Alice woke first and lay there as still as she could, still resting on Matthew's chest. She didn't want to move; she didn't want to get up. She lay there feeling like she was doing something wrong by lying in the bed of a man she was not married to but, at the same time, she felt safe and warm in his arms: nothing had happened that she should feel guilty about. At that moment, Matthew's alarm went off and he moved rather quickly to switch it off. Alice moved from Matthew's chest as he leaned back but he just pulled her back into the same position. "We need to get up, Matthew" she said, "we need to get ready and head to work." Matthew had yet to open his eyes and he grumbled something incoherent. Alice moved to lean on her right elbow on the pillow, while she looked at Matthew.
"You're staring, Alice" he said,
"you're not a morning person, are you Matthew". He opened his eyes and looked at her. No words were necessary; the look said it all. Alice laughed and got up to get out of bed. "Would you mind if I use the bathroom first?" she said. Matthew looked at her and told her to go ahead. He said he would get ready when she was finished and whilst she got dressed, he would make a start on breakfast.
By the time Alice made it into the kitchen, Matthew was placing a mug of coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs and buttered toast onto the table in front of her. He sat down in the chair next to Alice and they ate in silence. "Matthew?" Alice reached over to touch his hand. She looked him in the eyes as she said "thank you Matthew. Thank you for last night. Thank you for not turning me away when I so shockingly asked you not to leave me alone. I…I have never…I'm not used to…I don't normally…" Matthew looked towards Alice and took both of her hands in his, "Alice, you never asked me for something I wasn't willing to give to you. Let me tell you this, and listen carefully Alice Harvey; anytime you want a hug or you want to share my bed, you only have to ask. I will hold you till you fall asleep, any time you like." Matthew looked at her carefully, making sure that what he said was sinking in. "Do you believe me Alice?" Alice removed her hands from his and returned to finishing her breakfast. She turned back to look at him and said one simple word, "yes". That one simple word meant the world to Matthew.
They did the dishes and tidied up the kitchen before grabbing their things to head to work. As they walked out of the door of Mycroft Avenue, Matthew stopped Alice by taking her hand, "I know you are strong Alice; I know that you can look after yourself but, will you please appease me today and travel in the police car with me?" Alice thought long and hard about what Matthew had said. If he had asked any other way, she wasn't sure she would have agreed but he said he knew she could cope on her own, but made out like it was him who was worrying. This was the moment; the moment when Alice came to the realisation that she was in love with Matthew Lawson. Alice reached up with her right hand and cupped the side of Matthew's face. She brushed his face gently and Matthew lifted his left hand to take her hand in his and kissed her palm. Nothing more was said as Matthew opened the passenger's side door for Alice and closed the door after she was seated. Matthew got in and drove them to police the station.
That day was spent filling out paper work, calling the brass in Melbourne and trying to figure out a plan for just how they were going to get Alice out of this mess and how they were going to catch the thug who was bullying her into parting with evidence in a case. By lunchtime, Alice was required in the morgue to carry out an autopsy on a patient who had died suddenly and ended up in the hospital that morning. The man had been to see his GP a few weeks before about his diabetes medication and explained that he wasn't feeling great. Turns out something wasn't right at all and now the body of one Mr Angus Menzies was sitting in the morgue fridge, waiting for Alice to get to work. Matthew asked Charlie to walk her to the morgue and asked him to stay there with her until she was finished and not to leave under ANY circumstance. Alice got to work as Charlie sat in the corner of the morgue; he had paperwork to do and so had taken it with him. The fact that the dead man had pretty much come from the emergency department meant that there wasn't much smell, so Charlie was fine with the situation.
Alice was finished in a few hours and sat down at her desk to write up her report. Alice looked up to see Charlie working away and said "Charlie? Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?" Charlie turned to look at Alice and said, "I'll make it Doc. Tea or coffee and how do you take it?" Alice looked at him and said "thank you. Coffee please and just some milk." Charlie set to making the coffee for Alice and made himself a cup of tea. Again, they spent the rest of the afternoon in pretty much silence before Charlie walked Alice back to the police station, just as Matthew had asked.
As they walked through the door of the police station, Charlie saw Matthew in the corner and said "Boss? We're back. The Doc and I had a great time in the morgue!" Matthew looked at Alice as her face turned red and moved all the way to the tips of her ears. Matthew just laughed and said "maybe you should spend more time down there Charlie? You might learn something!" Matthew laughed and Charlie said "no thanks Boss" he looked over to Alice and said "no offence Doc but it's not for me." At this, Alice smiled and walked over to Matthew's desk, looking back at Charlie and said "no offence taken constable, I know the morgue isn't for everyone but…thank you for today. I appreciate it." Alice's face became even more red, if that was at all possible and Charlie mumbled "no problem" as he walked over to his desk to start filing the paperwork he had completed in the morgue.
