Matt was pacing in the living room, walking back and forth between the window and the wall on the opposite end of the apartment. Charlotte was sat on the sofa, hands clasped together and head bowed as she chewed nervously on her lip. Matt could hear her breathing and her heartrate had spiked slightly. She was apprehensive and she had every right to be apprehensive after everything that had happened. Matt, on the other hand, was concerned about her. He was concerned about what her ex-husband might do. He was concerned with whatever was on that memory stick that seemed so important. He didn't entirely know how he was going to find out what was on the stick, but he knew that he had to do something.

Charlotte had changed into Matt's grey Columbia sweatshirt and a pair of joggers and white socks. She'd tugged her hair into a ponytail on top of her head. Matt was still wearing his white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up his forearm, top button undone and tie removed. He had his hands on his hips as he continued his pacing, both of them clearly thinking.

"You know this means you can't go back there, right?" Charlotte suddenly said, breaking the silence between them. Matt's head snapped in her direction as he paused by the window. Turning round to look at her, he arched a brow and Charlotte looked at the concern on his face before she stood up and moved towards the kitchen.

"If I do go back then I have to be careful."

"No," Charlotte said sternly, Matt listening as she filled his kettle up and placed it on the stove. "Matt, he'll have even more security. You can't go back there. He…he suspects you and that means he might have told whoever he works for and they are the ones who scare me."

"But something is going on."

"That might be the case, but it's not your place to find out," Charlotte said and he heard her place two mugs on the worktop before pulling out the herbal tea. "Hell, I want to know, Matty. I really do. I want to stop whatever Jonathan is doing. I want justice for those girls whose lives he ruined. But not at the cost of it hurting you…of them coming for you…of losing you when I've just gotten you back."

Matt sighed loudly, knowing that she was being honest with him. He knew what she was scared of because it was the exact same thing he was scared of. He knew that he could handle himself. He knew that he was able to defend himself. He just didn't want to drag Charlotte into anything and he knew that a relationship with her would do just that. He could try and keep what he did out on the streets separate from what happened in his apartment, but that didn't mean other people would be able to do the same, especially if they found out what he was doing.

"Lottie, come here," Matt urged from her, holding his hand out towards her as he headed to the kitchen. She remained stubbornly in her place, the water in the kettle warming up in front of her. "Sweetheart, please," he urged again. She huffed but relented, moving towards him and letting him take hold of her hand.

Pulling her into his arms, he wrapped his body around hers, cocooning her. He let her press her cheek to his neck, strands of her hair tickling his skin as he moved a hand to the back of her head and his fingers pressed into her ponytail.

"I know you're scared," he assured her. "I'm scared too. I'm scared of your ex-husband coming here and hurting you. I'm scared of him finding out that it was me who broke into his apartment because of what he might do to you…but what scares me more is that he isn't going to stop. He might have given you a divorce, but he's in bed with some nasty people and I know that staying silent might help this go away…but I also know that you wouldn't be able to handle that because you're like me. You don't want to sit by idly."

Her breathing turned shaky as she wrapped her arms around his torso, fingers splaying on his back. He smelt familiar and comforting with his aftershave. He felt entirely like home. Charlotte nodded her head slowly.

"I know," she said to him. "I know…and I know it makes me selfish for saying that I want nothing to do with it…but you…it's always been you, Matt," she hoped that made sense to him. She suspected it did when he kissed the top of her head tenderly, his other hand moving up and down her back.

"I can do this alone," he promised her. "I don't need to drag you into this. In fact, I would prefer not to drag you into this."

"And I would prefer for you not to get involved, but I know you…and you have your own mind…just…whatever we do…we do together? Okay? No secrets?"

"No secrets," Matt promised her. "I won't keep secrets from you, Lottie. I promise."

"Alright," Charlotte said with a nod of her head and she picked her gaze up, looking into Matt's eyes that were darting around her face. He moved his hand from the back of her neck, cupping her cheek and running a thumb along her cheekbone.

"Is there anything at all you can tell me about Jonathan? Anything that might help at all?" Matt wondered and Charlotte shrugged, untangling herself from him and turning to the boiling kettle on the stove. She picked it up and began pouring the hot water into the two mugs. The smell of raspberry tea filled Matt's nostrils. He didn't tell her that he felt more like he could use a beer as opposed to tea.

