Hey there,
Here's the next chapter.
I really struggled with this one and I'm still not that happy with the outcome but the longer I thought about it the worse it got.
As I mentioned before the timeline is messed up. The Darby-merger happened after Mike's arrest. I tried to explain it logical but I'm not really sure it worked out – but my mind said yes :D I let you decide that!
Hope you enjoy!
/
Donna jumps up and breaks the kiss.
"What the hell was that Harvey?" she asks angrily.
'I- I'm sorry! That shouldn't have happened" he apologizes, still overwhelmed by how good and right it felt.
"yeah Harvey, you're goddamn right, This shouldn't have happened, what the hell were you thinking?"
"Donna, I'm sorry, I-"
And then there's a knock at the door. "Thomas" Donna whispers to herself.
"I'm right there" she manages to say looking at the door. She looks back at Harvey and shakes her head angrily, then walks towards the door.
"Wow Donna, you look beautiful" he says stuttering. He's really starting to like her and doesn't want to do anything wrong. Then he sees Harvey.
"Oh, am I interrupting?" he asks uncertainly.
"No, I was just about to leave, I just had something to talk to Donna about" says Harvey.
"It's nice to see you again, Thomas" he says and smiles.
"You too Harvey" he answers and nods shortly. Harvey looks one last time at Donna and leaves her condo. "Tell her Harvey, before it's too late" he remembers MIke's words and stops the wheelchair.
"Donna" he calls and turns to her.
She simply looks at him, Thomas too of course.
"I need to go on with my life Harvey" he now remembers her words and than looks at his wheelchair.
"Have fun tonight" he eventually says giving them a smile and then he leaves.
"Everything okay between the two of you? asks Thomas.
"No" she answers honestly "but I don't wanna talk about it. I've been looking forward to the evening all day, I won't let it ruin it" she says firmly. "Let's go, I'm starving" she smiles.
... ... ...
The next morning both come to work as usual, but avoid each other. Donna is angry with him. The kiss emanated from him, he leaned forward, he kissed her first! It's his fault, she tells herself.
Of course, Mike and Rachel notice immediately that something has happened, but they remain silent at first.
When Mike and Harvey return from a meeting, they meet Donna, who is greeted by Mike. She only greets back briefly, but without really looking at them. He sees Harvey still looking at him while she walks away.
"Everything okay between you?"
"yeah, fine. Just a disagreement" he says and Mike decides to shut up this time.
"okay" he simply replies"
Three days later
"Donna, we need to talk, we can't go on like this" it's Harvey who takes the initiative and confronts her about it. "I'm not interested" she says still mad. "Donna, I'm sorry alright, I-"
"Stop it Harvey, I don't wanna here it! Do you remember what happened when I kissed you when you were with Paula?" she asks still angry.
"Donna I-"
"You what, Harvey?"
"That was different. We we're a couple back then and you kissed me out of nowhere" he answers also mad this time.
"That's exactly what you did. You were mad at me for days and Ihad to leave and you did the same the other night!"
"It's not like you didn't kiss me back, Donna and I didn't know you were together!" he answers just as mad as she does. "I know it was a mistake, I am sorry, this is exactly the kind of man I never wanted to be. Just forget it, it didn't mean anything anyways!" He says and hates every goddamn word of it 'cause it's a lie, it meant everything.
"And in case you forgot, I got you back, I chose you!" He emphasises.
"Yeah, you're right" she says "it didn't mean anything" she says and leaves and she feels the same, it's a goddamn lie.
One week later
"we kissed" Donna admits it while crying. "What?" asks Rachel not knowing how to feel about it.
"He came here to apologize for his reaction to Thomas and- and then he says that since the Paula-thing our friendship hasn't been the same, that we wouldn't tell each other anything anymore, we don't talk, we don't flirt, we don't joke and that he would miss it" she exhales "that he would miss me" Rachel can't help but smiles but she doesn't say a word.
"he asked me if we could hug, what we did and then it happend. I blame him but if I'm honest... we both kissed each other" she starts crying again. "few seconds later Thomas came and... I felt- I feel so guilty. It felt so right with Harvey, so good!" Rachel strokes her back "Donna, you really need to talk. I mean why should he kiss you if he doesn't have feelings for you?"
"He said it didn't mean anything" "he lied" Rachel simply answers.
"I yelled at him"
"you see, he thought he should say it"
"I told him the same" she sniffs.
"And you lied at him, too" Says Rachel
"Donna, I love you and you know I want you to be happy but…" Rachel stops and thinks before she goes on "if you keep meeting Thomas it's not fair. He doesn't deserve this. He's really starting to like you and you should tell him the truth before you hurt him"
"I like him, too" she argues.
