"Oh, please, as if you didn't know. It's still the same. Even though I might try the gingerbread latté, Karen wouldn't shut up about it. So…yeah, I'll go for it. Two gingerbreads and one boring plain Americano with no sugar," Foggy answered – unusually cheerily, even for him – once Vera greeted him and asked him about his order.
It was after middle of December. Things were… good. Actually, things were great. There was snow on the pavement; something people were bickering about (not really meaning it, Vera suspected) and Vera enjoyed, the café smelt after gingerbreads, cinnamon and vanilla and most people were in holiday spirit. Truth to be told, Vera was too… and kinda wasn't. She always loved Christmas, but this year…well. The main reason why she loved Christmas – her family – was thousands kilometres away and her outlook for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was… lonely. Matt was spending holidays at Nelsons. Terri went home. And the café was closed, so she couldn't distract herself with work.
Merry Christmas, Vera.
She shook off the dark thought, returning Foggy's smile and went to prepare his order. To make the boring plain Americano special, she added a traditional sticker with Matt's name in braille when writing the names on the cups – Foggy smiled at the action, probably thinking she was a sap.
"This will never stop being cute. Thanks," he grinned and Vera handed him the holder, attempting to say goodbye, because…customers. Foggy had different plan. "We're leaving on Thursday evening. We settled at 6 p.m., is that okay?"
Vera felt her eyebrows shot up deliberately. Was he talking to her?
"Uhm…leaving where?" she asked unsurely, her mind racing. She didn't agree to anything lately, right? Plus, Thursday was 23rd December. She definitely didn't promise anyone anything on 23rd December. She would remember that.
Foggy frowned, looking at her as if she was crazy. "To my parent's house. For Christmas," he explained as if she was stupid.
Vera was baffled. Why was he telling her when they were leaving with Matt? Did he think Matt needed her approval to leave? She wasn't such a nag, was she?
"And you're me telling this because…?"
At this point, she could tell he was getting confused as well. "To make sure you can make it."
"Make it?"
There was a short silence in which the turning of wheels in both, Vera's and Foggy's head, was the only significant sound. Foggy's was faster.
"Oh my god, he's such a chicken," Foggy blurted out, sighing. Vera was still lost. What. Was. He. Talking about? "He didn't tell you, did he?"
"Didn't tell me what?" Vera asked cautiously, slowly realizing where that headed. Clearly, he was talking about Matt.
"That you're coming with us. For the true spirit of Christmas at Nelsons. Mum invited us all over for holidays."
Vera froze, her mind returning several weeks back; she was sitting in a backseat of an expensive car with Matt, personal driver of Tony Stark delivering them to Vera's apartment after a rescue mission. Matt said no to Thanksgiving, because he wanted to stay with Vera. Because she got… well, shot.
"Should I call your mum to apologize personally?" Matt said, apparently guilty for declining the generous offer.
"Nah. I'll explained it to her… or you know, give her the short harmless version. She'll be sad, but she'll live - if you promise to come for Christmas instead," Foggy replied with light amusement.
And Vera knew about Matt coming. She would just never ever dream of being invited along. On one hand, it was an amazing offer, a gift from heaven, saving her from spending Christmas alone, or with her laptop and skype call if she was being optimistic. On the other hand, it was a family visit. Going to Nelsons was like an equivalent of meeting Matt's parents. She would be scared shitless.
"Earth to Vera?" Foggy called out, probably not for the first time and Vera snapped her head to him.
"What?"
"Is the Thursday evening okay with you? I'll ask Matt as well, naturally, but I need to know your opinion too," he explained slowly, talking to her like with a child. She couldn't quite blame him. She felt like she had capacity of the five-years old at best at the moment.
"I… I think I have an afternoon shift, I'll check and let you know, okay?" Vera tried to smile at him gratefully, but most likely failed. "I really appreciate it. It's a very generous offer."
Foggy beamed. "I really hope you'll come. My mum's dying to meet the woman who stole Matt's heart. See you then! Text me!" And with a quick wave, he was gone, letting Vera to deal with the aftermath of his statement.
'My mum's dying to meet the woman who stole Matt's heart.'
Vera felt herself panicking, her heart fighting its way out of her chest. She needed to figure out how to avoid that meeting. And she needed to figure it out fast.
"Vera, calm down," Matt whispered to her ear gently, as they were sitting in the underground train on 24th morning, heading to one of the scariest trips of her life. Her teeth were actually clattering with fear. Last time she was nervous like this was before and during her biochemistry exam – she got C, just because she wasn't able to spell all those stupid compounds like pyridine, piperidine, pyrimidine, as she kept stuttering, unable to stable her jaw while talking.
