(a/n: i know matt + elektra happen while he's at columbia, but in my story it's after while he's at harvard)
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MATT MURDOCK WAS HIDING SOMETHING. Exactly what that something was, Cassie didn't know. But it was obvious, painfully so. She woke up as Matt left the room, and ended up staying awake for as long as she could to ask if he was alright. But he didn't return immediately, and she eventually fell back to sleep.
In the morning she asked how he slept, and when all he said was good, she knew that something was up. Still, Cassie didn't press the issue. She trusted Matt and hoped that if something was going on then he'd tell her.
When Matt was asked that question, he immediately felt guilty. This wasn't his first time lying about what he did at night, but this was the first time that Cassie had spent the night and somehow, lying this time made it worse.
But he did mean it when he said he slept good. Somehow, her being there made sleeping more peaceful. When he got back into bed, listening to the sound of her heart once again made it easier to drift off. When Cassie simply moved on to another topic of conversation, it was a big relief. He could only hope that she wasn't skeptical, and that she hadn't woken up while he was gone.
For an unknown amount of time, as he lay there, he couldn't help but think of the woman sleeping next to him. They were extremely close pretty much from the day they met. And there was only one period of time when the two weren't on speaking terms, when he dated Elektra.
The woman instantly took a disliking to Cassie, and Matt had become so infatuated with her that he actually listened to her when she said that he shouldn't spend so much time with Cassie. He still remembers how pathetic he must've looked when he called her in a panic after Elektra had abandoned him at Roscoe's mansion.
It took a lot of long conversations, but Cassie finally let Matt back into her life, and he swore he'd never lose her like that again.
Cassie and Foggy were pretty much the only constants in Matt's life. And really, she was the only constant woman. Despite his feelings for her that he'd long since pushed aside, he never made any sort of move with her.
Keeping this secret from them, it was only growing more and more painful. But he also grew a little more terrified every time he thought about what might happen if he did tell her.
If Cassie ended up wanting nothing to do with him, he knew that he'd have to respect that. Matt honestly couldn't remember the last time a situation made him feel so torn. He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Cassie move next to him, and she spoke a few seconds later.
"Hey, Foggy's on his way to the office, said for you and Karen to meet him there. Are you alright?"
Matt had been sulking laying down on his bed, but moved to a sitting position, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, just thinking." He felt the bed shift just slightly as she sat next to him.
"Promise?" Cassie held a hand up, smiling when he held his up without even looking and they linked pinkies, shaking on it. Although she still had her doubts, and knew he was hiding something from her, she decided to let it go for now. At least until they were finished helping Karen.
Matt quickly got dressed, saying he'd call a car for the three of them and he'd just ask the driver to drop Cassie off at home before he and Karen headed to the office.
"Come here," Cassie laughed, noticing a small piece of hair sticking out by Matt's ear. He sat down on the bed, and she walked over to him, running a hand through his hair, smoothing it back into place.
Matt closed his eyes, liking the way her hand felt a little too much.
"You sure you're okay?" She asked softly.
He nodded, leaning into her hand. They were like that for only a short moment, and if Matt could've had even just a few seconds where he could see, he would've chosen right then. He'd give anything to be able to look at Cassie, as she looked at him.
"We should get going, Foggy says you guys have a lot of work to do. I'll wash this shirt when I get home and give it back to you later."
"Keep it," Matt smiled as he stood, following Cassie out to the living room. "It looks better on you."
"How could you know that?"
He shrugged. "I just do."
Karen was already awake and changed into the day clothes that Cassie had brought for her. Matt briefly explained that they'd all be getting in a car, stopping just to drop Cassie at her apartment, and then head back over to their offices.
"Can you come too? To — to the office?" Karen was hesitant to ask because she didn't know if it was too much, but talking to Cassie was the most at-ease she felt in a long time.
"Yeah, of course. I can come with you guys for a little bit and head home when you guys are discussing legal stuff. We should still swing by my place though so I can change out of these clothes," Cassie looked down. The shirt was comfortable, but she didn't need Foggy asking any more questions than she knew he was already going to once he found out she spent the night. Even if it was at Karen's request, Foggy had a habit of asking a million questions.
Matt thanked her for going with them as they waited for the car to pull up. Once at Cassie's apartment, she quickly ran upstairs and came back down a little more than five minutes later. As much as she loved getting ready for the day, she settled for brushing her teeth, running a brush through her hair, and changing her clothes.
(her outfit, aka an excuse to use one of the thousands of outfits i have saved in a pinterest folder)
She ended up choosing something half because she thought it looked cute, but also wanted to be comfortable.
"Your outfit is really cute," Karen says once Cassie is back in the car.
"Thank you! Figured I should dress at least a little nice, and I might run a couple of errands before coming back home. I've actually had these clothes since college, I used to wear them all the time."
Matt briefly put a hand on Cassie's shoulder. "The black shirt and the checkered pants?"
Karen stared at him, surprised. "How... how did you know?"
"I remember from college. The shirts a different material, when we hugged goodbye and she was wearing it for the first time—"
"He called it my alpaca shirt because of the material. And I pretty much only wear these pants with it," Cassie laughed.
It wasn't much longer until they got to the office and saw Foggy glancing out of the front doors. He held the door open for them as they all entered, and as Matt and Karen walked ahead, Cassie briefly explained she was just there at Karen's request, and she'd leave before they got to all the lawyer talk.
