A/N: This chapter will be split into two parts, with part two coming next week :)

Unlocking the front door, Mary stepped inside her flat and hauled her suitcase over the doorway and dropped it in the hallway. She invited Matthew inside and closed the door behind him.

"Do you want some tea before you head home?" Mary offered.

"Sure," Matthew smiled, "What do you have?"

Mary led him through the small hallway, passing the bedroom and entered the open plan lounge, dining room, and kitchen. She crossed the room and opened one of the kitchen cupboards and pulled out three boxes which contained the teabags.

"I've got English breakfast, decaf or chamomile?" she offered.

"I'll have decaf please." Matthew replied.

Mary nodded and went about the kitchen preparing to make the tea, listening as Matthew walked slowly around her flat. As the kettle started to boil, she turned around and saw him stood in the middle of the room, his eyes looking out to her sliding doors which led to her balcony.

"It's a nice place, Mary, how long have you lived here?" Matthew asked.

"Two years. I got a little of my inheritance from Grandpa when I turned twenty-one and Papa suggested that I buy a place in the city as I was going to be working at the office when I graduated." Mary replied.

"A smart move I suppose. I still haven't spent any of my inheritance from my father, aside from invest some of it." Matthew said.

"So…you and Lavinia never…bought a place…" Mary said delicately.

Matthew shook his head.

"No. I rent my flat at a reduced rate because it's owned by the company. I'm not sure how much longer I will be there if Lavinia decides to call off the engagement." Matthew stated.

"Why would they evict you?" Mary asked, confused.

"Because Lavinia's father is a name partner. The firm I work for are Harvell, Carter & Swire. The reason I live in my flat is because Lavinia's father offered it to us when we moved in together three months ago. And whilst Reggie is a good man, I don't think he'll take it too kindly if Lavinia ends our engagement because she can't trust me. I'll have broken his daughter's heart and she is his entire world." Matthew replied.

The kettle clicked and Mary turned around to make the tea. She began to wonder if Lavinia would end her engagement and what it would mean for Matthew in terms of his life. His professional career might become strained at his current firm given he worked for Lavinia's father. He could be evicted from his flat if Reggie Swire was a vindictive man, which she had a hard time believing. Of course, she had never met the man and she had only met Lavinia twice, but she found the man's daughter sweet and kind-hearted, and to raise a young woman to be like that it would mean that the father had to be a decent one.

She finished making the tea, turning around to hand Matthew a mug, and gestured that they sit on the sofa. She kicked off her shoes lazily as she sat, putting her feet up on the coffee table. Her eyes met Matthew's amused stare, his mouth twitching as he tried to prevent the smirk that wanted to form.

"What?" Mary asked.

"Nothing, it's just…seeing you so…comfortable…there was a time you wouldn't have dared put your feet up on a table…" Matthew chuckled.

"I don't live with my grandmother anymore." Mary reminded him.

"Yes. I'm sure that's a positive. If you did, she would throw a fit about how unladylike it is." Matthew said softly.

"Granny would throw a fit about a lot of things if she knew everything about me…" Mary sighed.

"Like what?"

Mary laughed slightly. She knew that if her grandmother knew about her relationship with Kemal, she would never hear the end of it. Her grandmother was old fashioned and didn't approve of modern courtships. If Violet ever found out that her relationship with Kemal was merely about sex and partying…well…she was sure that Granny would have a heart attack or a stroke.

"She only knows about my relationship with Henry, she doesn't know about Kemal." Mary stated.

"Ah. Your 'casual' relationship." Matthew said quietly.

She cocked her head slightly sideways, looking at him curiously.

"What was that?" Mary questioned.

"What was what?"

"The tone."

Matthew shifted uncomfortably as Mary raised an eyebrow, curious as to why he had said it the way he had. Was he angry that she had dated two other people in their four-year separation? Did it bother him that she had tried to move on from him?

"I didn't mean it like that…I just…it surprised me to hear that you had a casual relationship. I never would have noted you to be into that type of thing." Matthew stated.

Ah.

That was what he meant.

"Well…it was…Kemal was a distraction, and he knew how to have a good time. I went through a phase. I was twenty-one, about to graduate university and I needed a distraction." Mary replied quietly.

She took a sip of her tea, looking down into the mug to avoid his gaze.

"And Kemal was able to provide you with that?" Matthew asked.

Mary nodded.

"Yes. He was this tall dark stranger I met in a nightclub when I was out with Anna, Daisy, and Gwen. He invited us all to go to a party and for the months that followed, he provided a lot of good times to distract me." She explained.

"He didn't…get you hooked on anything? It sounds like he's the type of man who is into a particular kind of lifestyle." Matthew accused.

She couldn't exactly deny that his assumption about Kemal was wrong. He was right. Kemal liked to dabble like Patrick did. He liked to drink, smoke, indulge. He liked rough sex and a non-exclusive lifestyle.

"Strictly between us…I have smoked weed a few times, but I never did anything harder than that. I didn't particularly enjoy it, but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about." She admitted.

"And what about Henry? You said that you had a relationship?"

