Hello all. Hope you're still enjoying the story. I love writing Matt x Foggy bromance! The start of this may not seem to fit into the theme of the story, but it will get there by the end! :3 Bg.97 xx
"Foggy, are you really sure that this is okay? I'm happy to just stay here over break."
Foggy groaned loudly. "For the hundredth time, Murdock- you're not spending Christmas by yourself. You're completely welcome to come and stay with my family. They're going to love you."
"Yeah but"-
"You're not intruding- you're my best friend. You're basically family anyway. There'll be so many people around, the family will barely notice an extra member." Foggy reassured Matt for what felt like the millionth time in the last few weeks. As soon as he'd learned that Matt was planning on staying on campus for Christmas break, he knew that he wasn't allowed to let that happen. Christmas was a time for family and Foggy had plenty to share. I mean he was one of six children, after all.
Matt looked hesitant, but sighed in defeat. "Well if you're sure. You're going to have to remind me of all your siblings again though."
Foggy chuckled. "Yeah, there are a lot of us… So," he prepared to list them- his hand ready in front of him, "Theo is the oldest. He's going to take over the hardware store when Dad eventually decides to retire. He's married to Kelly and they have 2 kids. Second oldest is Kenny: he owns a bakery down the other side of town. After that is Simon who is a plumber (he's the one coming to pick us up today). Then there's me- the handsome, dashing, smart one." Matt chuckled at that. "Then there's my little sister Sarah, who's in her first year of college, and the youngest is Tommy who is 13."
Matt catalogued all the names and was sure that it would be easier to remember them once he had sounds and smells to associate them with. He heard Foggy zip up his suitcase, indicating that he had finished packing, and he could sense that Foggy's arm was gestured towards him.
"Do you need any help finishing packing?"
Matt shook his head. "Nah buddy, I think I'm good thanks."
"Then we are all good to go! Just got to wait for the phone call from my brother now."
Foggy jumped back on to his bed, pulling his trusty baseball from his pocket and throwing it from hand to hand. Matt lay back himself, trying to relax, but everything was so noisy. The sound of the baseball hitting Foggy's hands; the kettle boiling somewhere on the floor below; the crunch of footsteps in the snow on the streets outside their window; and somehow above all of that, his own slightly fast heartbeat. He shouldn't feel so nervous but he couldn't help himself. It had been over a decade since he had actually had a family. Those teen years spent at the orphanage should have felt like family, but he often felt detached from the other children, and especially from the nuns- whom he was sure had something they weren't telling him. Yeah… It had been a long time since Matt Murdock had been welcomed into a family, and he was terrified either way: whether the Nelsons drew him in with loving arms, or they turned him away. The first because it was so unfamiliar to him, and the second because the truth of it was that he didn't really want to spend Christmas on his own. Even when he was doing his undergraduate degree, he would end up back at the orphanage for Christmas dinner, because as much as he told himself he didn't mind being alone, it felt like shit to be lonely at Christmas. His thoughts were interrupted by Foggy's phone going off.
"Hello?" he answered, Matt homing in on what sounded like a very relaxed voice on the other side of the line.
"We'll meet you out the front. Okay. See you in a few." Foggy replied before hanging up the phone and sliding it back into his pocket. "Come on, Matt. Simon is outside."
Matt got up, threw his bag over his shoulder, grabbed his cane and began to follow the sound of Foggy's footsteps out of the room. His friend offered his elbow to hold, but he decided to just use his cane.
When they reached outside, Matt could feel Foggy smiling next to him as they approached what sounded like a slightly old pick-up truck.
"Hey, little lawyer man." A very loud, enthusiastic voice called, as Foggy ran towards it; embracing his brother.
"Simon, it's so good to see you, man! This is my roomie and best friend Matt."
Matt held out his hand to shake Simon's and was surprised as the other man pulled him into a hug, pressing his cane into his chest. "Nice to meet you Matt, I'm Simon."
