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Eighteen months. You've been living with Harvey for eighteen months. Yes, living. Not just sharing the same office, ranting about clients, fetching hotdogs from the street cart guy. You're talking about sharing the same bed, drinking coffee together in the morning, arguing about who's first in the bathroom, you know, all those things married couples do.
You’re not married though, not yet. You’re pretty sure you will be, soon.
You had to move to his place. Harvey being Harvey, proved to be very territorial. Besides, it was a lot simpler for the two of you because Harvey’s condo is awesome. However, living with Harvey isn’t always a bundle of joy. Harvey, well, let’s put it this way, Harvey has issues. Some of them are cute, some of them are a real pain in the neck.
Harvey is a morning person.
This one is really tough on you. Harvey snuggles when he wakes up. Always. He stretches a hand, his eyes still closed, to touch you. He needs to establish body contact with you first thing in the morning. He has to wrap himself around you just to make sure you are still here.
The thing is, Harvey always wakes up half an hour before you, at least. To top it all off, Harvey is the kind of guy that’s fully operational as soon as the sun comes up.
If you happen to bury yourself under the sheets or hide your head in the pillow, because you really need an extra half hour of sleep, you will inevitably hear a plaintive voice whispering “Mike? Wake up, baby. Breakfast is ready”. If you don't answer, and most of the time you don't, why bother, you will get a soft kiss on your temple followed by lingering feather touches on your shoulders.
If you pretend to remain asleep, a technique you master to perfection, you will soon be facing a very sulky Harvey. Sulky Harvey is cute, especially with tousled hair. However, sulky Harvey has a tendency to become restless.
You don't like restless Harvey. Nobody does, even Jessica.
So you end up waking up early, just for him. It drives you nuts because you are not a morning person at all. You always get super fantastic coffee in bed as a reward though, and sometimes tender love making as an extra bonus. So all in all, it’s a win-win situation.
Harvey is a jealous guy.
Ah. This is something you suspected beforehand. It turned out to be much more complex than you thought. Harvey is not just the jealous type. Harvey is the very jealous type.
It’s embarrassing, even. You have to be careful.
Basically, it’s best for you not to interact with anyone. Especially when it comes to men. You are not supposed to approach women either... except Rachel or Donna, maybe, and even so. Of course, this is a problem as far as your social life is concerned. Last week, for instance, was horrendous. You met an ex at a dinner party. My, my, my.
You were only chatting with the guy, not even touching him for heaven’s sake and the next minute Harvey was standing next to you with a possessive hand on your shoulder.
Not to mention the fight the two of you had after the party on the way home.
“He was cruising you, Mike.”
“No, he wasn't.”
“Of course he was.”
“Peter is an ex. Don't worry…”
“You should not be conversing with an ex.”
“Really, Harvey?”, you gasped. “And what am I supposed to think when you have your monthly dinners with Scottie now that she came back from London?”
“That's different, Mike”, Harvey said, staring at you. “Scottie is-”
"Your ex girlfriend, Harvey. Precisely.”
“Scottie is married now”, Harvey retorted, rolling his eyes.
“So is Peter.”
“I don't want to watch you talking to an ex, Mike.”
“Well, tough, Harvey, because I had a life before you, thank God.”
Harvey gave you one of his angry looks, his irises dark as charcoal.
“Was he good Mike when he fucked you? Did you like it?”
Christ.
“Stop this, Harvey. Now. Or I swear I'll leave the car.”
The next day, he apologized profusely.
Harvey has panic attacks for weird reasons.
Ah, these ones at least you know how to manage. Harvey is very bad when it comes to medical stuff, such as routine check up at the dentist or harmless blood tests. You have no explanation for this behavior whatsoever.
Harvey is very brave on other subjects, though, subjects that would scare you to death, like heavy discussions with Jessica about your bonus for instance, or yelling sessions with obnoxious clients that make your skin crawl and make you want to curve in a ball and hide under the carpet of the conference room.
So, when it comes to Harvey’s medical routine, you just book the appointments for him and you don't warn him. Yes, because if you do warn him he will always come up with some good excuse to cancel. You also drive with him in the limo, just in case. Of course, you take early appointments so that no one sees the two of you holding hands in the waiting room. You also insist on being part of the dentist’s debrief afterwards so that you know exactly when the next visit should be.
