Love thy neighbor [4/8]
Title: Love thy neighbor
Pairing: Harvey Specter/Mike Ross
Other characters: Ray, Donna
Rating: PG
Word count: 2,505
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.
Warning: none
Summary: Harvey gets shot in the ass by Cupid.
Author’s note: Originally written for suits_meme. The prompt was ‘Harvey gets shot in the ass by Cupid and falls in love with the first person he locks eyes with; Mike Ross.’
On their way back to the office, all Harvey could think about was how close Mike was sitting next to him. He remembered too clearly for his liking how shiny Mike’s lips had been in the restaurant. He found himself keep trying to reach out to Mike who was looking out the window. ‘Oh, to hell with it.’
Mike was admiring the perfectly sunny weather when he heard the partition go up.
“What’s going on?” He asked, wondering if his boss had something to say in private.
Harvey didn’t answer. Even if he had wanted to, he wouldn’t have been able to. His whole focus was on Mike’s lips moving oh so prettily. He couldn’t think of doing anything else than staring at them.
“Harvey? What’s wrong?”
“Everything. Everything’s wrong.”
Harvey put his left hand on the back of Mike’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. He felt a rush of satisfaction and pleasure shoot through his body as his lips covered Mike’s. Everything stopped being wrong and started being right; except for the fact that Mike wasn’t kissing him back.
He pulled back to check Mike’s reaction. If the kid didn’t want it, he was obviously going to stop. Mike was looking at him with confused eyes but there didn’t seem to be any disgust or horror in those mesmerizing orbs. So he leaned in again and urged Mike to open his mouth. It didn’t take long to feel shaky hands on his chest.
‘Ah, he’s going to push me away.’
Harvey was about to pull back when he felt Mike grab the lapels of his suit jacket and pull him closer. Harvey didn’t miss the chance to slide into the welcoming mouth. He couldn’t describe what he was feeling; he had never felt anything like this before. It was new, fresh, and intriguing.
“Harvey…” This time Mike did push him away.
Harvey looked out the window and realized why Mike had ended the kiss; they had arrived in front of the office.
“Uh, good boy… Let’s go in.” He had kissed many souls but he had no clue what to say when you had just kissed your associate.
They got out of the car and walked into the building, both busy trying to process what had happened.
When Harvey reached his office, Donna looked at him with a surprised look on her face.
“Did you have a drink in broad daylight?”
“I only had a few.”
Donna nodded. She knew that Harvey was having a hard time with his crush. She was about to let him go inside when she spotted his kiss-swollen lips.
“Hold it right there.”
“This is my office, Donna. I can go in without your permission.”
Harvey complained but stood still. There was no use ignoring her; she would follow him inside and have things her way anyway. “I told you I didn’t drink much.”
“Are we still talking about the booze here?”
Harvey shot her a dark glance.
“I’m glad you had the balls, Harvey. Or did the puppy bite you first?” Donna grinned.
“Donna.”
“Do you want me to get him some flowers? What’s the flower that says ‘I had a great kiss and we should do this way more often?’”
“Donna!”
“Just know that I’m happy for you.” Donna beamed and patted Harvey’s shoulder.
Harvey stomped into his office like a petulant child. Why did his secretary need to know absolutely everything?
Later in the afternoon, when Mike came to report the progress of his work, all Harvey could hear was Mike singing Blink’s ‘Kiss me’ in his mind.
“Kiss me, Harvey~ Kiss me, kiss me tonight~”
‘Oh Jesus, what’s with these cheesy mental images. I should’ve ordered a better drink.’
“Kiss me, Harvey~ Kiss and you’ll be alright~”
Harvey cursed the whole world as he stared at Mike’s lips. He had been working just fine until Mike showed up in his office. He was perfectly aware that Mike was only doing his job, but it didn’t stop him from fantasizing about those lips that had been pressed against his not so long ago.
“Harvey? Are you okay? You’re sweating.”
“I am?” Harvey looked down at his palms. He was sweating indeed.
“Yeah. Perhaps you really have a cold.”
Harvey couldn’t say ‘No, it’s not a cold. I’m just summoning superhuman strength to not kiss the life out of you.’ so he just nodded.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Harvey decided that it was about time to be his confident self. This madness had gone out of control for way too long and it was time to get it under control whether he wanted or not. Besides, he had already crossed the line by kissing Mike in the car.