"Nice to meet you too." Matt laughed as he escaped Simon's grasp.
"It's good that Foggy's got friends here. We weren't sure he was going to make any. Though it probably helps that you can't see what a mess he is."
Foggy's eyes went wide at his brother's comment but Matt just laughed. "I can smell it though."
"That's totally unfair!" Foggy objected, making his brother pull him in close to muss up his hair.
"Nah it ain't. You guys can dump your stuff in the back and jump in the truck."
Matt nodded and Foggy helped get him into the truck. Foggy's brother turned up the radio and began to cruise down the journey to Foggy's home.
As they opened the door and Matt heard the soft thud of Foggy dropping their bags in the hallway, the first thing Matt thought was this place smelt like a home. Not a house, but a home. There was food cooking in the oven, though he hadn't quite worked out what yet, and the place was warm with people buzzing around. He heard the shuffle of an older woman coming down the corridor, followed by a quick intake of breath as she approached.
"Franklin! You're home. My baby is home!" Mrs Nelson exclaimed in a voice that Foggy seem quiet, as she enveloped him in a hug.
"And you must be Matty," she said, greeting Matt the same way, bringing him to the conclusion that the Nelsons were huggers.
"It's just Matt, Mom." Foggy corrected.
"No, no." Matt objected, "Matty is fine. That's what my dad used to call me."
Foggy's Mom smiled, her hand resting on Matt's cheek. "You can call me Mama Nelson."
"Mom!" Foggy interjected, clearly embarrassed at his mother's behaviour.
"What? Can I not be welcoming to your friend, Franklin?" She gave a Foggy a quick clip around the ear as if he were 9 again, and grabbed Matt's hand, slowly guiding him down the corridor. "Come on Matty, I'll show you where you'll be staying."
Matt smiled, following wherever it was that Mrs, wait Mama, Nelson was taking him. It was all a bit overwhelming, but he could tell that Foggy's family were being genuine, and actually wanted to take him in from the kindness of their hearts. It explained a lot about Foggy's character to Matt. She opened a door and led Matt into a room which smelt distinctly of the smell that he had come to associate with his best friend. He sat down on the bed and let Mrs Nelson fuss over him a bit longer until Foggy cut in and told her that he could take things from here.
Foggy plonked himself down next to Matt on the bed and smiled. "It's good to be home."
"Is this your room?" Matt asked, pointing at the room around them.
"Usually it is, but this week it's yours."
Matt looked confused at this. "But where are you going to sleep?"
Foggy shrugged. "I've got an inflatable mattress, I'll crash on the floor in here."
"No, I can't take your bed for the whole week, Fog."
"Of course you can, Matt."
"Foggy"-
"Damn it Matt, stop trying to be so righteous and let me be nice to you." Foggy said, ending the conversation.
They sat for a few moments in uncomfortable silence before Foggy got up and reached for Matt's hand for him to do the same. "We should go downstairs. I'll introduce you to Dad and Tommy while we wait for the others to get here for dinner."
Matt let his friend lead him down the stairs, and into what he was guessing from the smells coming from the room, was the kitchen.
"Hey Foggy." a voice of an older man, worn from cigarettes , said in a friendly manner.
"Dad. I've missed you." Foggy said, letting go of Matt momentarily to hug his father.
"And you must be the Matt Murdock we've heard so much about." Mr Nelson said, shaking Matt's hand in a firm grasp.
"It's good to meet you, sir."
"It's crazy to have a Murdock in our house. I use to watch your Dad fight."
Matt was shaken at the mention of his dad, but a soft smile fell on his face. "Really?"
"Yep. He was a persistent fighter. That's what I admired about him. It seems like you're pretty resilient yourself, according to Foggy here."
Matt shrugged off the compliment. He was about to respond when a young heartbeat entered the room, beating fast to indicate that he'd just been running around.
"Foggy, you're home!"
