MA

by itsbiz

for

13. Chapter 13

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/1699997.

Rating:

Mature

Archive Warning:

Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Fandom:

Doctor Who RPF

Relationship:

Alex Kingston/Matt Smith

Stats:

Published: 2014-05-27 Words: 19137

There's just no getting over you

by Jade_II

Summary

Matt is not over Alex. Alex is not over Florian. Karen is insane and thinks she can fix things... and she may be right.

Notes

As always, many many thanks to Charina for the beta :)

Alex is not over Florian.

She thinks about him all the time, or at least it feels like she does. It's been years, and she's tried dating other people, but they're never right and all she longs for is him.

Which is beyond stupid.

When she thinks about it rationally she always decides that no, she doesn't really want him back. There are too many reasons for it not to work. She makes herself recall all his worst habits and attitudes, and she shudders and she knows that, even if he were magically still interested and would leave his new girlfriend for her, the moment she had him back she would be desperately unhappy again.

They had tried, after all. Both of them had tried hard before they had decided that it wasn't working any more. There is no reason for it to be any better if they try again. Neither of them has changed enough for that.

But her body yearns for his. She longs for his hand to hold on walks by the sea, his arms to fall into when she's upset, his sleeping form next to hers in the night.

It's ridiculous, and she hates it.

She still finds herself making sure she looks her best whenever she sees him, even though she tells herself how stupid that is and how she shouldn't care what he thinks of her any more.

But when his car pulls up outside her house she still checks her hair in the mirror as she calls for Salome.

"Hi," Alex says, smiling as she answers the door. "How are you?"

"Good," says Florian, shrugging as he steps inside. "You?"

"Yeah, good thanks." She keeps her smile in place, trying to decide what to say next, but is saved the trouble by Salome galloping down the stairs and pressing her suitcase into her father's hands.

"Hi Dad, did you get my message? Will you take me, please please? Bye Mum!" She barely stops talking to peck Alex on the cheek before trotting out of the house, chattering away, with Florian stopping only to give Alex a little parting wave as he opens the door of the car.

"Bye then," Alex says, and disappears back inside, her heart beating just a little too fast even from this tiny encounter.

She hates this.

But she's come to the unfortunate conclusion that there's nothing she can do about it.

Matt is not over Alex.

Every time he goes onstage he squints against the lights and looks for her in the audience. She told him that she would come, after all, right? And though the rational part of his brain tries to tell him that she would probably let him know beforehand if she was going to be there, the other part just keeps hoping.

"Who are you looking for?" Katie asks one night, backstage during the interval.

"What do you mean?" he asks his co-star. Perhaps his obsession won't seem quite so pronounced if he doesn't confess to knowing exactly what she's talking about.

"The first time you turn to face the audience," she clarifies. "Every night your eyes do this calm, methodical search of the auditorium. It looks creepy, but I think you do that on purpose, to hide what you're really doing. Who are you looking for?"

"No one in particular," he lies, shrugging. "I just like to check if there's anyone I know."

"Mm-hmm," she says, and he can tell she's not convinced.

She doesn't come.

Alex can't help a squeak of excitement when she reads the news – West-End Transfer for American Psycho. Perhaps she'll get to see it after all.

Karen had guilt-tripped her mercilessly for not going, even after she'd explained how impossible it had been to work it into her schedule. "Matt will be gutted, gutted Alex – you told him you would be there! He'll think you just don't care about him at all."

"Matt's a grown-up, Karen, he'll understand. Besides, I'm sure plenty of his other friends will be there to support him. Arthur's seen it twice, for goodness sake."

"That is not the same. Not at all."

"I don't see why not. Maybe I'll send him for a third time, in my place."

"Not. The. Same."

Alex had been about to retort when her phone rang – Florian, calling to discuss Salome's schedule for spring break. When Alex hung up the phone her head was full of Florian, Florian, Florian, and the entire conversation with Karen had left her mind.

Karen who was looking at her as though she was a dog who didn't understand that its owner had just died.

Alex sighed. "Yes, I know. I'm sad and pathetic. Don't judge."

"I'm not judging. I just don't understand why you can't get over someone who is just an average guy. I don't get what's so special about him."

"He's Salome's father."

"So?"

"I don't know." She shook her head, at a loss to explain it to her friend – hardly surprising, since she could barely explain it to herself. "I suppose I'm just over-sentimental."

"Well, stop it."

Alex had groaned, burying her face in her hands. "How?"

She grins now, reading through the article. Ogling Matt Smith in his underwear sounds like a good way to start.

She has a feeling Karen would approve.

He's in LA for an audition but he's pretty sure Alex is back in the UK, working on that detective thingy she's doing with Noel Clarke.

He can't wait to see her as a cop. She'll be brilliant, he's certain.

It saves him from having to decide whether to call her or not, as well.

He ducks into a Starbucks, pretty empty at this time of day, and treats himself to a muffin as he goes over his lines.

He's just starting to properly concentrate when he hears someone call out "Melody!", and a haze of blonde curls crosses the corner of his vision, expressing thanks in a voice that immediately turns his insides to goo.

He looks up to see Alex Kingston getting her coffee, and he quietly suppresses the wave of terror rolling in his gut.

He waves his hand instead, smiling when she notices him and walks over to join him.

"Melody?" he questions, standing to greet her.

"Doctor?" she replies cheekily, kissing his cheek. He controls the impulse to raise his fingers and press them to the spot where her lips have just been, or better still, to touch her hair. "What are you doing here?" she asks.

"Audition." He gestures for her to sit. "I thought you were busy with that detective thing?"

Alex shakes her head and sips at her coffee. "I've got a week off, and it's Salome's birthday tomorrow. It's a big one, so I'm glad I won't miss it."

"Oh yeah!" Matt realises. "She's going to be a teenager."

"God, don't remind me. I'm trying not to think about it."

"No, it's great!" he insists. "Is she having a big party? You renting a disco or something?"

"Hell no," Alex says firmly. "A few friends – girl friends – are coming for a sleepover."

"Thirteen," Matt ponders. "I remember being thirteen."

"Well it was only yesterday, wasn't it darling?"

"Oi!" he protests, thwacking her on the knee with his script before sitting up straight. "I'll have you know that I am now a grown man in my thirties."

"Yes, and I'm an old woman in my fifties," Alex grumbles.

"You're not old, don't be silly."

"Only old people have teenage daughters."

"What?" Matt says, baffled. "People my age have teenage daughters. And yet I'm apparently barely older than thirteen myself. Your logic does not add up, Kingston."

Alex stares at him for a moment before relenting. "Fine," she huffs. "You can be old too."

Victorious, he grins. "As long as we can be old together."

He is saved from any consequences of this embarrassingly soppy statement by Alex's phone buzzing. Mumbling an apology, she digs it out of her bag to read the message – moments later, her face falls.

"What is it?" Matt asks, concerned, fighting the urge to leap across the low table and pull her into a hug.

"I was supposed to be meeting a friend here," she replies, blinking up at him for a moment before returning her gaze to the screen. "But her son's school just called – he tripped in the stairwell and knocked his front teeth out."

"Oh, that happened to me when I was a kid!" Matt says brightly; then, at the look on her face, "I mean, I'm sure he'll be fine. I was!"

"Are you sure about that?" she teases – clearly his words have reassured her a bit.

Not when I'm around you, Kingston. Aloud, he says, "Does this mean you've got no plans for the morning, then?"

"Why?" She narrows her eyes suspiciously. "What do you want?"

He holds up the audition script and does his best puppy dog impression. "Help me?"

Which is how they end up back in his hotel room reading some really filthy dialogue together.

"Come on, big boy, I just want you to—Jesus, Matt," Alex interrupts herself, skimming the rest of the page. "Are you really sure that you want this part?"

Matt laughs nervously. "It's a bit different from Who, right?"

"You can say that again." Eyebrows raised, Alex returns her gaze to the script. "Oh, I see," she says, scanning further. "You get interrupted."

"And that's where the interesting part starts."

"I thought it was quite interesting before, actually." She shoots him a gaze and he looks away, swallowing before daring to make eye contact again.

He looks half terrified, poor boy.

"Shut up," he murmurs.

Alex laughs, proceeding to read the stage directions. "Alex's phone rings – love the name, by the way did I mention? – and he tears himself away instantly, searching for it in the mess of discarded clothing."

Matt doesn't respond, blinking at her when she looks at him expectantly.

"Calder, I'm kind of busy…?" she prompts.

"Oh!" He shakes his head, clearly embarrassed. "Yeah, right." Still, he doesn't come out with the next line.

"When's the audition?" Alex asks patiently.

"Tomorrow," he says, sighing. "I haven't got a chance, have I?"

"If you know your lines you will have. If you don't, no," she says frankly. "Now come on – 'Calder, I'm kind of'—"

"Forget it." Matt shakes his head. "Sorry. I think I need a break."

She frowns. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just… maybe I'll be better off learning them on my own after all." He sinks onto the sofa beside her, and scoots as far away as he can physically get.

"Matt, have I done something to upset you?"

"No, no!" he looks genuinely shocked, bless him, so it must be the truth. "Quite the opposite." He laughs, though it sounds a bit forced. "Guess I just can't concentrate on a stupid audition scene when faced with your radiance."

Alex narrows her eyes, but he clearly doesn't want to be interrogated any more. Instead, she voices an idea which has been brewing in the back of her mind since she bumped into him this morning. "Would you like to come to Salome's party?" she asks. "Just for dinner, not the sleepover part."

"What?" He blinks. "Um, sure. Won't I be intruding?"

"No, no, I'm sure Salome would love to see you. Though her friends might fangirl a bit."

Matt waves that off impatiently. "What about Florian?"

"He won't mind." Alex bites her lip. "Better if I'm not alone with him, actually," she admits. Not that she'll admit why, but she's fairly sure the whole world knows already. "That is, if you're still

here," she suddenly realises. "When are you flying back?"

"Not til Saturday morning." He grins. "Plenty of time for partying."

"So you'll come?" she says gratefully.

Matt nods. "Sure. Just let me know the when and where."

I shouldn't have come, Matt muses gloomily.

Alex has shooed Salome and her friends off upstairs to brush their teeth and change into their pyjamas, and their loud chattering and giggling is made all the more apparent by the awkward silence from the three adults still sitting in the dining room.

Alex is at the head of the table, with Florian and Matt flanking her on either side. Which means that rather than unobtrusively admiring Alex, as he would much prefer, Matt is stuck facing her ex-husband. Who is a perfectly nice guy, but not very talkative at the best of times. Worst of all, Alex keeps gazing at Florian in a manner she presumably thinks is subtle, and it's driving Matt absolutely bonkers with jealousy.

should go, Matt thinks.

"I should go," Florian says.

…Oh.

Might he actually get some time alone with Alex after all? Matt tries to quash the hope suddenly blooming in his heart.

"So soon?" Alex asks, clearly disappointed.

"Yeah. Early start tomorrow." Florian stands. "I'll just say goodbye to Salome."

"I'll come with you," Alex says immediately, getting to her feet. "Make sure they're behaving themselves up there."

"Goodbye, Matt," Florian says, offering him his hand. "Good to see you."

"Yeah, thanks." Matt scrambles to his feet as well. "You too."

They leave him alone in the room, and Matt sits back down, pulling his glass of wine closer and sipping at it morosely.