"I turned a blind eye to everything he did," Charlotte confessed to Matt. "I mean, I had no idea what was going on and it wasn't as if he said anything to me. He'd take calls over dinner sometimes, but I never pieced things together. It sounded like planning permits…something going on at the docks…I don't know, Matt."

She picked up the two mugs and headed back towards the sofa. Matt followed her, slumping down on the seat as Charlotte perched on the edge of it. She leant back and Matt draped one arm over the back of the seat, letting Charlotte lean back against him.

"It's alright," Matt promised her. "We'll figure it out."

"Yeah," Charlotte agreed weakly with him and he went back to stroking her hair, his thumb brushing along the strands by her forehead. "Either way, he's going to make my life hell and I know he is. When Jonathan gets an idea in his head then he is like a dog with a bone. Just lay low, alright? Can you do that for me for a little while, please?"

"I'll stay out his way," Matt promised her.

"That's as good as I'm going to get, isn't it?"

"Afraid so, sweetheart."

Matt was on his way to work on Monday morning, but instead of being excited or enthused, he felt deflated. He had no desire to go into the office block and begin a deposition. He hated what the firm did to people. He hated how they took advantage of the underdog and he was certain that he was ready to go. He knew that he wasn't going to stay in the job for much longer. He only hoped that maybe Foggy would agree to go with him.

"I know it was you."

Matt froze as soon as he heard him. He was just on his way into the building when the car pulled up along the sidewalk. He didn't get out the car, but he did roll the window down. Matt's grip on his cane increased and his knuckles turned white.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't be stupid," Jonathan demanded from Matt. "I know she would have told you...her knight in shining armour."

"She told me about your crackpot theory," Matt confirmed, turning towards Jonathan and adjusting the glasses on his face. "You think I broke into your apartment and knocked out your security guards. You're the stupid one if you think I could do that."

"Get in the car. We need to talk."

"I have to go to work."

"I either talk to you or I go and get her," Jonathan said and Matt knew that there was no option then. He heard the back door open and he only hoped Foggy might cover for him in the morning meeting. Sliding into the back seat, Matt tugged on his tie and folded his cane away, placing it into his satchel.

"What do you want?"

"You need to stay away if you value your life," Jonathan warned Matt who just chuckled in response to him. The politician rolled his eyes at Matt's cavalier attitude. He wasn't in the mood for him taking this as a joking matter.

"You think this is funny?"

"You telling me something to protect me when you've wanted to do nothing but beat me to a pulp? Yeah, I think that's funny."

"Because it's not just you. It's her," Jonathan snapped loudly. "Don't you get it? They might have told her to stop digging to protect you, but the fact of the matter is that she's not untouchable. She's already on their radar because I had to go back for that memory stick…and if you two keep digging then I don't know what they'd do to her. You see, they could kill you, Murdock. In fact, I'd be quite happy for that to happen…but Charlotte…if they hurt her because she knows too much then I can't protect her and neither can you."

"Who are they?"

"People who are more powerful than you could ever imagine," Jonathan said and Matt picked up on what sounded like fear in his voice. He was afraid of what they would do and that was obvious. "They're everywhere. They have their fingers in every pie."

Matt felt the car come to an abrupt halt at a traffic light. He shook his head once and drummed his fingers on his thigh. He could smell the alcohol in his pores and he knew that he had a hipflask in his jacket pocket. But he was nervous. He was scared. Whoever was running the show, it wasn't Jonathan. He was in charge of nothing.

"You're in too deep with them, aren't you?" Matt checked and Jonathan went silent. He gulped and looked out of the window, gazing up at the skyscrapers as he passed them by. He tugged on the crimson tie sat against his white dress shirt and brushed his fingers through his hair.

"I only just managed to talk them out of going after Charlotte. I told them that she knew nothing about what was on that memory stick." Jonathan confessed.

"And why do you care?" Matt demanded from him. "You beat her…raped her…mocked her and tried to take away any shred of confidence she had. Why do you suddenly care about her now?"

"She's my wife."

"Ex."

"You think it was easy being married to her? Knowing that she loved you?" Jonathan demanded from Matt. "You think that it's been easy rebuilding Hell's Kitchen…making sure government contracts are awarded to the right person? All in return for this position? Making sure I stay out of jail?"