"N-nev-v-ver s-say an-n-ny-on-ne to c-c-calm d-d-d-down. N-nev-v-ver w-works-s-s," she let out with difficulties, trying her best to ignore his chest she was glued to vibrating with silent laugh. "N-not-t-t fun-n-"
It wasn't news Matt was suicidal and was taking insane risks. Right now, he took the risk of getting bitten by her clattering teeth, silencing her attempts to talk with pressing his lips to hers. For his own safety, she wanted to retreat, but his hand shot to the back of her neck to keep her on place, pulling her even closer, his other hand gingerly stroking her cheek. To her own surprise, Vera found herself melting under the touch, slowly relaxing. When certain part of her brain rebooted, she started returning the kiss, rewarded by Matt's content hum, vibrating against her lips in rather pleasant way. Oh god, this. She would kill for more.
"All right, guys. Enough," Foggy sounded somewhere, far away, voice annoyed. Matt caressed her lower lip once more and pulled back. Vera licked her lips, chasing away the feeling of sudden loss. "Explain me one thing. You got yourself shot, practically running in the trajectory of the bullet, but you're afraid of meeting my mother…?"
"Foggy!" Matt complained as Vera snapped her eyes open in horror. Christmas. Encounter with Nelsons. Oh boy.
"The only thing you need to worry about is that she's gonna squeeze you too tight when hugging you," Foggy hummed. Vera shot him a look. A hug?
"There's gonna be hugging? – No wait, never mind. Can't you tell I got like a really bad flu or something? Or-"
"Vera, it's gonna be just fine. Anna Nelson is one of the nicest people I've ever met and the whole clan is incredibly welcoming. I live with the memory Nelsons' Christmas for months – it's my happy place," Matt explained gently, kissing her temple. They talked about it, of course. Matt loved the Nelsons and he was really excited and genuinely happy, sparks in his eyes and all that, which made the whole situation even worse. "And they're gonna love you."
Yeaaaah, no.
Foggy raised an eyebrow. "That's what this is about? You're scared my family won't like you?"
Vera made a small startled guilty sound and Foggy laughed.
"Trust me, Vera. I told them about you few things and they already do like you."
Vera heart stopped and Matt at her side tensed, no doubt hearing it. Vera looked around, her panic reaching unbearable level, searching any escape route.
How much is the fine for pulling the emergency cord in the train?
Matt kindly held her hand as they were standing in front of the door – mainly to keep her from running away. Vera thought the whole neighbourhood heard them ringing the doorbell and instead of her own heartbeat roaring in her ears, she heard hurried steps approaching the door. Matt squeezed her hand tighter just a second before the door flew open, revealing short-haired woman with chubby cheeks and wide smile.
"Foggy, honey!" she cried out and Vera felt this distraction was her last chance to flee. "Come in! Come in, it's freezing."
Matt pulled Vera in before she could escape and she sent a quick prayer to the man upstairs as the door closed. There was no way out of this now. Her heart was about to fail. The prolonged tachycardia wasn't healthy, it would transform into tachyarrhythmia. And then her heart chambers would fibrillate and she would fall down dead on spot. It actually didn't sound that bad. Screw the terrible astringent pain in between…
Mrs. Nelson – at least Vera assumed it was her who welcomed them – pulled her son into a crushing hug and Vera suddenly knew what Foggy had meant when he had said Vera only should fear the hugging part.
"So glad you're here," said, letting him go and turning to Matt, reaching gently for his forearm in brutal contrast to her harshness towards Foggy. "Matt."
"Mrs. Nelson," Matt hummed with wide smile and she smacked his bicep. "Anna."
She pulled him into a crushing hug too and Vera couldn't help her lips spreading into a smile, despite the fact she needed to let go Matt's hand. This woman loved Matt unconditionally. She seemed like the kind of woman who had enough love for everyone, so it was no wonder she treated Matt like her own son (or Foggy, for that matter, she reminded herself, because Foggy wasn't her biological son).
"I swear, Matt. If you ever get it right on the first try, I'll give you a medal," she teased him and Vera could see Foggy rolling his eyes.
"You know he does that on purpose for like last four years, right?"
ignored her son's wry comment, looking directly at Vera, who felt the lump in her throat growing. " ," she greeted politely and she would swear the woman's eye twinkled.
"And you must be Vera," she approached her, extending her hand. Vera quickly did the same.
"That would be me. It's a pleasure to meet you."
To her surprise, Foggy's mum lightly hugged her too after they shook hands. Vera didn't need to see Matt's face to know his smile grew wider. "It's good to finally meet you, Vera. Foggy was raving about you a lot," she revealed and Vera felt her knees giving up at the exclaim, unsure how much should she return the affection was showing.
"I really hope he wasn't," she muttered, gaining an innocent smile from him.
"He kinda was," female voice sounded from behind the corner and Mrs. Nelson freed Vera from her arms. Blond girl around Vera's age – perhaps a little younger – was standing in the doorway, leaning onto the doorframe. She was pretty – slim and relatively tall, long blond hair with straight bangs, shining blue eyes. Eyes that were slowly measuring Vera from head to toe. Vera couldn't help gulping.
"Hey, Candy!" Foggy called out enthusiastically, kicking his shoes off, running to meet her halfway as she finally tore her gaze away – allowing Vera to breathe again. Vera didn't watch the reunion – instead, she put her shoes off as well, stripping her coat and scarf.
