AN: This story is for eyeon who has written more reviews for me than anyone else.
I tweaked the events of S1E3 a bit, I know there wasn't really a house party, but to make this work, there needed to be at least one more lady in attendance.
Let me know what you think!
Kat
Matthew
He used to not like to flirt, he thinks that he is not particularly good at it, he just can't be false and to him flirting often is somehow connected to falsehood. Although ever since he was sixteen, women have flirted with him. His mother once told him that was because of his almost golden hair and his deep blue eyes. But ever since he has become the heir to the Earl of Grantham, not a day has gone by in which not at least one woman flirted with him. He has gotten used to it and if he is honest with himself, he has started to enjoy it. Every single woman from the teacher of the village school to all three daughters of the Marquess of Withersom tries to get a smile from him. He knows they all dream of him making them the next Countess of Grantham. He also knows that eventually, he will have to pick one of those women and really make her the next Countess of Grantham. The problem is that his middleclass value of only marrying for love clashes with the necessity of marrying someone who could deal with all of it. If he married the village teacher, he would not do her a favor. A woman like that would not be happy as a Countess. If he married the daughter of a Marquess, she'd definitely know how to be Countess, but she wouldn't be happy as the wife of a lawyer and that is something that his future wife will be for a long time. There is of course one woman who would fulfill all his requirements, every single one of them and more, a woman who would be a wonderful Countess but also a wonderful wife of a lawyer, a woman with a bright mind, not afraid to hold her own in argument, especially not with him, but also a woman who knows when it is absolutely necessary to not voice her thoughts, a beautiful woman who appears in all his dreams. But he does not stand chance with Mary. Or so he thought until the ball at the Withersom estate two weeks ago. All three of the Marquess' daughters had flirted shamelessly with him, while Mary had flirted with every man in the vicinity.
"She's jealous."
"What?" Robert grinned at him and nodded towards Mary.
"She flirts with all those men because she is jealous. She wants you to leave those Withersom girls and flirt with her."
"I rather doubt it."
"And I don't. She's my daughter and while it may appear as if I knew nothing about my girls, I do know quite a lot about them. Believe my words. She is jealous and she hopes to make you jealous in return by flirting with all those men."
"That does not make any sense. That can't work."
"I did that once."
"You. You flirted with random women to make another woman jealous."
"Yes."
"Did she like that?"
"No."
"So she lost interest in you."
"No. She married me." He couldn't help laughing, he was sure that Robert was just having a little a fun with him, or if it was a little more sinister, get him to consider Mary more seriously. But the thought did not leave his head and he watched Mary and he thought that maybe she did look a little jealous. Maybe he should just give it a try. So he picked the prettiest of the Withersom sisters, and 23 year old named Elizabeth and kept talking to her and dancing with her. And Mary looked daggers at her. But he tried to ignore it, tried to appear ignorant of her watching him. She in return picked some man he didn't even know and made that man dance with her all night. It did make him a little jealous, but it seemed to be a game to Mary, so why should it not be a game to him? Why should he not play that game? He can only win after all.
So when he is invited to a house party at the Abbey and hears that the Wihtersom sisters will be there as well, he attends the party determined to see how jealous he can actually make Mary.
Elizabeth greets him as soon as he arrives and he feels rather flattered by her overenthusiastic way of saying "Matthew, finally. I have been waiting for you." So he flirts with her but when he sees Mary coming home from her ride with Evelyn Napier and the Turk, all dirty and red in the face and so, so lovely, for a brief second he wonders, if he shouldn't stop playing this stupid game and flirt with Mary. That might bring him closer to his goal. The way that Turk eyes Mary also does not sit well with him. There is something dingy about him.
But when they meet in the drawing room and he sees the look on Mary's face while he is flirting with Lady Elizabeth, he thinks that it might be worth it.