“You can have dinner with me.” He couldn’t kiss his associate in the office.
“More work?”
“No, just you and me.” Harvey was certain that Mike wouldn’t turn him down. He had kissed him back after all.
“I’m sorry, Harvey. If it’s not work related, I’ll have to say no.”
Harvey’s jaw tightened. What did he just say?
“Why?” At least he deserved to know the reason.
“I promised to go see Grammy, so maybe tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? But I can’t wait that long!” Harvey knew that tomorrow was a much better option than never, but he had to say what was on his mind.
“For what?” Mike looked confused.
“For… well, it’s just that… you know, I’d like to… you see, I just have to…”
Harvey shut his mouth. Did he just stutter like a virgin teenager? A great lawyer like him never stuttered! He hadn’t stuttered even when he was a virgin teenager!
Mike was very worried. “Would you like to join me then? Grammy would love to meet you.” He felt that it was his responsibility to keep an eye on his boss; they were a team after all.
Harvey had no idea how he had managed to move from point A (where he had taken Mike out for lunch) to point B (where he was about to visit Mike’s grandmother who was probably very protective of her grandson as he was her only family left).
“Sure. I’d love to meet her too.” He couldn’t think of any other options since he felt like he had to be close to Mike.
“Great! When I’m done, I’ll swing by your office.” Mike turned around to leave.
“Wait. Come here.”
Mike turned towards Harvey. “What for?”
“You have something on your cheek.”
“Oh…” Mike rubbed his left cheek with his fingers.
“It’s the right one. Come over here.” Harvey hoped that Mike wouldn’t suddenly pull a hand mirror out of his pocket and figure out that he was lying.
Mike walked up to Harvey’s desk, a little startled at the sudden kindness.
“Bend down.”
Mike put a hand on the desk and awkwardly lowered his face. Harvey slowly rubbed something off his right cheek with his thumb… over and over again.
“Uh, if it doesn’t come off, I can go wash my face.”
“Nah, you’re good now.” Harvey pinched Mike’s cheek and let him out of his sight.
A few hours later, Harvey was actually glad that he had followed Mike to the nursing home. Mike’s grandmother was an intelligent, witty lady who wanted to play chess with him. She was interested in his pro bono work, so Harvey pretended that he felt an enormous amount of pleasure doing pro bono work. He could feel Mike’s grateful eyes on him which made him feel like a caring person.
As Harvey contemplated his next move on the board, the grandmother asked, “So how do you like my grandson?”
“Haha, Grammy. I’m right here so he’s only going to say good things about me.” Mike chuckled next to Harvey.
“I know that, dear. Why else do you think I’m asking now? I only want to hear good things about you.” She winked at Mike.
A smile found its way onto Harvey’s face. “He’s a great asset to the firm, Mrs. Ross.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s grateful for the opportunity you gave him and works very hard to prove to you that you didn’t make a mistake. But I’m more interested on the personal level. I see you want to kiss him.”
Both men stared at the elderly woman.
“Oh, don’t look so shocked. I may not be a lawyer but I doubt anyone could’ve missed that look. Besides, you’re losing quite horribly, my dear. In two moves, I’ll have to shout ‘Checkmate’.”
Harvey stared down at the chessboard while Mike stared at Harvey. He thought that Harvey had kissed him earlier because he had had one too many drinks. He had just happened to be the one who was in Harvey’s reach. He hadn’t thought that his boss would have meant something. As far as he was concerned, Harvey had never made a move on him before!
“I should probably excuse myself and let you two catch up. You won the game anyway.” Harvey stood up from his chair.
“If you’re leaving, you’re taking my grandson with you.”
Harvey didn’t know how to deal with this woman. Nobody except Donna read him that well and it had taken her years to do that.
The lady sensed Harvey’s confusion and hesitation. “I know it’s not romantic to kiss in front of an old woman, so get out of here and kiss him all you want.”
“Grammy!” Mike felt as if his face was burning. Why was she saying things like that?
“Oh, there’s a small park behind this building if you need a good spot.”
“Grammy! Oh my god, I’m sorry, Harvey.”
Harvey couldn’t remember how he had left with Mike but when he recovered from the initial shock, he found himself sitting on a bench in the park.
“How did we get here?”
“By foot.”
Harvey made a face.