Matt leaned his cane onto the shoe rack – he must have been in the house enough times to be believed to known the outlines well enough, orienting without the cane just fine. And then Matt got attacked. Well, attacked… Candace – Vera assumed it was Foggy's sister, Candy, – wrapped her arms around Matt lightly, kissing his cheeks.
"Hey, Candace. Merry Christmas," Matt greeted her fondly. Vera had to remind herself not to be jealous. She kinda was. Matt seemed genuinely happy to see her.
Candace gave Vera quick smile and wave. "Hi. I'm Candace, Foggy's sister."
"Hi. I'm Vera. Nice to meet you," she replied, returning the smile somewhat tightly. Something in Candace's eyes stopped her from saying I'm Matt's girlfriend.
"We have more introductions coming, but first things first – Candace, can you show Vera and Matt where they would be staying? And help them with the stuff. What can I get you? Tea, coffee?" Mrs. Nelson asked them brightly, wincing when something crushed rather loudly somewhere in the house.
"Sounds like twins are already in?" Foggy noted with gentle irony and Vera fought the urge to peek behind the corner to see what they were talking about.
"Yep," Candace confirmed, accenting the p, making her way upstairs. Foggy followed, beckoning to Vera and Matt.
It turned out that Matt and Vera were staying in Candace's room, while she was staying with Foggy in his. Vera felt kinda bad about occupying her room (if Matt came alone, he would probably stayed with Foggy), but who she was to protest.
Once they settled a little, they went downstairs once more – this time to the living room. It was… overfilled with people. The relief was that not all of them stared at the newcomers, because two children, a boy and a girl – and Vera thought they were around four years old – were running around with pillows, occasionally hitting something. A brunette woman was trying to catch them, shouting at them to stop from time to time, while a man, probably the father, was sitting in an armchair close to enormous Christmas tree, watching the mess with tired eyes, protecting the poor symbol of Christmas when needed. Unlike him, an older man was watching the game with certain fondness; if Vera could take a wild guess, she would say it was Foggy's father. Two women – , who Vera had met, and another one she hadn't – were standing in a doorway of what Vera guessed was kitchen; once noticed them coming, she approached them, repeating her question about coffee. Vera tentatively shoved her a box with the sweets she baked and finished with Matt's help, apologizing there wasn't more of it. Mrs. Nelson thanked her with another warming smile nevertheless.
Foggy and Matt started the rounds, greeting with everyone, sometimes Foggy being the one who introduced Vera, sometimes Matt. Vera met Edward Nelson, Foggy's father, his deceased brother's wife Melissa and her son Bill. Bill's wife was Rita, but Vera didn't have a chance to be properly introduced, because before she could have been, she was hit by a pillow aimed to her chest. She caught the weapon with wide eyes, never seeing it coming; funnily enough, Matt probably did.
"Arnie!" Rita cried out, sounding horrified and Vera snapped from her shock, looking for the attacker. He was hiding behind 's armchair, carefully peeking out.
"What are the rules? Am I supposed to fall to the ground since I got hit?" Vera blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, eyeing the boy hesitantly. She could see his eyes grow wide.
"No. You sleep!" the kid exclaimed, not leaving his hideout. Vera looked around, finding Candace on the couch with a tablet – she didn't seem to be paying attention and Vera didn't want to disturb her by attacking the couch as well. So she shrugged and placed the pillow on the nearest thing she found. Which was Matt's shoulder. She folded her palms and laid her head on her newest bed – she could feel Matt's chuckle as she did so.
What was more important though, she could hear Arnie's muffled laugh and quick steps, soon feeling him to pulling her skirt lightly. She didn't react, keeping the act. This time, she heard the girl giggle – she still didn't get to know her name.
"Do you think she's cursed?" she asked, sounding astonished and Vera fought a smile. They were so sweet.
"Maybe. How do we break the curse?" Foggy answered instead and Vera hoped that bucket of cold water wouldn't do. It wouldn't, right? They were inside, the parents wouldn't allow that. What else- oh god, please, no tickling.
Vera heard someone face-palm, ridiculously loud slap. "Like The Sleeping Beauty!" the girl announced, making it sound as if everyone else was stupid for not figuring it out. Vera's heart jumped and Matt's hand inconspicuously stroked her tight in calming motion.
"I don't kiss her!" the boy protested rapidly, disgusted and Vera heard someone laugh silently.
"Maybe I should," Foggy hummed and Vera felt Matt's body stiffen – did Foggy mean it? It was really hard not to open her eyes at this point. She hoped Foggy would go for her cheek and not mouth at least.
Before Foggy could do something that could possibly cost him a broken nose (from either Matt or Vera, to be honest), Matt's shoulder was replaced by his hand as her support and his lips met hers in only passing touch. She fluttered her eyes open as the kids giggled, mischievousness in their wide eyes and ran away to hide, apparently not caring they still only had one pillow.
Vera received one more kiss on her forehead and silent love you she might as well just imagined.