"You know you could make sure you stayed out of jail by just not sexually assaulting college interns, right?" Matt asked, tone snide. He didn't care for the man in the car with him. He despised everything that he stood for. "And whoever has got you over a barrel, you didn't need to do as they asked."

"You think things are that simple? They're not. They knew about the affairs and they said that they could clean things up…help make it all go away…keep my reputation because I had worth. They did that for me and in return I did what I had to do for them."

"You gave them favourable contracts?"

"I gave them what I had to give them. The contracts helped them rebuild Hell's Kitchen after what happened," Jonathan said and he knew that by telling Murdock he was risking everything. He rubbed his thumb against his forefinger and his hand itched to reach into his jacket for his drink. Matt rubbed his hand over his chin, feeling the stubble that covered it and then reaching for his glasses and pushing them further onto his nose.

"I take it the contracts weren't legit?"

"They're a cover for other things…things that I don't want to get involved in," Jonathan replied. "Money laundering…drugs…whatever is going on, it is not my business and I don't want to make it my business. That memory stick contained the contracts…information that if it leaked into the wrong hands would kill me and everyone associated with me, including Charlotte."

"And why are you telling me this?" Matt questioned and Jonathan shifted in his seat, folding one leg over the other and then chuckling loudly. It was the golden question and he wasn't sure he had an answer.

"So that you can get her to stop digging," he said. "Because…contrary to what you might think, Murdock, I love her."

Matt laughed loudly at that. He couldn't stop himself. He found it hysterical that he could even claim to love her after everything he had done. Jonathan Jonas had no idea what love was and Matt pitied him for that. Rolling his eyes at the laugh, Jonathan's hands clenched into fists and he longed to lash out.

"You really are full of shit," Matt said with another low chuckle. "Love her? I've heard the videos of you beating her…of her begging you to leave her alone…I've heard her tell me how you told her she was worthless. You're not capable of love."

"You think that was all we had? Bad times?" Jonathan demanded. "Yes, towards the end things were not great, but they had been. Things had been good when it was just us and before…before the Avengers destroyed everything and left us to pick up the pieces. You have no idea of the stress I'm under and I couldn't tell her. I was trying to protect her."

"From who? Because you certainly didn't protect her from yourself," Matt said.

"I don't have to answer to you," he snapped back. "I've told you what you need to know and now I am telling you to stay out of my business if you want to keep your life. Keep Charlotte away. Live your lives and be together just like you always wanted. If she keeps snooping…if you break into my house again…there will be consequences."

"Noted," Matt said. "Now can you stop the car so I can go to work?"

Jonathan didn't say anything, but Matt felt him lean forward and tap his driver on the shoulder. The car pulled up on the side of the walk and Matt grabbed hold of his bag from where he'd dropped it onto the floor.

"You know, you might claim that I don't love her…but if you truly loved her…then why did you push her to me? Why did you push her away?"

"We were young." Matt said. "We were too young to know how to cope with what we felt."

"Is that what you tell yourself? Does it make you feel better?"

"Why do I need to feel better?"

"Because you drove her to me. You put her in this position."

"No," Matt said, voice stern. He wasn't going to settle for this. He wasn't going to be told a pack of lies. "You were the one who hurt her. You were the one who did this to her. Do not try to turn any of this onto me. I'm not buying it and I'm not listening to it. Stay away from Charlotte and believe me, she'll stay away from you. We both will."

Matt climbed out of the vehicle without another word or letting Jonathan say anything to him. He heard the noise of traffic surround him as he slammed the door to the SUV shut and the car drove off. Matt reached into his bag for his cane and pulled it out, unfolding it and then beginning to walk down the street. He had a vague recollection of where he was, but he didn't know if he was ready to go back to work.

"What are you working on?"

Charlotte was sat in the small back room of the gallery during her lunch break. She'd run out for a salad and it was currently open to the side of her, only half eaten. Instead, she was holding a pencil in her fingertips and was tracing on the back of a scrap piece of paper.

"Something stupid," Charlotte said to Vanessa as she entered the room and sat down on the wooden chair across from her. She must have closed the gallery for an hour if business was slow. Charlotte had spent the morning liaising with a new artist who was due to exhibit there in the next month.

"Nelson and Murdock…is that a logo?"

"Matt…you know the guy who came here the other week?"

