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Dan & Matt's relationship

How does Dan feel to have Matt in her life? When did she fall for him and realize she really loved him?

If you'd told Dan a couple years ago she'd end up madly in love with someone ((a teammate, no less!)) she probably would have put a fist in your face and told you to shove it. Falling in love with Matt was not in the books anywhere, but Dan couldn't really help herself.

The girls latched on to Matt pretty early on after his arrival– in part because he was eye candy ((according to Allison)) and mostly because he was so different from the rest of their male teammates. They'd had a shitty first year dealing with uncooperative men and had barely survived a season of mutiny, insults, and lazy sexism. Then there was Matt, with hesitant smiles and respectful interactions and a gaze that tried not to wander below eye level ((and mostly succeeded)). Matt who was bruised all the way through but who would defend his stance regarding the women and who tried to help control the unruly men. Matt who looked at Dan like she was the first hint of sunlight after a decade of rain.

Dan never intended to give him a chance, never intended to give him a date, because she didn't need a man in her life and didn't need to start blurring the line between teammates and lovers. But Matt was patient and sweet and so very obviously afraid to actually ask her out ((Allison & Renee had no qualms with telling Dan he'd asked them for advice on how to approach her)), and then Matt finally did ask and Dan meant to say no but instead said I'm not putting out, and Matt just looked so–relieved. And Dan thought This poor dumb kid, but she didn't know if she was thinking about herself or Matt.

Dan & Matt had only been dating for four months when the cousins took Matt to Columbia. Until then Dan wasn't entirely sure what this thing of theirs was; she knew Matt was sweet and devoted and patient, and she knew he was fun and funny when he wasn't being smothered by his roommates, but she was straddling that line of Is this wise, do I need this in my life. And then Matt was a broken mess and Dan thought someone had put a knife in her chest, and in his wreckage she started to understand that this wasn't something she could choose to lose anymore.

When Matt finally came back to Fox Tower, Dan told him I love youfor the first time, and the way Matt smiled–

Dan came to understand: she didn't need a man in her life; she didn't need anything but her dreams and ambitions. But she wanted Matt in her life, because she and Matt made each other stronger and better. She could live with being the sun in someone else's sky and having a few more stars in hers.