For a little while, they four of them just have random conversations, and it feels so normal. Looking at them from the outside, you'd never guess why they were all gathered at Nelson and Murdock.
When Matt and Foggy step into another room, Karen quickly asks if Cassie can go with her to the grocery store that she saw down the street.
After yelling a quick "we'll be back!", and not waiting for an answer, the girls make their way down the street, returning to the office less than ten minutes later. Karen heads to the kitchen while Cassie promises to keep the guys busy so she can surprise them.
"You busy when you go back to work?" Foggy asked once they all sat down.
Cassie groaned, putting her head down on the table. "Ugh, yes. And my boss is out of town starting halfway through the day I get back so that day plus the next 2 days I'm pretty much running the place on my own. Then he comes back but we have a big showing coming up so it'll be non-stop running the gallery while also planning for that."
"Oh nice! Why the show though, don't you only do a few big ones a year?"
"I guess there's some artist that he knows, I don't know who yet, honestly just forgot to ask. And the guy wants to feature a bunch of new paintings, I think. Ones that he did himself and also apparently he has quite the collection and wants to donate them for auction." Cassie then launched into an animated discussion about how she was actually pretty excited for the showcase because her boss asked if she'd like to try her hand at planning everything, saying he'd pay her double for any overtime she ended up working on top of the bonus she'd get for planning.
As Matt listened to her speak, he really admired how passionate she still was about art. And remembering what she said when they first met, he's proud of her.
Foggy glances at his best friend, resisting the urge to groan. The smile on Matt's face makes it painfully obvious how he feels about Cassie. And he noticed the way she looks at Matt when he's talking.
Matt's crush on Cassie was obvious in college, he's surprised she never picked up on it. But through the years, Foggy knew that Matt had hooked up with random girls, and while there was nothing wrong with that, the fact that none of them ever came around for a second or third date made him secretly hope that he never dated Cassie.
"Okay!" Karen exited the office kitchen holding a pan with a towel in place of oven mitts. "So I know it's not much in the way of repayment. But it is my grandmother's recipe, and I hope you guys like it."
"Not that I'm complaining," Foggy gratefully accepts the food into his plate, "because this smells amazing, but shouldn't you be thanking the nut in the mask?"
Karen pauses for a moment. "He's not a nut. I mean, he's a little weird maybe—"
Matt coughs loudly, "we're just glad you're okay."
"Hear, hear!" Foggy raises his glass.
"Well if it weren't for either of my lawyers I'd probably still be in that cell, or dead. I owe you both a lot more than a meal. And Cassie, I just wanted to thank you again. Not just for letting me borrow the clothes, but for staying and talking to me."
"You're welcome. And if you ever want some girl talk, or just anything really, you can call me. Or, you know, text me if I'm not at work."
"Thank you, I really appreciate that."
The next few moments are spent enjoying the food in silence. After they eat, Karen mentions overhearing Cassie talk about an art gallery, and she's fascinated hearing how she talks about her job. Foggy loves that it makes his sister happy. Matt does too, but he also just loves the sound of her voice in general.
"Well I should get going, I know you all have a lot of legal things to talk about."
"Oh— I don't mind if you're here for that too, I know we just met but I trust you, all of you."
Foggy speaks up, "legally we can't force you not to tell Cassie anything that's discussed, but we should stress the importance of keeping the details of your case within your defense team. If you choose to allow her to sit in to these meetings, she's immediately at risk for being found as a confidant, and if it comes down to it, if they see her as a close friend of yours which I'm sure they would, she could get dragged to trial. I'm confident it won't get that far, but we'll still be taking that chance."
Cassie stays quiet, wanting the decision to come from Karen. If she's more comfortable and able to speak more freely having another woman there, then she's willing to stay no matter the possible consequences. But she also understands Karen might not be able to discuss certain things with her there.
In the end, Karen insists that she doesn't want to risk Cassie having to go to trial and sit in front of a jury.
As Cassie gathers her things, Matt says he'll walk her out as Foggy leads Karen to one of the offices.
"So, did you take the office with the view?" Cassie asks once they're standing outside the building.
"Actually we never did flip for it, so I may have to remind Foggy. Thanks again for coming. And for staying last night."
"Of course. Let me know if you need me again. I'm free tonight and all day tomorrow since it's my last day off before things get crazy."
Once her Uber arrives, Cassie and Matt hug goodbye, and as usual, Matt waits until the car drives away before heading back into the building.
Later that night, Foggy calls and invites her for drinks with Matt and Karen. But she's so exhausted, she declines, telling them to have a good night.
Early the next morning, Cassie is woken up by a few texts from her brother. By early, it's really early. Looking out her bedroom window, Cassie thinks the sun is just starting to rise. She forgot to put her phone on vibrate, so the loud pinging immediately wakes her.
After laying in bed for a few more minutes, Cassie forces herself out of bed. She takes a quick shower to wake herself up, and orders coffee and a pastry on an app for the coffee shop down the street. Setting a personal record for the time it takes her to finish making herself look presentable, she's out the door and in a car less than 10 minutes later.
When she arrives at Matt's apartment, she fishes the key out of her wallet as she makes her way to his front door. Once inside, she can immediately tell that Matt isn't there. It's too quiet, that and he would've heard her approaching and been right there to greet her.
Cassie quickly tidies up, then sits down on his couch to wait. It's not long before she can feel herself growing tired, and eventually she lays down and falls asleep, waiting for Matt to come home.
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