'Strip.' It took me a minute to process what she meant and I gave her a look which said that I didn't approve of the blunt tone.

I tried to hold on to the bottom of my shirt with one hand whilst I pulled it over my head with the other, but it was no use. Before I had the chance to ask, her hands were there, gently brushing against my skin as she helped me with the action. The change in my breaths was audible and I hoped she didn't notice.

I heard her sigh but looked down to realise it was the wounds which had provoked the reaction – they did look pretty bad, there was no doubt I was a mess. I glanced towards the mirror hoping for a first sight of what I looked like. It wasn't pretty. I barely looked human for all the blood and bruises.

She took a small step back and I undid my belt; it was clear she really wasn't going to leave me alone and there was no point dragging it out longer than was necessary. I was down to my boxers.

'Get in and take them off. I'll wait while you wash your hair and get all that blood off. Call if you need any help.' I did as she said; it didn't sound as though I had any choice. I awkwardly kicked the boxers out of the shower once I was in and turned the water on. I let it run until I could see the steam coming from it and then stepped into the heat.

The relief it provided was almost instantaneous. The pain didn't go away, that was still there – maybe even worse because of the pressure – but I felt the difference as, one by one, the muscles in my body relaxed slightly. I hadn't realised quite how much blood I had been carrying. The water being sucked down the plughole gradually turned from a deep red to clear.

I stood still for a minute before reaching up to try and get the worst of the blood out of my hair before washing it properly. I groaned as I felt the muscles in my arm tighten; still not relaxed enough.

'You okay in there?' She sounded worried.

'I'm fine, just cramp.'

'Turn the water off, I'm coming in.' What? Great! Because this isn't going to totally obliterate our professional relationship.

'No! I'm…' I shut my eyes as another pain shot all the way up my arm. It was no use, I wasn't going to be able to do this without any help. 'Fine, pass me a towel.' Her hand came through the curtain and I forced my arm down to take it from her. There was no way I was going to let her see me naked – not like this anyway…

I tried to wrap it around me, tucking the corner in and dragging the curtain back with my good arm – though I wouldn't have called either of them particularly good at this moment in time.

She seemed to sigh and her eyes scanned up and down my body, presumably looking for some improvement in my appearance – I thought she found what she was looking for.

'It's my arm, I can't reach up… Cramp.' I said the last word a bit too quickly but I couldn't help it, I hated being so bloody useless!

Before I had a chance to question what she was doing, Alesha's fingers were tracing the skin of my arm, applying pressure to the sparsely distributed parts which were still unbruised. I sighed and let my eyes close, the fact that they were her fingers only made the feeling better. I felt like I could fall asleep standing.

I could feel the muscles relax again under her touch and then the fingers stopped too soon, 'More later. First, pass the shampoo.' I sighed in relief and did as she said, my arms moving slightly more easily now.

I watched as she squeezed the shampoo into her palm and I let her rub it into my hair. She was gentle, only catching a tender spot a few times. I let my eyes close again as her nails lightly scratched at the dried blood on my scalp. I could feel the hair getting cleaner as she rinsed the soap out with the showerhead.

When I opened my eyes again she was looking at my chest. My eyes were on her face as she pulled off a few of the steri strips and rubbed her hands in the bar of soap, again, scratching the dried blood from around the cuts.

'You know, I can do that.' I moved my hands and circled them around her wrists to stop them from moving.

She looked up, 'Shut up. And stay still.' I grinned, there was something attractive about her bossy tone of voice, not that I didn't always find her attractive.

'Kay – I think you're done. You look pretty clean.'

'Wow. Feeling complimentary today are we?' I smiled and she rolled her eyes at the sentence. She got out of the shower and leant in to take the towel. I handed it to her and rinsed off once more quickly, sticking my hand out to take the towel again when I was done.

I got out, still moving slowly though it wasn't as painful as before. I walked out, wrapped only in the towel, and into my bedroom. I sensed Alesha behind me, she'd followed me in. I pulled open a couple of drawers and picked out my trackies. I heard Alesha leave for a moment and I sat on the edge of the bed whilst I pulled on a new pair of pants and the grey trackie bottoms.

Alesha came back with a bottle of pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other. I could see what was coming so I held out my hand for the pills and took the water, swallowing both the tablets together.

I left the glass of water on the side as Alesha stayed leant against the doorframe and went over to the chest of drawers again. I was beginning to feel a little strange wondering around half naked with Alesha there. I picked out a black vest but before I had a chance to put in on Alesha had it out of my hands as she guided and carefully pushed me onto the bed, face down.

I was about to ask what the hell she was doing and then I remembered the promise from the shower, more later.

'Just relax.' Her voice was soft and so I let my body go limp on the bed as she sat beside me, cross-legged. I turned so my face was facing her but I let my eyes close as her fingers touched me again.

'Strip,' I demanded. No point in treading carefully. He gave me a weird sort of look and reluctantly obeyed. I watched him for a second struggling to pull his shirt off and went to help him. Though he wouldn't admit it, I could see he wasn't going to be able to get it off on his own. I was aware of the smooth texture of his bare chest as my fingers skimmed over the skin.

