A/N: another update from me! Thanks again for your positive feedback, I'm so truly appreciative.

The first part of this chapter was sort of inspired by last night's Christmas special...in quite subtle ways, though. I don't want to give it away for those who have not seen or heard about it, but it was a bit of a mixed bag for M/M shippers. There were some beautiful moments. For the last few months, I've really felt that whatever happens in canon, it almost doesn't matter that much...we've been given these wonderful characters who have such a strong and interesting and timeless relationship, we are free to do what we want with them. Of course, we should remain consistent with what we've seen of them in canon, but they've been through so much on the show that we have almost endless amounts to work with.

I don't think I'm explaining myself very well, but what I mean to say is - I almost see canon as another fanfic. It is there for us to enjoy the characters, but we can always produce our own stories using the same characters and their love. I see the characters as being greater than what happens in canon – they go beyond the show. I think it's what happens with all of the great characters in literature, and now in film and television.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling and let you guys get on with the chapter! Xxx
...

It was 7am, and neither Mary nor Matthew had gone to sleep. They'd spent a couple of hours working on the speech, and Matthew had combined his years of careful drafting of legal documents with his knowledge of business and naturally expressive personality to produce some wonderful lines for Mary. She'd insisted that he should be credited in the speech in some way, but he refused, arguing that Mary would have come up with the same, if not better, material had she not been so tired.

Once the final version had been typed up and saved, they made an unspoken agreement to spend the rest of the night (or early morning) talking and indulging themselves in each other's company. They had both briefly nodded off, though; Matthew had used the ensuite for a couple of minutes, only to come back to find Mary nestled against the pillows with her eyes closed. He was under strict instructions to wake her immediately if she did fall asleep – she said she worked best on either a full night's sleep or no sleep at all, as opposed to a couple of hours' sleep which made her groggy – but Matthew decided to wait a few minutes before waking her, just to watch her. Her timeless elegance radiated through even in slumber, and there was a peacefulness about her which he'd not yet seen. He wondered whether anyone else had ever taken the time to appreciate her in this way.

A while later, Mary had made a discreet dash to the kitchen downstairs to fetch them some coffee. She didn't need it herself, but she'd been beginning to see the effects of the three-hour drive and lack of sleep in Matthew's heavy-lidded eyes. Sure enough, upon her return to the bedroom, she discovered that Matthew had managed to fall asleep sitting upright in the desk chair. Setting the hot mugs down on the bedside table, she padded over to him and gently settled herself on his lap. She knew it wouldn't wake him, and she relished the opportunity to observe him close-up as he rested. His appearance always seemed to alternate between boyish sweetness and masculine beauty, and both were reflected in substantial measure in his repose. Softly, she ran her fingers through those locks of hair which were always perched on his forehead, unless copious amounts of gel were used to secure them away from his face. She chuckled quietly as she thought of how much joy and pleasure his hair alone gave her, and lovingly nuzzled his cheek with her nose. He began to stir, and Mary slowly placed small kisses on his cheek, over his forehead, on his nose, and paused as she hovered over his mouth. He was awake now and his arms had found their way around her body, although his eyes were still drowsy. Closing the gap between them, Matthew pressed his lips to hers; it was the most feather-like of touches, barely a kiss at all, but it sent chills down Mary's spine.

"I like waking up to you." Matthew smiled lazily, his face slightly flushed.

"I like waking you up." Mary replied, cradling his face in her hands and stroking her thumb over his cheek. "I'm so glad you came." She whispered.

"Me too." Matthew smiled widely. Mary always admired how unrestrained Matthew was with his emotions, and his freedom with expressing himself was most apparent with his smiles. His whole face would light up, with happiness and love pouring out of him. It was contagious, and Mary was finding herself increasingly free with her own feelings; she'd grown up unsure of how to express herself, and was then trained during her years in business that it was best to detach herself from emotions as much as possible. But Matthew had taught her, in his own subtle, charming way, that allowing yourself to feel was the greatest gift you could give yourself. He had given her something to put a smile on her face when she woke up in the mornings and when she went to bed at night. Life for her thus far had consisted of rigorous schooling, feeling misunderstood by her peers, a demanding job complicated by its familial connections and insincere relationships with men. With Matthew, she was able to be exactly who she was, without worrying about people's opinions of her (or rather, without worrying about making it seem like she didn't care what people thought of her). In his eyes, she was both the truest version of Mary Crawley that anybody had ever known, and the most perfect woman in the world. It was a blessing and a relief to have something so utterly simple – true love – to live for.

"Do you want some coffee?" Mary asked, giggling as Matthew sleepily rubbed his face against her shoulder.

"In a minute." He mumbled against her collarbone. He was too comfortable in the position they were in to disrupt it. "Stop it, Mary, or you'll send me to sleep again." He complained, referring to the way Mary was raking her fingers across the base of his scalp, like a soothing massage.