What she didn't imagine though was one pair of eyes watching her with palpable displeasure as Rita introduced herself and her kids, Arnie and Amy. Vera was starting understanding Candace was not exactly fond of her. In fact, she might actually even hate her. And the reason seemed to be pretty obvious.
Hint – it wasn't for Vera stealing her room.
They somehow made it through the afternoon. Vera was trying to be conversational, chatting with everyone and anyone, mostly being supported by Matt by her side. Candace wasn't shooting her murderous looks – she wasn't in the room, helping her mum with the dinner and they wouldn't let in anyone else than them and the other . Well, Melissa. Foggy's mother wanted Vera to call her Anna as well, exactly to avoid this kind of confusion, but it seemed disrespectful. Yet, Vera tried.
The dinner was fantastic. For the first time in a while, the kids were silent, their mouth full. Or maybe they were simply stunned by the food – Vera sure was. Not only because she wasn't used to that kind of a Christmas dinner, but also because it was freaking delicious – she shared the thought, of course. And Matt did. Pretty much everyone did. It was sweet.
"So… how long you've been together?" Foggy's sister, who was uncomfortably sitting right opposite to Matt, while Foggy was sitting opposite to Vera, asked rather nonchalantly. Vera wasn't buying that tone.
"Uhm… about three months," she answered awkwardly, not feeling good under Candace's gaze. There was just something… she didn't like it. She understood Candace obviously wasn't fond of her, but there was something more in this.
"Huh. Nice. Uhm. I hear a little accent? You're not from New York, are you?"
"No, no I'm definitely not. I'm from Trutnov, Czechia."
Foggy's sister raised an eyebrow. Vera didn't blame her, no one ever knew.
"Tiny state. About ten mil people. Heart of Europe," Foggy stepped in, apparently proud of knowing it.
Candace shot her brother a wounded glare. Uh-uh. This was getting rather dramatic. No one else dared to join the conversation.
"Well, what brought you to New York then?" Candace continued and maybe Vera was being paranoid, but she would swear she heard another question in that tone. Why the hell didn't you stay where you belong?
"Lots of things. I… dropped out of college-"
"Dropped out?" she asked, sounding surprised. "Or got kicked out?"
"Candace!" Anna admonished her, shooting her a warning glance. Vera felt Matt next to her tense – he knew it was a sore subject. Also, he might be feeling the jealousy radiating from Candace or not liking she was prying.
"No, it's-it's okay. Valid question, I guess," Vera laughed uneasily. "I dropped out after second year. Finished my exams, decided to quit, because I never really wanted to study that."
"What did you study, if you don't mind me asking?" she asked sweetly, too politely, so her mother couldn't say a word and Vera tried her best not to grit her teeth.
"Med school."
"Whoa. So you went to med school while you never really wanted to be a doctor?" From the corner of her eye, Vera saw Matt's fingers twitch. She wasn't the only one irritated in here. He wisely stayed silent though.
"It was a little complicated," Vera answered evasively with a tight smile.
She thought Foggy kicked his sister under the table.
"Sorry. So, what do you do now? You study here, or…?"
"No, no, I just… I just work in a café." Vera was starting to get what exactly was that about. Candace could as well have humiliation written right over her head.
"Pretty big change from studying to be a doctor. I'm in my first year. Law. Columbia, New Yorker with whole heart." Like Matt. Okay, got it. Candace hated her. She couldn't stand Vera, because Vera was dating Matt. And she wasn't being very subtle about it, apparently determined to make this difficult. Awesome. "Never mind. So you work here. That means… a visa? For how long? A year?"
"Candy, I think that's enough interrogation for now," Foggy noted, noticing more and more people were growing uncomfortable.
"Just making a conversation. Vera?"
"For now, yes." Vera felt the colour being drained from her face, her heart hammering in her chest, pulse loud in her ears. Alright, Foggy's sister didn't like her, but this was something else. It wasn't just about humiliation. This was clearly an attack, it was… it was a court and the family was the jury. Vera was the defendant. Candace was the prosecutor. And she just hit the most vulnerable spot. Vera could see Matt paled slightly as well, his grip around the flatware so tight his knuckles went white. It wasn't good. Because in this metaphor, Matt was the judge.
Candace aimed and she hit the target. Because Vera was suddenly realizing they never talked about it with Matt. They never talked about… how long she was planning to stay. They never talked about future. Well, to be fair, things were a little crazy for most of the time, but… yeah. They never talked about the future. They never stopped to wonder if they had a future.
"Oh… Matt, you okay? You knew that, right? So, Vera, you haven't decided if you're staying longer yet? That's… interesting," Candace wondered and Vera swallowed against the growing lump in her throat, feeling tears – mostly tears of fear and panic – gathering in her eyes. She fought them bravely and cleared her throat.
"No, I haven't. If you'll excuse me…"
She rose slowly from the chair, wanting to look rather calm. She probably failed, but she was confident she managed to keep her tears from rolling down her cheeks before she reached the stairwell, so no one could see them. Matt would sense them but he seemed quite out himself, so she wasn't sure if he had capacity to do so. She sighed in relief, shaky exhale, when she finally close the door behind her and leaned her back against it, feeling her knees turning into jello.