"Hey, big guy!" Foggy greeted warmly, grabbing the youngest Nelson by the neck and rubbing his hair, much like Simon had done with his earlier. "This is my friend, Matt."
The young boy stopped awkwardly in front of Matt.
"Can you really not see me?" he asked.
"Thomas!" Mama Nelson yelled shocked from her spot at the table.
"It's fine, honestly." Matt said to Foggy's mom before turning his attention to Tommy. "I really can't."
He paused, a sceptical look falling on his face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Five. He was holding up five.
"Three?" Matt asked.
"Shit, you really can't see me!"
Matt laughed as the boy's parents corrected his language.
"Is it true you lost your eyesight saving an old man?"
Matt scoffed at how heroic the kid made it sound but nodded his head as agreement.
"That's awesome!"
Tommy then proceeded to launch into a flurry of questions in rapid succession. Matt answered all of them, but his ears focused on the conversation between Foggy and his mom.
"So when are the others coming?"
"Theodore will come as soon as he gets off work, and Kennedy is going to pick up Sarah from the train station and bring her probably in the next half hour."
Or now, Matt thought as he heard footsteps approaching the front door of the house. The door was knocked a few seconds later, much to the surprise of the Nelsons.
"Or now." Foggy laughed, his words matching the thoughts Matt had just had.
Mrs Nelson went to answer it and as the door opened, Matt could hear two new heartbeats. One was probably about half a decade or so older than himself, and by the rate at which it was beating, he was assuming that the guy wasn't very physically fit. The other heartbeat belonged to a woman; a young one- that must be Foggy's sister. She had a strong floral scent surrounding her. He recognised the perfume as one that the girl who sat behind him in their criminal law class wore.
"Hi mom." The girl greeted, sighing in relief to be home.
"Sarah, my darling. I've missed you, my little girl."
Sarah laughed in response, "I'm not so little anymore, Mom. I'm at college now, remember?"
Mrs Nelson sighed. "All you kids are growing up. I feel so old."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Is Foggy home yet?"
"Him and his friend are in the kitchen." her mother replied, pointing towards the room in which Matt and Foggy were sat.
Sarah bounded down the corridor and into the room. Foggy beamed and immediately got up to meet his sister. Once they had hugged, in the typical Nelson greeting, Foggy stepped aside and gestured towards Matt.
"Sarah, this is my best friend, Matt."
Matt stood up to greet Sarah and noticed that as soon as he did, the girl's heart beat faster, and he could sense that her cheeks were flushed. Her breath caught in her throat before he spluttered out, "It's nice to meet you, Matt."
"You too, Sarah." he held out a hand for her to shake and she grabbed it eagerly. It seemed as if she was trying to supress giggling.
Oh dear. This could be very awkward…
By the time that Foggy's eldest brother and his family had arrived, Matt had fully realised that Foggy's little sister was just a bit smitten on him. It was strange, because of course, he didn't properly know what he looked like, but he seemed to keep having that effect on women. They saw him, and immediately their whole demeanour changed. However, Sarah Nelson was one girl that he wasn't proud to have had that effect on. He was hoping desperately that Foggy hadn't noticed. By his current attitude; Matt was assuming that he hadn't.
At dinner, she was quick to be the first to offer to sit next to Foggy's blind friend, and help him with anything he might need. Matt sat next to her, smiling enough to hope it covered the fact that he had most definitely noticed the extra spray (or five) of perfume that she had put on. As they ate, she offered nearly every minute to pass Matt something else, or top up his drink or something, any excuse to talk to him. After a while of this Foggy intervened,
"Sarah. Matt is fine. He doesn't need you to do everything for him."
She muttered a half-hearted apology under her breath, but stayed pretty quiet after that, only pitching into the family conversations when necessary.
Then Matt coughed, nearly choking on his drink, when he felt a dainty hand coming to rest on his thigh.
Foggy looked at him, his face a mixture of worried and confused. "Matt, are you okay?"