I sighed, how did he have the time to keep in such good shape? There were wounds all over his chest and, had it not been for them, my reaction may have been much more noticeable. At least they distracted my attention from the impressive physique of the half naked man in front of me.

I let him undo his belt and tried not to let my eyes linger more than necessary as the jeans dropped to the floor.

Now, what's the easiest way to do this? 'Get in and take them off. I'll wait while you wash your hair and get all that blood off. Call if you need any help.' I knew he wouldn't but I offered all the same. I leant against the sink waiting and 20 seconds later the boxers landed just outside the curtain. I'd already decided I was going to throw all of the clothes away – they were filthy, even the boxers had patches of blood and dirt on the waistband.

The water turned on and I went out and grabbed a plastic bag which was sat on the counter quickly. I stuffed the boxers, shirt, jeans and jacket in the bag and left them by the front door.

As I walked back into the bathroom I heard a deep groan from inside the cubicle, 'You okay in there?'

'I'm fine, just cramp.' I waited for a second, deliberating.

'Turn the water off, I'm coming in.' I heard the surprise in the silence.

'No! I'm…' he didn't finish the sentence and I winced with him as I realised what must have stopped him from speaking. 'Fine, pass me a towel.' I did as he said, I had no desire to make this more awkward than it already had the potential to be. Though I could never really see things being awkward between us, I wasn't sure any situation could be awkward with Matt – he could make a joke out of anything, all he had to do was grin to set me off.

I waited for his permission to enter and then I saw his hand pop out as it dragged the curtain across the rail.

I walked in and the sigh was audible. He was stood looking gloriously naked in front of me again. And again, I was almost thankful for the long, deep wound that stretched along his chest. Almost, but not quite.

'It's my arm, I can't reach up… Cramp.' The last word came out in a rush, like he was afraid it would cause more pain. The suffering in his voice dragged me back to the moment.

I looked at his arm for a split second and reached out for it, remembering the time I had visited my Mum after a long exam at law school. I'd been so grateful when she'd massaged my hand, surely the same could be applied here. I took his arm, doing my best to ignore the strength of them, the muscle and the faint veins visible through the skin. I let my hands rub them, starting soft and then increasing the pressure, doing all I could to keep away from the bruises.

I heard him sigh and looked up to see his eyes closed. I smiled and watched his face, no longer screwed up from the discomfort.

We couldn't stay like this all day, 'More later. First, pass the shampoo.' It wasn't like I would forget the promised chance to run my fingers all over his soft, pale skin again.

He lifted his arm the short amount to reach the shampoo without difficulty and handed it to me.

I rolled up my sleeves and squeezed a dollop into my hand, then handed the bottle back and lifted my arms to rub it into his hair. It was even softer than it looked. Satisfied that the soap had been lathered enough, well, more than necessary really, I pulled the showerhead out of it's holder and reached up to rinse the soap out. I let the water run until the hair was dark and pure and then turned the water off.

I looked at his chest now, there was still too much blood there. I carefully pulled off some of the steri strips from the wounds which looked like they'd be fine without it. I rubbed my hands in the bar of soap and carefully tried to scratch off the blood from around the cuts, being particularly careful around the biggest wounds which ran from the side of his chest all the way round to his front; it was surrounded by a dark bruise.

'You know, I can do that.' His hands held mine like cuffs. I looked at him.

'Shut up. And stay still.' He smiled.

'Kay – I think you're done. You look pretty clean.'

'Wow. Feeling complimentary today are we?' He smiled again and I smiled as well, he looked better.

I got out of the cubicle and waited for him to finish, taking the towel and handing it back to him after he'd rinsed. Looking at him again after he had rinsed, I realised that his face was also heavily bruised. The damage had been mostly concealed until now by the dirt but the dark patches around his eye and on his forehead were now much more clear. I followed him into his room. It was light but there was drizzle outside. I couldn't help but watch the muscles that lined his back as he moved, the strength in them was obvious. I left and went to pour a glass of water whilst he got dressed though when I returned he was still wearing only a pair of tracksuit bottoms.

I noticed his subconsciously limited movements, he was usually much more flexible and agile.

I smiled stupidly at his back as he went to pull out a shirt.

Before he had a chance to pull it over his head I pulled it out of his hands and gently pushed him onto the bed. I felt his body tense even more as I held onto his shoulders.

'Just relax.' He seemed to do as I said, his shoulders automatically dropping slightly. I sat next to him on the bed and he turned his face to me, eyes closed. I watched his face as I let my fingers run over his back once again. After ten minutes I stopped. It was silent and I realised Matt was asleep. His breaths had grown deeper and he looked serene. I too, was tired. Yeah, I'd only woken up a few hours ago but somehow, I still felt drained. I let my back fall to the bed and within a few minutes, I'd fallen asleep.

A/N: Pleaaasseee review :)