This is horrible. This is stupid and horrible and he wishes he had never come. Alex is so clearly still in love with Florian, and if the man has any sense he will take her back any day now, because she's Alex, and how could he not? And Matt will be left worse off than ever, cringing internally every time he sees them together.

Perhaps he should just not see her at all, he muses. Then at least he won't have to see the way she looks at Florian. The way he wishes she would look at him.

"More wine?" Alex's voice says from behind him, and she strides into the room with a fresh bottle, opening it before he can reply.

"Uh, yeah, sure," he says, watching her drain her own glass before filling it again. It can't be easy for her, either, pining after somebody who has left her.

Maybe they're both as pathetic as each other.

Still… "Should we be drinking more? With all those kids upstairs?"

"Oh, they've all installed themselves in front of the TV in Salome's bedroom. I doubt we'll be

seeing much more of them, unless they come and raid the cupboards for more snacks." She raises her glass grimly. "Besides which, I need it. I'll stop after this, don't worry."

"Okay." Matt himself is feeling a bit intoxicated already, but then he did stop in the hotel bar for some Dutch courage before coming here.

He definitely wouldn't mind being a bit more intoxicated, now that they're alone. He takes another gulp of wine.

"How did the audition go?" Alex asks.

"Terribly," he replies honestly. "You played the part of Alex's girlfriend much better than the pimply boy they had reading her this afternoon." And I kept thinking about you reading the lines and forgetting where I was…

"Oh darling, you know they do that. You have to work past it."

"I know, I know. I guess it just wasn't the part for me. A little too different from Who, maybe."

"Maybe." Alex agrees. "Besides, you're keeping yourself busy, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah." Matt nods. "I've got a couple of weeks off and then I'm on the convention circuit. Then another little break in the summer – I might be doing some TV thing then, not sure yet – and then back to American Psycho. Can't complain."

"I'm really proud of you," Alex says, covering his hand with hers.

Matt swallows, his throat suddenly dry. "Thanks."

She squeezes his hand, running her thumb over his skin, and suddenly it's all too much. Matt leaps to his feet.

"Um. I think I should go." He almost runs into the darkened hallway, fumbling for his jacket

hanging by the door.

"What?" Alex follows, a look of concern on her face. "Why?"

"I just… I…"

The stupid alcohol is making him inarticulate and Alex steps closer, running a hand down his arm.

He's sure it's supposed to be comforting, but it's doing something entirely different to him.

"Alex," he says, stepping closer.

She looks at him, studying his eyes.

Then she kisses him.

It takes him completely by surprise and he finds himself responding automatically, overeagerly, splaying one hand across her back and cupping her cheek with the other, pulling her closer – and she responds, just as eagerly, moaning sinfully and pressing her thigh between his legs and against his growing erection.

Oh, fuck.

"We can't do this," Matt decides suddenly, shaking his head and pulling away. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"They won't even notice," Alex assures him, stepping closer again, her hand still on his arm. "They'll just think I've gone to sleep already."

It takes him a moment to realise that she's talking about the girls upstairs. Which just makes what he was about to do even worse.

"No," he tries to explain. "I can't do this."

"Why not?" She frowns.

He will later blame the alcohol, but he tells the truth.

"I'm in love with you," he blurts desperately. It's not the way he imagined this conversation going at all, even when he imagined it going horribly wrong, which was more often than not. "So I just can't, Alex, I just—it won't—it wouldn't be real."

Alex freezes, and Matt's stomach ties itself in ever-tighter knots. He's told her.

He never meant to actually tell her.

Seconds pass and she is still immobile, her fingers digging into his arm, gaping at him in the dim light filtering down from upstairs.

"Sorry, Alex," he mumbles, staggering backwards through the door and almost falling down the front steps when they appear behind him sooner than expected.

Alex's mouth is moving now, but no sound comes out. Matt descends carefully, and she doesn't say a word as he turns and runs away down the street.

"Oh, finally!" Karen claps her hands with delight. "I've been telling him and telling him to just tell you."

"You knew?" Alex looks up from her coffee at her friend's face. "Oh," she realises, reading her expression. "Of course you knew." She sighs and glances around before looking back down, glad that the next few tables in the small café are unoccupied. The last thing she needs is anyone eavesdropping on this conversation.

"Of course I knew," Karen confirms. "Half the world knew. And now you do too, thank God." She takes a big gulp of her hot chocolate and beams at Alex.

"But I don't want to know," Alex complains. "And poor Matt, he was so embarrassed. I was so embarrassed. I'm still embarrassed, God, Karen, I don't know what do to."

Karen shrugs. Her apparent lack of concern is very concerning. "Go on a date. Have dinner. Have sex. Get your stupid ex out of your system."

Alex groans, burying her face in her hands. "I've tried that. It never works. I can't use Matt that way, it would only make things worse. For both of us."

"Matt cannot possibly feel worse than he does now," Karen states pragmatically. "Perhaps you using him and abusing him will be the kick up the backside he needs to finally get over you."

Alex stares. "Oh my God. Karen, I think you may be just a little bit insane."

Rolling her eyes, Karen throws up her hands dramatically. "Or you can both carry on being totally miserable and pining after people you can't have. Your call."

"I don't want it to be my call. Why does it have to be my call?"

"I would be perfectly happy for you to hand the call over to me," Karen says breezily.

"Fine," Alex agrees immediately. Stupidly.

"Okay then." Karen grins. "You're going to boink Matt."

If it was bad before, it's a million times worse now.

Matt is glad he hasn't really got any work on right now, because he's sure as hell he wouldn't be able to learn any lines. The only words that will stay in his head right now are all to do with Alex.

His stupid rejection of her plays over and over in his mind. The only thing he sees when he closes his eyes is the look on her face, that awful frozen shock. Why was she so shocked? It's not like he's ever been able to hide his feelings that well. Everybody else seems to know, so why shouldn't she?

Because she's too caught up in her own mess, he reminds himself. Which is the exact reason why he's in such a mess himself. His situation is hopeless.

So why, why did he tell her?

He tries not to mope around the house, but that's mostly what he does anyway – especially after his agent calls to tell him he didn't get the part of "Alex". He sits in front of the TV watching stupid action movies in the hope that they will make him feel more manly and a bit less pathetic. He orders a stream of takeaways because he can't be bothered to cook. And he contemplates his phone a lot more than any sane person would, wondering if he should call her, or if perhaps she'll call him, or of he should maybe text her instead…

In the end, it's none of the above.

Some of his mates coax him out to the pub one night and he gets absolutely plastered, retelling his tale of woe to them all until they're sick of him and shove him into a taxi, ordering him to go home and sort himself out. He overpays the driver, staggers out of the car and then spends several minutes on his own front doorstep trying to get his key in the lock. When he finally succeeds he's so surprised that he trips and falls into the house with a supreme lack of grace, even by his own not very high standards.

The carpet in the hall is unexpectedly cozy. Matt decides not to get back up, and falls fast asleep right there.

When Alex first sees him the next morning she thinks he's dead.

He is lying face-down on the floor with the front door wide open, after all. What is she supposed to think?

She rushes to his side, kneeling down on the prickly carpet and touching the side of his neck gingerly.

He grunts.

"Oh my God, Matt!" she exclaims, startled and relieved at the same time. "You're alive."

"Am I?" he says groggily, his voice muffled by the carpet.

"Until I kill you for giving me such a fright, yes. Come here." She pushes him onto his side and offers him her hand; he takes it, squinting, and together they get him more or less upright again. "What happened to you?" she demands, supporting him as she steers him towards the kitchen.

"Alcohol," he confesses, wincing at the sunlight streaming through the window.

"Oh, I should have known." Alex tuts, depositing him on the nearest chair and putting the kettle on. "I'm going to close the front door now, alright?"

Matt nods, slowly. "Thanks."

She leaves the room, walking back down the hall a lot more slowly than strictly necessary.

Karen had made it sound so easy.

So of course it's really not. She can't exactly proposition him when he's in this state.

She pushes the door closed, checking surreptitiously for paparazzi before it clicks shut. There are none, thankfully – nobody has noticed what a sad state Mr Smith was in last night.

Nobody except Alex.

She returns to the kitchen to find that the water has boiled, and busies herself for the next couple of minutes making tea. Strong and black for Matt, even though she knows he prefers it full of milk and sugar. Hopefully it will wake him up a bit, at least.

He makes a face when she puts it down in front of him.

"Drink up," Alex commands, sitting down opposite and sipping her own tea.

Matt blanches. "Actually think I might throw up," he says quickly, lurching to his feet. He runs to the bathroom; moments later, Alex hears his prediction coming true.

This is not how she had planned things to go at all. She feels like calling Karen to complain, but it's still the middle of the night in LA. She's not sure how much sympathy she could count on.

Matt reappears after a few minutes and sips his tea without complaining, contemplating her in silence before clearing his throat. "Sorry 'bout that."

Alex shrugs. "I've seen worse."

"Not sure I've felt worse."

She shifts uncomfortably in her seat, dithering over whether she should take this opening or not.

"About that…" she begins.

"Listen, Alex," he interrupts. "I'm really sorry about—" He breaks off, slapping a hand over his mouth and looking increasingly queasy. Alex watches patiently as he sits very still, grimacing. After a few moments he relaxes a bit, and he very slowly lowers his hand. "Sorry," he says, wincing.

"We can't talk about this right now, can we?" Alex decides. She rises, wandering over to his fridge and grabbing the bacon and eggs she finds inside. "Come on. I'll make you a nice fry-up."

"Alex…" Matt flounders, and she turns to look at him with one hand on the cupboard door and

the other halfway to a tin of baked beans. He clears his throat. "We've got to talk sometime, though. Right?"

Alex nods. She tries to smile reassuringly. "What about dinner?"

Matt's eyes light up. "Are you going to cook for me, Kingston?"

That makes her laugh. "I haven't got a kitchen where I'm staying, Matt."

"I have!" He gestures, carefully but emphatically. "Please, you know how much I love your cooking." He hesitates. "Soften the blow a bit, eh?"

"Matt, I'm not—" Alex stops herself, shaking her head. They're not talking about this now. "Tomorrow night? Give you time to recover?"

"Yeah." Matt smiles, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Thanks. That'll be great."

Matt spends the whole next day in the grip of terror.

He can't believe Alex found him hung over and snoring on the carpet. What must she think of him now? Unattractive idiot, is the phrase which most readily springs to mind.

He's surprised she volunteered to see him again, to be honest. Hell, he's surprised she turned up on his doorstep in the first place after his stupid confession. He didn't even know she was back in the UK, or he would've… Well. Would've pined after her even more, possibly. And got even more horrendously drunk.

Perhaps better that he didn't know, all in all.

He goes for a walk in the park to try and clear his head, but it has the opposite effect. With nothing to do but walk and think, all he can do is chase his worries about tonight around and around his

mind. All he can see are worst-case scenarios – Alex telling him off for the way he behaved, Alex telling him he'll never have a chance in hell, Alex telling him that actually she was developing feelings for him before he so stupidly turned her down…

Alex poisoning him because he's such a hopeless case and death is the only way out.

…Nope. No, his head isn't clear at all.

When he gets back to the house Alex is sitting on his doorstep, surrounded by bags of groceries and pinching her hands between her knees against the cold.

