A/N: Hello everyone! I bet you all had thought Julian Fellowes had found me, but I'm not dead, I promise! Sorry it's been such an embarrassingly long amount of time (hopefully this chapter is embarrassingly long enough to compensate). I hit a bit of writer's block, in that I knew where I wanted to go, I was just having trouble getting there... and then I had a whole lump of essays to do over break when I had planned to be writing, and they kind of knocked the wind out of me... but I'm back, and so are Matthew and Mary, so please enjoy, and do let me know what you think!

Matthew rolled out of bed with a smile on his face. Although naturally a moderate morning person, today the day seemed particularly bright. He was at Downton Abbey, and it was Friday. Only a few short hours of work separated him from a relaxing few days with Mary. In fact, he might even see her for breakfast. With that thought he headed eagerly down to breakfast.

As it turned out, Robert was the only one awake. In hindsight, Matthew couldn't see how he'd ever supposed Lady Mary an early riser. Even this, though, couldn't put a damper on his good mood. No matter. He'd see her later.

When Mary awoke alone, with the sunlight streaming through the cracks in the curtains, she was somewhat surprised. She had half expected Matthew to come to her room in the middle of the night, especially after the smoldering look he had given her at their parting. She then berated herself for this reaction; a lady should never become used to gentlemen callers paying her nighttime visits, and especially not be disappointed about the lack of them. This just went to show and far she had fallen- and how far above her Matthew was. He obviously wasn't consumed with these salacious needs; she was the only one leading him down this path of debauchery. Feeling suitably miffed by these waking thoughts, she rang for Anna and proceeded down to breakfast, out of that room of some many questions and life-altering moments, as fast as possible.

Even with her intended haste, by the time she had finished her elaborate dressing process, it was rather late.

"Well look who finally dragged herself out of bed," Edith remarked, barely glancing up from the paper.

"What. I'm hardly any later than usual," she retorted as she took a seat.

"Please. You're the last one here. Papa already finished reading the newspaper and Cousin Matthew left for work ages ago."

"Well I don't see how that makes any difference to me," Mary brushed off her sister's comments, but inside her mind was churning. It should have been a great relief that Matthew was out of the way; again, she'd only have to worry about avoiding him at dinner, but for some reason, she felt disappointed. Mary tried to ignore the heavy feeling, unwilling to dwell on it or connect it to any of the other thoughts she had had about the solicitor recently, and instead focused on her raspberry tea.

The rest of the day passed torturously slow. Mary was torn between savoring the hours she didn't have to worry about physically running into Matthew, and longing for his return so that his presence could serve as distraction from the greater issues surrounding the two of them. Finally, thoroughly fed up with trying to make it through some lengthy Russian novel, Mary decided to take Diamond out for a ride. She hadn't had a proper one since, well, the fox hunt and the unfortunate incident, but now there seemed no better form of release from all the stifling issues confounding her within the walls of Downton. Out in the fresh air, anything was possible.

The day had been gray to start with, so it took her much longer to realize that evening was setting in than normal, especially because she had left Lynch, and any sort of practical time-keeping device, behind. When she finally came to the realization that the afternoon was slipping away, she set her courses back to the house. As the elegant giantess that was Downton came into sight, she spotted a much smaller form heading towards the doors.

A form on a bicycle.

"Blast it," Mary cursed under her breath, and quickly wheeled Diamond in the other direction.

It had been a slow afternoon at the offices of Harvell and Carter; slow enough, in fact, that the two bushy-mustached old men who ran the firm, upon noticing the animated nature of their most promising young solicitor, opted to release said young man from his duties earlier than normal.

"Thank you, thank you," Matthew smiled delightedly at his employers. He attempted to restrain the bounce in his step as he proceeded swiftly back to his office, and as he fumbled excitedly to pull his coat on over his broad shoulders, but even with all of his efforts to appear calm and collected, he failed to silence his joyful humming.

All the luck in the world seemed to continue in his favor as he managed to just get catch the early train back to Downton. As he cycled back towards the house, the fresh fall air blowing on his face, his grin grew broader and broader. Approaching the house, he was, for the first time, struck by how truly lovely, how truly pleasing, the estate appeared, and for a moment he allowed himself to indulge in the fantasy of one day being master of it. Drawing nearer, he scanned the grounds. Far on the distance to the right, he noticed a figure appear from the woods on horseback, then return just as quickly into the trees. From this distance, though, it was too difficult to make out the rider, so he pushed the matter from his mind as he dismounted from his bike and let himself into the door.

