AN: To anyone reading this, hi! If you follow me on tumblr, this is the same story from there, but I figured I should post it here. If you haven't read this yet, I hope you enjoy!

It had been a grueling week and a half. They had managed to eek out a team medal last week, despite every other member of the team making mistakes in their programs. In the end it had come down to their free dance to bump up team Great Britain into the bronze medal.

But now it was their turn to go for the gold.

Oddly enough, Matthew wasn't feeling nervous, despite this being their first time at an Olympics. He could feel excitement thrumming through his veins as he waited for their time to skate into the ice to perform their short dance. Beside him, Mary stood with her eyes closed. Fifteen years of experience being her partner told him that she was attempting to block out all the noise, the sounds of the well wishers and of the hecklers. Checking to make sure their were no cameras around, he reached out and took her hand, lacing their fingers together. Immediately, he felt her squeeze her hand around his and he brought their clasped hands up to his lips to kiss the back of her hand.

"I know what you are doing." Mary spoke, her eyes still closed. Matthew found himself smirking even though she couldn't see it. "You're just going to add fuel to rumors."

"No cameras. I checked." That elicited a scoff from Mary, her eyes finally opening.

"There are always cameras, Matthew."

"Screw 'em." He moved to stand in front of her, their hands will clasped between them. "You're my best friend," he began their little pre-performance ritual, "and I'll love you no matter what happens." Mary smiled, giving his hand one last squeeze before stepping out into open arena and towards the entrance to the ice. Matthew followed close behind, accepting the pats on the back from their coaches before removing the guard from his skates and gliding on to the ice beside Mary.

All his excited energy from before suddenly turned into nerves, his hands starting to tremble slightly. He tried to shake them out, stretching his neck as he skated into position in front of Mary.

"You're my best friend, and I'll love you no matter what happens." Mary said quietly, meeting his eye and taking a deep breath.

It was moments like this that explained why they made such a great pair. He knew that she got all her nerves before stepping on the ice; she knew that he got all of his nerves once they were on the ice. He wasn't sure when their little saying became their calming phrase, but it had been that way for as long as he could remember and he didn't see that changing anytime soon. Thankfully.

One last deep breath and he took his opening pose, Mary doing the same.

And then the music began.

Matthew was acutely aware of the cameras trained on them as they sat waiting for their scores in the Kiss and Cry. Their coaches flanked them on either side but he didn't want to listen to their assurances that they would win gold. He wanted to see it, he wanted to see the scores up there for all to see. Mary was unnaturally still beside him, eyes glued to the screen where their scores to be displayed.

He knew better than to try to take her hand with so many cameras pointed directly at them, but that was all he wanted to do. She was his source of strength in this and he wanted to say screw it to her rules about public displays. After all, it was the Olympics, the rules should be different. But he knew that if he did what he really wanted, which was to kiss her, he would get a tongue lashing later that wasn't worth it.

So caught up in his internal debate, he missed the moment that their scores appeared on the screen; instead the roar of the crowd caused him to look up where he saw their names listed next to the number one spot.

He couldn't help himself after that.

He jumped to his feet and grabbed Mary into a bone crushing hug, pressing kiss after kiss to her cheek. She seemed to feel similarly, holding him just as fiercely, though she refrained from kissing him. Unfortunately.

Next thing he knew, they were being ushered away, back into the dressing areas as they transformed the ice for the medal ceremony. They had to let go of their embrace, but Matthew refused to let go of her hand, lacing their fingers as their coaches and arena staff led them to where they needed to go.

"He's my best friend, as much as it pains me to admit." Mary joked to the umpteenth reporter, and Matthew dutifully rolled his eyes as of this wasn't the hundredth time he'd heard this joke.

"What she means is that she'd be lost without me." Matthew replied as scripted, looking at her with a smile on his lips. Mary met his eye and they stared at each other for a moment before turning back to the reporter who seemed to be slightly stunned by their display. Anna, Mary's other best friend, had termed what they just did as the "smitten and totally in love" look. Mary had disagreed when she heard that, Matthew had though it fairly accurate.