Mary
She hates Matthew Crawley, oh how much she hates this man. First he tells her that he has no interest in any of Lord Grantham's daughters. Well, he did not tell her, she just overheard him say it. Then he flirts with her shamelessly, almost makes her like him. Then he becomes her father's favorite who stops fighting for her because of Matthew. Then he flirts with her again and now he keeps on flirting with Lady Elizabeth, that dumb noodle. That girl is pretty, but Mary never thought that looks were more important to Matthew than brains. And Lady Elizabeth is a lot of things, but certainly not intelligent or witty. Oh, she can simper and laugh and make men dream of her. But she could never be a good wife for Matthew. Matthew needs someone who can keep up with his quick thinking, someone who would be a good Countess one day, but also someone who would not be bored to death until that day. Someone he can talk to about his work, someone he can fight with about literature and politics. Someone who would love him and cherish him for more than just his wonderful golden hair and his infuriatingly blue eyes. Matthew needs someone like her. He needs her. And she will make him realize it by flirting with other men. She wants him to be jealous. It did not work as well as she thought at the Withersom's ball, but she will do her best to make it work now. And Kemal Pamuk is just the ticket. A handsome stranger, someone who is the complete opposite of Matthew. In looks, in the way he speaks, in the way he moves, in the way he flirts. So she goes riding with him. She knows that she is playing with fire, but she also knows that she won't get burned. She never gets burned. When they come back inside, all dirty and disheveled, she sees Matthew look at them and she thinks that there is a little jealousy written across his face. So she takes this further. She flirts with Pamuk during dinner and when both Matthew and Evelyn Napier talk to her after dinner and Pamuk beckons to her, she leaves both of them standing there, mid-sentence. What Pamuk then does frightens her a little bit. She does not want to be kissed like that, pushed against a shelf in a dark library. At least she does not want to be kissed like that by Pamuk. If it was Matthew whom she loves to hate and hates to love, she might feel differently.
When she comes back into the drawing room, she sees Matthew huddled up in a corner with Lady Elizabeth and he does not even look at her. So her flirting with Pamuk becomes even more shameless. She needs to catch Matthew's attention, she needs to make him believe that she is interested in another man. She doesn't even listen to what Pamuk is saying, all she has to reply is "yes" and "impressive" in any case and they have now moved closer to Matthew and that shrew.
"It must have been quite a shock for you. When you found out that you were the heir to the Earl of Grantham."
"Of course it was. But I have gotten used to the thought now." But I will be a lawyer for quite some time yet. That is what Matthew usually says. But this time he doesn't.
"It is a beautiful house and estate."
"Oh yes. Isn't impressive that the house has been standing here for more than 150 years? Generations have lived in this house. Husands, wives, children." How can he say that to that stupid cow? If at all he should say it to her.
"Oh, Matthew." She is calling him Matthew? It makes her furious. She should call him Mr. Crawley. He should tell her to call her Mr. Crawley.
"What?" His bluntness has returned. Thank the heavens.
"It's just, you talk about all of this with so many emotions. As if you had been born to be the Earl of Grantham one day."
"In a way that is how it is." What? She wants to yell at him, wants to tell him to stop this, wants to tell him to turn back into hateful Cousin Matthew whom she loves so much.
"Lady Mary, let's go outside." That caught both Matthew's and her attention. She looks around the room and sees that half the guests have gone to bed and she does not want to be alone with Pamuk.
"How about we take a walk tomorrow? I am rather tired now and we will be able to see more of the estate tomorrow." That should do it. She told him she wants to see him again, but still got out of being alone with him in the dark. She looks at Matthew who raises his eyebrows at her and looks slightly concerned.
Matthew
He wonders if they have taken it too far. Lady Elizabeth tried to kiss him when he bid her goodnight and Kemal Pamuk tried to get Mary to go outside with him. Alone and in the dark. He was rather relieved when she said no. Not just because he was jealous but because he has become seriously worried for her wellbeing. He is sleeping at the Abbey, Robert insisted that as a guest at a house party he was not supposed to go home, even if his home was in walking distance. His room is next to Pamuk's and when he hears commotion in there, he can't help but listen. He does not understand everything that is being said, but he is sure that Pamuk wants to be taken to someone's room and he thinks he knows to whose room. And so he follows Pamuk and Thomas, the footman. He briefly wonders if he should stop them when they reach the family wing but for some reason he wants to know what Mary will say and how far she will go. When he hears Mary's surprised reaction, he knows that she did not invite Pamuk. He listens to Pamuk telling Mary that she does not really have a choice, that if she screamed, she'd be ruined. Then there is nothing and he knows that they have taken it too far. He opens the door to Mary's room and sees Pamuk kiss her. Without conscious thought, he grabs Pamuk and literally throws him out of the room.
"Matthew!"
He turns around to Mary whose skin has gone very pale and whose eyes look hollow.
"Mary, are you alright? I mean, did he hurt you?"
She only shakes her head and then tears start to roll down her cheek and she slumps down on her bed. He sits down next to her, puts an arm around her and she leans her head on his shoulder.
"I didn't want him to come. I didn't ask him here. Please believe that."
"I do believe that. I know it to be true." 'I love you' is what he actually wants to say.