Even when he ran into Carson, who was clearly struggling (even with his dignified nature) to restrain reprimanding him for both his windblown state of dress, and the audacity of walking in the front door unannounced, Matthew remained undeterred. After regarding him distastefully, Carson led him into the library.

"Cousin Matthew! You seem to be back rather early from your, er, job," Edith greeted him rather brightly as she looked up from her book.

Matthew smiled. "Indeed I am. There wasn't much work to be done on a Friday afternoon, so they decided to give me the afternoon off as a reward for all my hard work these past few months."

"How delightful!" Edith chirped.

"I thought so as well," Matthew agreed, helping himself to a scone from the plate sitting at the table between the couches. "So where is everyone this afternoon."

"Well, if you're looking for Papa, he's off near the east end of the estate seeing to some farm business over there. Mama took Sybil into Ripon to mend her frock… apparently she ripped another one, and this one's beyond even Anna's repairing abilities. And Mary's off who knows where, galloping through the woods."

"Ah, actually, I think she might be headed in. I saw her on my way in here," Matthew responded, thinking of the figure riding on a horse.

"Hm, oh, well, perhaps, but who knows with Mary. Don't take it personally if she's not in here to greet you immediately. I swear, the only time Mary hasn't dawdled was when we were headed to meet the Prince of Wales in the garden. But no matter, I'm here!" she finished brightly.

"So you are," Matthew replied, trying to stomach the notion of Mary having tea with a prince and not somehow coming out engaged. How on earth did he ever suppose he had a chance?

From that point, he and Edith engaged in a discussion about Russian literature, which somehow managed to carry on until it was time to change for dinner.

Matthew hoped to finally catch Mary prior to dinner, but she came down last, and they were ushered in immediately after her arrival. To his disappointment, he found himself seated at the opposite end of the table, with most possible interaction hindered not only by the distance, but also by an enthusiastic Edith, eager to continue their conversation from before. He failed to meet her eye once throughout the whole meal, and by the end, was feeling annoyed, to say the least. He planned to catch her after dinner, but apparently while he was away in Ripon, being occupied, Robert had dug up some ancient tome of family history which he now found it absolutely necessary to educate Matthew upon. While Matthew was generally a huge fan of history, learning all about the hunting habits of the second cousins of the third earl already fell somewhat outside of his area of interests, even without having to compete with his desire to interact with Mary; thus, tonight, they couldn't possibly win.

"My, my," exclaimed Robert, looking up from what Matthew was sure was at least the thousandth page (and they had barely made a dent in the volume!) "I didn't realize it was that late! Cora will be absolutely livid with me for abandoning her for this long! We'll have to finish this another night, Matthew, my boy"

"Not a problem at all," Matthew replied as he stood, hoping the earl would mistake his eagerness as instead sharing the older man's need for haste. He had to practically fight his legs not to run into the drawing room, but upon entering, a heavy weight seemed to plummet into his stomach. He wasn't entirely sure that his shoulders didn't visibly slump as he realize Mary wasn't there.

"She's already gone up to bed. She was tired from her ride," Sybil said behind him, and if Matthew wouldn't have been so disappointed, he would have blushed furiously at being so obvious.

"Oh… um, who?" he tried to salvage the moment, but he was an atrocious liar.

Nevertheless, Sybil indulged him. "Mary, of course. That is who you were looking for, isn't?"

"Ah," Matthew agreed, trying and failing not to feel frightfully transparent. "Yes, I- I suppose I was. I had a… a book to ask her about… one that she promised to lend to me."

"Of course. Well, don't worry, I'm sure she'll have it for you tomorrow," Sybil agreed with a pleasant smile. Only a slight sparkle in her eyes hinted that she had further inclinations about Matthew's intentions, and Matthew smiled gratefully back at her for keeping quiet upon those.

Even so, Matthew went to bed feeling quite dissatisfied that night. Yes, he had told himself that he would give Mary space and not pressure her into an answer immediately; however, that plan had never involved completely terminating any real contact with her. He shifted his covers more fully over him and settled into sleep with the determined resolution that tomorrow would be different.

Everyone's favorite heir was nowhere to be seen yet.