"Not this way and if you knew you could've Harvey, you would never choose Thomas"
"I'm afraid to tell him. I'm afraid of losing him completely"
"I know but if you don't you'll never find out and you'll regret it one day. You'll always ask yourself if you missed on something wonderful, something special"
... ... ...
Harvey opens his door
"Mike, what are you doing here?"
You know, your greetings are always the best" Mike shoots at him while walking in.
"I just don't like visitors" he shoots back in a teasing voice.
"Ok, than I keep it short. What happened between you and Donna?"
"nothing, I already told you, just a disagreement"
"Who Believes"
"I don't want to talk about it Mike"
Mike stops himself. He got too involved and he doesn't want Harvey to get mad at him so he lets go. He just grabs two beers and sits on the sofa and Harvey sits next to him.
"we kissed" Harvey just lets it out after a while.
"what?" Mike asks shocked, this is the last thing he expected.
"I went at hers to apologize for my behavior and...we kissed"
"But Harvey that's great, I mean..."
"What the hell is great about that? Seconds later Thomas came, she's mad at me and blames me. Besides, we agree it didn't mean anything" he says.
"and you both lied"
"she didn't" he says hurting.
"Let me guess, you said it first"
"she yelled at me, what should I have said?"
"the truth Harvey, just the truth"
"She doesn't want me Mike. She likes him and I saw he likes her, too. I won't interfere in their relationship. I did enough."
And there is silence again.
"I'm just so mad. I- I just want to go jogging, or boxing, just kind of let the anger out, but I can't. I have no idea what to do to let off steam.
Mike thinks for a few seconds.
"Let's go" he says suddenly.
"what, where?"
"Trust me" he says and goes towards the closet where their jackets hang.
"Mike I'm not in the mood..."
"Please, just trust me" he says and hands him the jacket. Harvey huffs and takes it.
Mike calls Ray and after a while they arrive at a hut with a pile of wood in front of it. They are short pieces of wood that fit perfectly in an oven.
Next to it are empty glass bottles. Harvey has never seen so many in one place and he doesn't understand why he's here.
"What are we doing here, Mike?"
"you want to let out steam, here you can do it"
"What?" he asks confused.
"Throw the wood on the floor, throw it on the bottles, or the other way around, as you like. Scream, curse, cry. The path here is asphalt, so you can use the wheelchair. I'll wait for you back there. If you need me, don't hesitate to call me"
"Mike that's ridiculous"
"It's not, trust me just try it" he says and leaves. Harvey hesitates at first, but then he starts. He throws the wood on the glasses and vice versa. He just throws everything everywhere, he's angry, he can finally let his anger run free. He screams, he cries, he lets it all out.
Mike is in sight but has his headphones on so Harvey has his privacy. He just wants to know in case Harvey wants him to go over to him. So he watches at him from time to time; and he does... by the time Harvey is done, he's exhausted and sweating. He turns to Mike with teary eyes and lets him know to come. Mike sits next to him and they stay there in silence for a long time.
"I'm so mad at me for not realizing sooner that I love her; mad at the case and everything that followed: coma, wheelchair, nightmares.
"What, what nightmares" Mike asks shocked.
"Fuck" he thinks, he never wanted to tell anyone.
"I- we recently got the letter for the testimony for the trial against him and I have to think about the attack very often again." he stops for a few seconds "The other day I remembered when you begged him to let them help me and his response was 'you have no idea how much I'm enjoying this'. I didn't remeber it before and since... I heard him back then and tried not to let it get to me but I...I was dying...and he said…" Mike moves closer to him and half hugs him. Mike was so furious when he heard that at the time that he has to fight against himself not to hit him in the face with full force.
"Hey, I know it's a small consolation, but he'll get his punishment. He'll be trapped forever, he'll never get out. He'll never have a happy day in his life again. Never again!"
"I'm trapped too" Harvey says pointing at the wheelchair. He just decided to be honest and not stuff everything into himself.
"No Harvey, the wheelchair is an obstacle in certain situations, but you are free. You have people who love you, you are not alone, you never will be. You have a job, you have a family and friends, you have a life Harvey and if you just hear at your heart, then you also have the woman with whom you could share this life."
"You know why I can't tell her"
"and you know what I think about it. It's not on you to decide this for her. Listen, it's your life and your decision. I won't push it anymore and I don't wanna fight with you about it."
Harvey nods in agreement.
"Are... are you having panic attacks?" asks Mike worried.
"no" he answers "Just nightmares"
Mike nods and believes him and it's good, 'cause he's telling the truth.
"He shoots every time and the worst thing is I don't wake up, I feel it all over again. I see Donna hurting, I hear you begging and talking to me to hold on and I- I hear him telling me how much he's enjoying it. And he always looks at me with such a big smile on his face" and he can't hold back his tears. Mike doesn't know what to do or what to say to make him feel better, to assure him that everything's over, that
It'll be okay. He just sits next to him one hand stroking his back and the other one on his forearm.