"Your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Charlotte said and then bit down on her tongue as Vanessa arched an amused brow, her lip curling upwards.

"Really?" Vanessa checked.

"We haven't really discussed what we are," Charlotte confessed to Vanessa. "I mean, I've just gotten divorced and my name and reputation is practically in the gutter. Me and Matt have history and I just…we're together, I think, but we're not defining it."

"Sounds complicated when it doesn't need to be," Vanessa said. "For the purposes of these conversations, I'm just going to assume he's your boyfriend. As for your reputation and name…I read the papers. I know what's been said, but I also know that I don't trust politicians and your ex-husband comes across as an excellent politician."

Nodding her head slowly, Charlotte had to admit she was grateful that Vanessa didn't believe everything she read. And so she moved on. "Well, Matt and his friend are thinking of starting their own law firm. They work for a big commercial firm and they're not sure if they want to keep working there. Matt has this notion that he'd prefer to help people who are down on their luck. I get it though. I really do."

"Sounds noble of him."

"He's a noble guy," Charlotte simply said. "Anyway, I can open the gallery back up if you want to take lunch?"

"Have you had your full hour?"

"I'm not too hungry anyway," Charlotte assured him and slipped from the chair. She tugged on the waistband of the green leather skirt she wore tucked into a black blouse before standing up. "I'll go and open back up."

"If you insist," Vanessa said and she also stood up. "I might pop out for an hour or so. I fancy some air."

"Alright, I can hold the fort here," Charlotte promised her.

She watched Vanessa head out the back with her coat and bag before she grabbed her scrap piece of paper. Folding it up, she smiled down to it and headed to the gallery. The heels of her stilettos echoed on the wooden floors and she ambled towards the door. She dropped the piece of paper on the small desk in the corner before looking out of the glass doors. She frowned in surprise as she saw Matt stood there. She quickly bent down to unbolt the door and opened it quickly.

"What's going on?" she asked, sensing that he was looking concerned.

"Can I come in?" he asked from her.

"Yeah," she said and let him in, closing the door behind him and locking it once more. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Matt promised her as he heard her pulse race and he sensed her fretting. He left his cane to rest against the door and dropped his bag to the floor. "I just need to talk to you about something and I figured I'd come down here in my lunch break because I didn't want to worry you."

"You're worrying me now," Charlotte said and Matt shook his head.

"You don't need to worry," he promised her. "I just wanted to wait until your boss had gone so we could talk in private."

"Yeah…come and sit down," Charlotte said and she took his arm, leading him towards the small desk in the corner. She wheeled the chair from behind the desk out from it as Matt took the chair that buyers usually occupied. Sitting down, he leaned forwards and took hold of her hands.

"Jonathan came to see me this morning. He told me what he's involved in."

"What? Why?"

"He claimed that he was telling me so that I could keep you away," Matt declared and Charlotte's brows knitted together. He squeezed her hands in his tightly, trying to keep her reassured. "He said that he's been giving government contracts out to certain people to rebuild Hell's Kitchen, but they're a front for other illegal business that is being done. He doesn't know what and he claimed that he doesn't want to get involved. I believe that. He's scared of whoever is in charge."

"Should we not tell the police? Or someone?"

"I get the feeling that the police are involved in this," Matt said to her. "There's corruption going on here that I don't think can be uncovered in the way that it should be."

"So what do we do?"

"You want the honest answer?" Matt questioned from her. "I'm not entirely sure what we should do. I know what I want to do. I want to keep tailing Jonathan until I find out who I can follow. I want to uncover what is going on and finding out who the head of the snake is…but…but Jonathan was scared for you, Lottie. He was scared about what they might do to you if you kept digging and that means that you can't dig, okay? You can't come with me when I go out there."

"So what? You want me to sit at home while you risk your life? Wait for you like some good little housewife?"

"No. I want you to be safe."

"I want to help."

"And you will be able to in some way, but not like this…not when these people know your face and have threatened your life. You are going to stay quiet and out of their way. They don't know me. They don't know my face. Jonathan does, but he's not who I want. This goes higher than him."

"You know I don't like this, right?"

"I can practically tell you're frowning."

"Yeah well, it ain't right."

"And you've got your Southern twang back," Matt said and Charlotte hit him across the arm weakly. Matt's lips arched upwards and he kissed the back of her hand. "I love you, Lottie, and we're going to get through this. We just need to be smart about this and how we play things."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Charlotte complained to him.