Good, Mary told herself firmly, this will give me a head start on avoiding him.

"I think I will take Diamond out for a ride today," Mary announced grandly to the breakfast table as she buttered a scone; her audience could not have been less interested. Her father merely grunted from his newspaper, and Edith muttered some comment under her breath along the lines of "good riddance." Mary was not the least bit deterred by their reactions; none of them were morning people (that was generally Sybil, although she was curiously absent today) and it wasn't like she had cared for their opinion anyways. As soon as Mary finished her meal, she hurried to collect her riding gear and set off for the stables.

Although Matthew had no real qualms about arising early for work each day, sleeping in on Saturday mornings had been his guilty pleasure ever since his school days. When he awoke for the third day in the row to an unfamiliar room, he lay contentedly in bed for a while before he reasoned out the logistics of his location. It was already quite bright out, so Matthew realized Molesley must have indulged him his habit, despite the different schedule of the Abbey. Although he appreciated the thought (he really was growing fond of the idiosyncratic man), today was one time he would have rather started the ball rolling as soon as the rest of the players. He dressed himself-it had been a while, and he didn't want to waste time trying to figure out how to summon Molesley when he was perfectly capable-and then headed down to breakfast. Lord Grantham was the only one still at the table, drinking the dregs of his tea and scanning the paper.

"Matthew, there you are!" he exclaimed cheerfully, lowering the wall of type to beam at his surrogate son.

"Good morning to you as well. Am I really so dreadfully late that everyone else has eaten and left?" he inquired.

"Oh, hardly. They have eaten, but we're hardly a bustling hive of activity. Cora's still in bed with The Sketch, and I think Sybil snuck back to her room with some book. Edith just walked out a minute before you walked in. The only one who's really gone is Mary."

"Gone?" Matthew repeated, trying not to seem to alarmed as he concentrated on spreading the jam on his toast.

"In the lightest sense of the word. She merely went out riding, although who knows when we can expect her back."

"Ah," Matthew said, affecting a disinterested manner, even as his mind raced. Mary, out riding, again? He knew that she was fond of the pastime, but this seemed a little extreme, especially this soon again in conjunction with her lengthy escape yesterday. No, she was avoiding him, he was sure of it. Today, though, she would not escape so easily.

"Very well, I think I'll go for a ride today as well," Matthew concluded.

Matthew had told Mary once, ages ago, at that first heated dinner party, that he could ride. While this was the truth, Matthew had multiple motives to avoid it today. First and foremost, asking to go out on a ride after having just learned that was where Mary was seemed suspicious, even to him. Secondly, although he could hold his own on a horse with most averagely skilled individuals, doubt entered his mind when he thought of Lady Mary. It had been sometime since he had ridden, and even if he were in top form, he could think of no end of embarrassing situations of him trying and failing to catch up to her on his trusty steed. No, he would need a different tactic.

"Oh?" inquired Robert. "Very well, I'll have Lynch saddle up a mount for you in no time."

"No, no, that won't be necessary. I meant a bicycle ride."

"A bicycle ride?" Robert exclaimed, dropping his newspaper in surprise.

"Yes," continued Matthew, feigning more nonchalant confidence than he felt. "Besides heading to work each day, which really isn't a very far distance at all, I haven't really gotten in a proper ride since moving here, to be honest. And while I will always be a city boy at heart, I have been rather keen to try getting a good look around some of the more pleasant country roads."

"Very well," conceded tentatively Robert. "I'll have William… err…"

"Don't worry, Cousin Robert, I can take care of everything myself," Matthew saved his cousin from the conundrum trying to designate duties for the servants regarding this very middle class activity with a bemused smile.

Even as he headed up to his bedroom to change, his mind was spinning away. If his suspicions regarding Mary's real motives were correct (and he was rather certain they were), she was probably hoping to use up the most possible time, and therefore engage in a rather lengthy and elaborate route around the estate. Although Matthew barely knew anything of the various paths beyond what he had seen when studying maps of the estate, he surmised that his best bet would be to take one of the larger loops and go from there. Perhaps it wasn't the most systematic or well thought-out plan, but it was the best he could do. Besides, he had time and a determined sort of energy. Nothing seemed impossible today.

