The Invisible String: Matt Murdock/ Daredevil

11

"How the fuck do you plan on getting this inside a window?"
Annalise said, arms crossed over her chest as she stood next to Matt. They both peered down at the size of the mattress, eyebrows furrowed. Matt sighed, retreating back to the lounge room, and she followed after him.

"Guess you really are stealing my couch,"
he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief as he gripped one side. Annalise took the other end, surprised at the weight. Given its size, it was surprisingly light, though she still struggled slightly as they walked to the window.

Matt opened it with one arm, managing to step out while holding his end.

"Told ya, Murdock,"
she joked, following him out. They both struggled to get it down the fire escape but managed to locate it in the center of her living room. Annalise huffed and sat down on one end.

"I'm assuming this doesn't pull out?"
Matt tongued the corner of his cheek, shaking his head slightly. She stood, taking the small coffee table and dragging it in front of the couch to form a ledge. Matt went into the room with Karen and Foggy, grabbing the blankets and four pillows from the corner. The couple sat on her bed, talking quietly about the current situation.

"I've ordered us a couple of pizzas. They should be here in about forty minutes. The only place open is a thirty-minute drive away,"
Karen spoke kindly. Matt could hear the group's stomachs growling consistently.

"Thanks, I'll let Annalise know."

"Please don't do anything sexual with us in here. This apartment is deafeningly quiet and I don't want to hear things I don't want to,"
Matt rolled his eyes. Foggy was never going to let this go.

"Try sharing an apartment with you for four years and then complain about hearing things you don't want to,"
Foggy said, nodding in agreement but looking down in defeat.

"Touché, Mathew, touché."

Matt laughed as he walked toward the door, trying to hold the comforting items in both arms.

"We aren't together, Foggy. We're friends."

"We'll see. Me and Karen have a bet going on,"
Foggy smiled excitedly, and Karen nodded along with him. Matt huffed, walking out of the room back toward the "bed" as such.

Annalise sat on the couch-table, looking out the large window in front of her. How the hell did it go from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. so damn fast? The footsteps behind her made her turn around. She had a towel in her hand, ready to go in the shower.

"I'm gonna go in the shower. I'll get you a towel after. You need to wash all the blood off. I'll be out in time to answer the door,"
she said, lifting herself from her seating arrangement. Matt smiled thankfully. She could feel his heartbeat slightly increase at the risk of one of them having to answer the door. She had learned how to translate words she felt through the air, hearing everything said.

"Is Foggy always that sexual?"
she whispered, laughing slightly.

"You get used to it,"
Matt laughed as she walked away to the bathroom across the room. She sorted through a small pile of clothes on the floor, taking a random shirt and her pants from it before shutting the door behind her.

He tried not to listen. He really did. The sound of clothing tracing over her body was impossible to ignore. He wondered what she looked like: the water droplets individually hitting spots on her face, highlighting her features—the way her nose curved, the shape of her lips, her eyes, her body—

"Matt?"
Foggy repeated, breaking his trance. Matt was sat against the armrest of the couch, staring into the distance.

"Sorry, what?"
Since when did Matt not know when he walked in the room, let alone not hear Foggy calling his name? Foggy stood in the kitchen with a couple of glasses he found, seemingly filling each one with water.

"Water? Do you want a glass of water?"
Matt cleared his throat and walked up to the counter.

"Um, sure, thanks."
He took it, grabbing one for Annalise as well and bringing them to the table at the end of the bed. Annalise let the water drown away the tension in her neck, the stress of the current night washing down the drain. She smiled to herself, ignoring the fact that she was hiding wanted people of sorts. She had never been happier. Her best friend was back, good people were back, her home was back. This was her home. This city, even this building, but primarily the people inside it, were her home.

She stepped onto the floor mat, drying herself and changing into—not her shirt—a red shirt many sizes too big for her that sat in her pajama pile. Her pants were hers, but not that shirt. She sighed, tugging it on along with the pants, hanging her towel on the door and walking out to the couch.

"I think I stole your shirt, sorry,"
she said.

Matt's head looked up from the open space. She placed his hand on the fabric at the bottom.

"Yeah, it's mine. Sorry, I must've dropped it there. It doesn't have blood on it though, so it should be fine."

She shrugged, turning away and walking to the cabinet across from them. She tugged out a fresh towel, chucking it to him as he stood and walked toward the center of the room. He caught it, walking into the bedroom and taking his duffel bag from the corner. Foggy and Karen sat on the bed, both too invested in Karen's laptop to notice him. He silently smiled and slipped back out. Taking a shirt from his bag along with a different pair of pants, he shuffled into the bathroom. She tilted her head; Matt obviously kept the habit of keeping multiple types of the same shirt. The red color and fabric remained exactly the same.

"Hey, maybe choose a different shirt!"
she called out in slight panic.

Matt tilted his head in confusion, running his hands over the fabric for damage.

"Why? I don't think I have another,"
he asked, concerned. She sighed softly, shaking her head. He shrugged her off and shut the door quietly behind him.

A knock on the door startled her. She hurried over to answer it. A young teenage boy dressed in a red uniform smiled back at her, holding two large pizzas in his hands.

"Thanks,"
she said, taking them from him. He smiled and waved as he walked off. Clearly, Karen had paid online or something, she realized, setting her wallet back down on the counter along with their dinner. Foggy and Karen emerged from the bedroom after hearing the door shut.

"Sorry for the lack of furniture,"
Annalise said, hopping onto the countertop. Karen followed, sitting on the edge near Foggy. Foggy tilted his head, eyeing her shirt but remained silent. Both were too focused on eating dinner. She followed, opening her and Matt's plain cheese pizza and smiled as she took a slice.

"Trust me, I'm not complaining. I used to use a sleeping bag as a bed most of my childhood,"
Foggy laughed, taking a piece, and Karen chuckled.

"I had to share a bed with my brother until I was sixteen."
She felt a sudden shift in her mood. An overwhelming sadness emanated from her. Karen was way too good at hiding her emotions. Annalise caught Karen's eyes, who then realized the abilities of her new friend.

"It's a long story,"
Karen waved her hand, her voice quieter, not wanting to elaborate further. Annalise nodded in agreement, a kind smile on her face.

The bathroom door opened, and Matt came out wearing the exact same shirt. Foggy looked at them both curiously.

"Okay, seriously, how am I wrong for being suspicious?"
Annalise rubbed a hand over her face, and Matt looked confused.

"For context, you grabbed a duplicate of the one I stole—"
she elaborated to Matt—

"That's why I told you to take another one,"
she continued, stating the obvious.

"And how exactly am I supposed to know that? You're the one who stole mine in the first place,"
he replied with a smug know-it-all look on his face.

"And you're the one who put it in my clothes pile to begin with. I'm not going to walk out half naked to get another one, am I?"
she retorted.

"Why would I care?"