"Alex!" Matt exclaims, forcibly pushing his worries aside and jogging around the bend in his front path and up the steps. "Sorry, I didn't know you were here already!"

"Oh, I haven't been here long," Alex says dismissively, standing and reaching for the bags. "My own fault for being early, don't worry."

Matt shoos her away, scooping the numerous bags up and juggling them awkwardly while he fumbles for his keys. "Cor, Kingston, you cooking a five-course meal?"

He opens the door for her and she grins as she steps inside. "Only the best for you, darling."

Matt kicks the door shut behind them and she bursts into his kitchen, pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards and descending on the shopping bags as soon as he puts them down, getting to work immediately peeling and chopping some onions.

"Can I do anything?" Matt asks, watching her empty the chopping board into a pan.

"You can sit still and not chop your fingers off, darling. I always get terribly nervous when you're around knives."

Matt snorts – honestly, it's been weeks since he last had a kitchen mishap. "Can I at least open some wine?"

"Alright." She smirks. "But be careful with the corkscrew, those things are sharp."

"Oi!" he complains, grabbing the bottle he'd bought earlier and two glasses from the cupboard. "I'm not that clumsy." He wields the corkscrew with extra care just in case, and he successfully extracts the cork from the bottle and pours the wine.

Then he moves to put the corkscrew away in the drawer and knocks both glasses off the table.

Alex shrieks. "Jesus! Matt!"

"Sorry, sorry," he apologises, rushing to clean up the mess – but Alex steps in front of him before he can reach for the cloth.

"I'm not having you slicing your hands open on broken glass as well as covering the floor in it," she says firmly, pushing him back towards the table and into a chair. "I can take care of it."

"But Alex—"

"No buts," she commands. "I don't mind."

"But I feel really bad."

"Well, that's good," she comments, swiping yesterday's newspaper off the counter and carefully picking bits of glass up off the floor. "I would be seriously reconsidering this evening if you didn't."

"Really?" Matt tries not to perk up, but it's impossible. "Why? What do you have planned for tonight, anyway?"

"You mean apart from curry?" She tips the wine from the remains of both glasses into the sink and covers them with thick layers of newspaper. "Mainly I plan on relaying to you a very interesting conversation I had with Karen recently."

"About me?"

"About you," she confirms.

"Do I want to hear it?"

She pauses, gazing into the sink rather than at him. "I hope so," she says finally. She turns on the tap, and he has to strain to hear her next words. "Otherwise I'm going to be very embarrassed."

"Really?" He fidgets in his seat, wanting to stride over and face her. "Why?"

Alex sighs and turns to look at him carefully, crossing her arms and leaning back against the counter. Her pose might seem casual if it weren't for the tension apparent in every muscle of her body. "Because, Matthew," she says. "I'm going to proposition you."

Matt blinks. Did she—Is she…?

"Oh," he says blankly.

Alex blushes, turning quickly back to the sink and scrubbing it vigorously for no apparent reason. "Dammit. I was hoping we'd both have had something to drink before I got this far."

"We would have," Matt points out, rising now and tiptoeing around the broken glass so that he can stand beside her. "If I hadn't…"

"Oh, hush," she says, and when she turns and finds him standing right there a small gasp escapes her lips. "Matt…" she begins.

"What kind of proposition?" he demands, staring at her until she makes eye contact.

A moment of silence stretches uncomfortably long before she looks away again and throws the scrubbing brush back into the sink with more force than strictly necessary. "Oh, fine," she mutters, grabbing two more glasses and gesturing for him to sit back down at the table. "Let's get this over

with."

Frowning, Matt picks his way back to his seat and watches her pour the wine. Her hands are shaking, he notes. What the hell is she so nervous about?

"Cheers," Alex says, pushing one glass towards him and clinking hers against it before he can even pick it up.

"Cheers," he echoes, watching her take a gulp and squeeze her eyes shut. "So are you going to talk to me now?"

"Yes." Alex shakes her head as though to clear it and finally looks at him again. "Sorry."

"No problem." When nothing new is forthcoming, he prods some more. "Well?"

Alex opens her mouth, hesitates, and finally says, "Listen, Matt, I'm so sorry about what I did – how I acted – at Salome's party. It was completely inappropriate. I'm sorry."

Matt finds his lips curling upwards of their own accord. "Ditto," he tells her. "I was a pillock. Now tell me what Karen's been saying about me."

She looks at him with wide eyes which dart left and right and then down before meeting his again with a more resolute stare. "She says you're in love with me," Alex says boldly.

For some reason hearing her say it is a shock to the system. "I told you that already," he says, swallowing. Suddenly he's the one who can't make eye contact.

Her hand on his makes him jump, and she begins to pull back apologetically. Instinctively he reaches out and grabs her hand from midair, covering it with his on the table between them. They both watch as her palm opens under his in invitation and his fingers interlace with hers.

"I'm still in love with Florian," Alex continues after a moment.

Matt forces himself to focus on his thumb, tracing patterns on her wrist. "Yep," he says. "I know that too."

"So I can't – Matt, I can't offer you what you want from me."

Hoping that the sentence doesn't end there, Matt offers, "But?"

Her brows knit together and it's adorable, and if Matt weren't already smitten then that would have done it for him. "But," she relents, and Matt breathes an inner sigh of relief. "Karen thinks we can help each other." She watches to see his reaction as she continues, and he schools his features into a careful blank. "That is – I use you shamelessly to get over my husband, and because I'm using you shamelessly you stop feeling whatever you're feeling and get over me."

Matt blinks and nods carefully. "That sounds like Karen logic."

Alex's face falls. "You think it's crazy."

"Well, yeah." He runs a hand through his hair, intensely aware of the need to tread carefully here. "But only because Karen seems to be assuming that me spending more time with you will somehow make me love you less, when in fact I know from experience that it's exactly the opposite."

"Matt, you can't possibly be in love with me. It's a crush, or—"

"I'll be the judge of that," he interrupts. Leaning forward, he looks at her intently. "Okay. I've got a counter-proposal for you."

"You do?" She looks confused, bless her.

Matt nods firmly. "You are free to use me shamelessly to get over your ex-husband. And in return…" Resisting the urge to take a gulp of wine for courage, he continues in a rush, "I get to woo you. I get to take you on dates and buy you flowers and stand under your balcony serenading you…" That last part gets a laugh, and Matt smiles winningly. "And you have to let me, until such a time as you are no longer in love with Florian."

Alex is smiling now, but he can tell that she's not quite convinced. "And then?"

He shrugs, as nonchalantly as possible. "And then hopefully you'll be madly in love with me instead. But if not, we'll go our separate ways and at least I'll know that you gave me a chance. That's all I need, Alex." He hopes it's true.

She squeezes his hand, contemplating him, and bites her lip in that mesmerising way that she has. "Go on, then," she says at length. "Show me what you can do."

Matt feels his face light up instantly, before his brain has even finished processing what she's just said. He pulls her hand to his lips and presses a celebratory kiss to the back of it, barely resisting the urge to jump up and dance around the room. "You won't regret this," he promises, and he delights in how her smile seems less and less reluctant.

"Are you sure about that?" she teases, wrapping her fingers more tightly around his.

"Absolutely."

Alex's smile softens and she looks at him speculatively. "Kiss me, then" she whispers.

Matt licks his lips, suddenly nervous. "Seriously?"

Standing, Alex nods.

Not letting go of her hand, Matt gets to his feet as well, tugging gently to steer her towards him around the mess on the floor. He places his hands on her hips and swallows self-consciously, forcing himself to meet her eyes when she grasps his forearms in her small hands.

Slowly, he tells himself. This means something. This isn't the Doctor kissing River; this isn't drunk Alex kissing him because he's the next best thing to the guy who's just left the room. This kiss has to be honest – her and him.

No pressure or anything.

He resists the urge to lick his lips again and leans in, pressing his mouth gently against hers. Alex hums, leaning in and opening her mouth under his, inviting him to deepen the kiss but not taking it further herself. It's a clear show me what you can do, and it's absolutely terrifying but he has to do it.

Not letting himself hesitate for too long, Matt finds her tongue with his and pulls her closer still, until she's flush against his body and he's sure she must be able to feel his heart hammering against her chest, and the relief he feels when she melts against him and sighs into his mouth is so overwhelming that he almost forgets that he is kissing Alex – until she pulls away and suddenly the fact that he is no longer kissing her is very apparent, and, worse still, there's a tear running down her cheek.

"What's the matter?" he asks softly, reaching up without thinking to brush it away. "I can't do this to you, Matt," Alex whispers, shaking her head. "You—that was—"

"You're not doing anything to me," he insists. "Nothing worse than what I've been doing to myself."

"Look, I know you think you can – can win me over, but I've been trying for years Matt and nothing seems to work. And I'm going to break your heart, and I can't do that to you." She looks away. "I think I should go."

"Kingston." He brings his other hand up and cups her face, waiting patiently until she makes eye contact again. "I know what I'm getting into. I know my chances are slim. But even if we can't have a happily ever after together, if I can help you in any way then it's worth it for me. And I don't think you would have entertained Karen's crazy scheme for one second if you didn't think that perhaps I could."

Fresh tears spill from her eyes. "Matt…"

He takes a chance and kisses her again, still softer this time, running his thumbs over her cheeks until the tears stop and some of the tension leaves her body.

He's the one who breaks the kiss this time, immediately catching her gaze again and holding it steadily. "Okay?" he asks, and holds his breath.

Alex swallows, and nods. "Okay," she whispers. Her grip on his wrists tightens briefly before she notices and, hesitantly, runs her hands up and down his arms. "Okay," she repeats, and runs her thumbs over his biceps, with a tiny smile on her lips which he wonders if she's even conscious of.

Her hands wander to his chest, sweeping fingers probing through the fabric of his shirt, down across his stomach muscles and back up to wrap her arms around his neck, and she leans in and kisses him again.

"I never realised you were so well sculpted," she breathes when she breaks away and, after a second's hesitation, slips her hands under his shirt to run across his bare skin.

Matt swallows – he's very quickly becoming very aroused but he doesn't want to scare her off. "I've been working on it," he manages. He lets his own fingers smooth the planes of her back through the dress she's wearing, allowing them to stray down to her waist but no farther.

"Nice work," she purrs, and she pulls his shirt over his head. He feels very naked for a moment as she eyes him, and then she lowers her head and begins to kiss her way across his exposed skin and he gasps, and this is exactly what he's pictured in his head so many times and it's surreal.

Alex's movements are slow but deliberate now – she's decided she's going to do this and so she's going to do it with all the focus and determination she gives anything she's decided to do, and Matt isn't quite 100% sure that he's going to survive it but he definitely is not going to say no again. She knows where he stands now, and perhaps that will let her consider a whole range of possibilities that hadn't even occurred to her before.

Where she stands now is in front of him, and she straightens and then loosens the tie of her dress and reaches for the hem to pull it up – but he stops her hands as they reach her waist, stepping closer and waiting for her to look at him.

"Is this going where I think it's going?" he asks softly. He sees the confusion and the beginnings of embarrassment on her face and so continues before she can reply, "Because if it is, I'd quite like to take you to my bedroom now."