"I hope you're not planning on driving back home anytime soon." Mary said, removing her fingers from his hair and affectionately rubbing across his shoulders.

"I have to." Matthew replied. "I can't leave my car in Bath and get a train home."

"In that case you're staying here tonight too and driving to London tomorrow." Mary said resolutely.

"I can't do that, Mary."

"Well you're certainly not getting behind a steering wheel when you can barely sit up straight." The firmness in Mary's tone was softened by a grin as Matthew sharply lifted his head up from her shoulder, in an attempt to prove that he was awake enough to drive.

"I can't stay here another night." Matthew repeated, tickling Mary's side as punishment for laughing at him.

"Why not?"

"Your father is expecting me to merely 'pop in' for a cup of tea, not stay here for the entire weekend!" Matthew pointed out. "It'll be difficult enough to explain why I turned up in the middle of the night in the pouring rain."

"We'll say that the friend you were visiting had to leave Bath for a family emergency but forgot to tell you. You couldn't find anywhere else to stay so you thought you'd come here." Mary offered simply.

"Should I be disturbed by your capacity to think up alibis so fluidly?" Matthew asked with mock-concern.

"I think it adds a certain mystery to me which you should find appealing." Mary retorted haughtily, prompting Matthew to laugh. He kissed her neck softly.

"How do we explain where I slept?" He asked, and Mary sighed at his conscientiousness.

"We'll tell them the truth and say we didn't sleep – I told Gerald that you were here to help me with my speech, and that is what you did. Dad won't suspect anything, and I doubt Gerald will discuss it with him, anyway; there's no time to do so." She reassured him.

"I'm quite looking forward to meeting Gerald and Helen." Matthew smirked. Mary had gone into greater detail as to why her hosts irked her so much, and explained her suspicions about their motives for being so helpful. They'd been effusive in their praise of and enthusiasm for the centenary and the work that Robert had done with the department store, and Mary had taken this as conclusive proof of their scheme. Matthew had affectionately chided her for jumping to unfair conclusions before getting to know them, but she still wasn't convinced of their innocence.

"Yes, you can do some digging and find out how big a slice of equity they'd like in Crawley's." Mary dead-panned.

"I'll tell them that you're thinking of offering Gerald a role as your co-manager." Matthew goaded.

"You do that and I'll tell Helen that it was you who wrecked her carpet with muddy footprints." Mary threatened. "She'll kick you out onto the street."

"But then you'd come and rescue me." Matthew stated matter-of-factly.

"Would I?" Mary raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Of course you would. Because you love me." Matthew reminded her with a wide grin, his eyes sparkling as he spoke the last three words. His smile was infectious, and Mary struggled to keep a straight face to receive the kiss he planted on her lips.

…

Robert had greeted Matthew with surprise. Matthew got the sinking feeling that the older man hadn't actually expected him to turn up at the house. Or maybe he was over-thinking things, and it was simply that Robert's busy schedule had led him to forget about inviting Matthew to visit. Either way, Robert expressed pleasure at seeing him, and expressed pity at his story of arriving in Bath with nowhere to stay.

"I thought I'd come along to the luncheon, if that's alright, and then find somewhere to stay this evening." Matthew offered, hoping that Robert would be kind enough to let him impose in his own accommodation.

"You are more than welcome to attend the luncheon, and I'm sure that Gerald will be able to spare a room for tonight, don't worry." Robert said genially. "Now, I'm afraid I must rush off, I need to go to the venue early to oversee the preparations." He apologised, checking his watch.

"Of course, thanks so much." Matthew said gratefully. "I'll see you later."

The weather had improved immeasurably since the previous night – for an afternoon in late November, it was mild and sunny. So sunny, in fact, that the event organisers and Robert decided to hold the speeches outdoors, in the grounds of the conference centre, to take advantage of the well-kept gardens. Matthew overheard some think-tank consultant mention that holding the event outdoors in the sunlight would encourage optimism towards the prospects of industry in the west of England, and he'd sniggered with Mary at their spurious ways of thinking.

Mary's speech had gone well, and her delivery of it was helped by the fact that the words reminded her of the man who'd helped her to write them. A vision of her future flashed before her eyes; Matthew would accompany her to her business trips, helping, relaxing and supporting her as he had been doing since last night, and Mary would take him back to their home to show him (through words and other means) just how much she appreciated him.

Snapping herself out of these potentially harmful thoughts, she made her way to the dining area, where lunch was being served. There was still a long way to go before her vision could be fulfilled; she had to broach the subject of divorce with a family who looked down upon the notion. Matthew had to end his own marriage with a woman who still loved him. She shook her head clear of these worries – now wasn't the time to dwell on obstacles.