"It's over Harvey! Everything's gonna be alright" he says softly.
"Did- did he laugh back then, too?"
"No" he lies, Mike'll never forget this face he made when he said it. He still could kill him only because of this and now where Harvey knows, too even more.
"Thank you" he says after a little while
"you don't have to thank me"
"I mean because you didn't ask why or accuse me for not telling you sooner"
Mike shakes his head.
"Some things need longer to be told. It's good you took your time and I'm glad you decided to tell me know." he says reassuringly. He's mad at himself for not noticing it earlier. He struggled for so long and he didn't tell anyone and was alone with it.
"I don't want you to think you would bother me. You can always talk to me. I just wish I would've noticed it that you were struggling"
He shakes his had "like you said Mike, I needed time for myself. I wouldn't have told you anyways if you would've asked" Harvey says.
When they're back at Harvey's and Mike is about to leave Harvey stops him.
"Thank you, Mike. You have no idea how much I needed it. Not only the letting-steam-thing, also talking, I didn't even know myself." He says in a thankful voice. "You're really the best friend I've ever had."
"Thank you Harvey. You don't know how much it means to me to hear that. I really thought after my betrayal, you'd never forgive me"
"You wanted to protect me, I just didn't see it right away"
"I really thought she'd do it. She was so mad at us.
"Mike, it's already done. Don't worry about it anymore. It's long time ago and even if I hadn't forgiven you back then completely - what I did by the way - I would've done it in the last weeks or at least today. And yeah I was mad and disappointed but I always knew you care about me, I mean you went in prison for me and you had a little daughter at home. And now let's never talk about it again, okay?"
"Okay! Good night Harvey"
"Good night, Mike"
Mike and Harvey have been through a lot. Keeping his secret for years, lying to everyone, that wasn't easy.
When Mike went to jail, it was very hared for Harvey. MIke had a little daughter at home, Rachel was alone and really mad at her husband for taking the deal. Harvey blamed himself. He's the reason why Lucy missed her father so much and cried every night because of that and that Mike and Rachel couldn't enjoy her family luck. It just calmed him sometimes down a little every time he thought about what Mike said: He'd do it again.
They had almost become estranged when Mike wouldn't come back after he was free. At the time Jessica wanted to save the company by merging with Darby and Harvey was more than opposed to it. The three months Mike was in prison Person Specter was ruined, almost nobody wanted to work there anymore and there were hardly new clients. It was also a difficult time for Jessica and Harvey. She was mad at him for hiring Mike, that he never told her and that she was going to lose her company because of it. Harvey was about to win when Jessica went to Mike and threatened him. If he didn't stay away from the meeting with the information Scottie gave them, Jessica would make Harvey lose his job. And then she would get the Fusion anyway.
Mike immediately said no, but Jessica was so serious and mad while she spoke that he was too afraid to take a risk. Harvey worked so hard for it, he couldn't destroy it, even if it means losing the best friend he ever had.
Jessica had forged papers proving that Harvey had anger issues and the times he hit Tenner and Louis everyone would have believed her and Harvey could have been fired immediately. Besides, nobody would hire him anymore. Mike wanted to protect him from that. However, Harvey was mad, disappointed and hurt by both of them.
Jessica would've never done that to him, but she was mad and hurt too and she wanted to get her way. Mike was too afraid that Harvey'd lose everything he ever worked for and did what she wanted from him – and she knew he wouldn't risk anything when it comes to Harvey's career. At least Harvey forgave him 'cause he noticed he did it to protect him. It took him much longer to forgive Jessica but she also had to forgive him. At some point and with the help of their freinds they decided to save their friendship and call it even.
On the next evening
"Donna?" Harvey says, surprised, she's the last one he expected.
"Can I come in" He moves to the side and lets her in.
"What do you want Donna?" he asks calmly.
"Why did you kiss me?"
"Donna, I already said I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"That's not an answer"
"It- it was just out of the situation. We made up, you were sitting on my lap" "and you looked stunning" he thinks. She nods 'That's all?'
"Did you tell Thomas?" he asks at the same time.
"It's over"
"I'm sorry"
"Are you?" she asks
"w- what do you mean? Why would I…?"
"Are you in love with me, Harvey?"
and he freezes. He just looks at her. She was the last person he was expecting tonight and this questioning was something he never expected to hear at all.
"what?" it's the only word he gets out.
"You heard me! Do you love me Harvey?"
"I- I" he looks at her and at the wheelchair and back at her.
She looks at him with teary eyes
"I'm such an idiot" she says and rushes towards the door.
"you also have the woman with whom you could share this life."
"Tell her Harvey"
"It's not on you. To decide that for her"
/
Thank you for reading!
Would love to know what you think.
Have a nice time 3