AN: So it's been a little bit. Sorry about that. Enjoy!
Edith watched as her subscriber count climbed with each minute. It had taken her months to reach just 100,000 subscribers, but in the few days since the headlines about her sister broke, she had gained half a million more and it didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon.
Part of Edith knew that these people were only subscribing in hopes of hearing more about the story her sister was involved in. Comments were already piling up on her last video asking about Mary and whether she was going to do any videos with her soon. She didn't reply to those comments, mostly because she didn't know anything about what was going on with Mary and Mary wasn't about to tell her. She could try Matthew, but he probably wouldn't budge either. But maybe Tony? He was just as much her friend as Mary's so maybe he would be willing to do something for her for her videos.
Grabbing her phone, she scrolled through her contacts until she reached Tony's name. Her fingers hovered over the new message screen she had opened before the perfect idea came to mind.
'Hey Tony…'
Matthew's mobile hadn't stopped ringing all day. Ever since Rick had followed through with his threat to publish, he had been inundated with messages from friends who knew he was the unidentified man whose name had been redacted in the report about the fight. The worse though, was from his mother.
He had been ignoring her calls all day, replying back with a simple message that he was in the library and they could talk later. That hadn't stopped Isobel though, and she continued to ring him every hour, even though he ignored them all.
He had since left the library, having hurried over to Mary's place in the hour since his mother's last call. He knew her next call was due any moment, based on her pattern, so he stared at his mobile unsure of his next move. When his phone began to vibrate a minute later, it shook the table and caused Mary to look up at him from her own revision. He was still undecided about whether he should pick it up or not.
"You should answer that." Mary chimed in, eyes meeting his before looking down at the device. "She's only going to keep calling until you do."
"I feel as if I'm back in primary school and she's going to ground me or something." He muttered in explanation before he grabbed the device and hit accept. Mary's bemused smile followed him as he left the room so she could keep working in peace.
"Hello mother."
"How did it go?" Mary asked when Matthew reappeared close to an hour later. He flopped down into the seat he had occupied before with a groan, dropping his head into his hands. "That well, huh?" She reached out with her hand to massage the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension she felt there.
"She's worried this will mess up my future prospects." Matthew took the hand Mary had rested on the base of his skull and pressed a kiss to her palm. "Even though my name is not mentioned anywhere in the piece."
"You still have your training contract set up for after you graduate, right?" Mary pushed aside her work, focusing her attention on Matthew as he nodded in response to her question. "Then everything will be fine." She was completely calm about this, had been since the story broke, but Matthew couldn't understand why. Unlike him, she was explicitly named in the story and the story was far from complete. It speculated (fairly accurately) about the secret club that Mary, Tony, and Rick were all a part of, detailing the fight especially. All the information about Mary's past wasn't addressed, but the piece did allude to more, and he knew what that 'more' was.
"How come your parents aren't beside themselves with worry?" Matthew asked the question that had been nagging him.
"They already knew about the club. Well, my father did. And trust me, they have their lawyers all over Carlisle's father to keep him from publishing anymore." Matthew watched her as she spoke, and while her voice was nonchalant, the terse expression on her face told him that she wasn't as calm as she appeared to be. It struck him then that Mary was putting on brave face for him because he was full with enough anxiousness for the both of them. "And before you even mention his name, Tony won't go blurting this out either. It would do him no service to do something like that."
Tony had been the last person on his mind and Matthew just nodded in agreement. He knew Tony wouldn't do anything to seriously jeopardize Mary. Mostly because that would mean that he would have zero future chances with her. Then again, Tony didn't really have any sort of chance with Mary, ever again, not as long as Matthew was still alive.
"Your mobile's lit up." Mary point out in the silence that had followed her earlier declaration.
"Oh." Matthew looked down at the device, expecting it to notify him of a message from someone wanting information or even from his mother yet again. But it wasn't. In fact, it was a notification from YouTube. "Your sister has posted a new video."
"My sister? How on earth could you know that?" Mary asked incredulously.
Matthew grabbed his laptop from his abandoned bag, powering it on and opening his browser. "I subscribed to her channel." He explained, clicking onto YouTube and then Edith's channel.
"Why would you do something as stupid as that?"
"I just wanted to be supportive." Matthew shrugged, before his eyes widened at what he saw on the screen. "Mary, come look at this."
