Safety
A/N: I'm feeling like I should tell you all how I feel about this one before you read it…I gotta admit, I love the story in this one. Jut some fluff between Matt and Alesha. However, having written it, I regret doing it in the present tense. If I had the attention span for it, I would re-write it in past. But I don't, and I haven't. I may do in the future though. For this reason, I'm uploading another short fic today as well : )
As Alesha is half-running down the street, she can't help but draw parallels from her situation. Nothing's particularly similar about it, but the intent is there. It's been a little over a year since she was raped by Merrick, and still she feels nervous when walking the streets of London. She first noticed the man behind her a couple of minutes ago but now she's sure he must be following her. He's tall, dodgy-looking, lots of tattoos and so now she's walking as fast as she can towards the place she'll feel safest, to the person she'll feel safest with.
She can't remember the exact location, but she hopes she'll recognise it when she sees it; she's only visited once, and even then only fleetingly. So for now, she keeps walking.
She's doing her best to keep to busy roads, staying under the lights, purposefully walking as close to the shops lining the street as possible, that way if he tries anything she can quickly dart into safety. She'll never feel truly safe though, not until she's with him. Her heart rate has quickened and she can feel it pounding in her chest now, she hasn't been this scared since Merrick. She's considered calling the police, but she's worried she's overreacting, worried that her past experience has made her paranoid, so she carries on walking.
Alesha continues for another thirty seconds or so, chancing another glance back to make sure he isn't too close. He's gained a few metres, but he's still a fair distance back. She's fairly certain that he is following her, then she sees it. The tall building is a ten second walk from where she's standing and she lets out a sigh of relief, still hoping that it won't be long enough for the man to catch her up. She's fairly confident that once she's managed to press the buzzer, he'll back off.
She runs these last ten seconds, compressing them into six and a half (yes, she's counting). She's frantic now, searching for his name on the intercom list. It's there, in his neat scrawl, Matt Devlin. It's only now that Alesha considers the possibility that he may not be at home, or worse, he may not be alone. It's a Friday night after all. Matt is single and devastatingly handsome, and suddenly the probability of him being available seems to have shrunk.
She presses her finger to the button and waits, turning her body so that she can see the man in her peripheral vision. He hasn't given up yet; he's stalling, looking at some flowers outside a shop. She waits impatiently, pressing her finger to the buzzer for a short instant a couple more times. She's ready to turn around and walk back in the other direction, deciding she'll have to settle for being safe and postpone the feeling safe until later. She'll walk into the next shop she passes.
Then the noise comes from the intercom. A background noise as the person at the other end lifts the headset off of the hook.
"Hello?" The voice sounds puzzled but that doesn't matter. A smile immediately graces Alesha's face at the word; she'd recognise that voice anywhere.
"Matt, it's Alesha. Can I come up?" She can hear the worry in her own voice, and so can he, apparently. He wastes no time in buzzing her in. She pushes the door open and shuts it firmly behind her, leaning on it to make sure it really is closed. She pushes the button for the lift and waits, eager to see his face.
The lift up is a long one, or at least it feels like it. In reality, less than thirty seconds have passed since Alesha first pushed the buzzer. She watches as the number displayed above the doors slowly increases, until finally, it flashes 7.
The sight she is greeted with is a welcome one. Stood in front of her is a barefoot Matt Devlin, leaning with his back on the wall, with one foot propped up behind him. Instantly, she feels herself relax a little, and she can't help but notice that he looks as though he could be in the middle of a modelling shoot. He's changed since he got back from work, now wearing jeans with a plain blue t-shirt.
As he looks up at her, Alesha is dragged back into the reality. His eyes are filled with worry and concern as Alesha wipes away a tear she hadn't realised had escaped until now. He rushes forward and puts a hand on each of her arms, leaning down to level his eyes with her own.
"Lesh? What happened? Are you alright?" She looks away from his eyes and then back again.
"Yeah, I think so. There was a guy following me. But I'm okay, he left when I came in here." She nods as she says the words in a rush. She doesn't know that he did leave but that doesn't matter, not for now at least.
