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MATT WAS NEVER REALLY A POETRY GUY. During college, Foggy and Cassie had dragged him to a couple of random poetry readings, but he never got into it. But one day when he was in one of the on-campus libraries, he found himself checking out a poetry audio book. There was one in particular that stuck with him.
You flood my thoughts
and wide awake dreams
I adore you to depths
beyond the eye can see.
He thought it was a little funny the first time he heard it, given that he couldn't see anything. So technically everything was beyond what his eyes could see.
But now as Cassie lay in his bed, still in his arms, it made sense. He thought about her a lot before, maybe even a little too much. But getting that phone call from her, holding her as he thought she was dying, comforting her after her nightmare, and their confessions to each other, she was all he'd been thinking about. If he had to write all of them down, he didn't think a single one of his thoughts would be without Cassie.
Sure, they'd confessed their love for each other less than 12 hours ago, but what they had together was so much more than just last night. And their love for each other started long before then.
Their love was the way Cassie would look for Matt as soon as she walked into a room and knew he was going to be there. It was in the way Matt walked Cassie to the door and listened for the sound of the car driving away before he'd go back inside, because he had to make sure she was safe. It was in the way Cassie stayed up late with Matt every night for 2 weeks straight, reading out loud to him from his textbooks so that he could study, because she could tell he was frustrated having to read braille and take notes at the same time. And the way Matt would make the short trip to her dorm room with her favorite takeout when he knew she was going to be up late studying but she'd probably forget to eat.
Now that they'd vocalized how they felt about each other, it made them both just that much happier.
As Matt was laying there, daydreaming about all the things that could be different, that they might get to do together now that he knew she felt the same way, his phone began to ring. He reached over to grab it, trying not to move and wake up Cassie. Holding the phone to his ear, he figured out it was Karen that was calling.
Which in turn reminded him of Foggy.
Shit.
He had no idea how he or Cassie were going to explain her injuries, or the break-in to her apartment. If Foggy saw how bad Cassie's injuries really were, even if they lied and said Matt was with her when it happened which explains why he was the one that was taking care of her, Foggy might never forgive him if he knew that his sister hadn't been taken to a hospital, and instead could've died in Matt's apartment.
Thankfully, the call stopped ringing. It was early in the morning and they wouldn't have been due at the office for over an hour anyway, so he still had a tiny bit of time left.
"What time is it?" Cassie mumbled, slowly opening her eyes.
"It's not even seven yet, go back to sleep," he placed a soft kiss on her head, running a hand through her hair.
Cassie smiled when she felt his touch, happy and content in that moment. "Why are you awake, everything okay?"
"Just thinking, everything's fine."
"I don't know if it was real or in my dream, did Karen just call you?"
Matt sighed, nodding because he knew she was looking at him. "I didn't answer though."
Cassie rolled over, shifting so that she was on her side next to Matt. Her entire body still hurt a lot, but she was still happier than she'd been in a long time.
She knew eventually they'd have to have a conversation about Matt being The Devil, they both knew that. But for now, they just wanted to enjoy each other's company.
"As much as I'd like to lay here forever, and I think your body needs the rest, what did you tell Foggy and Karen about you going in to work today?"
"I haven't said anything, yet. They're gonna have to know at least a little bit though. The guys that broke into your place haven't been identified so it'll probably be treated as a random attempted robbery."
"But what about the fact that as bad as my injuries are, I didn't go to a hospital? Can I say that I still got the injuries from them, but that it was at my apartment and I was defending myself?"
Matt hated that she was already having to lie because of him. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"Don't be." Cassie moved closer to Matt again and began playing with his hair. "I'm here with you now. Maybe in a little pain, but I'm okay."
After a moment of silence, Matt finally spoke up again. "We should call Foggy and tell him about the break-in just so he doesn't hear about it from Brett or anyone else."
"I'll say you were already on your way over, it'll explain your injuries too, you really did fight them," Cassie shrugged. She knew that eventually, she'd tell her brother the truth. But for now, she didn't want to raise any more questions.
After a lengthy phone call with him, where he asked about a million questions, Cassie and Matt hoped he was put at ease, at least for now.
