Alice spends the weekend at Matthew's house, and finds out a few new things about the grumpy superintendent. Set a few days after chapter 2, but before episode 2.08.

Alice didn't quite snore when she slept; she snuffled, huffed, and hummed, but didn't snore, and Matthew thought it was adorable. She'd come over for the weekend - a small holdall brought with her on Friday night, and he could see the way her hands shook when he took it from her.

Sleeping together was one thing, intentionally staying over for the night and spending time together was another.

He took it slow, let her relax that night as she watched him cook dinner; she cleaned up afterwards ("You cooked, let me clean!"), and they watched the quiz show together and sat talking on the couch afterwards as the clocked ticked away. Alice scooted closer to him as the night went on - resting her head on his shoulder as they talked, and she hummed when he ran a hand through her hair; she cuddled further into him after that, her hands curling in his shirt as she kissed her way up his neck.

With a grin, Matthew knew that the pathologist was much more relaxed than before, and so he slipped his arm under her knees and around her back to carry her to bed - her giggles filling his ears as they shed their clothes and fell back into a much more familiar dance in his bed.

He woke first out of the two of them that next morning and smiled at the way Alice curled up next to him - her head buried under his covers to block out the early morning light; he leaned over and kissed the back of her shoulder.

"Good morning."

Alice just groaned in response.

"Not a morning person?"

Another groan.

"You sleep then, I'll get started on breakfast."

Matthew chuckled when she burrowed further into the blankets as he got up and whistled as he moved into his bathroom and went about his usual morning routine; he felt much better after his shower and left Alice sleeping as he started on breakfast for her.

It was light when she woke, but that wasn't what had roused her; faint whistling drew her attention and she peeked from the covers to squint out and try to find its source. The bedroom walls around her were at first unfamiliar, but then Alice remembered she'd come over to Matthew's house the night before. The question of the whistling still remained, but she heard footsteps approach the bedroom door - along with the whistling that died off shortly before the door swung open slowly.

"Ah, the sleeping beauty awakes," Matthew smiled as he brought a tray over to her side of the bed.

"Are you referring to the original German fairy tale Sleeping Beauty or the Walt Disney one, because either way I'm not technically awake without a kiss."

"You're a beauty and you were sleeping, that's all that's to it," he grinned, but leaned down and kissed her softly regardless. "I brought you breakfast and tea."

"You didn't have to."

"I know, I wanted to."

Alice slowly sat up - holding a sheet to her chest out of some inane sense of modesty as Matthew put the tray on her lap; it was loaded with eggs (scrambled with cheese, she didn't know how he knew her favorite way to have them), toast and a few strips of bacon. In one corner of the tray sat a cup of tea (prepared exactly the way she liked when she took a sip of it), and in the other was a very small vase with one freshly cut white rose.

"Thank you, Matthew."

"You're welcome," he leaned in and kissed her again.

"Have you already eaten?"

"No, I wanted you to have something first."

"Go make your breakfast," she shooed him off the bed, "we'll eat together."

"Nah, you eat while I make mine, otherwise it'll go cold and cold eggs are no good."

She laughed as Matthew got up and pressed a kiss on her forehead; as he banged and clanged around the kitchen, Alice dug into the meal and nearly moaned at how good it was.

"Good?" he asked as he came back in with an egg, bacon, and tomato sandwich for himself - his own cup of tea going on the end table beside her.

"My God, Matthew, this is wonderful," she covered her mouth as she chewed. "I almost want this every morning."

He laughed and kissed her cheek, "Any time you come over, I can make it for you."

"That might sway my decisions from now on," she lightly kissed him in between sips of tea. "How did you know I liked cheese in my eggs, and where did you learn to do this?"

"You told Lucien in the morgue one day while I was down picking up a report - he'd interrupted your breakfast by calling you in, and Lucien in his usual curiosity asked you what it was."

Alice hummed a soft laugh, "It's pretty much the only thing in the kitchen I don't burn."

"You burn toast?"

"If you like yours charred then I make it perfectly."

Matthew laughed and kissed her cheek, "I learned from my mum. She used to pull both me and my sister, Vera, into the kitchen and help her - I just picked up a lot of it. It's cheaper than eating out constantly, though Jean is always alright with me coming over."

"I've not experienced her cooking, is it good?"

"Feels like home," he smiled.

Alice had never known a home, the closest she came was the university and the years she spent learning with her mentor. Ballarat was starting to feel more like what a home should be, between working with Lucien and spending time with Matthew, but she was still very much alone and anticipating the other shoe to drop at any moment.

"Maybe I'll try it one day."

"Maybe, but I'd be happy to cook for you however many times you wish."

"Good, because this is absolutely divine."

Matthew laughed and kissed her again - both of them finishing up their breakfasts as he told her stories of growing up in the very house they sat. The rest of the day passed with reading books (Matthew preferred a good mystery, Alice found a few romance novels left over by his sister and immediately buried herself within the dog-eared pages), helping Matthew with some chores (what Alice lacked in the kitchen, she made up for in keeping things neat, and she found the monotonous tasks oddly calming), and following him out into the sunshine to read while he toiled in his backyard garden.

"I didn't know you grew flowers."

"There's a lot you don't know about me yet," he teased as he brought her a small daisy, "just as I'm sure there's a lot about you that I don't know yet."

"That's true," she smiled and hummed into his kiss.

When she woke the next morning, Matthew had breakfast for her again and Alice had to say that it was a much nicer way to wake up; maybe she'd opt to spend more weekends over at Matthew's house if she got this every morning.

Maybe.