Harvey asked.
Max smiled, "Of course."
Turning her phone, she held it away from her body, trying to catch them both in the photo. Harvey's hands subconsciously found their way around Max's waist as she took the picture. The shutter sound confirmed the picture had been taken, and Max turned the screen around to see the picture. Even Harvey had to agree that the picture she had taken was something he wanted. Both of them looking at the screen with smiles on their faces, Harvey's hands around her waist with their cheeks touching. Max's ice-cream was inconspicuously cut out of the picture. It was sweet, and Max thought they were really aesthetically pleasing together. In other words, she thought that they were perfect.
"Thank you," she whispered, giving him a sweet kiss on the lips.
"Now will you shut up about it," he said, holding her waist.
She shook her head, "For now, I have nothing to say."
"What would you say if I took you shopping today?" Harvey asked her as they were in the archways. As they were walking, Harvey grasped onto Max's other wrist, stealing a lick from her ice-cream.
She smiled as she took her free hand and wove her fingers through one of his hands, "I wouldn't say anything, because no matter what I'd say, you'd somehow end up buying me things. Might as well be things I picked," she said, enjoying her vanilla ice-cream.
They sat along the fountain, Harvey and Max's legs tangling together as they faced each other.
"No objections?"
"None whatsoever, your honour," she said, placing her courtroom voice into the sentence.
"But know this, Harvey," she said leaning in, "Just because you bought me something doesn't mean you get aces in my book. You're just paying me back." Maxine said sinisterly as she stole a kiss from the man sitting beside her.
"You better not think this is a free pass, babe."
That was just what Harvey wanted. Not someone who was wanting gifts and easy to please. Harvey felt like he had to work for his woman, and his girl should do the same. Max wasn't going to let him off that easy, giving him permission to shower her with gifts. No, she was going to challenge him, and if Harvey wanted one thing in a girl, it was to challenge him.
He gave a chaste kiss on her lips.
"Game on," he whispered.
The couple was curled up on Max's couch as they had laughed over a plate of the Chicken Parmesan she cooked up quickly. After spending a rather long day shopping, Max brought Harvey back to her place, letting them both enjoy each others company. Maxine could easily tell that Harvey was enjoying her food. It amazed her how awesome she was. With the clients that she kept bringing in, how fast she was closing cases for Louis, the quality of her work, and also her reputation for being a show stopper was just a plus knowing that she could cook. Five-Star Chef, Badass Lawyer, Master Seducer, Extreme Genius, Female Extraordinaire... and why wasn't she President yet? Harvey placed his dish on the table, stretching one of his arms on the back of the couch. Max's head was resting on her arm as she placed it on the top of the cushions. They were sitting beside each other on the couch, just barely touching each other as Max's knees grazed Harvey's.
Max swirled her wine glass, "He really is a douchebag. I commend him for buying expensive wine, but Louis is just a straight-up jerk. Poor Mike must have had a heart attack paying for his rookie dinner."
She looked at Harvey before fake gasping, "I forgot. You paid for his dinner."
"You are absolutely brutal," Harvey said shaking his head, "You're never going to let that go, are you?"
"Eventually," Max said, laughing.
Harvey smirked, "Tease."
"Ass," she said, smiling.
He placed his glass on the table, "It is a nice ass, even you said so yourself."
Max's only response was to roll her eyes, and take a sip of her wine, which reminded Harvey of a question.
"How did you get a forty-three Bordeaux?"
Max grinned, "It's a long story."
The man rolled his eyes at the beauty, knowing that he'd tell her anyway.
She settled into her seat, moving closer to Harvey, "Before my mother divorced my father, she had two safe deposit boxes. My father only knew of one, and that held everything that he bought her. The other one contained things that were close to my mother. Since she left me everything in her will, I got her box. It had pictures of her family, trinkets from her travels, my first pair of shoes as a baby, and a bunch of other things. Among those items was a one-"
"A nineteen forty-three Bordeaux, yes, but how did she get it?" Harvey said interrupting.
Max huffed in anger, "You are going to keep turning into Mike if you keep interrupting me."
With an apologetic smile from her man, she continued, "Her mother's mother, my great-grandmother, smuggled onto a ship from France to the UK. She was trying to leave her cheating husband. While on the ship, she realized it had cargo on it. As she was investigating, and man caught her, and was about to turn her in until he noticed she was absolutely beautiful. Smitten, he offered her anything she wanted. My great-gran just smiled and pointed to a crate filled with wine. She didn't want to drink it; she just wanted something to have so she could hit the man over the head, climb off the boat, and get the heck away from him without getting caught."
Harvey smiled, "Must be the women in your family who are the strong ones."
"And don't you forget it," she said smirking, "Almost seventy years later, and it still lives."
Max felt her hand being pulled from supporting her head as Harvey's strong hands clasped onto her own as he held her there. It was so amazing, just to spend the day with someone just as powerful as he was. Harvey never experienced that with his old flames, which just showed how special Max was. Max leaned in, giving a soft, long kiss to Harvey, before picking up the dishes and walking towards the sink to begin washing them. As soon as she picked up the first plate, Harvey had plucked the sponge from her hands.
"Your humour is questionable, Harvey," Max said, holding her hand out for the sponge.
"Does it look like I'm a clown?" The man said, grabbing the dish from her hand. Before she could say anything to counter, he shook his head.
"No, I'm not letting you do the dishes. Not even drying."
