there was a knock from outside his dorm room sometime around dinner. harvey had been packing his things for a long night in the library, but paused in doing so and said, loudly, “yeah?”
“it’s me.” bruce’s voice was muffled by the door.
harvey pursed his lips. they had fought the last time they’d spoken; he didn’t remember what exactly it had been about, which was strange. usually every word of their fights stuck to him like a bruise he couldn’t stop pushing on. but he’d been overtired lately, most of his thoughts darkly circling the lsat like a whirlpool at their center.
harvey realized he had gone very still, hand frozen around the strap of his messenger bag, breath stuck in his throat. he exhaled. “door’s unlocked.”
bruce entered, in an unusual-for-him burst of color. he was carrying two different floral arrangements, one under each arm, and they stood out against his black peacoat as brightly as a neon sign. harvey raised his eyebrows, silently.
“i wanted to apologize,” bruce said, offering a lopsided smile. his face was pink; impossible to tell if it was from embarrassment or from the chill outside. “i feel bad about how we left things the other night–i know you’ve been working hard–”
“nobody’s ever bought me flowers before,” harvey said.
“well,” bruce said, effectively stopped in his tracks. “i guess i ought to do it more often.”
he offered one of the bouquets, hand outstretched, and harvey took it. he didn’t have to be a genius to know they weren’t grocery store flowers. each arrangement looked like it had been done by hand, at some florist bruce had gone off campus and paid god-knew-how-much to–
“okay,” harvey said, making up his mind. “i forgive you. let’s not be mad at each other.”
bruce smiled wider, more sincere. “okay. let’s not.”
“two bouquets might be overkill, though.”
“i got talked into it,” bruce said. he was lying. harvey knew his tells. probably he was embarrassed about having gone too far, about spending in excess. “i couldn’t decide what kind of flowers you’d like…the florist gave me a deal on them, anyway.”
harvey snorted. “well. just flip a coin, next time.”