He inspects her eyes for any sign that she's playing it down but he can see she's not. Well, that's something at least. He's more than a little tempted to go after the animal, teach him a lesson. But Alesha is more important to him, so he pulls her into a hug, wrapping both arms around her back.
Alesha immediately feels better. Matt is the only person with whom physical contact is still easy. With anyone else, the slightest touch can remind her of Merrick, but not when it's Matt. She thinks maybe it's because he's careful, but truth be told, most of the time, Matt tries to keep his contact with her as normal as possible, so more likely it's because she loves him. He loves her as well of course, and whilst he suspects her of sharing similar feelings, he'll never act on it. He figures if she does feel the same, she'll say something. But he doesn't want to push her, or to make their friendship uncomfortable, so he's happy being friends – especially if it means he's the first place she'll turn after an experience like this.
He pulls away and meets her gaze again, to make sure she's okay. In a casual movement, he takes her hand and leads her down the hall to his flat. Alesha looks at their hands briefly and smiles. This is exactly what she meant, if it was anyone else, she's certain she would cringe away from the contact, but with Matt it feels nice, and so she holds on tight.
Matt's left the door open so they walk straight in. He tells Alesha to go make herself comfortable and heads to the kitchen.
"Can I get you a drink? Wine, beer, tea, coffee, hot chocolate?" He offers the long list despite knowing she'll choose tea.
"Tea would be great." By this point he's already filled the kettle.
Matt wants to ask Alesha how she is again, but he knows she wants to forget it happened. She's still scared and she needs company, but she'll be okay. He's absolutely correct. So instead, he tells her to flick the telly on. He says there's an Arsenal match on tonight. He doesn't know whether she likes football but he's counting on the fact that a football match is probably the safest bet if he's looking for something that won't upset her.
She does like football though, she loves it, and she supports Arsenal. She'd already planned on watching this match when she got home; it's a Champions League game.
Matt makes the tea, placing the mug in her hands and sitting next to her. He makes no conscious decision about he proximity at which he'll sit but ends up quite close. Alesha doesn't mind; he smells nice and so she leans into him a little as they watch the football. She asks about his day, she and James haven't worked with Matt and Ronnie this week.
LOUK-LOUK-LOUK-LOUK-LOUK
"Offside." The words escape Alesha's mouth before she has time to think about it. Offside, the commentator confirms a split second after her. Matt looks at her in astonishment, eyebrows raised and mouth open a little.
"You like football?" He asks, unable to believe he's managed to miss this.
"Yeah! Course, love it." She's a little surprised that that hasn't come up at some point over the years.
Matt can't believe he's gone so long without realising. And that she knows the offside rule. She may well be the perfect woman. He just shakes his head and returns his eyes to the game, smiling as he feels Alesha lean against him. She's feeling better, as she knew she would, but tired. She hasn't told anyone but she hasn't slept well for over a year, since Merrick. She never sleeps more than a few hours.
Overcome by the feeling, she shuts her eyes and falls asleep within minutes. Matt looks down when he notices the steady breathing and smiles. He's concerned though. He's not sure yet whether he'll mention it tomorrow, but it's only seven o' clock. Maybe he's just worrying too much.
He carefully gets to his feet, gently pushing Alesha's warm body away from his slightly. He lifts her up, cradling her in his arms and carries her to his bedroom, laying her down softly. He'll sleep on the sofa. Apparently Alesha has other ideas, she holds onto his arm stubbornly, preventing his exit. She holds on tight and her eyes open very slightly.
He realises that she wants him to stay and looks down at her, "It's alright Lesh, I'm not going anywhere." He uses his free hand to loosen her grip on his arm and carefully climbs over her to lie behind her. He's facing the ceiling and lifts his arm to welcome her into his embrace. He was right to have been worried earlier; he'll ask in the morning.
Still fully clothed himself, Matt pulls a blanket over them with his free hand and waits for her breathing to slow. She's asleep again within half a minute. Matt knows that he won't sleep so easily. He's had a long day, but not long enough to be in bed by seven. He doesn't mind though. He just watches her. He doesn't know how long it takes him, but eventually he falls asleep, with Alesha in his arms and a small smile on his face.
