Hey Everyone!

I really do apologize for not updating in a while. Those projects were a mission (on the plus side, I aced three of them like a boss. I haven't heard from the others).

Here is your fill of TAOP!

Yes, I do realize I did not to a "ON THE NEXT TAOP" last chapter. So for this one, I'll give you guys a SNEAK-y PEEK several chapters ahead!

Enjoy!

P.S. I do not own Suits, unfortunately

It seemed that time was moving slow for Max as she sat in his office, waiting for him. He, who was Harvey, was due back from court, but the trial seemed to expand longer than it should. It was now almost nine, and the office was slowly emptying itself. Max was worried, since after Harvey stopped texting her caused her to go into a rut, she began freaking out even more. Did the case go south? Was Harvey going to lose his first case? Or was it that Harvey was able to turn it around in his favour, and add another notch to his belt? He wasn't answering his calls or texts and Max was pretty sure that she filled up his voicemail box. God, she hated waiting. As she was beginning to think the worst, the man himself walked down the hallway, pulling Max out of her trance and emitting a sigh. She got up as he opened the door.

"Hey," she said softly.

Harvey looked bad. Ruffled, tired, exhausted bad. His suit was still pristine, but his hair wasn't slicked back. It flowed along the side of his head, causing pieces to fall in front of his face. His face, Max noticed, held the composed features that she hated. It was like his face was made from marble; set and unemotional. He sat down in his chair as Max stood in front of him.

"How'd it go?" She asked slowly, unsure of what he might say.

Harvey pierced his lips, "They settled."

Settled? Max knew that a settle for Harvey was worse than losing. If Max knew anything, and of course she did, she would know that the man sitting in front of her was downright pissed. She bit her lip; sad Harvey was much more easier to calm down than angry Harvey.

"I thought that was what the Klades wanted," Max said, sitting in the chair.

Harvey didn't look up from the papers, "No, actually, they wanted to sue him for sexual harassment, but instead they settled for breach of contract."

Max squeezed her eyes shut, "it was because of the relationship."

"If she had just been honest with me they would have got a whole lot more than ten thousand."

"That's it?" Max said.

Harvey finally looked up.

"What the hell did you think, Max? That the judge was going to be a biased son of a bitch and take pity on Karly? You think that Hart was going to tell the court that he was wrong and that he'd pay for what he did? No, none of that bullshit works in the real world Max, I just got fucking lucky with the ten thousand." He stood up with force, causing not only the chair to fly against the window, but causing Max to jump. He faced the window, running his hand through his hair, which was the reason of his imperfect locks of hair. He sighed before leaning against the window.

"God, if only it wasn't Cameron."

"Cameron Dennis?" Max said, getting up to stand behind Harvey, "that weasel? You forgot that he cheats to get what he wants," she placed her hand on his shoulder, "you're better than that, babe."

"Don't," he said as he shrugged off Max's hand.

Like his shoulder was on fire, Max pulled her hand off of him faster than she ever did. She knew he was angry, and he had been angry many different times, but Harvey had never directed his anger out on her. He always put it out on other associates, Louis, sometimes Donna, and on the rare occasion, Mike. But he knew the only way he could calm down was having Max there to calm him down, and that was why he never shifted his anger towards her. Yet Harvey was so angry at the moment that he didn't care at all.

"Just go, Max. I don't need you right now."

He looked out into the skyline, trying to find the peace within the lights as Max always did. But something inside of him shifted from anger to angst in a moment. His eyebrows furrowed, wondering why his mood flipped. It was so odd that it just changed drastically in a matter of seconds. He turned around to look at Max. She stood there, hands by her sides, almost looking defeated. Harvey hadn't seen her this vulnerable, not even in bed. Her eyes held sadness, and Harvey saw her hazel orbs become watery.

Oh God, he hurt her.

"Max," he choked out, reaching out to her.

"Go to hell, Harvey."

She took a step back before walking out of his office in stern strides. Harvey looked to his desk before sighing and shaking his head. He walked around his desk and opened his office door and began running towards the elevators. Just as the doors were shutting, he saw her tear streaks mixed with mascara mark her face, her eyes squinting in pain as her lips pursed from trying to hold her tears, but miserably failing. The doors shut with a clank, and Harvey couldn't help but grunt in anger as he threw a lazy punch at the metal doors.

Good job, Specter, he thought.

Donna's sweat-filled red hair splashed along the pillow as she breathed heavily. She turned to the redhead beside her, laughing at Ezra ruffling his hair. Sex with him was great, one of the best experiences that she had in a while. She loved the way his body molded with hers; it was just natural to her. Her fingers danced along his arm as his hand rested on her blanket-covered butt.

"Little devil," Ezra purred into her ear.

She giggled as if she were a young school girl, "Now you're just being modest."

He licked his bottom lip as he propped up his head, "Tell me something."

"Of course," she told him.

He gave her a lopsided smile, "Is that a birthmark or a tattoo down there-"

"Ezzie," she said, smacking his chest.

The redheaded man laughed as his hands trailed down her stomach, "Because it looks like it's in the shape of a flower..."

His fingers ticked her, causing Donna to go into a giggle fit. Her laugh was like chimes to him, and he couldn't help but love the sound of it.

"Okay! I give! It's a tattoo!" She screamed in between laughs.

He stopped, placing his palm gently on her stomach, "What kind of flower is it?"