"I know," Matt promised her. "Listen, I'll see what I can find out tonight after work and I will lay low. And then…maybe we can have an early night? You can watch some TV and I can listen to whatever terrible box set you insist on putting on."

"You trying to placate me, Murdock?"

"Trying to live a normal life in the midst of organised crime. Believe me, I'd rather come home, cook dinner and spend the night with you than find out what your scumbag ex is up to. The stuff he was saying Lottie…I could hardly believe it. A part of me wanted to wipe the smirk off his face."

"What was he saying?" Charlotte asked.

Matt looked up to the ceiling as Charlotte examined his face, seeing frown lines form on his forehead. Charlotte ran her thumb over his knuckles slowly as he huffed out a deep breath. "He was saying how he loved you…how he thought that you'd had some good times and it wasn't all bad. He seems to think he can protect you when he was the cause of all your problems."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't all bad at the start," Charlotte said and Matt lowered his gaze, removing his glasses. His eyes darted around her face and Charlotte felt his grip on her hand tighten. Looking to him, she saw him chew the inside of his cheek and a frown formed on his face.

"You…do you still…" Matt stumbled over his words, suddenly not feeling all too confident. Charlotte knew the question he wanted to ask her.

"No," she replied. "I don't still love him. I'm not sure I ever loved him…not like I love you."

"I just…some of the things he said," Matt said, jaw locking tight and eyes glazing over. He did his best not to feel too forlorn or anxious. "He questioned if I ever really loved you because I pushed you away. Apparently if I did love you then I'd never have done that and I know he was talking shit because I know how I feel…but…you…I wouldn't blame you if you felt that I did-"

"-Come here," Charlotte urged from Matt and she reached for the folded piece of paper on the white clean desk in front of her. Vanessa insisted on all paperwork being hidden in the back. There was only a laptop on the desk for client bookings. Charlotte stood up and Matt let her adjust him as necessary. He felt her settle into his lap, balancing over his legs. She moved his arm around her waist and took hold of his hand, guiding his fingers against paper. He felt indentations from where a pencil had pushed too hard against the paper.

Charlotte guided his fingers along the paper and he traced out the words there. Nelson and Murdock. He let his palm sit against the paper. Charlotte rested her hand on top of his and turned her face towards his. He could smell the tea she'd been drinking on her breath along with the sweet scent of her perfume. Matt lowered his forehead to brush hers.

"Nelson and Murdock," he commented.

"You need a logo if you start up your own firm…for letterheads…a sign on your office door," Charlotte said.

"And you made one?"

"I just drew one," Charlotte said. "Because I want you to do what you love and if that means going it on your own and starting your own firm then I want you to do it…I want you to do it and I'll support you through it every step of the way because it's you, Matty. It's always been you I've wanted and it will always be with you. No doubts about that."

Matt moved until his nose brushed hers and he felt her lips against his. He kissed her sweetly, hearing her breath hitch in her throat as he brought his hand up, resting the back of it on her cheek and stroking her skin softly. He kept kissing her gently, wanting to savour the moment. Her fingers knotted into his hair, tugging on it gently before giving him a final peck on the lips.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Matt wondered.

"It's one of the questions that will remain unanswered," Charlotte said and Matt let out a soft chuckle.

"Then I guess I'll just make do with staying unenlightened," Matt said. "I love you, Lottie."

"I love you too," she said and soothed his tie down his shirt. "But I really do have to open the gallery before Vanessa gets back. I doubt she'd be happy to catch me making out with my boyfriend."

She slipped from his lap and he heard her open the laptop and begin typing something out on the keys. He stood up and made sure his shirt was still tucked into his trousers, his suit jacket straight and his tie not askew. "Your boyfriend?" Matt questioned from her.

"Vanessa said it. I told her we're not defining things."

"You know, I wouldn't entirely mind if you wanted to call me your boyfriend," Matt said to her and Charlotte observed him before standing up straight on the other side of the desk. "I'd quite like it…but I don't want to rush you into anything."

"I guess it would be easier to say that you're my boyfriend than this guy I've been in love with for years but I'm not sure we should define things because I've just waltzed back into your life and got divorced."

"That's quite a mouthful to explain," Matt said. "Not sure I'd be able to remember all that when I introduce you at parties."