Alex exhales in relief – she'd been worried for a moment that he was going to turn her down again, he can tell – and nods, letting go of her dress in favour of his hands, and he tugs her into the hall with a smile and they race up the stairs, and she's giggling by the time they get to the top and it's the best sound he's heard all night.

He sweeps her up and carries her into the room just to hear her shriek, and he dumps her on the bed and they both laugh as he climbs on beside her.

"Now," he says, reaching for her. "Where were we?" Again, Alex reaches for the hem of her dress. "Here, I think."

He helps her to pull it over her head and throws it off to the side – he's completely unaware of where it lands because he's staring too much at her bare chest, and he's pretty sure he stops breathing for a moment until Alex crawls closer and straddles him and kisses him, and he has to break away and gasp before he faints from lack of oxygen.

"You're gorgeous," he whispers.

To his delight, she blushes. "Thank you, darling. You're not so bad yourself."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asks. He would hate for her to regret it in the morning.

"Oh, I'm becoming surer by the second." She grinds against him and he's sure she must feel his erection through his jeans, but she checks anyway. "And you, Matt?"

"Very sure," he assures her, and he cups her breasts with his hands, admiring the way his touch makes her gasp and close her eyes.

"Yes," she murmurs, nodding when he runs his thumbs across her nipples. "Yes, like that."

She grabs his hands and pushes them more firmly against her, and she whimpers as he tweaks and pinches and leans in to kiss her again, breaking away from her lips to trail down her neck. Alex grips one of his hands more tightly and pulls it down to rub between her legs, and she's so wet and he swallows hard, following her silent directions, and his heart skips a beat with every gasp and whimper.

Alex sits up abruptly, hooking her thumbs into the sides of her knickers, but the movement brings her breasts right up to eye level and he can't resist, wrapping his arms around her and hearing her squeak as he traps her wrists where they are, and he sucks and licks and nips until he's almost driven over the edge just by the noises she's making. Finally he can't take it anymore and twists to push her down onto the bed, covering her hands with his and helping her to rid herself of her last scrap of clothing.

Her small fingers reach for the fastening of his jeans and she deftly undoes them and pulls them down along with his underwear, biting her lip in concentration as she does so, and Matt can't help but lean closer and kiss her again, grinning. "Has anyone told you how sexy it is when you do

that?"

"Not recently." Alex laughs, using her feet to help push his clothes all the way off. The moment he climbs on top of her she wraps her legs around his waist and pulls him down so that the tip of his cock brushes against her entrance.

"Come on, then," she urges. "Show me what you can do."

He tries in vain to find a witty retort to that, so he leans in to kiss her again as he pushes inside of her, and he almost comes undone right there when she moans into his mouth.

"That's probably the dirtiest sound I've ever heard, Kingston," he tells her, breaking away. "Move then, darling," she urges, giggling. "You ain't heard nothing yet."

Matt complies, setting a slow but steady rhythm, and Alex moans again, lower and louder on purpose, he's sure, but it has the same effect on him. "Jesus Christ," he manages. "I think you might kill me."

Alex throws her head back with laughter. "I'll try not to."

"Promise?" he says, picking up the pace. He doesn't think he's ever been with someone who laughed so much during sex. "You're fantastic," he tells her.

Alex grins, reaching up to ruffle his hair. "You're adorable."

"Adorable is not really what I was going for," he grumbles, and that only makes her laugh more, bringing her hands up to his back, whether to anchor herself or him he's not sure. Her fingers curl more and more as he moves, digging into his flesh as she starts to cry out with every thrust, until she cries out his name and he's sure her nails are drawing blood before he finally, finally lets himself lose control and let go, crying her name until he collapses on top of her with her small hands soothing his back.

Matt rolls off of her with a groan. "Still think I'm adorable?" he says, trying not to sound too smug.

Alex hums, scooting closer and snuggling into his side. "Yep."

"Oh." He sighs overdramatically and presses a kiss to her forehead, her curls tickling his neck. "Damn."

Alex wakes up hungry.

She rolls over to see Matt fast asleep on his back, snoring softly with one arm above his head, and she remembers why she might be hungry.

Smiling, she climbs out of bed, pulls her dress from the day before back over her head, and tiptoes downstairs to find some breakfast.

The kitchen is still a mess from last night, with half-begun curry on the stove and bits of broken glass on the floor by the table. Alex goes to sweep them up before realising that she doesn't know

where Matt keeps his dustpan and brush – if he even has a dustpan and brush – he must do, surely? – and then her stomach growls and she decides that she can do it later.

She finds eggs and milk in the fridge and half a loaf of bread that's not too stale, so she takes one of the saucepans that she never used yesterday and starts to cook, humming to herself before she realises what she's doing and stops abruptly.

Well. This is interesting. She seems to be quite… happy.

Any mornings-after have been awkward at best since Florian, so far. But then, her opposite number has never been anyone she already knows as well as she knows Matt. Perhaps that's the key…

The floorboards creak upstairs just as she is turning the stove off, and she pushes a vague fond memory of scrambled eggs in bed with Florian away as she divides the eggs between the slices of toast and carries the plates to the table—

—and promptly drops and breaks both of them when she steps on a shard of glass with her bare foot.

She lifts it automatically, yelping in pain and then losing her balance, and she lands hard on her backside.

The footsteps above her become a fast-paced thudding as Matt darts down the stairs, obviously having heard the crash.

Regaining her senses somewhat, Alex checks to make sure the fall hasn't embedded any more bits of glass in her and then, gingerly, wraps her hands around her ankle and brings her foot up to inspect the damage.

Matt bursts into the kitchen at this moment, only to stop short and stare, clearly horrified. "What happened?" he demands. Then, rushing forward, "God, Alex, are you okay?"

Alex grits her teeth and holds up a hand. "Stop. Right there. Go and put some shoes on before the same happens to you."

"Screw that," he declares, rushing to her side with barely a glance at the mess on the floor. "Let me see."

Grimacing, Alex lets him.

What must be the biggest piece of glass still left on the floor is stuck deep in her foot. There's not much blood, yet, but only because the glass is stopping the flow. Alex knows enough to leave it there until she can get help.

"Holy shit." Matt looks pale. "We've got to get you to hospital."

"I'm not wearing any underwear," Alex remarks. She looks up, and smirks despite the pain. "And you're wearing a t-shirt and one sock."

He blushes, and instantly looks better. "I got interrupted, okay?" He pushes himself to his feet and steps across the floor more warily this time, thank God. "I'll fetch the rest of our clothes and then I'm putting you straight in the car, alright?"

He's gone before she can reply.

Poor Matt. Today has definitely slipped lower on the morning after scale than it was ten minutes ago.

Alex tries not to look at her foot. It's making her queasy.

True to his word, Matt is back within moments, wearing trousers now if still only one sock, and carrying his shoes and her underpants.

Getting into them is slightly problematic, but they manage it and he literally carries her to the car, settling her carefully into the passenger seat and pressing a lollipop into her hand.

"What's this for?" she asks, bemused.

Matt shrugs, closing the door and running around to the driver's side. "Me mum always used to give me a lollipop on the way to the hospital," he says, fastening his seatbelt and starting the car. "Take my mind off whatever it was I'd done to myself."

"How many hospital trips did you make as a child?" Alex demands, astonished.

"Oh, a fair few." He shoots her a grin as he puts the car into gear. "I was really clumsy when I was a kid."

"What, as opposed to now?"

"Far worse than now," he confirms, driving out onto the road. "Honestly, it's a miracle I made it to adulthood."

"Well." Alex unwraps the lollipop – strawberry, her favourite, she notes – "looks like I'm the clumsy one now."

Matt tenses visibly. "Alex, I'm so sorry. If I hadn't knocked those glasses over—"

"Or if I had actually finished the clean-up job last night instead of jumping you," she cuts him off. "Or if I'd cleaned it up first thing today – it's my fault far more than yours, darling."

"I'm still sorry," he insists. After a moment he glances over at her and adds, "I quite enjoyed being jumped, though."

That makes her laugh. "Mutual."

They both grin ridiculously, and she puts the lollipop in her mouth before she can say anything to ruin the moment.

He has to make it up to her, Matt decides. That much is clear. If he wants to have any chance at all of anything coming of this, he has to make it up to her.

He hasn't seen her for several days after driving her home from the hospital with a bandaged foot and a pair of crutches, but they've been texting often.

He's trying desperately to convince himself that it doesn't mean anything that she replies to his messages far more quickly than she used to.

They agree to meet on Friday night, at her hotel so that she doesn't have to walk too much – she says she's fine, but he insists. He spends all afternoon making sushi and cheesecake and obsessing far too much over the flavour and texture and appearance of each, and he ends up arriving ten

minutes late because he went back to repack them in different bags so that the cheesecake definitely won't taste of fish.

He hopes it won't, anyway. It did share a fridge with the fish, briefly.

The worrying is pathetic and he knows it, but it keeps his mind off his larger worries, which all involve Alex in some way rejecting him.

But at least he's in a position to be rejected now, rather than ignored completely. He tries to take some solace in that fact.

Alex answers the door with a big smile on her face, which grows wider when she sees the bags of food, and Matt finds himself smiling back before she limps to one side to let him in and he's reminded again of what happened to her foot.

"How is it?" he asks, stepping inside and closing the door.

"It's sore, but okay." She shrugs it off easily, clearing a space on the table, and he's torn between expressing his relief that it's not too terrible and wanting to know more – What did the doctor say this morning? How long will you need the crutches? How did they take it at work? – but she doesn't give him an opportunity to ask, grabbing the bags from his hands and setting to work unpacking them. "Wow, Matt, you made sushi?"

"Um, yeah." He grabs the cheesecake and carries it over to the tiny fridge, wondering if he can rearrange things so that it will fit inside. "It's not that hard."

"I must admit, I've never tried." She flashes him a grin. "You'll have to teach me."

"Erm, sure. I'd like that." He can't resist. "When your foot's better. What did the doctor reckon?"

Alex shrugs. "He said that because it's on my foot it will take a while to heal. But it's the arch of the foot, so I can walk on it already. Sort of." She chuckles. "Good thing I've already done my running scenes for this shoot."

Matt grimaces guiltily. "Yeah."

She rolls her eyes and limps towards him to pull him to his feet, half the contents of the fridge still scattered on the floor. "Not your fault, Matt. Accidents happen. I'm going to keep reminding you until you get it."

"Sorry, Alex. I just—we had a really good night together, yeah?"

Alex nods, smirking. "And you think what happened to my foot has completely marred the experience for me."

"Hasn't it?"

"Matt." Alex takes his hands in hers. "Aside from the horrible mess I left in your kitchen, what struck me most about the whole thing was how well you took care of me."

Matt blinks, and he feels the sides of his mouth slowly tugging into a smile. "Really?"

Leaning in, Alex pecks him on the lips and nods again. "Really." Straightening, she clears her throat. "Now are you going to feed me sushi or am I going to starve to death?"

He feeds her sushi.

Matt texts and e-mails her every day, sometimes just to ask her how she is, sometimes to send her a link to some silly video he thinks she'll like. Sometimes to tell her to meet him at such and such a location at such and such a time. He takes her out to restaurants and to see plays and is generally really, really wonderful.

Alex has always thought he would make a lovely boyfriend for somebody. She never thought that somebody would be her.