"So will we be seeing more of you? Together?" It wasn't lost on the pair of them what the reporter was replying, but at this point they were old pros at brushing it off.

"I can't imagine skating with anyone else." Matthew answered honestly. Their newly acquired publicist drew the interview to an end at that point, leading the reporter away.

"Why is everyone so interested in us dating?" Mary muttered, grabbing her water bottle and taking a long sip. Matthew couldn't help but stare at her neck, the desire to reach down and kiss her there so palpable he almost felt drawn to her. "We've already answered that what seems like hundreds of times and we always give the same answer."

'Maybe it's time we give them a new answer.' Matthew thought to himself, images of him just kissing her in lieu of answering those redundant questions flashing across his thoughts.

"I'm going to grab some dinner. Come on." Mary stood and Matthew stood with her, allowing her to lead the way.

Mary was wearing a new costume, this time more modest than what she had worn to compete just a few days ago, but Matthew couldn't take his eyes off her. He honestly couldn't tell you how many different skating outfits he had seen her in over the years, but tonight, she seemed different and he couldn't say why. They were expected on the ice in a few minutes to practice their exhibition dance, but still, Matthew wasn't focused on that.

Maybe it was because of the week they had recently. Answering question after question about their personal life when they themselves hadn't even figured it out. They had agreed to table any discussion of feelings until after the Olympics, Mary arguing that it was a distraction that they didn't need. That didn't stop her from coming by his room each night after practice, curling up next to him as they ate dinner and watched the latest episode of the Netflix series they had slowly been working through. It also didn't stop her from kissing him ever so gently each night before leaving for her own bed; the placement of he kiss varied by the day but had recently begun to become more frequently on the corner of his mouth, the closest she would get to outright kissing him.

They spent all their time together and not just because they were training constantly. She was his best friend.

And he was utterly in love with her.

He got the impression that she knew there was something more there between them, something simmering just below the surface. He could feel it in the way she touched him, see it in the way she looked at him when she thought no one was watching. Or at least he hoped so. It was entirely possible that he was misreading everything. After all, it was Mary, and as she liked to say, she hates to be predictable.

This wasn't something new, they had been dancing this dance for years, but something was different now. Before the games, he was able to push those feeling down, after all it was easier as the Olympics drew closer and the desire to win grew stronger.

But now they had won. There was nothing else he could focus on beside her.

Mary began her pre-performance routine, and Matthew just watched, waiting until she was ready for him to speak and reassure her. Even though this was a practice session, their pre-performance ritual didn't change. He was supposed to reassure her off the ice; she reassuring him on the ice.

Mary stood before him, eyes closed and Matthew reached out to take both her hands in his. "You're—" he stopped, swallowing thickly and Mary opened her eyes in confusion.

"I love you. I'm in love with you." He blurted out and he could see the moment the words registered with her as her eyes widened in surprise. She opened her mouth to speak but he just shook his head to stop her. "You are my best friend, but I'm also in love with you, Mary Crawley." Mary didn't seem to know what to say, mouth opening and then closing again without her saying a word. "You don't have to say anything. Let's just go out there and practice for the exhibition." He squeezed her hands where they were resting in his own. "You're my best friend and I'll love you no matter what happens."

He didn't wait for her to reply, stepping out of the dressing room and hurrying on to the ice. He could hear Mary behind him as he glided towards the center of the rink. The familiar jitters of performing appeared so he was glad that Mary seemed determined to complete their pre-performance ritual as she skated to a stop before him.

"You're my best friend and I'll love you no matter what happens." She said the line, smiling at him. He took a deep breath. "And I'm in love with you too." Those words were like a jolt of electricity to his system, his brain which had been spinning out of control just moments before was now at a standstill, and all he could think about was her.

Conscious of the eyes on them, instead of kissing her as he so desperately wanted, Matthew settled for resting his forehead against hers.

When commentators noted that something seemed different in their skating later that night, all they replied with was "We are best friends."

AN: Please review! And if you'd like me to post my tumblr stuff over here, let me know!