Her mind raced with questions as to why he was asking her about her past. Why was he asking her about her romantic past?

Was it simply to get them both to an easier, more comfortable place in their lives?

Was it to start building up their friendship again?

Was it because he was jealous and wanted to know if she fell in love with Kemal or Henry?

A part of her wanted to ease his mind. To tell him that no, she hadn't fallen in love with anyone else. She could have, with Henry – if the relationship had lasted long enough and they had seen each other more frequently than they had over the course of eleven months. But Henry had never been in one place for too long and she never had much opportunity to follow him across and around the globe whilst he did what he had to do.

She wanted to ask him why he was questioning her about her past. That his right to know about her relationships after him were none of his business. She wanted to ask him why he was asking her all these questions, and if it bothered him that she had tried to move on from him.

She wanted to tell him that she still got butterflies whenever she thought about their time together. That she still smiled at the fond memories they would always share. That the only person she had ever loved was him.

But telling him wouldn't achieve anything. He was trying to make things easier between them. So that they could go to family events and have things not feel awkward between them. That they could get back to a place of friendship.

So, she decided not to say anything. It wouldn't change anything.

"Henry was great but…he wasn't the one for me sadly." Mary replied.

Matthew looked at her apologetically.

"How long were you with Henry?"

"Eleven months, but we didn't see each other frequently."

"Why did it end?"

Mary chuckled and took another sip of her tea.

"You're full of questions tonight." Mary noted.

"I'm sorry-"

"It's fine. I understand. Four years apart it makes you think of what the other person has been up to in that time."

Matthew nodded his agreement and took a mouthful of his tea quite nervously.

"Henry races cars for a living, so he was never in one place for too long. With my Monday-Friday job and his jetting off round the world…I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did." She answered.

"Hold on…you dated Henry Talbot?" Matthew questioned.

"I did. Granny introduced us, she's friends with Henry's grandmother."

"He's a fast racer, his stats are unbeatable."

Mary smiled.

"So…what are you going to do about Lavinia?" she asked.

"Give her some more time I suppose. I'll text her on Friday and see if she wants to meet up next weekend." Matthew replied with a sigh.

"I'm sorry."

Matthew placed his empty mug on the coffee table and sat back comfortably.

"Please don't apologise again," he sighed, "I don't want us to keep going round in circles."

Mary finished the rest of her tea and placed the empty mug next to Matthew's on her coffee table.

"I'll try to remember to stop." She smiled slightly.

They shared a comfortable pause, both silently reflecting on the events of the weekend. Mary had spent quite a lot of time with Matthew at Downton and on the journey back to London too. The more time she had spent with him over the weekend, she had found it easier to feel comfortable around him. They barely discussed their romantic past, they talked about their jobs, their lives in London and Matthew had extended an invitation for her to join him on a run in Hyde Park soon. Whilst she knew how she still felt about him, she remembered that they had been friends for a long time before she had kissed him the night of her eighteenth birthday. She had missed the ease of conversation with him, the way he could make her laugh and make her feel happy. She missed the times that they would just sit and spend time together doing nothing. She missed their talks about random things. Overall, she missed him and the joy he had brought to her life.

This weekend, not complicating it with too much talk of their romantic history together, had been nice.

It felt like old times.

And Mary wondered if they could get their friendship back on track.

As her eyes met Matthew's, he stretched his arms out and let out a little yawn.

"It's getting late, I should go." He announced.

"Of course. Thank you for the car journeys." Mary replied.

They stood up at the same time, stepping toward each other and Mary wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. She shivered when she felt his breath on her neck and his arms rest on her waist. Their embrace only lasted less than five seconds before they released each other and stepped a part. But Mary could feel her heart beating faster just because of him.

"I'll see myself out. But I've enjoyed spending time with you again, even if the circumstances were terrible." Matthew stated.

"It felt like old times." Mary smiled.

Matthew nodded his agreement and said goodbye, Mary watched as he turned and left, closing the front door behind him.

oOo

The new week had started off completely rubbish for Mary, which was an understatement. From the moment she had stepped into her office on Monday morning and had instructed Edna to keep up the 'closed' sign on the door, the phone had started ringing.

It got to the point that by half past ten that morning, she unplugged the landline and opened the email account for the estate. There were dozens and dozens of emails from customers asking if they could switch dates of their visits or claim a refund. Mary had spent the entire day issuing refunds and rebooking customer's bookings for the end of the month or for the following year, after all, the house would be closing to the public at the end of the month. At five o'clock on Monday afternoon, she sent Edna home to relax and wind down; her assistant had helped through as much as they could get through. As Edna gathered her coat and bag, the office door opened and in stepped Tony, holding two takeaway coffee cups in his hands.

"Mary, Mr Foyle is here." Edna called.

She stepped out of her office and smiled wearily at Tony, exhaustion attempting to take over her body.

"I heard about Patrick, I'm sorry for your loss," Tony said delicately, "I thought I'd bring you coffee after I called your parents to give my condolences, your mother said you had returned to London to handle some things."