She runs for her phone every time there's a break in filming – something she's never been the type to do before. Her co-stars notice and comment on it, trying to get her to spill the beans as to why a text message or lack thereof can influence her mood to such a degree. They guess that it's a man, but she neither confirms nor denies. This whatever-it-is that she and Matt have going on is nowhere near ready to go beyond the two of them. Even Karen, who hassles them both for details, is only told that everything is good; something she does not appreciate.

She should stop being so nosy! Matt texts.

Alex grins at his overpunctuation and sips her tea, surreptitiously waiting until no one is paying attention before she replies. She thinks it's all down to her and that she deserves sordid details as thanks.

Her phone vibrates with his reply just as they're called back on set, and it takes all her powers of concentration to stay in character until they break again and she can rush to read his reply.

It is not down to her, he's written. It is due entirely to my amazing powers of seduction xxxxxxx She chuckles, and types her reply. I seduced you, darling.

The scene they shoot after that is a rather sombre one concerning her character's personal life, so she manages to pull herself together for a while and actually act. By the time they're done she's feeling a bit down herself in sympathy for poor Ruth, so it cheers her immensely to see that there's a new message waiting for her.

Her cheer dissipates immediately when she sees that it's from Florian.

Hi. Listen, we're at Heathrow. Rolf was killed in a car accident two days ago, funeral in Hamburg tomorrow. Sal says she would rather stay with you than come with me. Sorry for short notice, it just occurred to her on the plane. Tried to call but you didn't answer. Please call back? Am supposed to be on plane to Germany in 4 hours. Flo

Alex gapes, and quickly checks her missed calls – sure enough, there is one from Florian, almost an hour ago.

"Shit," she says out loud.

"What's up?" says a voice behind her, making her jump. She turns to find Jim the director looking at her inquisitively.

"My daughter," she rushes to explain, still clutching her phone. "I've just been told I need to pick her up from the airport as soon as possible."

The expression of barely -concealed horror on Jim's face is a picture, bless him. "Right," he says, rubbing his face. "Okay. If you've got to go, you've got to go."

"Jim, I'm so sorry," Alex shakes her head. "I know I've already caused such trouble with what happened with my foot, if there was any other way…"

"Can't somebody else fetch her?" Jim asks hopefully. "Bring her here for you?"

"I don't know – my parents and my sister are too far away—"

"Or perhaps we could send a car, that would be cheaper than—"

"Wait," Alex realises suddenly. "I know someone who might be able to do it."

Matt stands as far away from the crowd in arrivals as he can whilst still keeping his eye on the stream of people coming through. He's dressed scruffily in a hoodie and a big scarf in the hopes that not too many people will recognise him – at least one has, so far, but has only stared rather than photographing or approaching him – and he just hopes that the teenage girl he is here to meet will spot him. And that no one will snap a picture of them together. All kinds of speculation could be caused by a photo like that.

He must be insane to have agreed to this. Then again, he's been insane for a good long while now when it comes to Alex. He's pretty sure he would do anything she could possibly ask of him.

No sign of Salome yet. He knows the plane has landed already, but Alex said that she would stay on the other side of customs with Florian until Matt arrived. Of course he doesn't have Florian's number to let him know that he's here – that would be too sensible – he just has to hope that they've received the ETA he gave Alex and that Salome is on her way out accordingly.

A dark -haired girl appears in the crowd and Matt is about to wave when a woman comes up behind her and they both head towards a smiling older couple – not her, then. He should recognise her, he only saw her a few weeks ago, but he is standing quite far away from where she will emerge. Perhaps he should get closer after all.

He's just inching towards the throng of people when someone grabs his arm.

He whirls, half expecting to have to politely chastise some fan with no concept of personal space.

But it's Salome.

"Hi!" She grins.

"What?" Matt looks around. "Where did you come from?"

Salome shrugs. "I came out but you weren't here yet. So I bought some chocolate." She holds up a rather full WHSmith bag. "Hi!"

"Hi," Matt says belatedly, giving her a quick bear hug. "Sorry, Sal, I just – if your mum found out that I lost you—"

"You didn't lose me," Salome says impatiently, turning to drag him towards the car park. "You hadn't even found me yet, how could you lose me? Besides, I'm not a little kid anymore. I can take care of myself."

"I don't doubt that," he concedes. "But you gave me a fright, all the same." "I'm sorry." Salome bounces. "Are we going back to your place?"

"What? No, no, I'm taking you to the set where your mum's working."

"Will you stay with me until she's done? It gets really boring when she's filming and I have to sit around for hours waiting for her."

"I thought you liked watching the filming?" Matt says, perplexed. How many times has he seen Alex offer to have someone pick her up and take her out and Salome refuse vehemently?

"Only when she's filming Doctor Who. Most of the stuff she does is really boring to watch. Just talking that doesn't make any sense because it's all in the wrong order."

"I'll see if I can stay," Matt promises. "I'll entertain you with stories about the Doctor, yeah?"

"But he's not you any more." Salome pouts. "Mum says the new guy's really nice but she hasn't even worked with him yet so—"

"Wait, what? What do you mean, yet?"

"Oh." Salome looks chastised momentarily. "I'm not supposed to tell. The only reason I know is because I was there when Steven called her." She eyes him carefully. "You're not jealous are you? It's your own fault that you left."

"'Course not!" Matt lies, doing his best to sound jovial. "Just surprised, that's all. We said goodbye in the last one she did, after all."

"Yes but that was old River," Salome explains patiently. "You keep meeting in the wrong order, right? I think she's got hundreds of years of life that we haven't seen yet. I think she could be in it forever."

Salome further expounds upon her ideas about River Song until they reach the car, where her phone rings just as she's fastening her seatbelt. She rummages in her bag until she finds it – the ringtone is some pop song he doesn't recognise, which gets to him rather – is he out of touch? – and she answers cheerfully. "Hi dad! Yep, I found him. Yes, I know. I'm sorry. I was just so excited to—Yes. Okay. Right. See you then!" She drops the phone back in her bag. "I was supposed to call him as soon as I found you," she explains. "Oops."

"Speaking of…" Matt grabs his own phone and tries to call Alex, but there's no answer so he sends a text instead. He's halfway through typing it when he realises that Salome is reading over his shoulder.

"She seduced you?" Salome asks, a wide grin spreading over her face.

Matt feels a blush quickly spreading over his own as he realises that Alex's last text to him is still on the screen. "Yeah, we were talking about River and the Doctor," he lies uncomfortably.

"Then why doesn't it say 'She seduced him?'" Salome demands. "She knows she's not really River Song."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about that." Shit, shit, shit. "She's always saying 'Hello sweetie'." "Mm-hmm." Salome, he can tell, is not convinced.

Fuck, he thinks, doing his level best not to panic as he finishes the text and fastens his own seatbelt. What the hell do I tell Alex now?

"Thank you so much, Matt," Alex says later that evening, pouring them both a glass of wine when Salome has finally gone to bed. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Any time," he says, taking his glass and clinking it against hers. "You know how much I love spending time with her."

There's a small voice in the back of her head which reminds her that none of the other men she's been with since Florian took much interest in Salome, but she studiously ignores it. She can't deny how much her heart is aching for Florian right now, after all – she still cares for him over anyone else.

She's pretty sure she does, anyway.

"Explain again why she's here so unexpectedly?" Matt asks. "I'm afraid you were a bit all over the place the first time." He smiles affectionately. It really hurts her that she can't feel the same way about him as he feels about her; but he's not expecting her to, she reminds herself. That's the arrangement.

She collapses next to him on the sofa and rests her head on his shoulder with a sigh. "Florian's cousin Rolf died in a car accident. They flew over for the funeral, with what was supposed to be a layover here – only Salome decided on the way that she would rather spend the time with me. Florian and Rolf grew up together, they were really close, but as far as I know she's only met him a handful of times. I think she mainly said she wanted to go in the first place because it meant time off school."

"Sounds like a good reason to me." Matt comments.

Alex sighs. "You wouldn't say that if you were her parent." She pauses. "But I'm glad she's here. I've missed her."

"I'm sure she's missed you too." Matt nudges her shoulder. "It wouldn't surprise me if this was her plan all along. She's a smart cookie."

Alex nods. "She is sometimes shockingly devious, it's true."

"See? Very smart." Matt clears his throat, a bit awkwardly. "Speaking of which…"

She turns to look at him, surprised by the worry she finds on his face. "Yes?"

"Erm." Suddenly he won't meet her eyes. "She may have seen that last text you sent me. While I was texting you to say that I'd found her." He clears his throat again. "The one that said 'I seduced you.'"

Alex feels her stomach drop, and she has to put the wine down before her shaking hand spills it all over her front. "Shit," she says.

"Yeah." Matt nods. "That's what I said." He pales. "I mean, I didn't say it, you know I wouldn't swear in front of her! I sure as hell thought it, though. I tried to convince her that we were talking about the Doctor and River, but… yeah." He grimaces. "Smart cookie."

"Okay." Alex takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, trying to calm herself. "Okay. Thank you for telling me. Don't worry."

"I'm so sorry, Alex, I'm an idiot – I just wanted to let you know I'd got her, I didn't think—" "It's okay, darling." She rests a hand on his arm. "No harm done. I'll talk to her. I've got a much

better chance of convincing her than you. Trust me."

"Are you sure?" He's so anxious, poor dear, and it's not making her feel any better about the whole thing.

"Yes," she tells him firmly, and pulls the wine glass from his fingers to set down on the table. She climbs into his lap and cups his cheek with her hand, running her thumb over the stubble there. "Now be a dear and distract me for a while, will you?"

He complies eagerly, and distracts her so well that she almost forgets to kick him out before Salome wakes up in the morning.

Matt misses Alex terribly when she has to go back to the States. More than he ever did when he was simply pining after her from afar, and he wonders for the umpteenth time whether he has made the right choice. Alex seems to be enjoying herself with him, it's true, but she's showing no sign of getting over Florian. The uncomfortable silence between them whenever his name comes up is almost too much to bear.

But she calls him when she arrives in L.A., and because she doesn't mention otherwise he convinces himself that she's called him before her ex-husband. Small victories, he tells himself. One step at a time.

"I miss you," he tells her truthfully.

"I miss you too," she sighs without hesitation, and his heart does a little leap. "Please tell me that you've been thinking about sex as much as I have," she groans. "I can't take it, it's excruciating."

He'd actually been thinking about the way she'd giggled when he'd given her a little bunch of plastic flowers as a parting gift, so that she could take them on the plane and they'd last until they saw each other again. But he plays along. "You know I think about you all the time," he says truthfully.

"How can I go so long without it and be fine, and then have it regularly for a few weeks and need it so badly?" she complains. He can hear the pout in her voice.

"Easy." Matt grins. "I'm addictive."

That makes her chuckle. "That you are, darling. Listen, I can't talk for long, Florian is bringing Salome over any minute. Can I call you later? It'll be early morning for you by then…" She sounds apologetic, but he can't think of anything better to wake up to.

"You can call me anytime, Kingston," he tells her. "You know your voice is like no other sound on Earth."

She laughs again, and he wishes so much that he could see it. "Goodbye, sweetie." Matt smiles. "See you around."

She hangs up. He shoves his phone in his pocket and sighs; he misses her so much it's almost a physical ache.

He's in too deep, and the chances of this ending badly are by his estimation about ninety-six percent.