Jesus. She was nervous about meeting the Nelsons. It was like meeting the family and family could be overprotective and they could affect partner's opinion significantly, possibly negatively. But this, this was far beyond her imagination. She sobbed, quickly muffling the sound with her palm. She didn't know why. No one would come after her. She was a stranger in this house. She wasn't welcomed here. The only reason why she had come here was Matt. And that reason possibly just disappeared. Because he realized she might go away.
Vera didn't know if she was going away. Jesus, she was here a little over three months. She barely settled down. Mostly thanks to Terri. Matt helped a lot. And she wasn't even able to tell him she was only sure about staying a year and she didn't think further. She wasn't able to say to him if it even was worth being with her, if she would stay.
She knew couldn't stay now. The four walls of Candace's room were getting closer and they didn't want her here. She was occupying a room of the girl who apparently hated her. She wasn't welcomed here. She had no right to be here.
Vera didn't have much stuff there. She didn't even unpack her backpack yet. She pulled her pullover over her head, looking around, throwing the backpack over her shoulders. She didn't think she forgot anything. The only thing she didn't take was a paper bag with gifts. She would leave it here, it was okay. It wasn't like Matt and Foggy didn't deserve their presents. She wiped tears from her cheeks, and with calming breath in and out, she headed to the door.
The moment she opened them, she froze.
Her way was blocked. By someone who was rather pale, mouth twisted in strange grimace, hard to read. His eyes were hidden behind his glasses, his posture intimidating though. She gulped, blinking her tears away, opening her mouth to bravely ask him to move from her way.
"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded in low voice before she could speak and took a step closer, now literally standing in the door. He sounded… wounded.
Christ, she was such an ass.
"I'm sorry, Matt. I should have- should- it doesn't matter. I'm leaving now."
"Why would you leave?" he asked softly, looking honestly baffled. Why? What kind of a question was that?
"I'm not welcomed here-"
"That's not true. I want you here, Foggy does, Anna, they all-"
She chuckled humourlessly. "All? Really, Matt? Were we at the same dinner? Jesus, Matt…. Your eyes were freaking gleaming when we came, did you know? You were so excited about coming here, talking about how great it always is. It's not. Because I'm here. I only brought drama. I'm not wanted here-"
"Candace will come around-"
"But that's it, Matt! She shouldn't be coming around in the first place! It's Christmas, family should be together. And you are. I shouldn't be here. And it's okay." She didn't sound okay. Her voice was breaking on every other word. Jesus, she wasn't too loud, was she? Her leaving at the dinner was bad enough. She didn't need another scene. She needed to leave, now.
She wanted to slide through the door, but he was still blocking it. "Matt, step away."
"No," he said simply, but resolutely, taking another small step and she mirrored his move, taking a step back. "You're staying. Please, for me. I want to spend Christmas with my family."
"But that's my point-"
"You are my family."
Vera felt her jaw falling, automatically walking backwards as he took another step closer. He closed the door; she didn't even realize she was in the middle of the room again. But she didn't really care. Because what the hell?
"You're not blood-related. None of these people are. Family has a different meaning for me for a while now. These are people I care for. And I care for you. Vera, I-" he crossed the distance between them and she was actually too frozen to move, letting him border her face with both hands. "You must- You know how important you are."
Did she?
Vera did the worse thing she could do. She sobbed and she didn't manage to muffle it in time, again. He sighed, kissing her forehead and she squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her trembling lips together.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I should have told you, but it never came up and it's a lame excuse, but it just didn't and I haven't think about it yet. I'm not even here for four months so I just haven't. I should know by now or at least I should have told you that I'm not decided yet, but that there is a possibility of me leaving in September, so you shouldn't be… you shouldn't be with me because- because-"
She lost the train of her thoughts, unable to continue, because there was simply nothing to say and she couldn't speak, the lump in her throat too big and suffocating and oh my god, she was sobbing to his shirt, because he pulled her into his arms, embracing so tightly she could barely breathe.
"It's okay, Vera. It's okay, it's okay, I've got you," he whispered to her hair and she did the exactly opposite of what she was supposed to do – she wrapped her arms around him as well. He relaxed his tense posture slightly, releasing a shaky breath. She could hear and feel his strong heartbeat.
"I'm sorry."
"I know you are. And I forgive you, because there's nothing to be sorry for." Soothing voice. Steady heartbeat. What?
"But-"
"I thought so, okay? I thought you have visa for a year. People usually get those. Actually hearing it was a little rough, but basically I already knew," he explained, voice sounding a little sad, but aiming for comforting.
Her mind was racing, while her body froze, air caught in her chest. He knew?! But if he knew…? So he wanted this, whatever this was, to only last a year? Was it his plan? She couldn't quite believe that, but…
"So… you…don't mind. You're okay with me leaving in September?" she mumbled to his shirt barely comprehensible, little baffled. Perhaps he wasn't as much in love as he claimed to be? But that was… he seemed genuinely… well, upset was an understatement, almost desperate, when she was about to be killed, so…
His grip loosened. "I'm not okay with you leaving, Vera," he spitted out.