Not that anything bad ever happens anyway. Harvey’s teeth, like most parts of his anatomy, are close to perfection.
Ah, and well… last but not least, Harvey is a control freak
Harvey, as it so happens, is a very, very fussy guy. His condo is always spotless clean, borderline sterile. You could eat on the kitchen floor, there is nothing lying on the kitchen island, except for your stuff of course. You have a tendency to drop your whole life over there, keys, chewing gums, client depos, empty cans of Red Bull… Harvey meticulously removes all of your belongings every night. It drives you nuts because you search for them in the morning, frantic and half asleep.
Harvey’s walk in closet is also pretty tidy. Military tidy, to put it mildly, with shirts arranged by colors, suits by color and fabric, sweaters carefully folded – also by color – on the shelves.
You, you just hang your suits and jeans in a jumble, amongst his.
You also tend to discard your clothes on the floor when you undress in the evening, whereas Harvey folds his shirts and underwear (yes, you heard me) before storing them in the laundry basket.
Of course, Harvey’s fixation for tidiness has an impact on your sex life. You’ve come to understand that for Harvey, sex is art. Sex is like crafting a masterpiece. You’re more spontaneous when it comes to sex. You’re more the let’s roll in the sheets and see what happens kind of guy.
Well, you had to tamper down those impulses of yours because sex with Harvey is nothing but spontaneous.
You would love to drop everything and rush to the bedroom right after desert for instance, instead of piling up the dishes in the washing up machine. You would also love to jump directly into bed without showering.
You’re quite fond of Harvey’s shower but sometimes you have this urge for raw, animalistic sex with no shower gel beforehand, no shampoo either and above all, no prep.
Harvey, on the other hand, will only consider sex after all the rest has been taken care of. Sometimes, you hate him for that. You don’t really hate him, of course because deep down you love him more than life itself, but still.
Last Christmas, however, you almost left his condo. You were half a second away from climax, enjoying mind-bending sex and everything was so perfect you would have liked to stay like this forever. Harvey had that deep look of concentration on his face, the one that indicated he was extremely careful not to come before you did. And suddenly, he bottomed out and walked out of the room, leaving you empty and frustrated. You almost sobbed at the loss.
“I forgot to unplug the lights of the Christmas tree”, he mumbled, coming back a minute later.
“Harvey”, you hissed, your voice strangled with indignation. “How dare you? Fuck, you’re a lunatic!”
The next morning he let you have your sweet revenge and it was fantastic. Harvey had left early for the boxing club, to eliminate some of the food from the previous night. He came back, all sweaty and awesome, voice hoarse from shouting on his sparring partner. You inhaled his scent, musky and definitely male and decided you wanted to eat him alive.
“I want you to fuck me now”, you said, shoving him against the wall.
“Mike, I stink.”
“I love it.”
“Mike, that’s disgusting.”
“You owe me one”, you said, licking a drop of sweat in the crook of his neck.
It was the best sex ever.
Luckily, Harvey also gives you special moments.
Lovely moments. So many of them that you tend to forget about all the issues. Like last month, for your birthday.
“Mike”, he said with a mischievous grin. “We need to do something special.”
“Where are we going?”, you asked, en route for JFK.
“Surprise”, he whispered in your ear.
“But”, you insisted, nervous. “Did you manage to pack my stuff? On your own?”
“Of course not”, he laughed. “I intend to keep you naked most of the week end.”
“Harvey, this is not an option”, you hissed.
“Don't worry, Mike, I know how to pack. I do it all the time when I travel for work.”
Oh, I am well aware of that Harvey, and you forget half of the stuff when Donna doesn’t check everything beforehand.
When you unpacked at the hotel in Paris you found out all your pants were missing.
“That's okay”, Harvey shrugged. “They have really nice shops in Paris, you know. We can go shopping and I'll spoil you.”
“Harvey? Are we going on a Pretty Woman revival or something?" you asked with a disgusted face.
“Yeah, why not? I quite like the idea.”
“I don't”, you sighed. “May I remind you that Julia Roberts is a slut?”
“Hmm, a gorgeous looking slut if I may say”, he added, his mouth on your throat. “They get married in the end, you know.”
All in all, you had the time of your life in Paris. Listening to Harvey ordering croissants, brioches and café noir in the morning was fascinating.