Donna flipped her hair, "It's an Oxalis. It's rare, since it only grows in South Africa and South America. I just find it very pretty," she said, smiling up at him.

"Just like you," he said, brushing her hair out of her face.

Donna looked up at the man beside her and smiled.

I could get used to this.

Rachel clung to Mike's arm as they stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway of his apartment. The Hallowe'en office party was fun, seeing that several people wore outrageously hilarious costumes, and some, more specifically Louis, were wearing costumes that really didn't fit the par. Although they were both sad that they did not win the best dressed couple, they happily gave it to Norma and her date, dressed and Minnie and Mickie. As Mike was walking up the stairs, he wondered where the hell Max and Harvey were. When they didn't show up at the party, Mike just thought that they were spending time with each other. But he had realized Max bought her Audrey Hepburn costume for this specific occasion, and knew that if Harvey was wearing a costume or not, she would drag his sorry ass down to the party. So he texted her, and texted her, and texted her again before he decided to call her, and call her, and call her to the point where he was thoroughly annoyed with hearing her answering machine. As he opened his front door, he was still wondering why she wasn't answering his calls.

He got his answer when he heard Max's phone ringing. Only it sounded like it was coming from inside his home.

Rachel looked at Mike with a confused expression before looking around for the faint ringing. They both looked under the couches, in between the bookshelves, under the bed, in the washroom, practically everywhere. Until Rachel opened the fridge door, noticing the small white device sitting on top of the container of leftovers. She shook her head as she picked up the phone, realizing that the person calling the number was no one other than Harvey Specter.

"Mike," she said, turning around and throwing the cold device into Mike's hands. He stood there, deciding what to do, before he walked to his key rack, grabbing Max's key, and heading across the small hallway. He unlocked the door, giving light to the pitch black apartment. Rachel was right behind him as he entered the home, weaving his way through the small area. He made it to the bedroom, where he could hear the light sniffle coming from the bed. The moon was bright that night, filling the room with a nightly glow. He saw Max on the bed, blankets askew, falling off of the side. He saw her silently crying. He had seen her cry, but he never heard his best friend ever sob.

"Max?"

He heard the sigh coming from the bed.

"The phone was too much, right?"

Rachel chuckled, "No. I would have done the same thing."

They both heard the blankets move, causing Rachel to climb onto the bed and snuggle with Max. Both of them hugged each other; Max for eagerness, Rachel for comfort. Mike sat on the edge of the bed, leaning down to rest his head on Max's hip. That was how the three of them stayed that night, comforting the one friend who always was there to give them her shoulder to cry on. It was finally paying back what they desperately owed to Max. It was Max's turn to let her tears fall, and for her to open her heart. Mike knew she would only tell him what happened in the morning.

But for tonight, the only thing that was being said was the unspoken word of comfort.

Forty six, Harvey mentally counted as he picked up the broken dish from the floor. The minute Max left, he raced down the stairs trying to get to her. But it was too late; she had already been long gone before he made it to the lobby. After coming home, his anger got the best of him, and he began to demolish his million dollar condo. Lamps fallen, tables and chairs overturned, and Harvey no longer had any dishware. How the hell could he be this angry? He never was this angry when it came to fights. He knew how to deal with them. But this? This self-hate, this self-loathing, this self-wallowing... Harvey did not know how to deal with that. He was more angry at himself. How the hell could he have done that to Max? The greatest thing in his life was her, and yet he just was careless. Harvey hated when he was careless. He always made irrational decisions when he was careless, and he always ended up getting bit in the ass for it. He should have known better than to do that to himself.

He picked up broken dish number forty seven. He was so afraid to fall in love. He was so afraid of hurting her, that he always tried his hardest not to do anything stupid. Once he got distracted, it was like he just threw her away, also throwing away all of his hard work. God, he was an idiot.

Wait, he thought, when the hell is Harvey Specter afraid?

When it came to Max. He could control everything. But her? She was his wild card. She was his black-abyss of the unknown. Although Harvey hated not knowing anything, he enjoyed the unexpected when it came to Max. He was unpredictable, but Max was a whole other level of unpredictability. It wasn't like he couldn't figure her out, but Max liked to throw curve balls at him.

The good kind of curve ball though. Not like the one that was thrown earlier that day.

He stood at his kitchen counter, squeezing his eyes shut. His brain was going miles per minute, and he had no idea how to control them. He realized that without Max, he was out of funk, he couldn't function the way he used to. He became custom to running on auto-pilot, turning off his emotions used to be easy for him. It was because he never experienced the feeling of love. He understood why women have guys whipped; it was because the men fell in love with them, and Harvey fell for his woman hard. He realized he would do anything for Max. If she told him to give her a million dollars, he would do it, all because she asked. But one of the billion reasons why he loved Max was because she would never do something like ask Harvey for a million dollars. She was too good. Too sweet. Too kind. She was perfect, and Harvey loved her because she was perfect, just for him.

He grabbed his car keys and jacket before leaving his condo. He couldn't live without his perfect girl for another second. If that meant that Harvey Specter was to go on his knees and beg for forgiveness, then damn it, he would do it.

Even in a twelve thousand dollar suit.

ON THE NEXT (several) TAOP(s): Harvey and Max work together to finally put away the demons of their past, Mike asks Rachel a question, and the seasonal flu is going around... or is it?

Review!

xoxo N.