Now, she was completely lost. She stepped away, looking up to his face. Glasses. Right; worse than the mask. As if he understood her uneasiness about them, he put them away, tossing them on the bed.
She just stared at him, not sure how to react. He massaged the bridge of his nose, rubbing his eyes as if he was tired. Then he looked at her with big, intense eyes, burning, glaring to her soul.
"I'm not okay with you leaving," he repeated and she frowned, trying to figure out his unreadable expression. "I don't want you to leave. But I get that you haven't thought about what's gonna happen in about a year. Sometimes I don't even think about tomorrow, because I'm not sure if there's even gonna be another day. So I don't think a year ahead either. It's alright. You have plenty of time to decide."
That's what she had thought. Before. And he… he didn't want her to leave. She felt huge weight lifted from her shoulders. "O-okay."
"Good."
"Good," she parroted dully.
"Now…" He touched her shoulders lightly and she blinked in surprise. What- he slid his thumbs under the straps of her backpack, letting it slowly slip down her arms, until it fell on the floor with a muffled thud. And since his hands were so conveniently touching hers… he squeezed them lightly and she hesitantly returned the affection, making the corners of his lips rise.
He kissed her forehead once again and she closed her eyes, feeling blessed. She felt his lips on her cheek, gentle, careful. One of his hands ran up her arm and neck, stopping at the border of her neck and jaw. His lips must have been agonizingly close, because she could feel his hot breath on hers own, tasting it. Was he waiting for her to lean in? She gulped at the idea, shiver running down her spine. She gathered her courage, inconspicuously moving forward. It was enough.
Their lips met, just a passing touch of butterfly wings, tickling. She sighed contentedly and he kissed her again, pressing to the back of her neck, pulling her in just slightly, caressing her lower lip. And again. Again… she realized she was standing there like made of stone or ice, her body unfreezing, hand shooting to his hair, interweaving hesitantly. She could do that right? They were… good? She didn't quite get how, but it seemed they were.
She felt him smile into the kiss, and she couldn't help sighing in relief. Small chuckle escaped him and his other arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer.
"Thank you," she breathed, unsure where it came from. But it felt right. She was grateful. He forgave her. He wanted her. One way or another.
His lips stopped their movement, freezing. She snapped her eyes open, meeting his warm irises. Beautiful. Kind. Loving. Hypnotizing.
"Just don't go anywhere, okay?" he asked her rather nonsensically; she had no idea if he was talking about tonight, about Christmas at Nelsons in general, or in nine-months horizon. She didn't want to think about it.
"Okay," she breathed, slightly dazed and she saw his eyes burn brighter, the image making her heart shiver. "I…I don't want to. I love you, Matt."
His gaze softened and he rewarded her with another sweet kiss.
"I love you too."
"Who's that?" she asked silently, only for Matt's ears.
He sighed. "Candace." Her body went rigid and she felt herself panicking. "She came to apologize."
It took Vera a minute to process what he just said. "Oh."
"Hmm." He breathed in to call out for her, but Vera's hand shoot to his chest, stopping him. He gave her a puzzled look.
"Maybe we should… uhm. At least sit?" He seemed even more confused. "Matt, I'm cuddling with a guy she's in love with. In her bed." She straightened, attempting to do as she offered – his arms locked around her, immobilizing her. "Matt-"
"Come in! She's not," he whispered to her ear as the door opened, revealing Foggy's sister indeed. With two cups of… something.
Vera felt like a total bitch, just lying in Matt's arms, she wasn't kidding. Candace grimaced for a split second, before letting herself further to the room.
"Uhm… hey. Sorry to interrupt. I just… came to talk? Apologize?" she offered hesitantly, eyeing Vera as if she was about to kick her out. From her own room.
"I think that would be my cue," Matt hummed, kissing Vera's temple, freeing her from his embrace, reaching for his glasses and discretely disappearing. Vera sat up, feeling probably twice as unsure as the girl in front of her.
Candace extended one of her hands, offering a cup. "Uhm. Eggnog. Not…not sure if you drink it and if it's a thing in Czechia, but… yeah."
Vera couldn't help it. One corner of her lips twitched. "Yeah, eggnog is a thing in Czechia. I would… offer you a seat, but since it's your room, it seems quite rude."
For the first time, she could see Candace honestly smile at her, sitting to her chair. "Not right now. Even though I admit no one really asked me if I'm willing to give it up."
"I'm sorry. For kicking you out. And for… ruining Christmas for you."
Candace blinked in surprise and then burst out laughing. It wasn't exactly a happy laugh, cutting to Vera's ears as razor blades. Vera winced.
"Okay, you're really annoying," Candace exclaimed, giving Vera incredulous look. Vera was… confused. What did she do so wrong that Foggy's sister changed her mind and instead of an apology, she went for insults?