"Go to many parties, do you?"

"Oh yeah," Matt said. "I can't stay away from them."

Charlotte chuckled and Matt caught her by the waist as she stepped around him.

"But in all seriousness, I'd quite like to introduce you as my girlfriend when people ask," Matt said. "And yes, we've come at this from the wrong angle. Usually people date before declaring their love for each other."

"Never been normal, have we?" Charlotte said.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Matt said to her with a gentle smile and she gave him another quick kiss.

Heading towards the door, she picked his bag and cane up from the floor. Handing him both of them, she then bent down and unbolted the door again. "Be careful, alright?" she urged from him and he moved his free hand to her hip, holding it gently in his fingers before bending down to kiss her once more, unable to stop himself.

"I will," he assured her. "I'll see you back home tonight, okay?"

"You will," Charlotte said. He kissed her again and left with a big smile on his face, unable to stop himself from feeling elated despite the circumstances.

"You know that we need the docks empty."

"And I told you that they would be. Whatever shipment you have coming in isn't registered with the port authority and there is no log of it on our records. The docks will be empty tomorrow night for some kind of construction works."

Matt was perched on top of the governor's office building, listening intently to the conversation taking place two floors below him on the balcony. He was dressed in black, his face covered and hidden in the shadows. He had no intention of getting any closer tonight. Tonight he was just going to listen and try to find out what he could. Besides, he'd promised Charlotte that he would lay low. Jonathan was talking to a man whose voice Matt recognised. It was the same man who had talked to Charlotte in the car that time. Whoever he was, he was clearly the link to the man in charge. He wasn't the one running the show.

"And you're sure about that? Because we can't have anyone messing this up."

"I'm sure," Jonathan said, voice exasperated. He sounded on edge.

"And your theory about the blind lawyer?"

"Was just a theory," Jonathan said and Matt silently cursed him for bringing up his name. He'd hoped that Jonathan might have just kept that to himself. He didn't want him knowing about anything. "I…I don't think it was him."

"No shit," the other man chuckled back. "Has the drink been impacting you, Jonathan? Why would you think a blind lawyer could break into your apartment and best several of your men?"

"Because it looked like him," Jonathan said and Matt was thankful for his mask at least. "I don't know. There's still something off about him. He's blind but he…he can throw a mean punch."

"Just because he's blind doesn't mean he's an invalid, but I doubt he's a crime fighting vigilante," the man retorted. "And your ex-wife? I take it she is keeping her mouth shut? My boss wants to make sure we're not at risk of her knowing anything."

"Charlotte knows nothing," Jonathan said.

But Matt did. Jonathan had practically admitted that there was some kind of crime ring going on. Matt had told Charlotte, of course, but neither of them were going to shout it from the roof tops. Matt shifted in his crouching position, hands resting on his thighs as he wrinkled his nose at the sudden smell of burnt chicken coming from somewhere in the building.

"You're sure about that?"

"I told her nothing and she never looked on that memory stick. I had words with her new blind lover and told him to keep her from snooping," Jonathan said. "He's got the message. He's so in love with her that he'd do anything to protect her."

"You know what happens if they become a problem, don't you?" the man checked with Jonathan. "We can't have anyone knowing what's going on and as soon as someone knows and becomes a problem…they have to go. Of course, it would be difficult and look suspicious if your wife were to die suddenly after your divorce, but accidents happen."

"She knows nothing," Jonathan snapped and Matt could tell that he was anxious. Whatever was going on, he really was trying to keep his ex-wife from these people. "Neither of them will be a problem. You have the docks all to yourself tomorrow night. You have my word."

"Glad to hear it," the man said and then he hung up.

Matt remained where he was on the rooftop for the time being. He didn't dare move in case someone else called. But he knew it was getting late. He ran his fingers over the watch on his wrist. It was already nine. Nothing else happened after that call. Jonathan asked his advisors to send him his schedule for the next week and to make sure he had reservations for some fancy restaurant the night after. But that was it. There was nothing else going on. Matt called it a night at around nine thirty and headed back towards his apartment, staying off the streets and heading down alleys and over buildings.

He arrived at his own apartment and climbed up the fire escape towards his building. Coming to the window, he listened in. He could hear Charlotte in the living room. She had the TV on and was watching some reality TV show. He could smell a whiff of vegetables and braised beef. He tapped gently on the window, startling her from where she was sat on the sofa.