Matthew looked to Alice and said "shall we swing by your place and pick up a few things? We can stop off at the store on the way back and buy a few things for dinner?" Alice leaned in a bit closer to Matthew and whispered "Matthew? Are you asking me back to your place?" Her face suddenly felt like it was on fire, and as Matthew leaned in to whisper in Alice's ear the word "yes", she almost stumbled back with both excitement and fear in the same second. "Matthew…I…We're…I…" Matthew stopped her with a gentle touch to her arm. "I'm not suggesting anything but dinner and sleep Alice. I just want to know you are safe until we can get this guy in custody and get this case out of the way." Alice just looked at Matthew and said "ok". Matthew asked Alice if she wouldn't mind waiting half an hour as he needed to finish a report and have it sent off to Melbourne before he left for the night. When they left the station, they first stopped off at Alice's house and Matthew and she made their way into the house while Alice packed a bag with a few days of clean clothes, her toothbrush and some shampoo and her nightclothes. Matthew took the bag from her hand and walked her back to the car, making sure that the door to the house was locked before they left.
When they arrived at Mycroft Avenue, Matthew touched Alice's hand, looked at her and said "Alice? How are you feeling? I know this is tough but I'm so glad you shared the information with me. I know you probably feel guilty about the potential consequences but…Alice? I would rather know so that we can do something about it than you suffer alone…Alice?" Alice looked at Matthew's hand holding hers. She turned to look at him, silently acknowledging his question, "Alice, I want you to know that you can come to me about anything. Anything…do you hear me? I will never judge you; I will always believe you and I want you to know that I will do anything in my power to help you. Problems are always better when they are shared." The tears started to fall and Alice turned back to Matthew and said "Matthew, I have never cried so much in my life as I have these last few weeks. I am so very sorry that you have had to deal with this." Matthew cupped her face in his hand, and said "Alice, please don't ever apologise for the tears. I am pleased that you feel comfortable enough to let me be here with you and comfort you. Come on sweetheart, let's go and make some dinner."
They pottered around the kitchen, Matthew showing Alice a few things so that she could help him with the dinner. They ate in comfortable silence until they got up to clear the table and do the dishes. Matthew offered Alice a drink as he poured himself a whisky: she asked for a sherry and took the glass from Matthew as he sat down next to her on the sofa. Matthew moved his arm around Alice's shoulder; she snuggled into him and basked in the warmth of his body and the extra glow from the sherry. "Alice, I think we have a plan on how we're going to catch the thug but, we're going to need your help. We need you to be strong but I know you can. I told the brass in Melbourne that I had every faith in you." Alice leaned up from his embrace and looked at him. "What do you need me to do?"
Matthew proceeded to explain the semblance of a plan. Melbourne were making up a copy version of the original letter; enough to make it look like it had been in someone's stomach and enough to make it as realistic as possible so that the thug would not suspect anything untoward. They would need to wait for the man to get back in touch with her and she could tell him that she would ask for the letter to be returned to her since she had some tests that she thought would help with the investigation. Alice would then meet the thug in an agreed spot and Alice would exchange the evidence. The police would be waiting for the exchange to take place. Alice looked at Matthew in part fear but knew that he would not put her in any unnecessary danger. Matthew looked at her and said "Alice, you can say no to this plan. We can look at something else to catch this guy…Melbourne want to see if he'll talk and lead them to the rest of the gang but at the very least, they want this case finished at trial. Why don't we sleep on it and talk again in the morning?" Alice, settled herself back into the crook of Matthew's neck and they sat there in quiet until Matthew moved her over and said "shall we go to bed? It's not like we got much sleep last night, did we?" She laughed as she got up from the sofa and they both moved to use the bathroom and change into their pyjamas. When Alice arrived at Matthew's bedroom door, she gently knocked and waited for him to say something before she entered the room. Matthew looked up as Alice walked into the room. "You don't need to knock, Alice." Mathew pulled the covers down on her side and waited until she was settled. Matthew had a book in his hand but went to move the book to his bedside table as he turned around and gently caressed the side of Alice's face. "Shall we go to sleep then?" Matthew asked. Alice took his hand and moved down the bed to cuddle into Matthew's warmth. Matthew kissed Alice's forehead and both of them fell soundly asleep.