In his room he changed into a looser pair of trousers and discarded his jacket and waistcoat. He considered dispensing with his tie as well, but feared doing so would send Carson into an apoplectic fit if he were caught. With a certain degree of stealth he slipped out of the house in this moderate state of undress. Recovering his bicycle from by the tree where he had left it the day before, he set off.

Although the ride was not his true mission, Matthew greatly enjoyed the venture none the less. The sun was pleasantly warm that day, with nice breeze to offset any excessive heat from the exertion. He grinned boyishly as the air ruffled his hair even as he whizzed down the bumpy country trails, shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. While Matthew was mainly used to the chaotic but smooth city streets, today he welcomed the contrast (and added challenge) of the choppy yet serene paths. His tie flapped in the wind as he pedaled faster and faster, energetically fighting through resistant patches of mud, and winding around unruly patches of bushes of trees.

After biking for two hours, though, (he checked his pocket watch), Matthew realized that he wasn't entirely sure where he was. He assumed he was still on the estate- Downton Abbey was a huge tract of land, after all, but he wasn't entirely certain. Additionally, there had been no sign of Mary. Feeling a tad tired and acknowledging the futility in aimlessly trekking onwards, Matthew stopped by a large tree with a relatively flat spot underneath and decided to read for a while before attempting to regain his bearings and proceed on. He lounged contentedly for some time with a book of Keats poetry on his lap, half reading and half peacefully dozing.

All at once, the sound of hoofbeats pounded through the air; their increasing loudness mirroring that of his own heart. Trying and failing to quell his excitement, Matthew found all the sleepiness dissipate immediately from his limbs as he scrambled to his feet, brushing dirt from his pants and smoothing the folds.

Then the moment of truth was upon him: Lady Mary Crawley rounded the bend in all her glory, and he felt his breath fly from his body.

Mary was astonished, to say the least, when she turned the corner and saw Matthew standing there. At first, she believed him a tiresome apparition; she had, after all, spent the entirety of the morning attempting to escape him, both physically and mentally, and now here he was, out in the middle of nowhere, when he should be tucked away at the abbey! The audacity of it! As she remembered her annoyance, she again found the willpower to halt Diamond and come to a rest beside the man who caused her so much trepidation even as he smiled cordially up at her. She tried to ignore the inviting smile, the impossibly blue eyes, or the alluringly excessive amounts of skin that were exposed for her- the strong shape of his forearms, the inviting flesh of his neck and chest, as his tie hung rather loosely. She fought back the urge to run her hands through his soft, fluffy hair which was endearingly unkempt at the moment.

Good heavens, the thoughts he inspired.

She remembered afresh why she had so desperately been avoiding him.

On that note, she redoubled her efforts to remain aloof as she peered down at him from atop Diamond's majestic surprise.

"Cousin Matthew! What on earth brings a city native like yourself out here into the wilds of the English countryside?"

He smiled earnestly, clearly taking her jibe as a piece of humour. Mary wasn't sure whether or not she had intended it as such, but now she felt suddenly relieved he wasn't insulted, even as she fought to temper the butterflies rising in her stomach at his grin.

"Well, Mary," - the exclusion of the customary "cousin" didn't go unnoticed by either of them- "on the contrary, I was just introducing some of these more urban practices into the heart of your 'wilds.'" He gestured to his bicycle.

Mary studied the contraption skeptically. "Really, Cousin Matthew? Biking here? If Granny saw, she'd execute on the spot, if she didn't have a stroke first. You must realize it's not becoming of the future earl. These trails are only fit for horse riding."

With a strange mix of indignation and smugness, Matthew countered, "Well it's a good thing that she no longer ventures out here anymore, because I've been having a perfectly splendid time on these paths, and I can assure you, they function just as well for my sort of riding as yours."

It was a bit of an exaggeration, but the daring form of confidence which had slowly entered Matthew's veins last night was coursing through them relentlessly at this point. It was this strange drug which must have prompted him to continue, "In fact, if you don't believe me, why don't you see for yourself? I challenge you to a race!"

"A race?" Mary repeated incredulously. Heavens, he had been in the woods too long and snapped. That had to be it. How on earth was she to tell her father that his precious heir had gone mad.

"Yes, a race. Direct us to a point where the path is a bit wider, and we'll give it a go. You even can pick everything- the course, the start point, the end point- but it has to be wide enough for us to be side-by-side," Matthew expanded confidently.