Peering to the side, she saw Matt pulling the mask off his face and tucking the piece of fabric into his pocket. She stood up and made her way towards the window. Pulling it open, she let him in. Gracefully, he slipped into the apartment and Charlotte closed the door and locked it behind him.

"Has the door become too boring for you to use?"

Matt chuckled. "Just mixing things up," he joked back.

"Are you alright? You're not hurt?" she fretted around him.

"Not hurt," he promised, hand going to her shoulder. She let her eyes roam over him and she knew he was telling the truth. There were no cuts or bruises. He just had red cheeks from being out in the cold. He pecked her on the forehead when he sensed she was satisfied he was alright. "No one saw me, but I did find out that something is going on down at the docks tomorrow night. Jonathan is making sure it is kept empty for some kind of shipment. I don't know what."

"But you're going to find out, aren't you?" Charlotte checked and Matt nodded.

"Whatever it is, it won't be good," Matt replied. "But that's tomorrow night's problem. For tonight, I'd quite like to spend the rest of it with you."

"I made dinner," Charlotte said.

"And it smells like you hardly ate any of yours," Matt told her and he heard her move into the kitchen. He kicked his shoes off by the window, leaving them there and then padding further into his apartment.

"I couldn't really eat knowing you were out there," Charlotte told him. "Seemed to lose my appetite, but I've tried to keep everything warm. Not sure how well it's worked."

"Well it smells great," Matt promised her.

"You don't need to lie to me," Charlotte said. "You know that I'm a terrible cook. I can only make certain things…"

"You're not a terrible cook," Matt promised her and he pulled out a bottle of beer from the fridge. "In fact, you're pretty good at most things you know…except that one time you tried to make a Battenburg in the orphanage. That did taste terrible. I don't think even the nuns were able to lie to you about that."

"You told me it tasted fine."

"I didn't want to hurt your feelings," Matt said. "It was a little white lie and it kept me in your good books. I preferred being in your good books."

"Yeah, because it got you in my bed," Charlotte retorted and Matt smirked before taking a swig of his beer.

"I was young and stupid," Matt said. "Didn't know what I had until I basically lost it."

"You never lost me…not really," Charlotte promised him and she left both plates of food on the worktop. Turning round, she stood on her toes, hands tugging onto his shoulders before she kissed him. Matt encircled his arms around her, hauling her against him as he deepened the kiss. Moving his hand up her back, he felt her shudder before his fingers tangled into her hair that was still damp from the shower she'd earlier had. She was wearing her long sleeved pyjamas, the cotton brushing against his fingers slowly and sensually. Charlotte closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of Matt against her. But then she suddenly froze as his hips pushed against hers. Matt picked up on it and he moved away from her, giving her space.

"I'm sorry," Matt said. "I just…it's not that I want that…I mean it's not that I don't because you're you…I just…"

"It's alright," Charlotte assured him as he tugged his hand through his hair, parting the locks slowly. "Matty, it's alright."

"It's not because I don't want you to think that's all I'm after," Matt replied firmly to her.

"And I know it's not," she promised him and moved to grab his hand that was still running through his hair. He paused his movements and Charlotte pecked him on the cheek. "I know we might have said we love each other, but I'm not sure I'm ready to go any further and it's not you, alright? It's me. I need time. I know you're not Jonathan. You're nothing like him…but there's…there's a lot that happened and I just need time."

"Lottie, sweetheart, I get it," he promised her. "You don't need to explain anything to me. We take this at whatever pace you want to take this."

Charlotte smiled at that before hugging him. He hugged her back and let his cheek rest on the top of her head, both of them seeming to forget about their food for a moment. "Let me take you out this weekend," Matt said to her. "A proper date…just me and you."

"You want to take me out?" she asked from him.

"I want to take you on a date."

"You don't need to."

"I might not need to, but I want to," Matt said. "Dinner…drinks…just us."

"You know what? I might just let you do that," Charlotte said and kissed him once more.

A/N: Hellloooo! So I am not sure if anyone is still following or reading or interested in this but I figured I'd post a chapter and see if anyone would like more? I do quite enjoy writing this story but finding time is hard nowadays! Anyway, moving into the series soon if people want to see how things pan out - please do let me know!