Mike chuckled. “You dragged me here! Anyway, thank you for playing chess with Grammy. I think she really enjoyed talking to you.”
“No problem. She seems to be wise and fun.”
“She is. I’m glad you could see that.” Mike was proud. “Well, I apologize for her nosing into your business though.”
“You mean her saying that I want to kiss you?” Harvey looked into Mike’s eyes.
“Uh, yeah, that.”
Mike felt nervousness creep into his chest. Why was Harvey looking at him like that? Did he want to kiss him even when he was sober? Did he want Harvey to do it? Had he enjoyed it earlier?
“Mike, I want you to shut down your brain for a moment and open your heart instead.” Harvey was freaked out at his own words. Where did that come from? He had never read a romance novel in his life!
“Okay…” Mike tried to stop questioning what was going on.
“I want you to tell me if you don’t like what I do. Your job will obviously be safe and sound even if you push me away.”
“What are you going to do?” Mike was curious.
“I’m going to give you a very long kiss. The type of kiss that makes you feel like you’re flying over rainbows.”
Mike blinked his eyes. Was he really talking to Harvey Specter? Did Harvey usually sweet talk like this to all the people he kissed? The thought of Harvey kissing other people made him frown. His well-respected boss shouldn’t be putting his lips just anywhere.
“I’m going to make you feel beautiful, Mike.” Jesus, why couldn’t he shut up? Harvey battled against his inner fluffy monster as he cupped one of Mike’s cheeks.
Mike squeezed his eyes shut as soon as he felt Harvey’s lips on his. Harvey seemed to be more confident than earlier. Mike wondered how many men his boss had kissed. He also wondered what usually happened after kissing one’s boss.
“What did I tell you about shutting down your brain?”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
Mike shut down the factory and let himself feel what Harvey wanted him to feel. He felt a little light-headed as Harvey kissed him agonizingly gently. Then he felt his arms wrap around Harvey’s neck. Much to his surprise, it didn’t feel awkward or embarrassing.
Mike broke the kiss. “Why are you kissing me?” He had to know.
Harvey could feel awful pick-up lines come up his throat. He swallowed them over and over again until he could speak of his own accord. “I just have to. I want to. I don’t really know why.” It sounded lame, but it was the truth.
“Are you in love with me?” Mike asked incredulously.
Harvey moaned. “That’s what people keep saying.”
Mike’s eyes widened as his jaw dropped. “Do you think they’re right? I’ve never even imagined that you’d be in love with me! You never did anything!”
“Jesus, why are you yelling? You want to broadcast to the whole town?”
“I don’t know! I’ve always looked up to you but you never really appreciate me enough and sometimes your words cut me to the bone so I thought I wasn’t good enough for you and…”
Mike’s rant came to an end as Harvey shut him up with a kiss. When he woke up this morning, he hadn’t expected to get kisses from his boss; life was certainly full of surprises. What was even more surprising was that he now felt something else. Something that he hadn’t felt during the previous kisses was suddenly there, pushing into his mind. He didn’t have time to analyze the feeling though because Harvey had let go of him.
“Don’t ever say that you’re not good enough.” Harvey kissed him on the forehead.
Mike nodded, trying to make sense of the feelings inside him. Was he falling in love? It had been a while since he had fallen hard for someone but he remembered the feeling and this felt pretty close to it. His competent and elegant boss was in love with him. If he didn’t love Harvey yet, he surely loved the fact that Harvey was into him.
“Harvey, I don’t know what to do.” He confided in his mentor. He closed his eyes as Harvey caressed his face.
“Me neither.” Harvey gave him an honest answer.
“But you always know what to do. And, you’re my mentor.”
“Well, in this case, I got myself a mentor so perhaps I should talk to him.”
Mike’s eyes snapped open. “You have a love mentor?”
“Yeah, it’s Ray.”
“Oh...”
Ray had dropped them off at the nursing home and had gone home. Mike figured that it wouldn’t be so nice to call him right now.
Growl.
Both Harvey and Mike looked down at Mike’s stomach.
“Sorry. I guess I’m starving.” Mike smiled sheepishly. His grandmother had offered them fruit and crackers, but apparently it hadn’t been enough.
“Let’s get you something to eat then.” Harvey laughed. He couldn’t believe that he found the growling sound of Mike’s stomach pretty. If he was really in love, he was madly in it.