Definitely mad, Mary thought, before considering the proposition. She had always loved a good competition, and really, she had nothing to lose… not that she would. She had been riding these trails all of her life, she knew the terrain… and for goodness sakes, she was on a horse! Even if Diamond was a bit winded from the rather lengthy amount of time they had been out already, and from her prolonged venture yesterday, there was still no way Matthew could beat a stallion on a dirt road with his bicycle. Really, if she was a proper lady, she'd reject the challenge so as not to deeply wound his pride when he lost.

Somehow, I never quite feel like a proper lady around Matthew, Mary noted wryly, then quickly attempted to divert her attentions elsewhere as the thought inspired several heated memories she was trying to bury. "Alright, I accept," Mary stated as she dismounted Diamond to walk next to Matthew.

They formed an odd pair, the lady and lawyer, as they strode down the path, each leading their respective mounts with excessive pride. They walked closer than proper for family members, yet the silence between them remained uncomfortably tense, and indeed, it only thickened as they proceeded. At last they reached a portion where the road did widen, and Mary paused. "Right. Does here fit your requirements?"

Matthew made a show of looking around, inspecting the road, the terrain, and the patches of the path he could see, before responding, "As long as it's good enough for you, milady. Where to?"

"See that tree there? We race to it." Mary pointed to an extra large tree, which, although around at least one bend in the path, was distinctly larger than the others.

"Sounds good," Matthew agreed, and she almost felt sorry for him. Indeed, guilt pricked at her until she remembered that he had said she could pick whatever course he wanted.

He scuffed a line in the dirt in front of them, deciding his battered shoes were already too dirty for this to cause any more toil for Molesley, and both of them remounted, the excitement building.

"Ready… set…"

"Go!" cried Mary, nudging Diamond, who set off in a burst of speed, easily leaving Matthew behind. However, she had underestimated both the exhaustion of her well-ridden mount, and the zeal of her competitive cousin. Her steed slowed its trot shortly, sweat glistening off of its flanks, and then suddenly Matthew was beside her pedaling furiously, and then, as the trail took a downward turn, he coasted past her. Mary gawked for a moment- not so much at the occurrence, but at the sight of his thin white shirt flapping around his lean frame, and the way his khaki pants pulled tautly over his fit buttocks as he stood to pedal with more gumption- and then she shook herself out of it as she egged Diamond on. "Come on, old boy!" The tired creature, under his mistress's administrations, slowly regained vigor in his advances, and soon they were beside Matthew again. Neck and neck, they raced on, panting heavily, and Matthew felt a jolt of surprise as they rounded the final turn.

Of course. He should have expected something like this.

The tree marking the endpoint was only about fifty meters away now, but between him and victory flowed a small creek. Of course, there was small bridge spanning it, but the bridge was preluded by several steps, which would require him to dismount and remount to cross it. Naturally, this had to be the reason Mary had selected this course.

In his slight moment of hesitation, Mary increased her speed, bolting past him. She and Diamond veered off the path, and, in one elegant motion, soared over the creek. Rather than racing straight to the finish line, though, she wheeled to face him, once famous eyebrow raising famously to watch his surrender.

Except Matthew didn't feel like surrendering. Besides, by this point, he had picked up quite a bit of speed, and on these loose dirt roads, stopping would be no easy matter. Therefore, Matthew altered his course and pedaled even faster.

"Matthew, what are you…" he thought he heard his cousin say, but in his focus he disregarded even her as he made to jump off the bank that Mary had just left.

For one beautiful, glorious moment, he was in the air, and then it was over.

Matthew knew he was doomed immediately as he began his descent. When his front wheel impacted the side of the opposite shore, he was already bracing himself for it, and with doleful acceptance, he flew face first over the handlebars of his flipping bike. He managed to get his arms somewhat out in front of him, partially shielding his face, even as his torso struck the ground hard, all of the air completely being crushed out of his body, the force still reverberating through him for seemingly eons after, like one of the great bells in the cathedrals of London. He lay there in a daze, not moving, barely thinking, half certain his very soul had been knocked from his corporeal form, until, suddenly someone was shaking him. At first, he thought he was still experiencing shockwaves and tremors from his landing, but then he realized there were hands gripping his arms tightly, and high-pitched utterances of his name piercing the air.

"Matthew! Matthew!"