“I didn’t know you could speak French”, you said, clearly impressed.
“I can’t”, Harvey chuckled. “Jeff and I took a few lessons with Rachel. She speaks perfect French, as you surely know.”
Multilingual Harvey was by far the sexiest thing ever. Speaking of sex, sex after breakfast was just incredible. Of course, Harvey being Harvey again, insisted upon removing all the crumbs on the sheets before laying a hand on you.
Harvey also provides you with protective moments.
Ah, those. Harvey thinks he needs to protect you, on a day to day basis, from everything.
From raindrops to life in general. He will readjust your scarf when you walk out of the restaurant and the weather turns chilly. He will hold your hands in his if you leave your gloves at home (you forget your gloves all the time, it used to drive Grams nuts when you were a kid).
He will take care of Trevor so that you won’t end up in trouble, he will scare Louis away when he sees you can’t handle extra work. What he will shield you from… the list is endless.
Yesterday, for instance he yelled at a judge in open court when you were assisting him, sick as a horse, as second chair.
“Just give him a break, your Honor. Can’t you see he’s running a fever?”
And that other time, this is probably your favorite, although the two of you had to come out afterwards. You were arguing with Jessica and Rachel on a difficult case. The air conditioning was poorly regulated and the conference room was freezing. You had of course left your jacket in your office.
“Here”, Harvey murmured softly, wrapping his jacket on your shoulders. “Take mine, you’re shivering.”
“How long have you’ve been together?”, Jessica asked, when everyone including Harvey had left the room.
“We… why do you say that?”, you blushed, clutching the fabric of Harvey’s jacket.
“Lending your jacket the way he offered it is a very intimate gesture, Mike, from a lover, not from a colleague and you know it. I’m fine with it, by the way.”
“We’ve been together since Scottie left”, you said, averting her gaze.
“Well, just make sure you don’t break his heart”, Jessica hissed, menacing. “I’ll shred you to pieces if you do. The Scottie fiasco was enough, in my opinion.”
There are also all those little moments when Harvey is just thoughtful.
Those are your favorites. Like this morning when you were sitting in your office, staring at the wall, holding up the tears. You were trying to cope with overwhelming feelings of loss and sorrow, suddenly thinking about your parents and all the things that you would never share with them, all the important moments of your life that they would never be able to see.
“Hey, baby”, Harvey said, walking into your empty office. “Wanna go outside to grab a cup of coffee with me?”
You clenched your eyes shut because you didn’t want Harvey to know.
“You look like you need a break”, he whispered, his fingertips brushing away the tears you couldn’t contain.
“There is a surprise for you downstairs”, Harvey added, when you didn’t move an inch.
That got you going. Even though you felt miserable, you are still a kid at heart and kids love surprises. Downstairs, waiting for you with an enormous red ribbon, was a magnificent new bike, the latest in technology, super lightweight and ultra fast.
“Harvey”, you stuttered, clearing your throat. “It’s beautiful.”
“I hope you like the color?”, Harvey asked, anxious. “I think this electric blue is highly fashionable and it matches your eyes.”
“How did you know?”, you croaked, fighting against the rush of emotion that was engulfing you like a tsunami. “I mean, that I would be feeling like shit today?”
“I just knew, okay?”, Harvey answered, pulling you into a fierce hug.
“You’ve been awfully quiet for the last couple of days, and I found your family photo album on your nightstand yesterday. Plus, it’s that time of the year… it’s actually tomorrow, right?”
“Yes”, you swallowed. “Yes. It is.”
“I wish I could do more to make you feel better”, he added softly, running his fingers in your hair.
“Why don’t you just take your afternoon and try the new bike? It’s a lovely day. I’ve also bought you a new helmet. It’s upstairs, in my office.”
“My parents would’ve loved you”, you blurted out. “You know that, don’t you?”
“Of course”, Harvey beamed. “I’m Harvey Specter, the best closer in New York City. Who doesn’t love me?”
“You’re also the best boyfriend ever”, you said, crashing your mouth on Harvey’s lips. “And I love you.”
Yeah. Eighteen months. You think this is possibly the longest relationship you ever had in your whole entire life. Mind you, you've waited long enough for him and he knows it. He was worth waiting for. Oh yes.