"If it's another video ranting about how irritating I am, I'll pass." Mary rolled her eyes, having no intention of watching yet another of Edith's inane vlogs.
"She interviewed Tony." It was all he needed to say. Mary got up and stood by his shoulder, silent as he pushed play.
Everyday, Matthew would check the newspapers, waiting for the moment that Rick would follow through with his ultimate threat and have one of his reporters post a story about Mary's past. It had been a week since the news about the secret club had broken and while the whole university (and seemingly the country) was focused on what a bunch of rich, entitled, uni students did in their free time, not a word more was printed in reference to Mary.
Mary continued on as if everything were normal. They had both been slapped with a fine from her college for the damage done as a result of the fight that night, but had faced no other disciplinary actions. When that news came out, Matthew wasn't sure who was more relieved by it, himself or his mother. His training contract was still lined up for after graduation in a few months time so it honestly seemed as if that night had just been a bad dream. Except for the fact that he felt like he had the sword of Damocles present over his head. (Normally he would leave the references to Greek mythology to his classics loving girlfriend, but in this moment it seemed appropriate.)
Robert had been calling Mary every few days, although the conversation never lasted more than 20 minutes or so. Afterwards, she never mentioned what they discussed, but she never seemed too concerned or upset so Matthew didn't push her. Today though the conversation had already gone past its allotted 20 minutes, Mary just hmming in response to whatever was being said on the other side of the line. They had been sitting quietly on the couch together for the duration, but when it went long, Matthew went to get up, but Mary's grip on his hand tightened stopping him. Now he was stuck waiting for the call to end so he could finally ask what was going on.
"Thank you, Papa. Yes. I understand. See you are the benefit this weekend. Goodbye." Mary hit end on her mobile, but didn't move from her seat.
"That was your father?" Matthew asked unnecessarily. He shifted slightly so he could look at her directly.
"Yes. As well as Murray and Carlisle Sr. and his lawyer. It's all been handled." She finally moved to get up herself, but Matthew stopped her this time.
"Handled? What's been -? They aren't going to publish?" He was confused. "I thought your parents didn't know about what Patrick did and the photos?"
"I had to tell them, obviously. Once they got over the shock of it all, they threatened to sue Carlisle for all he was worth if he went through with his son's threat to print it. That was enough to stay his hand. Plus, when he realized just what the story was and how it would make him look to publish something such as that, he forced Rick to hand over all the evidence he had purchased off that woman who gave it to him in the first place." Matthew let out a deep breath in relief.
"So it really is all over." Matthew reiterated, tugging Mary close so he could wrap his arms around her.
"It really is." Mary repeated, sinking into his embrace. They sat in silence once more, taking the time to process the news. Matthew had hoped that once it was all over, he would feel like he had before all this happened, that all his stress and anxiety over the situation would dissipate like early morning fog at sunrise. The reality was much different. He did feel better, but he knew this was only the end of one chapter in this saga.
They still had Tony to deal with after all.
After a few minutes of quiet, Matthew realized that there was another part of what Mary had said to her father when before she hung up that he had no idea about. "Did you say something about a benefit?"
The charity benefit was in full swing, but Tony's heart wasn't in it. He couldn't tell you what the people speaking to him were saying. Their lips were moving, but as far as he was concerned, no sound was coming out. Same went for Mabel as she maintained small talk beside him. He kept sipping at the glass some server had handed to him as he entered, using it as an excuse to not open his mouth anymore than necessary. His other hand was buried deep in his trouser pocket and Mabel took it as opportunity to loop her arm through his, her hand squeezing on his forearm to try and catch his attention. It was a lost cause; it had been from the moment those two had walked into the room.
Mary, escorted by Matthew, looking the way a society couple should look. They hadn't spotted him yet, that he knew for certain. Ever since the fall out from the ball and Rick's impetuous decision to try and blackmail Mary had failed, they had wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. He had tried to apologize. Many times. Anna just turned him away from the flat when anyone even deigned to open the door; no one even bothered when he tried visiting Matthew's. He had even done Edith's little interview in hopes that they would watch it and see how sorry he was about all this mess. But nothing came of it. No call, no message. Nothing.