Mary, he thought, and it made him smile- a dopey, lopsided grin. Indeed, he even felt like laughing, if the prospect hadn't seemed like it would hurt so much.

As his vision refocused on her alarmed expression, he muttered, "My father would have killed me, if he had seen that."

"My father would have killed me, if he had seen that!" she echoed furiously. "His heir, on a suicide mission! Matthew, what on earth were you thinking? What on earth would possess you to try such a silly stunt like that!"

"I… I wanted to win… to impress you…" Matthew responded honestly, still trying to sort all of his senses now. The pain growing his arms and legs was starting to have a sobering effect.

"Impress me? Matthew! That was not impressive! That was stupid! You scared me half to death! How could you ever even try such a thing?"

"I used to be able to do it."

"You… you used to… oh dear, I really do think you've hit your head. We have to get to Clarkson as soon as possible. We…" Mary tried to rise frantically, but Matthew clutched at her arm which was already resting on his.

"No, calm down, calm down… I mean, yes, I'll go see Clarkson when we get back, but the situation isn't as dire as you think."

"As dire as I think? Matthew, you've just flown off a bicycle going God knows how fast, landed on your face in the dirt, and now you're starting to babble nonsensically about being a stuntman!"

"No need to remind me of my failures so bluntly," Matthew rolled his eyes even as he felt a blush creep up his face. "And I never said anything about being a stuntman. I just said I used to be able to make a jump like that. Back in Manchester, before I went to university, the boys at my school and I used to set up obstacles and try them on our bikes. We'd throw in beams, ramps, jumps like that… unfortunately, my parents put a stop to my partaking in the fun when they found out about it. I got an earful to no end about all the bones one could break with such tomfoolery from both my medical-savvy parents."

"And they were right!" Mary agreed haughtily, before smiling slightly. "I can't really picture you in a bike gang."

Matthew smirked up at her. "I have all sorts of dirty middle class secrets, milady. Perhaps I'm not such a dull boy after all."

"Perhaps you're not," Mary smiled back.

Now that the danger had passed, she realized that in her anxiety, she had dragged Matthew half onto her lap, and was now practically cradling his rather firm upper body in her arms, even as one hand supported his head. She felt a blush start to color her cheeks, and the more she tried to ignore it, the deeper it became.

"You have… a bit of dirt… on your face," she commented tentatively, moving her fingers to gently wipe it off of the side of his face, trying hard not to think how very much like a caress the motion was. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Matthew swallow heavily, so she stared more intently at the offending smear of mud until she had eliminated it completely. "All gone," she said, looking back at him, and her breath caught in her throat at the searing gaze of his darkened eyes.

"Were you really worried about me, Mary?" he asked, his voice low enough to send shivers up her spine, despite the warmth of the day, despite her own overwhelming heat coursing within her, increasing the flush upon her pale skin.

"Of course I was, Matthew," her voice came out more tenderly, more tremblely, than she had intended.

He was still staring at her, and she couldn't look away, and suddenly he licked his lips, and she thought, oh good, he feels the heat too, even as a jolt of something suspiciously akin to desire seared through her, and then suddenly she felt how impossibly dry her mouth was, and she was licking her lips too, and he was still staring at her, but somehow he seemed closer…

And then they were kissing.

His lips were astonishingly soft.

She was kissing him.

His tongue was tracing her lips.

She was moaning in his mouth.

He was lifting his mouth closer, even as one arm behind her urged her down towards him.

Her fingers were tangling in his hair.

It was so very, very right.

"Mary…" he gasped, although he was loathe to break their lips apart, and so he kisser her again, before forming the next word, "does this… mean… that I mean… something… to you… does this mean… that there… there is an 'us?'"

And all Mary's reasons to say no flew out of her head, and even though, she thought, with a pang, she shouldn't make promises she couldn't keep, Mary answered anyways, because Matthew was in her arms, kissing her, and at that moment she could admit that she needed him, "Yes, Matthew… There is an 'us.'"

And although neither quite knew what it meant, for that moment they were both happy.

Well, well, well... Let me know what you think. I'll try to update sooner, but I do have one final round of college essays to battle through. Wish me such good luck. Small, sentimental stuffed dogs are acceptable tokens of your well wishes. And as far as our heroes here go, you can expect to see things progressing again, now that they've broken their spell of avoidance... Remember, Matthew is still staying with them for an indefinite period of time *smiles slyly*