"Sorry, not what I meant to say. I came here to say sorry," she looked Vera straight to her eyes, her gaze burning with honesty. "And I am sorry. I shouldn't have stuck my nose to your business. I shouldn't have been hostile. It wasn't fair to you."
Vera escaped the eye contact, the memory of Candace's words stinging in her insides. The mean spark in her eyes, when she recognized she hit the right spot. Vera took a deep breath, trying to shake it off. She quite couldn't. Then again… she couldn't actually blame Candace for hating her, could she?
"Okay. Apology accepted," Vera said, flickering to Candace's face, quickly returning to her cup and sipping the hot liquid before she could change her mind. Whoa. That was strong. She sipped again. She could use strong right now.
"So annoying."
Vera's eyebrow shot up and she looked up again. Candace was… smiling. There was no malicious tone in her words. Vera didn't understand.
"I had a bad break up," the girl blurted out of blue. Vera frowned. What? "Like two, three weeks before Thanksgiving. I was sad. Then I got pissed, obviously. And I was… really looking forward Thanksgiving. Can you guess why?"
Vera watched her potential competition, having a moment of clarity. Oh. Oh. "You were excited to spend time with your family…" Candace gave her a look. "…and Matt would come."
"Yeah…" Candace bit her lip. "I guess it's not surprising I have a crush on him since Foggy brought him home."
"Can't say I blame you," Vera noted, shocked Candace was sharing something like this with her. She did and did not appreciate it at the same time. On one hand, it made her blood boil, poisonous feeling of jealousy biting her stomach. On the other hand… Candace was letting her in, making her apology sincere.
Candace grimaced. "He's always so nice. I thought… maybe. He wouldn't try anything before, but I thought come on, I'm in college now and I'm studying law; if anything, I could ask him to… tutor me and things would somehow work out."
Blood boiling. The boiling was definitely winning at that point. Vera had nothing to say, at least nothing that wasn't a curse, so she focused on her eggnog.
"Yeah, well. Matt never came. Because he stayed with his girlfriend, playing nurse," she said with hint of bitterness and Vera couldn't help interrupting her.
"I told him to come," she protested, unable to keep her voice calm. She gripped her cup tighter, remembering she needed to be calm. No matter how surreal it was, this was still an apology. Weird one, but an apology nevertheless. "Just for the record."
"Noted," Candace hummed and continued. "I'm gonna be honest. I hated you at that point. When I learnt mum invited you for Christmas as well, I was ready to make a scene. And I did, when no one was around. Anyway… I… mum knows me, she had an idea why I minded so much, so she asked me to be polite. And I really wanted to try, convincing myself I can handle it. And I thought, wow, that woman, she's gotta be really something. Apart from one Christmas when Matt came totally ruined by his own break-up, there were never hints of him dating. So that girlfriend of his, she must be really special. Like a supermodel or some girl who skipped few years of college, real brainiac. Possibly both. Foggy made you sort of a demigod, okay. And then…"
Vera couldn't say this wasn't stinging even more. "…and then I came," Vera finished dully, mind racing.
Matt was barely dating. Candace thought it was because he was picky. She got the point, okay? Why would Matt pick Vera from all people? And ditched his family on Thanksgiving for her?
"Yeah. No offense. You're pretty, okay. You made it through two years of med school, so there gotta be something in here." Candace decently patted on her own temple. "I was a little biased, I see that, of course. But seriously. You were no supermodel, you were no brainiac, there was literally nothing what should make him pick you."
Vera closed her eyes in pain. She knew all of these stuff. But Matt… he always made her feel special. He claimed she was beautiful (and she appreciated it, even thought she was well-aware he was blind, at least to some level), he made her feel wanted. He never let her think she was stupid or below him, just because he was a lawyer and she was…well, a barista. She loved him for it, apart from like a million different reasons. Hearing how leaping to the eye their differences were to someone else... it was making breathing difficult.
"I was wrong. And I'm sorry for that too," Candace offered in gently voice and Vera snapped her eyes open, realizing with horror that she had few tears on her cheeks. "You are beautiful, Vera, and as far as I can tell, Matt thinks the same, obviously. You might not be studying med school at the moment, or law or quantum physics, but that doesn't always say everything about intelligence. You solved the biggest mystery of the universe."
I…did? Vera wanted to ask, but somehow her brain-mouth connection short-circuited.
"You figured out a way to Matt Murdock's heart and that's one hell of trick you pulled there. You seem to understand him in a way not even Foggy, or perhaps anyone does. And I'm starting to get it, okay? Why he loves you. You're also good. I was a bitch and you forgave me-"
Vera felt a tiny stung of guilt at that, because that wasn't entirely true.
"-and you managed – which is actually really scary – to fulfil the The way to a man's heart is through his stomach saying. He adores your candy. Whenever he's here for Christmas, he praises my mum's turkey, ham and everything, but he never eats our candy. Ever. I saw him sneaking to kitchen for yours like three times already. By the way, I can't blame him. It's really good. Anyway. What… what I'm trying to say is that I'm… glad he found someone he's happy with, even though it means he's ditching his family on Thanksgiving for your sprained ankle."