Florian arrives with Salome and a woman Alex hasn't met before, bearing their daughter's usual multitude of suitcases. Alex answers the door with a smile and gets hugs from both of them; Salome rushes inside and the adults are left in the doorway.

"Good trip?" Florian asks.

"Yeah." Alex nods brightly. "Some turbulence, but otherwise fine. It's good to be back."

"Good." He smiles too, and turns to the other woman, who has yet to say a word. "I don't think you've met Yvonne?" He turns back to Alex and looks at her intently. "My fiancee."

Alex does her best not to gape, though she's pretty sure her heart has stopped beating. "Oh!" Somehow, she manages to keep the smile on her face. "Congratulations!"

They both break into smiles, so she supposes her reaction must seem genuine enough. "Thank you," says Yvonne. "We're very happy."

"Great!" Alex keeps the smile fixed on her face as her mind reels. Oh God. She's going to have to invite them in, isn't she? "I've actually got some cake in the kitchen," she says. "Would you like to come and have a slice? Celebratory?"

Florian starts to say something but Yvonne cuts him off, clapping her hands delightedly. "Oh, thank you! I never say no to cake!"

So Alex finds herself sitting in her kitchen with her ex-husband and his soon-to-be new wife. She doesn't know how they can't see how uncomfortable she is, even if she is doing her best to hide it.

Salome bounds into the room when she's cutting the cake, a big grin on her face. "Ooh, cake!" She runs to Yvonne, resting her hands on her shoulders affectionately – clearly they know each other quite well, despite Alex herself never having met her before. She's sure they've only been dating for a few months… or could it be a year now? "Did you tell her?" Salome demands of her father.

"They did," Alex confirms. "I'm very happy for them. How exciting!" "I'm going to be a bridesmaid," Salome reveals proudly.

"Are you really?" So many revelations, all at once. She feels like she's going to faint. "And when is the big day?" she enquires politely, digging into her cake in order to steel herself for the answer.

"September 6th," Florian replies.

Just a couple of months from now.

Alex calls him at 5:30 in the morning. The phone wakes him and he's still half asleep when he answers, vaguely wondering what terrible thing might have happened to make her call at such an ungodly hour.

"Kingston? Wha' can I do for you?" he mumbles.

"I'm so sorry for calling this early," Alex's voice apologises into his ear. She is instantly forgiven.

The only thing better than her voice would be her physical presence.

"No problem. How's things?" Matt reaches to turn on his bedside lamp, hoping the light will help to wake him up a bit more.

Alex doesn't answer.

"…Alex?" he probes.

"I need your help more than ever," she tells him then, all in a rush. "Florian's getting married. And his fiancee is lovely but I hate her and I really don't want to because she's lovely but I'm horribly, horribly jealous and I feel like a horrible person."

"You're not a horrible person," Matt replies instantly, still trying to process the rest of what she's told him. "You're the most wonderful person I've ever met."

Alex squeaks – he hopes she's not crying. "Thank you, darling. God, I know me pining after him is the last thing you want to hear, but…" She hesitates, and when she continues she's a lot more subdued. "You're the only person I want to talk to."

She's right, but at the same time… "Well, Kingston. I feel very honoured to be that person." She sighs. "I miss you, Matt. Things were nice and simple there, for a while."

His experience of the last few weeks has been anything but simple, but he keeps that to himself. "Things never stay simple, Alex."

"I know."

Matt pauses, and then clears his throat. "What are you wearing?"

Alex laughs, and now he can tell – she has definitely been crying. "My Hello Kitty pyjamas."

That makes him laugh too, though. "Hello Kitty? I didn't know you were a fan."

"Salome bought them for me," she protests. "They're very comfy." She changes tack. "What are you wearing?"

Matt shrugs. "Nothing."

Alex tuts. "How dull."

"Dull?" he responds incredulously. "Are you calling my marvellous naked body dull?"

She chuckles, and her voice doesn't sound quite so thick, now. "Well, darling. I can hardly ask you to strip for me if you haven't got anything to strip off, can I?"

"I'll put something on," he tells her. "Hold on. No, wait." He has a better idea. "Listen, go and make a cup of tea or something. I'll call back in a couple of minutes."

"What are you doing?" Alex asks suspiciously.

"Making a fool of myself in order to entertain you," he says. "I'm hanging up now!"

He almost doesn't, because she's really laughing now and it's such a glorious sound, but with any luck he'll hear more of it later on.

Matt puts the phone down and stumbles out of bed, heading for the wardrobe. He proceeds to don every item of clothing he owns, topping it off with his piece de resistance – the Doctor's fez.

Then he calls Alex back and describes himself taking everything back off again, and she laughs down the phone at him for almost an hour.

It's a lot more difficult for Alex to distract herself now.

Matt's in another country, and although she speaks to him regularly it's not at all the same as seeing him.

Salome seems to spend all her spare time helping Yvonne to pick out dresses and shoes and flower arrangements.

And she sees Florian an awful lot more often than usual.

He and Yvonne want to take Salome with them on their honeymoon, which seems an odd notion to Alex but she can't exactly argue against her daughter getting to tour Europe – she hasn't been except to visit relatives since she was much younger, and she's bound to get a lot more out of it now than she did then.

But it means that Alex will be left alone in L.A. while Florian is off having adventures – and probably lots of sex – with his new wife.

She misses Matt. He was a great distraction when he was in her life – and her bed – every day, making her feel wanted. Now it all seems almost like a dream, and she finds herself doubting more and more that a real relationship with him could ever work. He's still based in the UK for the foreseeable future, and she is, as always, here there and everywhere between family and work.

And Florian, meanwhile, still only lives a ten-minute drive away from her house.

She feels better when he's not so close, when he can't just drop by at a moment's notice to see Salome, but she can't begrudge him that convenience. Goodness knows there are plenty of times when she herself would like to be able to see their daughter just because she feels like it. She wouldn't wish that particular aspect of her lifestyle on anyone.

She just wishes she didn't care so much. She shouldn't care – they've been separated for years now, she's had plenty of time to get over him… but somehow until now there always seemed to be just a little bit of hope that one day they might get back together again after all.

Until now.

Now, everything is different. Sealed. No more Florian for her.

She has to accept it.

ITV asks her to come back to the UK to do some press for Chasing Shadows, and where normally she would have tried to get out of it – she's happy to do phone interviews, but does she really need to travel all the way for London for a couple of TV spots? – this time she agrees immediately. She has to see Matt. The wedding preparations going on all around her are suffocating her and, worst of all, she thinks Salome is starting to notice.

So she goes.

Matt is actually not in London when she arrives; he's off filming something in some remote part of the country, but he promises to come back for the weekend. So she busies herself with work for

two days and texts him constantly until she's sure she must be driving him insane.

But he knocks on her door late on Friday night and gives her flowers, and everything is alright again for a while.

She lies cuddled up next to him in the middle of the night and wonders what she's done to deserve the love of this wonderful man and how he possibly has the strength to listen to her pine after somebody else and actually sound sympathetic when he responds.

"Go to sleep, Kingston," he murmurs.

Alex shifts to look at his face, surprised. "How can you tell I'm not asleep?"

"You're talking."

"I wasn't before," she points out.

Matt sighs, pulling her closer. "Your breathing," he says. "You breathe differently when you're thinking too much."

"I can't help it," she confesses gloomily.

He cocks an eyebrow – or at least she presumes that's what he's trying to do. It's a bit hard to tell. "You need me to distract you?"

Alex snuggles back down, thankful. "Yes please." "What kind of distraction do you need?" "Tell me a story."

"A story?" He sounds surprised, but plays along. "Okay." He clears his throat and rearranges his legs under hers. "Once upon a time," he begins, "There was a beautiful princess."

"This isn't Rapunzel, is it?" Alex interrupts. "Salome still tries to make me watch Tangled with her at least once a week. The charm has worn off rather."

"It's not Rapunzel," Matt promises. "Though she does have magical hair."

"Hmm," Alex says suspiciously. She thinks she has an inkling of where this is going.

"Anyway," Matt continues, "the princess fell in love and married a beautiful prince. Unfortunately the prince was an idiot, and decided to go off adventuring with a dragon, who ate him."

"Ouch."

"Yep. The princess was heartbroken of course, but she found love again with a far more sensible, grown-up prince. They were very happy and had a beautiful baby girl, who grew up as well to be a sassy thirteen -year-old. Unfortunately being a grown-up came with its own, grown -up issues, and the second prince eventually decided that he was insane and would rather marry someone else."

"This isn't a very jolly story, Matthew."

"Hush, you." He presses a finger to her lips. "It's not over yet." Matt pauses, resting his hand on her arm and running his thumb back and forth across her skin. "The poor princess was a bit despondent after that, so she went to see a wise Scottish witch. She didn't necessarily believe in

that kind of thing, but the witch – and don't tell Karen that I called her that, she'll kill me – she reminded her that all good things come in threes. The princess had had many good years with princes one and two, but the third – the best – was yet to come. And she was right. And they lived happily ever after."

"So who was this third prince?" Alex demands.

"Ah, that would be telling." He pulls his hand back, bopping her on the nose in a manner reminiscent of the Doctor, and kisses her on the forehead. "You'll be okay, Alex."

Inexplicably, tears spring to her eyes. "You're perfect," she tells him, cupping his cheek with her hand.

"Not as perfect as you."

"Shut up."

"Will you go to sleep now?"

"Maybe. No." She looks up at him, struck by a thought. "Will you come with me? To the wedding? Be my plus one?"

Matt nods agreement without even seeming to think about it. "Course I will. No problem." He throws an arm over his head, humming throughtfully. "Will Salome help me to choose a dress?"

"No." Alex tickles him, and he hits her with a pillow, and they both laugh and, eventually, fall asleep.

Matt tugs uncomfortably at his tie, which is obstinately refusing to behave properly and insists on looking slightly askew whatever he does.

Why did I agree to this again? he asks himself.

The answer to that question wanders into his hotel room with a pair of heels in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. "Zip me, would you darling?"

He raises his eyebrows. "Champagne already, Kingston?"

"Just the one glass. I thought it might help." She takes a sip and puts it down, turning her back to him and looking over her shoulder expectantly. "Please?"

"Yeah, 'course." Her dress is gorgeous – made from a silky lavender-coloured material which is cut to perfectly accentuate every last bit of her. "You're going to upstage the bride in this," he remarks, pressing kisses against her skin before pulling the zip up.

"Oh God." She turns to look at him, aghast. "People aren't going to think that, are they? I don't want to—that wasn't what I meant—"

"Wasn't it?" he asks, as gently as possible.

Alex sighs, and she backs up slowly until she can collapse on the bed. "Not consciously," she says, swinging her shoes from her fingers. "I'm pathetic, aren't I?"

"Not a word I would use to describe you, actually," Matt states, and flops down next to her.

She shoots him a grateful smile, but sighs again. "I don't even know why I'm here. I could easily have made up some excuse."

"Salome would have been disappointed," he points out.

"I know." Alex nods. "She told me this morning that she could only possibly be more excited if she were getting married herself."

"Wow. I hope that's not happening anytime soon."

"I did have a little talk with her. I don't think so."

"Good. Kids grow up too fast."

"Lots of things happen too fast," Alex comments.

"I dunno. Sometimes fast is good. Short, sharp shock, get it over with, sort of thing?"