LOUK-LOUK-LOUK-LOUK-LOUK
Matt wakes first. He's up early, seven. He usually sleeps in at the weekend but he's rarely in bed before eleven. He watches Alesha for a minute then pushes himself up as quietly as he can. He looks down at himself and remembers he didn't get a chance to change so grabs a vest and a pair of trackies and boxers out of the wardrobe and heads for the shower.
Matt gets in quickly, in case Alesha wakes up. He washes his hair and stands under the warm water for a minute, then gets out and quickly slips into the clothes. He wanders into the kitchen to get some breakfast, but decides he'll wait for Alesha to wake up first. Then he hears a noise from the bedroom. The door opens, "Morning," he calls as Alesha emerges.
"Morning," she replies. She's startled but appreciative of the state she finds Matt in. She allows herself to stare at his body for a moment, taking in the toned arms and wet hair, before snapping out of it.
"Sleep okay?" he asks, Matt wants to approach the topic carefully.
"Yeah, better than I have in months." She's smiling but Matt's taken aback by the statement. She hasn't said it as though she's joking.
"Months?" he asks.
She nods slowly, "Yeah, I haven't slept well since… Well, you know."
He nods, he does know. He's worried, but pleased that his presence seemed to have helped her to sleep.
He changes the topic now, he's heard all he needs to hear, "Breakfast?" She's grateful for the shift in conversation and nods.
For breakfast, Matt makes pancakes. He rarely has them but he's hungry this morning. It takes him a minute to realise the reason why; he didn't have dinner last night. Alesha didn't either, so they both scoff the meal down.
They spend the morning messing around, playing games on his PS3, watching some TV. It's lunch now and Alesha says she should be going. Matt can see she doesn't want to, she really doesn't. But she feels she should, she's already wasted enough of Matt's weekend. For Matt, it isn't wasted time at all though. He's beginning to really want something more. Over the course of the morning, he catches himself watching Alesha multiple times. Some she notices, others she doesn't, but he loves her, and whilst she may be able to ignore that, he's beginning to think he can't.
She's caught herself doing the same thing. He's so bloody handsome, it drives her mad. She wants to run her fingers through his hair, trace the contours of his face and chest with her hand, she wants to press her lips to his, the tattoo-ridden man from yesterday only a bad memory.
Alesha's got her things together and she's ready to leave. Matt has a better idea. She thanks him for everything and turns to leave. Gently, so as not to cause alarm, he grasps her hand and pulls it back, swivelling her body so she faces him again. He pulls her into a delicate hug, wrapping his arms around her for a few seconds before releasing her. They end up pausing as they pull apart, their faces just a few inches apart. He's decided he still won't pressure her, he'll wait, either for Alesha to move away – if she does, he won't mention it again - or for her to meet him halfway. It is what she wants. Alesha runs the situation through in her mind only for a split second before pushing herself up onto her toes and forward so that her lips meet his. He smiles a little as she does. Matt moves his hands; one supporting her weight around her waist and keeping her body close, the other holding her face to his. Their lips move together for a few seconds before Matt pulls back to look at her. Alesha's eyes move up from his lips until they're looking at each other, both smiling.
Matt remembers the idea, "Stay, stay for as long as you want." Her smile grows and she steps back into the flat, her arms still wrapped around Matt, kicking the door closed with her foot so that she can maintain eye contact with him.
Once the door is closed she says it. The one thing she's wanted to say for so long, the thing she's been afraid to say for fear of rejection, for fear of losing a friend, "I love you." The moment is pure, and sincere, and Matt grins back at her.
He leans in for another kiss. This one is short because he still has something to say, "I love you too." He lifts both hands from their place around Alesha's waist, flings her bag somewhere behind him and takes her face in both of his hands.
Finally, the smile on his face subsides enough for him to lean in and kiss her again, pulling her along with him affectionately as they settle on the sofa. He's not going to rush this relationship, it's been brewing for months, maybe years; and as much as he does love her, Matt's a gentleman. So they settle on the couch, warm, comfortable, and ready for what the relationship will bring.
A/N: Love it? Hate it? Please leave a review, would love to hear what ya think.