Vera's head was spinning, her jaw somewhere in her lap in shock. She could say with confidence that she did not see that coming. There was lump in her throat and she had no idea how to get it out – when she tried to clear it, it didn't quite help.
"Thank you. It… it really means a lot, Candace," she let out with difficulties, voice somewhat hoarse.
"Well… there are rare times when I am not a total bitch, despite the fact it's probably hard for you to believe it now," she hummed, drinking her eggnog in almost one go. Silence fell. Vera guessed Candace was lost in her thoughts as much as she was.
"Is… is that was Foggy told you? That I sprained by ankle?"
Candace looked at her in surprise. "Yeah. Didn't you?"
Vera hoped she wasn't about to screw up. She smiled tightly. "Well, that's not exactly what happened. It was a little more complicated than that. Can you keep a secret?"
Candace seemed offended. "Sure thing."
Vera reached for her phone, flipping through her gallery. It didn't take long – she didn't have many photos there. The photo with the Avengers was there though. She eyed Candace once more, taking a deep calming breath, showing her the selfie, with alternated Matt's outfit, obviously. She didn't even have the original picture.
Candace eyes went wide with shock and she shot Vera an incredulous look, before she checked the picture again.
"What the hell?"
"I was in an accident. Near the Avengers tower. They were… testing some new tech and I got lucky – read shot. It hit my femoral artery. I don't remember much. But I can tell that if they didn't have advanced med technology as well, I would probably still be limping."
Candace eyed her with disbelief, lips parted, stunned silence.
"Matt came. Helped me to get home. Foggy caught us on our way with his offer about Thanksgiving. I told him, that he should come, okay? I might be Czech, but even I can tell it's a big deal."
"Hey, I have no medical education, but I remember what femoral artery is. That's no laughing matter. And you told Matt to come to us? I get why he didn't want to leave you," she said, still shocked, touching the screen. "Are there any other pic-"
"No-" Vera blurted out, hand shooting to her phone, but it was too late. Candace slid to the previous one. Vera had an idea what was there even without looking.
"Whoa- I'm not sure I wanted to see that," Candace exclaimed with wide eyes, shoving the phone back to Vera's hands. Vera hid her face with her palms.
"Yeah, I get that. Stark sent it to me later. Printed. A4 format," she murmured, her face no doubt burning red.
To her shock, Candace laughed wholeheartedly. Vera was starting to understand what Matt meant when he had said Candace wasn't in love with him. Just crushing at. "Good for you. Did you frame it?"
Vera's hands fell in favour to shot her an incredulous look on her own. "No! Jesus. No one should ever supposed to see that."
Candace snorted maybe too easily. "Well, like I said. Good for you. You both seem genuinely happy."
"Oh my god," Vera whined, face-palming again.
Knock on the door interrupted her attempts to hide from the whole world.
"Yeah?" Candace called out since Vera wasn't able to. But she did look at the new comer. Matt. His lips were twitching inconspicuously. He had been listening. Well, at least someone was having fun.
"We're going to the mass in twenty minutes. You wanna come?"
They both did. Candace sneaked out just like Matt did, taking empty cups with her and the moment she closed the door, Matt pulled Vera in his arms. She buried her face to his chest, which was vibrating with silent laugh.
"This isn't funny, Matt. She saw the photo I hoped no one would ever see."
He took her face to his hands, making her to look up. "I have no idea which photo you're talking about," he claimed in pretended confusion.
She rolled her eyes. "You know which one."
He shook his head. "No."
Vera frowned, actually doubting. He must have known, right? "The one where we are…uhm."
"Where we are…?"
"…Kissing."
"Kissing? Kissing how?" he demanded, expression curious, but with amused spark in his eyes. He knew exactly what she was talking about, smug bastard. His thumb traced her lower lip in light touch, teasing. "Perhaps a little reminder…?"
Vera would smack his chest or something, but then their lips collided rather heatedly, way different than previously that night. And she freaking enjoyed it, responding his hungry lunges eagerly, returning his sucking and biting with enthusiasm, her hands traveling his body, while his fingers interweaved in her hair, his other hand finding a way to her bottom, Not leaving an inch between their bodies.
As if she snapped he fingers, he retreated, pecking her lips. "We should go."
"Now?" she asked, horrified. Her hair must have been a mess, her lips had to be freaking swollen – she could see his were –, and her heart was beating like crazy as she was fighting for breath. She wasn't the only one. She resisted the urge to check if the lower part of his body reacted as well. "I can't go to a mass now. I'm gonna be struck by a lightening or something, holy wrath for sinning and all that!"
His lips twitched. "I'll protect you. Plus, all we did was expressing love."
"I definitely sensed lust in there, saint Matthew," she murmured, straightening her hair uselessly. He gave her another kiss, slow, tender, turning her knees weak.
"Better?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's more acceptable, I think."