She chuckles, and rolls onto her stomach. "Speaking of which…" She's trying her best to sound cheerful. Kudos to her.

"Time to go," Matt agrees. He stands, and offers her his hand to pull her up after him.

"When it's over," Alex says, getting to her feet and resting her head on his shoulder, "please just shag me senseless, okay?"

He laughs, slipping a hand around her waist and steering her towards the door. "Only if you're sober."

Alex pouts. "Can't I be just a little bit tipsy?"

"We'll see."

He offers her his arm and escorts her out of the room and into the elevator, where the presence of other guests keeps him from giving her the hug he feels like she might need. The ceremony will be held outside in the hotel's lavish gardens, quite a walk from the main building in a secluded little area designed for this very purpose.

Matt steps out onto the grass and wonders if complimenting the happy couple's choice of wedding venue would be an acceptable thing to do right now.

"I like the fountain," he ventures, pausing as Alex finally dons her shoes. All that remains of the wound on her foot is a rather dramatic looking scar, but she still has trouble with certain pairs of shoes putting pressure on all the wrong places. He feels a twinge of guilt.

Her grip tightens on his arm when they start down the soft gravel path – not the best surface for those heels. "Oh yes!" She stares, smiling. "It's gorgeous. Look at the carving on those little statues…" She tries to make her way towards it only to find that the ground to the side of the path is even less heel-friendly.

Matt leads her away, following the other guests. "They could all be Weeping Angels, you know."

"Don't say that, Matt! I'll wake up in the middle of the night and convince myself they're coming to get me."

"I'll protect you," he vows. "Don't worry. The Doctor's got it covered."

"Thank you," she says sincerely. He gets the feeling she's not talking about fictional monsters.

"Anything for you, Kingston."

One of the guests spots Alex and comes over for a chat; Matt excuses himself to take a little walk before the big event.

The gardens are full of little walkways hidden from view by a canopy of plants, and he soon emerges from one of these into a little circular space surrounded by hedges, with a small fountain in the middle whose little splashing sounds almost cover the chattering of people waiting to take their seats.

He's feeling increasingly uncomfortable. He knows that Alex is still in love with Florian; this is exactly what he knowingly signed up for. But he had hoped, perhaps rather optimistically, that he might have won her over just a little bit by now.

He wonders if Florian knows that Matt is banging his ex-wife.

It's not fair of him to expect Alex not to be thinking of Florian on a day like this, he knows. Once upon a time she imagined herself spending the rest of her life with the man, after all… and now she has to watch him pledge himself to somebody else. It can't be easy.

But Matt is here and ready and willing and all she seems to see him as is a crutch, a tool to help her deal with this unfortunate turn of events.

It hurts all the more because he still can't think of her as anything but perfect.

There is a shift in the tone of the voices from across the garden, and Matt decides he should probably go and join them. He is tempted, just for a moment, just to leave – to abandon his stupid hope of ever getting Alex to himself and to run away, to become a hermit somewhere until his futile feelings for her have gone away and he's at peace in his own mind again.

But he cares about her too much to do that to her.

Steeling himself to watch her tear up, or sit next to him rigid with jealousy, or even initiate a completely inappropriate display of affection, Matt makes his way out of his private little garden and onto the vast lawn of the wedding area, where delicate white chairs have been set up to face an equally delicate white arch, with a minister standing underneath it waiting to officiate.

Most of the guests have taken their seats by the time Matt gets there, and several people have to stand up to let him through to the place Alex has reserved for him. She smiles gratefully and

reaches out to squeeze his hand as he sits.

"I was worrying that you'd got lost," she murmurs.

"Just a bit," he replies. "Sorry."

"I'm really glad you're here."

The congregation stands up around them then, and Matt realises that he didn't notice Florian appearing out of goodness knows where. The musicians strike up, and Yvonne appears behind them, closely followed by a very grown-up looking Salome.

"Oh, look at her," Alex breathes, clasping her hands to her mouth.

Salome grins broadly as she passes them and takes her place at the front with the other bridesmaids.

The ceremony is lovely, with vows that are touching and funny, and Matt finds himself genuinely wishing Florian and his new wife well – they seem like a lovely couple.

Alex too is grinning by the end, despite the tear rolling down her cheek. He wonders what's going on inside her head.

But he doesn't quite dare to ask.

There's a reception on the terrace afterwards, with champagne and a buffet of fancy food, and a band playing music Matt actually quite likes.

If he ever gets married, he thinks, he would like something like this.

It's only a shame the woman he wants to marry still wants to be married to someone else.

No, Matt tells himself firmly, pushing that thought – all of that thought – away to the hidden recesses of his mind where it belongs.

Alex is chatting happily to an old friend of hers while Matt shovels food down his gullet, but said friend is called away by one of her friends and Alex, smiling brightly, returns her attention to Matt.

"Have you tried the tartlets?" she asks, popping one into her mouth and continuing with her mouth full, "They're divine."

"Yes and yes," Matt responds enthusiastically. "I think this might be the best buffet food I've ever

eaten."

Alex laughs, and leans forward to dab at his chin with her napkin. "Then perhaps you shouldn't waste it by putting it in places other than your mouth, hmm?"

"I can think of other places I'd like to put my mouth." He waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

"Hush, you!" she admonishes, still smiling. "I really don't want to upstage Florian by getting the gossip machine going."

"You should stop being so sexy, then."

"Stop it!" She whacks him lightly on the arm with the napkin.

"Sorry." Matt sighs. "I should have known. It's impossible."

She giggles, and then makes a visible effort to compose herself as Salome approaches their table.

"Darling, you look gorgeous," she tells her daughter sincerely.

Salome blushes. "Thanks, Mum. I helped Yvonne to choose the dresses."

"It's lovely. I bet she really appreciated your help."

"I think so. It was really fun. And look, the stylist did my hair, isn't it cool?" Salome turns her head to demonstrate maximum coolness.

"Very cool." Alex nods seriously.

"Matt?" Salome turns to him suddenly and he's caught by surprise, with his fork almost in his mouth.

"Yeah?" he manages.

"Will you dance with me?"

Alex's response is to look at him with amusement, so he pulls himself together. "You do know I've got two left feet, right?"

"Don't worry." Salome beams and takes his hand, and he has no choice but to let her pull him up. "I'll go easy on you."

Alex waggles her fingers at him as her daughter drags him towards the dancefloor. The band is playing a waltz, and thankfully there are other dancers he can watch to try and jog his memory of the steps. The basics come back to him quite quickly, and Salome grins up at him despite the fact that he's almost stepped on her foot twice already. He realises belatedly that she's almost as tall as her mother.

"Hey, you're really good at this," he comments, daring for a moment to look up.

Her smile widens. "Dad made me practice with him. He was terrified that he'd embarrass himself. Yvonne's a professional dancer."

"He seemed to do alright." More than alright, actually – the first dance had been mesmerising. "You must've done good."

"Yeah." Salome smiles at her father, who Matt realises with some alarm has gone over to talk to Alex. On his own. And his new wife is watching them fondly. Does she not know how Alex still feels about Florian?

"Are you dating my mum?" Salome asks him so casually that he almost doesn't register what she's said. When he looks at her she's still gazing serenely at her parents.

"Um." Matt swallows. "I think you'd better talk to her about that, Salome."

"I'll take that as a yes." She meets his eyes shrewdly. "If it was no you would've just said so."

Matt is saved from having to respond to this by an elderly gentleman tenderly putting a hand on Salome's arm. "Mind if I cut in?" he asks jovially.

"Grosspapi!" Salome exclaims happily. "Matt, this is my grandpa. He used to be a professional dancer too. He's the one who was teaching me and Dad."

"And between me and you, you were much the better student, Mäuschen," the old man says with a twinkle in his eyes. He holds out his hand to Matt. "Very nice to meet you, Matt. Salome speaks of you often. Do you mind?"

"No," Matt says, trying to conceal just how much he actually wants to get away and out of this whole situation. "No, please." He attempts a nonchalant smile. "Knock yourselves out."

Salome turns to her grandfather with a giggle and Matt makes his escape, taking his seat next to Alex and pulling it as close as he dares. "Kingston," he hisses, taking her hand. "You've got to come and dance with me so I can talk to you in private."

Alex scoffs even as she lets him pull her up. "Out on the crowded dance floor, you mean?"

"No one will catch more than a fragment of a sentence as we sail past," Matt explains, leading her into the growing throng of people.

"Sailing?" she teases. "Are you sure you're not overestimating your abilities?"

"Alex!" He places his hand on her waist and she takes his other hand with amusement, smirking up at him as they begin to sway to the music. He hates to ruin her fun, but… "Listen, Salome just flat-out asked me if we were a couple."

Alex, bless her, blinks rapidly but doesn't miss a step. "And what did you tell her?" "I told her to ask you."

"Thanks so much," she says, and he's about to object to the sarcasm in her voice when she continues, "You could have just said yes."

"I… what?" Matt is baffled, even though he's not quite sure why that should be.

"It's been six months, Matt. And you know it's never just been sex. I'd say that makes us a couple whether we like it or not." She pauses, leaning her forehead on his shoulder so that he can't read her expression. "But I kind of do. Like it."

He wants to kiss her but refrains, settling instead for mumbling into her ear. "Does that make me your boyfriend?"

He feels her giggle more than he hears it, her body vibrating softly against his. "I suppose so. Does that mean I'm your girlfriend?"

"Hell yes." Matt nips her ear. "I have an extraordinary urge to have extraordinary amounts of sex with you right now," he whispers.

Alex giggles out loud at that. "Well, we have got two hotel rooms upstairs." He grins. "Yours or mine?"

"How about both?" She chuckles, stepping away from him. "I'm just going to say goodnight to Salome. You go on up." And she glides away from him, weaving expertly through the other dancers.

Matt looks around, wondering if he should say any goodbyes, but he decides it will be more discreet if he doesn't. Despite what they've just said, he's not sure he wants any busybodies jumping to conclusions. Even if those conclusions might be the right ones.

He steps into the lift and makes his way back up to his room, where he brushes his teeth and makes sure he looks presentable, and then he goes to loiter in front of Alex's door.

She arrives soon after looking furtive, and he wonders how she can be such an amazing actress and yet so amazingly obvious in real life. He supposes it's because she never tries to be someone else when she's not in front of the camera. He kind of loves that about her.

Alex glances around briefly to check they're alone and then pins him against the door, pressing her mouth against his as she fumbles with her keycard until the door opens and they fall into the room, laughing and only barely able to keep their balance.

"Oh," she says, breaking away and kicking the door shut behind her, "you brushed your teeth. I'd better do mine."

She goes to leave the room but Matt grabs her by the arm, spinning her until she faces him again. "Don't you dare," he says. "You taste of champagne."

"Charming," Alex remarks.

"It is." Matt nods, pulling her towards the bed. "Champagne and chocolate and strawberries, and you want to take that away from me?"

She rolls her eyes good-naturedly and allows him to tip her backwards onto the duvet. "If you insist."

He's already stripping himself of his clothes, and she kicks her shoes off at him just as he's divesting himself of his trousers and underwear in one go. "Oi!" he protests, stepping forward to complain. He trips quite dramatically over his own feet, which are still half inside his trousers, and falls face-first onto the side of the bed, only to bounce straight off and collapse in a heap on the floor.