Robert had told the organisers that Mary was bringing a guest, and to arrange another place-setting. It seemed that the organisers had presumed, what with Matthew's surname and the fact that he matched Mary in his good looks, that he was Mary's husband. And so Mary was where she felt she should be, next to Matthew, as the blur of men in suits boomed and guffawed around them.

"Matthew, stop!" Mary laughed heartily, gripping Matthew's forearm and trying to push it away as he served comedic amounts of rice and potatoes onto her plate.

"What's going on?" Robert called from across the table. He was smiling along with them as they laughed, but was intrigued by the chemistry between them, which before now he hadn't noticed.

"Matthew keeps telling me to eat more – he thinks I'm losing too much weight." Mary explained with a playful roll of her eyes, as if complaining about the endearingly annoying habits of a new husband. She had shed several pounds over the last month or so, due to the stress and hectic lifestyle brought on by her work. Matthew had remarked earlier that morning that he could barely feel her when she was sat on his lap, and had repeatedly bounced her on his knee to prove his point.

"Yes, I'd noticed that too…" Robert said politely, casting an eye over Matthew curiously. He said no more, but didn't need to – his daughter and his protégé were quickly involved with their own conversation again, oblivious to those around them. He noticed the way Matthew seemed intent on making Mary laugh, and easily succeeded in doing so, and the way Mary cheekily picked at the food on his plate. He'd never seen her like this with anyone else, least of all his son-in-law. His attention was diverted, however, by the guest on his right, but he made a mental note to ask Gerald about the circumstances of Matthew's arrival last night.

…

"Do you know what room you're staying in yet?" Mary asked. The lunch had finished, and some guests were mingling in the foyer of the conference centre while others filtered out. Matthew had found a secluded area in the gardens for him and Mary to spend more time together, armed with the excuse of admiring the stunning pond display, should anyone happen upon them and question what they were doing.

"No. I'm not sure if your Dad has actually asked Gerald about it, but he said it should be fine." Matthew replied, swinging their joined hands between them as they strolled alongside the flower-beds. "Remind me to thank Robert again for lending me this tie." Matthew said. He'd turned up in Bath unprepared for a formal luncheon, dressed in a casual shirt and corduroys, so Robert had lent him one of his spare ties. The resulting outfit was odd and mismatched, and Mary had poked fun at him, but he didn't care. His main reason for being there was to be with Mary – nothing else mattered.

"Let me know once you know, and I'll come over at some point." Mary said casually.

Matthew paused and turned to face her, a smirk on his lips. "Excuse me? I thought the whole purpose of me staying another night was for me to get a good night's sleep so I can drive home safely. And now you want to come and keep me awake?" He teased.

"I never said anything about keeping you awake." Mary defended herself. "I just thought…" She trailed off, feeling self-conscious.

"What?" Matthew prompted.

Mary sighed, feeling silly. "I thought it might be nice to sleep together. I mean- actually sleep…and wake up together." She clarified, harking back to the events of earlier that morning. She blushed at the giddy, hopelessly-in-love look in Matthew's eyes as he opened his mouth to respond.

"Mary?" Robert's voice called from behind some trees, unknowingly interrupting them. Mary and Matthew swiftly pulled their intertwined fingers apart before Robert could see.

"I'm here, Dad." Mary replied.

Matthew smiled at Robert as he appeared, but did not receive a glance back.

"Our car's here, we should go now or we'll be late for dinner. We promised Gerald and Helen that we'd dine with them this evening." Robert addressed Mary.

"And we wouldn't want to miss a second of that." Mary replied drolly. "Let's go, then." She said to Matthew, beckoning him as she moved to leave.

"The car is just for us." Robert informed Mary, throwing Matthew a look.

"But Matthew's staying with us this evening." Mary reminded her father. "Is there a separate car coming for him?"

"Actually, Matthew is not staying with us this evening." Robert said curtly, but not rudely.

"What? Why?" Mary asked, failing to hide how much she cared about where Matthew was spending the night.

"I don't think it's right." was Robert's simple reply.

"It's fine." Matthew piped up, sensing that Mary was about to strike up an argument with her father. "I wouldn't want to inconvenience your relatives anymore. They've already let me stay for one night, which is kind enough." He desperately hoped that this is what Robert had meant when he said he didn't think it was right.

"But where will you go?" Mary asked.

"There are plenty of B&B's around here, I'll find somewhere." Matthew smiled reassuringly, although he felt as disappointed as she looked.

"Yes, exactly." Robert said. His demeanour was much colder than Matthew had ever seen. "It was nice to see you, have a safe trip home."

There was no hug, no handshake, only a cursory smile from the man Matthew had long thought of as his mentor. Mary looked incensed, but didn't say anything.

And with that, they left.

...

A/N: as ever, please continue to fill me in on your thoughts! Xxx