It wasn't his fault. Why couldn't they understand that? He couldn't control Rick, no one could. Once Rick Carlisle got an idea in his head, he couldn't be dissuaded. If Mary and Matthew were to blame anyone it should be themselves; after all, they goaded Rick into action. He hadn't done anything wrong. He had tried to comfort Mary after the truth came out. Matthew was the one who was too angry to recognize that.
"We will have to definitely do that, won't we Tony?" Mabel subtly pressed the heel of her stiletto into foot, jolting him back into the conversation.
"Oh, absolutely. It would be a pleasure." Tony didn't know what he was agreeing to, just that the couple before them smiled widely before scampering off and finding someone else to suck up to.
"Staring at her isn't going to make her or him any more likely to hear you out, you know." Mabel informed him, taking the glass from his hand and taking a sip. "I hate the double standard that women have to stick to champagne for most of the evening while you men get all the good stuff. Is this whisky?"
"Yes." Tony answered absently, eyes trying to relocate Mary and Matthew in the crowd.
"I'm going to go check in with our parents. Make sure they haven't donated too much of our fortunes to this ridiculous cause." Mabel handed Tony back his glass and he took it without looking, his focus too absorbed with trying to find his old friends. "Don't do anything too embarrassing this evening, Tony. There is only so much I can do to smooth things over." She tapped him on the chest twice before walking away, dissolving into the crowd. Tony barely noticed she was gone until he went to take another sip of his drink to find it empty.
"Where's the bar?" He muttered, finally giving up his search and hurrying to get a second glass.
—
Unlike Tony, Mabel knew exactly where Mary Crawley was. She had been keeping an eye on her since she was emerged through the crowd at the entrance, her boyfriend sticking close to her side. They had never been formally introduced although Mabel knew more about the Lady Mary Crawley than she ever wished to know.
Picking her way through the crowd, Mabel maneuvered herself just so, allowing her to inject herself into Mary's little circle just as the latest crowd departed, but before she became engaged in another conversation. Even better, her boyfriend seemed deep in discussion with someone else, leaving Mary alone for the first time all night. She saw her chance and took it. "Dreadfully dull tonight, isn't it?" Mabel opened the conversation, accepting the champagne glass from the circulating server with a small smile.
Mary regarded her silently and Mabel wished she had worn the heels that would put her at the same height as Mary instead of going for marginal comfort as she had with the heels she selected. But she refused to allow herself to be intimidated as Mary stared at her, her brow raised in silent question.
"Mabel Lane Fox." Mabel toasted with her champagne glass in greeting before taking a generous sip. She watched Mary's expression, waiting for the shock or surprise at the revelation as to her identity, but none came. So Mary Crawley knew who she was, or she was very good actress. Mabel assumed it was the latter.
Mary continued to regard her coolly before opening her mouth to speak. "Is there something I can do for you, Mabel?" Mabel appreciated the fact that Mary skipped all the pleasantries, getting right down to it. She tended to do the same so she could appreciate it from another, even begrudgingly.
"You can stop stringing Tony along." Mary seemed amused with her response, which only made Mabel narrow her eyes in restrained agitation. "He was happy with me, before you reappeared."
"I never disappeared to reappear in the first place." Mary informed her, as if speaking to a child. She smiled as people greeted her, nodding in greeting as they walked by.
"Can I be blunt?" Mabel replied, but she didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "You've had your time in the spotlight. You found your man. It's time for you to move on."
"Mary? Your grandmother would like to speak with you?" Mabel watched as Mary's boyfriend interrupted them, his hand immediately falling to her back as he spoke with her. The sight made Mabel want to chug down the rest of her champagne but she couldn't, not here, so she just fixed the blond man with an impassive stare as he looked over her quickly before looking back at Mary in concern.
"I'll only be a moment, Matthew. You should go and speak with her." Mary leaned close to him then, whispering something that Mabel couldn't hear but it made the Matthew laugh lightly before he left them alone again.
"Mabel, I wish you all the best with Tony. He's yours. I am in no way doing what you imply." Mary took a step closer then, lowering her voice and speaking again. "If I were you, I would be concerned that he's more interested in a woman who clearly doesn't want him than someone who's clearly does. What does that say about him? More importantly," she paused, looking her over again, "what does that say about you?" Mary finished with a small smirk before following the path Matthew had disappeared down moments before. Mabel stared at Mary's retreating back before giving up.
"Fuck it." She muttered, downing the last of her champagne and seeking out the bar.
She needed a stronger drink.