"But-"
"Would you give it a rest, Max? You cooked for me, which by the way was the most mind-blowing experiences of my life. The least I could do is clean," he said, placing the clean dish on the other side of the sink, "So go sit somewhere and stare at my beauty."
She smiled before placing a quick kiss on his cheek, "You're the best."
"I thought that was established, babe," he said over his shoulder as she grabbed her cellphone and logged onto her computer. As Harvey was doing the dishes, she was still smiling from his recent joke. Plugging her phone into the computer, she was planning on printing the picture of them out. A thought hit her; why didn't she make a copy for Harvey? Max hit the print button, causing the picture to finally be a physical item. She took one, placing tape on the back, and sticking it on the wall in the middle of the open spot.
"It's cute," Harvey said from the kitchen.
As Max was placing Harvey's copy in an envelope, she couldn't help but laugh.
"For the love of God, never say 'cute' again." She said, placing the envelope on the table beside the door.
Harvey just shook his head, nodding towards the envelope.
"This is your personal memento to remind you of me when you miss me," she said, smiling as she wrapped her arms around his waist, placing a kiss on the back of his neck. Their moment was ruined when there was a knock at her door. Alarmed, Harvey wiped his hands, walking over to the door. Sliding the peephole cover, Harvey couldn't help but sigh in frustration and shake his head before throwing the door wide open. There, in all his drunkenness was Michael Ross, with his suit more ruined that before. Even from where Max stood he reeked of alcohol and something else that was vaguely familiar.
"Penelope!" Mike said, laughing as his shoulder was against the door frame, his body almost parallel with the ground.
Harvey looked at Max for an explanation.
"My middle name. Somehow he manages to forget my first name when he's drunk."
"Ah," Mike said stumbling in, "I'm jus' kiddin' Maxie. Y'know I'd never forg't anythin'."
He smiled so widely his teeth glistened and his eyes squinted shut. Max could easily tell he was high too. But why? Mike knew to stay away from weed. He loved his job so much that he would follow Harvey's rules to a 'T'. She knew Mike never forgot anything, but he thought drinking to a certain point would make him temporarily forget something. But what? Max's brain had been working overdrive as to why Mike was drunk and high. It wasn't a client. Trevor wasn't in the city. Jenny was seeing someone else and he was fine with it. She texted Rachel earlier, finding out that she was going to bed early. Mike's grandmother was fine. But-
Oh my God, she thought. The anniversary is tomorrow.
The anniversary of the death of Mike's parents.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Harvey getting aggravated. The man could easily tell that his associate was high as well. Harvey was pissed that his associate was like this. It wasn't right of him to barge in at a time where he knew that Harvey was busy, drunk and high. Even under the influence, the lawyer knew Mike was mentally aware of his actions, and to be acting like an idiot in front of him just made him even more mad. Harvey wouldn't admit it to anyone, maybe Max, but he cared about the kid, and he was a reflection of himself. So for Mike to be so stupid as to drink himself to oblivion and smoke himself until he was baked really pissed him off.
"What is with you?" Harvey said, grabbing him.
He tried getting a reaction out of Mike, but he would have never expected Max to react in such a way that it shocked Harvey.
"Harvey, leave him alone," she said, ducking under his arms.
Unfortunately for both Harvey and Max, he directed his anger at her.
"He is drunk and high out of his mind, and you're going to defend him?"
"For good reason!" She said, yelling into his face.
Harvey's eyebrows rose.
"For-," he stopped himself, trying to catch his thoughts, "For good reason? Really, Max? Mike had a good enough reason to get high and drunk and stumble into your apartment unannounced?"
Max wanted to tell Harvey that Mike did; he was trying to forget about the pain of his parents. It was stupid, yes, she knew, and she was going to kick his ass when he was sober. But she knew what he was going through. Max never had a father figure, so losing her mother was like losing both parents. Just forgetting about the pain, even for five minutes... it felt like heaven. So she knew how Mike felt. But she swore to Mike that she would never tell a soul, and she didn't know if Mike told Harvey about his parents.
So Max's only option was to keep quiet.
Harvey laughed without humour, "You know, for a great lawyer, you sure do suck at defending someone who is clearly guilty."
He rushed out of the house, grabbing his keys off the table. He was going to leave without the picture, but his subconscious told him to grab it, just in case he regretted it in the morning.
"Call me when you get a real defense," he said, shutting the door behind him. The sound of the door clicking into place caused Harvey to have a pang of pain in his chest. There was probably a story behind Mike's actions, but he was so angry at the moment he just didn't care. Ha, people were right. At that moment, Harvey Specter didn't care about anyone.
Inside the room though, Max felt as if a weight was on her chest. She so desperately wanted to tell Harvey everything. She didn't like lying to him. But this was Mike. Mike, her best friend, her brother. They shared the bond of being orphans. What was worse is that Harvey didn't know about Mike, and he wasn't about to tell him anytime soon. She couldn't betray Mike like that. He never did anything to hurt her, so why should she?
Mike, who was silently standing there, walked up behind Max and hugged her shoulders.
"I'm sorr'y Harvey hates ya righ' now. It's my faul'."
Max shook her head as she placed her hands on Mike's forearms as they rested on her collarbone, "No Mike. You have nothing to apologize for. He doesn't understand, that's all."
She felt Mike nod his head, and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Hey, rem'mber tha' time I droppe'd my pants?"
Aww! Their first fight!
Let's see what happens.
Review?
xoxo N.