Alex is in hysterics by the time he manages to free his feet and get upright again. "Sorry, darling," she says, tears of laughter smudging her make-up. "My feet just couldn't take it in those shoes a moment longer!" She rakes her eyes over his now naked body and cocks an eyebrow. "I'll make it up to you."

"Oh yeah?" He steps closer, and Alex gets up on her knees on the edge of the bed, wrapping her arms around his neck. "How?" he demands, resting his hands on her hips.

Alex tilts her head and raises her eyebrows, looking down between their bodies to where his hard cock is pressing against her hip. "I don't know," she says innocently. She shrugs, and her hand

wanders almost nonchalantly down his body until she is gripping him firmly in her small fist. "But I'm sure we can think of something."

Matt swallows. "Yeah?" He thrusts gently into her hand. "And what kind of something might that be?"

"Hmm." Alex pretends to think about it, running her thumb absent-mindedly over the tip of his erection, and then straightens . "Perhaps it could involve… my mouth. My mouth and my tongue and my lips, sucking and licking until you scream my name." She grins. "How does that sound?"

"That sounds wonderful," Matt admits truthfully.

Alex's grin widens and she jumps off the bed, turning to push him down into a sitting position as she kneels, and she envelopes him with her mouth as soon as she's got him where she wants him.

Matt's hands bury themselves in her hair of their own accord, and when he tightens his grip her moan reverberating around him is positively sinful. "God, Alex," he gasps.

Then there's a knock on the door.

Alex pulls away and her eyes meet his.

"Don't answer it," he says. Inside his head he's begging her. No, please, please, Alex, not now…

Alex grimaces, clearly torn. "It could be Salome."

Matt can't find anything to say to that, so they look at each other in silence for a few seconds before Alex sighs and gets to her feet.

"Alex, wait!" Matt protests, very aware of the sudden loss of proximity. "I'm naked!"

"Get under the covers," she instructs, running her hands through her hair as she heads for the door. "It's probably nothing."

Matt scrambles across the bed and pulls the duvet over his head just as he hears the click of the door unlocking.

It's not Salome, that much is obvious as soon as he hears the person's voice. It's a man, his words muffled by the covers but the tones still familiar somehow – Florian, Matt realises.

He sounds upset, and Alex responds soothingly, but Matt can't make out any of what they're saying.

The conversation is short, and when the door clicks shut again Matt carefully peeks out from under the covers.

Alex is gone.

His heart leaps into his throat even while his mind is struggling not to jump to the worst conclusions possible.

Florian's changed his mind.

Florian's told Alex that he's changed his mind.

Alex is so over the moon that Florian's changed his mind that she's left Matt for him in the middle of a blowjob. Perhaps she'll carry on right where she left off, only with Florian instead of Matt.

She wouldn't, he tells himself firmly. She's not that callous.

But she's always been completely open with him about the fact that she's still in love with Florian. She hasn't given any indication to him that her feelings might have changed. And love can make you do crazy things – hell, he should know.

Matt pushes the covers aside and looks down at his erection.

He feels a bit pathetic, now.

Maybe she'll come back, he tells himself. Maybe Florian just needs her for something for a second, and then she'll come back and they can pick up where they left off. And even if he did just confess his undying love for her, maybe she'll still come to her senses and realise that actually Matt is the one for her.

Or maybe Matt is just kidding himself. Maybe she could never love him, and all this has been for her is a much-needed distraction from Florian's impending nuptials. And all this has been for Matt is a miserable attempt to achieve the impossible, a sad and ultimately lonely endeavour which will only leave him worse off than he ever was before.

Maybe thinking that he might actually have a chance is the worst thing that could have possibly happened to him.

She doesn't come back.

Half an hour passes, and then an hour. Then two. Matt wonders if he should leave.

He might be unwelcome here when Alex finally gets back.

Then again, what if it's all something completely different? Some kind of emergency with Salome, for instance? He should be here to support Alex, if she needs him.

He hopes she still needs him.

He'll stay til morning, he decides. And if she doesn't come back he'll leave, and he'll assume he's no longer wanted.

He tries in vain to sleep.

Alex hurries back to her room as soon she can.

She's still wearing her dress from the night before, she's beyond tired, and she's just realised that, along with her shoes, she must have left her keycard in the room with Matt.

She pads along the prickly carpet in the corridor and prays that he's still there.

What must he be thinking?

When she reaches the door she takes a moment to try and calm herself, and she knocks.

There's no answer, and her stomach begins to twist itself in knots.

Poor Matt. She'd tried to text him, but he hadn't replied. She had assumed that was because his phone was still in his own room while he was still in hers, but…

Alex swallows, and knocks again. "Matt?" she calls softly. "Matt, it's me. Can you let me in?" Something moves inside the room, and her heart leaps. Oh, thank God.

The door creaks open to reveal Matt wearing a crumpled suit, unshaven and clearly not having slept very much. "Kingston," he croaks.

"Oh, Matt, I'm so sorry!" She pushes past him into the room and pulls her suitcase out from under the bed. "I forgot my keycard," she explains in a rush, unzipping the case and pulling out a clean set of clothes she never bothered to hang up. "I tried to text you. Are you okay?" She rifles through the suitcase for some clean underwear.

Matt closes the door slowly, running his hand over his chin as though he's only just noticed the stubble growing there. "Where were you?" he asks wearily.

"With Florian, and—"

"Right." Matt nods. "Okay. S'okay, I understand."

Alex stands, looking at him in confusion. "So you did get my text?"

"No." He runs a hand through his hair. "I was here. Waiting for you. My phone's in my room. But I always knew this was a possibility, didn't I? Go on." He shrugs. "Go and be happy. You deserve it."

Alex blinks. "Matt," she says slowly. "Florian's father had a heart attack. I spent most of last night looking after Salome, who is quite understandably upset. She finally fell asleep a couple of hours ago, and I was so exhausted that I did too. And then I woke up and I came straight here, and I have no idea what you're going on about."

Matt stares. Then he gapes. "…Oh," he says finally. "Jesus. Sorry."

"Did you honestly think…?" She shakes her head, stepping towards him and stroking his arm. "Matt. Florian's happily married now. Even I can see that – I wouldn't want him to do anything to jeopardise it. Besides…" Alex smiles, wrapping an arm around his neck and reaching up to rub his stubbly cheek. "I'm actually very happy too." She shakes her head. "I know I've been moaning about Florian getting married. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you – but actually it's been really good for me. It's like a final, proper end to that chapter of my life." Now she can tell her words are finally starting to sink in, she makes sure he's looking at her properly and admits, "And I'm more than ready to start the next one."

Matt swallows. "Are you telling me," he says, very slowly, "that you are over your ex-husband?"

Alex nods, equally slowly. "I am. I am also telling you to go back to your room, get dressed, and for God's sake shave, because I require your company at breakfast."

"Right," says Matt. He turns to the door. "Right. No, but—" he turns back, searching her face

urgently. "You still want me? Even now you don't want him, you still want… me?"

Rolling her eyes, Alex grabs him by the shoulders and pulls him closer. "Yes, you big lump." She pushes him away. "Now go and make yourself presentable. I'll wait for you downstairs."

The giddy way he looks at her as he leaves makes her feel more than giddy herself.

Matt practically floats back to his room and showers, shaves and dresses in a daze.

She wants him. She wants him. And not just for stupid rebound sex – no. He should have listened to her last night when she said she thought they were a couple. He was an idiot to worry so much.

Yes. Idiot. Good.

He's never been so glad to be an idiot.

Alex looks resplendent when he finds her in the breakfast room. He never knows how she does it. She's just changed her clothes and tied her hair up but somehow she's glowing, completely different from the tired, worried Alex he'd seen twenty minutes ago.

She's like magic. And she's his.

"Good morning," he says, sitting down smartly and immediately reaching for her hand.

She giggles. "Good morning. You look a bit more alive."

Matt nods, once, self-consciously. "Sorry. About before. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"And I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she rejoins smoothly. "I just… It didn't really quite hit

me until last night. You know, I was so worried for Flo's dad, and poor Salome was in a state… and all I wanted was you."

Matt blushes – he's really not used to these outpourings of emotion from her. "How is his dad?"

"Okay, I think, under the circumstances. Florian and Yvonne were with him at the hospital all night. He texted me this morning, a bit cryptically, but I think he would have called if things were really bad. I'm taking Salome to visit after we've checked out."

"That's good." Matt nods. "Sounds good. He seemed like a really nice guy, when I met him last night."

"He is." Alex smiles, and he squeezes her hand.

"Ahem."

Matt looks up to realise that Salome is standing a few feet away, trying to look stern but with a barely concealed grin on her face. She marches up to them purposefully and turns to her mother.

"Mum," she says seriously. "Are you dating Matt?"

"Yes, dear," Alex says serenely. "Why do you ask?"

Salome's triumphant squeal makes Matt wince, but it's hard to be annoyed when she's quite obviously in ridiculously high spirits. She pulls up a chair between Matt and her mother and grabs a croissant from the table, doing deviant things to it with a knife and a pot of chocolate spread as she chatters excitedly. "I knew it, I knew it when I saw you in London, and I told Dad and he didn't believe me at first but then I convinced him, and then he finally finally asked Yvonne to marry him and now you're all happy and it's awesome." Her cheer fades before either adult can say anything. "Except for Grosspapi. Is he going to be okay?"

"I think so, sweetheart." Alex rubs her arm comfortingly. "We'll go and see him later, alright?"

Salome nods, and stuffs her mouth. "Okay," she mumbles.

Alex looks like she's about to say something about talking with one's mouth full, but thinks better of it.

She takes Matt's hand again instead, and beams.

"Darling, I'm going to be late." Alex's voice on the phone is just about enough to wake him up, but not enough for him to make any sense of what she's saying.

"Huh?" he replies, rather unelegantly.

He hears her sigh, and looks at the clock. She's called him at 3:30 in the bloody morning. No wonder he's confused. He doesn't even remember picking up the phone, just her voice in his ear and—

"Our flight, Matt," she explains patiently. "We should have taken off an hour ago and we're still waiting to board. I just thought I would let you know so that you don't leave for the airport and then have to hang around for hours."

"Oh." Matt tries and fails to find a next word of more than one syllable. "Thanks."

"No problem." She sounds amused rather than offended by his inability to form sentences, thank God.

Oh, wait, but… "Why didn't you just text me? This call must be costing you a fortune."

"I just wanted to hear your voice."

"Oh. Sorry, I'm a bit – it's half past three in the morning, Alex. I don't function that well in the middle of the night."

"I beg to differ, actually," Alex says cheekily, and laughs, and then Karen cuts in.

"Did not need to know that, thank you! If I'd known you were so lovesick I never would have agreed to get on the same plane as you. Eurgh."

Matt snorts. "Hi, Karen. All your fault, you know."

There's a brief scuffle and then Alex is back, still giggling. "I'll see you later, darling, go back to sleep. I love you."

"Love you too," Matt replies easily. "But you're going to pay for waking me up at this ungodly hour, you know that, right?"

"Oh, I look forward to it."

She hangs up to the sound of Karen making gagging noises, and he falls back onto the pillow with the most ridiculous grin on his face – honestly, it's a good thing she's not here to see it.

Matt is not over Alex.

But that's okay. She's not over him, either.

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