He immediately offered to let Cassie stay in his apartment until they caught the guys who hurt them. While she appreciated that, his apartment was much smaller, and she joked that she'd probably end up sleeping outside on the balcony.
"She can stay with me Foggy, it's fine. I can handle working from home to make sure she's safe, and we'll go back by her apartment later so she can grab a few things."
"I'll ask Brett if he can be there with you guys," Foggy mentioned just before they ended the call.
Once they hung up, Cassie groaned. "Shit. The showcase at the gallery is soon. I can't take too much time off."
"Hey," Matt shifted so that he was leaning on his side, "I know you've been working so hard on this, but your health comes first. I don't want you to get hurt again by going back to work so soon."
Cassie thought about it for a moment. "I've done almost all of the work already. The showcase actually got moved so it's in exactly one week. I might need to go in one day to work on a few things from that desktop computer because I don't have the files I'll need, but I should be able to work from home for the next few days. I just have to call Simon."
At some point in the night, her phone had fallen to the floor. Hearing her straining to lean down and grab it, Matt got up and quickly walked around to the other side of the bed.
"Hey you're hurt too you know."
"I know," he sat down next to her as he handed over the cell phone. "But I'm used to it. Let me take care of you, at least today, please."
"Okay, only because that was really cute."
Matt headed into the kitchen while Cassie made a quick phone call to Simon. As soon as he heard about the break-in, he offered to take over all of the showcase stuff, saying she'd done more than enough anyway. But after reassuring him that she was going to be fine and she just needed to work from home for a few days, she was relieved that he agreed she could keep working on it. He told her to take as much time as she needed, and to let him know if there was anything he could do to help.
"Everything okay?" Matt asked once he heard her end the call.
Cassie was staring off into space, and hadn't heard Matt enter the room again.
"Cassie?" He got back into bed, smiling from the warmth when Cassie moved closer and once again laid her head on his chest.
"Just thinking."
"About...?"
"Those guys that took me, are they going to come back for me?"
Matt tried to keep his breathing slow, not wanting Cassie to know that was something he thought a lot about too. "No one's going to hurt you like that ever again. I'm sorry, I really should have told you sooner."
"Do you know when I first realized that I loved you?"
Cassie's attempt to distract Matt worked, he was intrigued.
"When?"
"Of course I grew to love you as a best friend pretty quickly, but it was during our sophomore year in college. I had been stuck in my dorm room all day studying, only leave once to go get a cup of orange juice and a small breakfast sandwich that ended up doubling as my lunch."
Realizing where this is going, Matt holds Cassie a little tighter, still not able to believe she loves him as more than a friend.
"I had complained to you and Foggy the week before about how I was so sure I was going to fail because I didn't know how much longer I could stare at that textbook. You came to my room that evening with dinner because you knew I hadn't eaten, and you had that massive textbook with you. I still can't believe you tracked down a braille textbook for the class I was in."
"I knew how stressed you were, and I wanted to help. Might not have been able to read to you in the traditional sense, but I found a way."
"Honestly, I think I would've failed that class if it weren't for you."
He shakes his head, and softly plants a kiss on Cassie's head. "No, I think you would've found a way. You're still one of the smartest people I know."
Cassie sighs, wishing they could just lay in bed forever.
"I hope things are calm for a while at least. Especially now that I know, I think I'll worry about you every time I'm not with you. Will... will you promise me something?"
"What is it?"
She knew she might not get the answer that she was hoping for, but she asked anyway. "Let me know whenever you're going out at night? And if you're hurt? I know I can't do anything, but... I don't want to wake up one morning and find out that you're gone and I—"
"I have an idea..." Matt murmured, taking one of Cassie's hands in his, and placing gentle kisses on her knuckles. "You're staying with me for a while anyway, so I'll tell you what. I'll let you know when I'm going out beforehand, and I can wake you up when I get home."
"Promise?"
"I promise. I'll come back to you every night."
As the two lay in bed, agreeing that they'd get up soon to go get things from Cassie's apartments, they thought about recent events.
It was crazy, how much had happened. But Matt saved Cassie's life, and they knew they loved each other. For now, that was enough.
In that moment, things were calm.
But unfortunately for both of them, it was the calm before the storm.
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