"Thank you for that. I"
"Mary! Matthew!" Robert's voice booms through the house. "What are you doing?"
"Robert please."
"No Cora. Let me deal with this. What happened?"
He wants to answer but Mary is faster than him. "Kemal Pamuk came here. I didn't invite him, but he came to my room and then Matthew, why are you here?" She has turned to him now and he realizes that his arm is still around her.
"I heard Pamuk say something about wanting to visit a Lady. So I followed."
"So you are the night in shining armor in all of this?" Robert looks at him in slight disbelief.
"I wouldn't say that."
"Neither would I. I think you two know exactly what this looks like. I will have to think about what to do now." With that Robert leaves and pulls Cora with him who looks utterly taken aback and throws him and Mary and apologetic glance.
"What did that mean? That he needed to think about what to do?" Mary looks at him laughs.
"That he doesn't know yet whether he will force you to marry me."
"Oh." He has hard time not to ask 'Would that be so bad?'
"But don't worry. I know my father. He won't. He'll believe me. He won't make us get married."
"Good," he says, although what he thinks is 'pity'.
"I think you should go. But thank you. Thank you so much."
"You are welcome." He leaves and wonders what it would be like if Robert did force them marry. Horrible probably, because he can't imagine Mary being happy in marriage she was forced into because of propriety.
Once he has gone back to bed, he tries to fall asleep but he can't stop imagining Mary as his wife. He can't stop thinking about how right it had felt when she rested her head on his shoulders, how wonderful it had felt to hold her close to him.
Mary
She knows why her father said that he had to think about what he would do. He thinks that it might be good for her to imagine herself married to Matthew. And she is afraid of, or maybe jubilant about it working.
When for the second time that night there is a knock on her door, she half expected it. So she opens the door and on the other side of it, true to her predictions, she finds Matthew.
"Matthew," she whispers. "What are you doing here at four thirty in the morning?"
"I wanted to talk to you."
She isn't sure what to do, she knows she should send him away, she knows he would go if she asked him to go. But she has thought about him since the moment he left, she could not help but imagine him married to her and more than that she couldn't stop thinking about how right it had felt when he put her arm around her. So against her better judgment she says "Come in then."
Matthew sits down on her chair and she sits on her bed. She wishes he'd sit on her bed as well.
"Mary, I am sorry. For taking this so far. For almost ruining you with that stupid game." She knows what he is talking about and there is no reason to deny that she was playing a game.
"So you aren't really interested in Lady Elizabeth?"
"How could I be? How could I ever be interested in someone that is not you?" He looks at her now, straight into her eyes and she knows that for him this game only had one goal. To make her see what was in front of her. But she had already seen it, she was just too proud to admit it.
"You know that Lady Elizabeth is expecting a proposal, don't you?"
"I was afraid of that. But I won't propose, not to her." She knows this is stupid, but it makes her cry. She has gone through so many emotions during the past few days that she just can't keep it in any longer. Matthew gets up, sits down next to her and pulls him close to her. This time he puts both his arms around her, she puts her arms around him too. It feels so right and so wonderful.
Because her face is pressed against his shoulder, her voice is muffled when she asks "Is it a duty for you? When you flirt with me? Are you interested in me because that is what is expected?"
"No. I flirt with you because I like you. I like you so very much." Those words send her heart aflutter.
"If I told you that I liked you so very much in return, what would happen?" Matthew now takes her face in both of his hands. His touch is so very gentle, but it makes her dizzy. He gazes into her eyes and all she sees is the blue of his.
"Then I'd tell you that it was an understatement when I said that I liked you very much. I'd tell you that I loved you."
She leans forward and so does he. Their lips meet and nothing has ever felt like this. Kissing Matthew feels right, not something forbidden that she does to make a man like her. His lips on hers, that is how it is meant to be. She puts her hands into his disheveled golden hair and that feels so right too. There is nothing dingy or forbidden about being this close to Matthew. She feels as if she had gone to heaven. Matthew breaks the kiss eventually and leans his forehead against hers. She leaves one hand in his hair and touches his chest with the other hand. His left hand is placed at her neck, his right hand is on her left knee.
"If you told me that you loved me, I would tell you that I loved you too."
"Mary," Matthew whispers and then looks at her. "Truly? You are not playing with me?"
"No. I think we should stop playing all those games. I am giving my heart to you Matthew, take good care of it please." Matthew nods and then says
"Get up."
"What?"
"Get up." He smiles at her and she does what he says. He slides of the bed and kneels down in front of her.
He is going to propose and she is going to say yes.