He retained his composure as quickly as possible, sipping his water again. "Yeah, sorry. Drink just went down the wrong way."
Matt could feel it beside him as a smirk fell on Sarah's face. He could also feel her hand tracing circles on his jeans, and though usually he would appreciate the gesture, in this circumstance, it absolutely terrified him.
After dinner, they retired to the living room to sit and watch a movie. Foggy tried to convince them to do something else, so Matt could enjoy it too, but Matt told them not to change their plans for his sake, so they didn't. He made sure to sit between Foggy and Tommy on the sofa. Somewhere, anywhere, where Sarah couldn't reach him.
As they were getting ready for bed, Matt turned to Foggy. "Hey Fog?"
"Yeah?"
"Your sister… Does she have a boyfriend?"
The atmosphere in the room changed instantly.
"No, she doesn't."
"Okay."
"If you're asking because you're interested, please know that if you try anything on my baby sister I will take your cane and beat your dick off with it."
Matt went red, hastening to correct himself. "No, Foggy, that wasn't why I was asking. Like not at all."
"It better not be."
"It really wasn't."
He felt Foggy slowly loosen back into his casual demeanour, but he sensed that something had shifted. He needed to stay away from Sarah for the rest of his stay. She was going to get him into trouble.
The next morning, he stepped out the shower, to realise that he had forgotten to grab his shirt off the bed in Foggy's room. He just hoped that he didn't run in to anyone as he went back to get it. He shimmied into his jeans, and dried his hair, unlocking the door and stepping out into the corridor, not really paying any attention to his surroundings and walking right into a solid figure in front of him.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." He froze, as his senses kicked in and recognised the smaller hand that was currently resting on his chest. That was when he shook off his tiredness and actually began to focus on things. The most blaring thing right now being how quickly the girl's heat was rising.
She opened her mouth to say something but was silent for a few seconds longer. Matt could feel her eyes burning a hole in his torso. "So" she eventually spoke up. "Do you work out?"
"Yeah, occasionally. I've got to go now." And he quickly slipped from her grasp and in to Foggy's room where he let out a deep sigh as he could still hear her quickened heartbeat in the hallway outside.
The next evening was the worse. They'd gone out to a Christmas market, and somehow he had managed to be separated from Foggy and stuck with Sarah on her own. She was keeping the conversation light, but as he held her elbow, he could tell that she had somewhere very specific in mind that she was leading him towards. She came to a stop and the smell of it hit him a moment before she said it:
"Mistletoe."
He pretended to mishear her. "Excuse me?"
"We're under mistletoe." Sarah laughs.
"Oh." He said, trying to come off as coy and awkward compared to his usual outrageously flirty self. He was hoping that it was awkward enough that she wouldn't try anything. By her composure, Matt knew that he was only lying to himself.
"Shall we kiss then?" she asked, her voice underlying with excitement.
Matt laughed. "I really don't know how Foggy is going to feel about this."
She shrugged as she leaned in closer, "Foggy doesn't have to know."
Matt gulped, thinking that he might as well just get it over with and put the poor girl out of her misery, but just as his hands fell on her waist, the familiar smell of Foggy came into his senses more clearly, followed by his distinct voice calling his name. Matt pulled away sharply, heading to the voice as quickly as possible, hearing Sarah sigh behind him.
By the time that the week was over and him and Foggy returned back to campus; Matt found that he had never been more relieved to escape a girl's attention. He was pretty sure that there was a rule in that bro code that Foggy always talked about that you shouldn't get with your friend's sister. Foggy read that code as law. If Matt had broken it; he would have died. Maybe Foggy was right- girls were just too into the wounded, handsome duck thing.
Sorry for the late update! I have exams coming up and though I had this idea, I wasn't so sure how to flesh it out. If it's crap sorry! And sorry the ending felt rushed, I just hated making you wait. Please read it and review it and share it anyway though! Thanks. Bg.97 xx