"Thank you. But I'm not going to be good company tonight." Mary replied with a yawn.

Edna bade them both goodbye and exited the building, leaving them alone.

"I still have dozens of refunds to process, and I need to post an update on the social media pages to inform customers that I'll be processing more refunds tomorrow."

"So, why not allow me to assist?" Tony offered.

"Tony-"

"I insist, Mary. You look exhausted and having some extra help to answer emails, process refunds and post on social media to update people will get you home sooner." He interrupted.

Seeing no point in arguing with him, she led him into her office and handed Tony a tablet and spent ten minutes showing him how to process the refunds whilst she sent back confirmation emails as the refunds were confirmed. For the next hour they drank the coffee, wrote emails, processed refunds, and talked about Patrick's death. Just after six, Mary allowed Tony to post the social media updates about refunds and re-bookings and processed the final refund of the night. Once everything was done, she shut down her computer and switched off everything, leaning back in her chair and stretched her arms out wide.

"I'm ready to pass out." Mary yawned.

Tony turned off the tablet and sat back in his chair with a lazy smile.

"I think you should eat first. Can I take you out for some dinner?" he asked.

"Something quick. I want to turn in early. I'm planning to come into the office a little earlier tomorrow and get ahead on things. Besides, the police will be here tomorrow to investigate Patrick's office, so I need to ensure I'm well rested." Mary replied.

"Of course."

Together, they left, switching off the lights as they went and pulled on their coats just as Mary set the alarm and locked the office up for the night. Tony offered her his arm and she looped hers through his and headed off in the direction of some restaurants.

oOo

When Matthew had returned to work on Monday, he had spent half the morning on casework before he was pulled into Harvell's office. His boss had told him he had found out about his bereavement and was telling him to take the rest of the week off to process his loss. When he had tried to insist that he was fine to work, Harvell became insistent that he take the week.

"Employees who don't take bereavement leave make mistakes we can't afford to make later down the line. Take the leave, Matthew, and come back to work with a fresh mind." Harvell had said.

So, knowing that his boss wouldn't allow him to insist that he was fine, Matthew had headed back to the flat. And sitting around the flat now made him feel uncomfortable. There was no Lavinia to make him feel at home, to make him feel like this was his home. Sitting in his empty flat, with half of his fiancée's belongings still there only reminded him of his mistakes lately.

He tried to distract himself by throwing himself into the housework. He did his laundry, he deep cleaned the dishwasher, organised the fridge and went to the supermarket to buy the weekly groceries. He unpacked the food he bought, he put his laundry away and cooked himself an early dinner. By five, he felt bored and decided to go for a walk to clear his head.

He wandered the streets of London, got on the tube, and walked around Oxford Street and admired the Christmas lights that would be turned on later that week. As his mind took him back to memories of sharing this time of year with Mary all those years ago, he unexpectedly found himself stood near her office.

It was past six and he thought that Mary would have left work long before now. But he saw the lights switch off and he made the quick decision to see if she wanted to get some dinner together when he saw them…

Tony Gillingham offering Mary his arm. Mary looping hers through his and the two of them smiling, talking, and walking off into the night together.

And seeing Mary smile so happily at Tony made his smile fade as the realisation hit him that Mary was moving on. He only hoped that Gillingham was worthy of Mary and could make her happy.

Matthew turned around and headed in the direction of the tube station.

oOo

The rest of the week had gone by slowly. On Tuesday, the police had arrived to search through Patrick's office, carefully bagging up sample and objects that might prove helpful in their investigation into Patrick's death. Mary had tried to ask what exactly they were looking for, but the officers refused to give her any information. They merely told her that they were investigating an unexplained death and until the coroner had given a report, they couldn't divulge any information.

Mary spent the rest of Tuesday finishing her tasks from Monday and then called her parents to inform them that she would be taking a few days off and closing the office, given that she had nothing else to do at work. When she had finished work on Tuesday evening, she locked up the office, told Edna to take a few days for herself and headed back to her flat. When she stepped through the front door, she dropped her bag and kicked off her heels and decided to change into some loungewear to be more comfortable. Once changed, she padded slowly around her flat as she put on some music and picked up a book to read.

She loved to lose herself in a good book when times were stressful or upsetting. After her split from Matthew, she had thrown herself into books as a distraction. Getting lost in the fictional words of different genres, picturing other worlds in her head, the characters, the dynamics of their relationships, it made her forget about her own troubles for a while. As she sat down, she placed her phone on the coffee table and opened the book and started to read. As the pages turned, one after another in slow succession, her eyes scanned the little black words on the paper, reading how the heroine was trying to track down her long-lost sister, how the heroine had an air of desperation and longing for that connection to her loved one…

Her phone ringing brought her out of the book. She picked it up and raised an eyebrow at the name of her person calling her, lit across the screen. Pressing the answer button, she pressed the phone to her ear.

"Mary? Mother said you've taken some time off from work, are you alright?"

"Matthew, please don't worry. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Matthew asked.

"Yes. I'm merely taking the rest of the week off because I've spent the whole of today and yesterday processing refunds and sending emails. The office is closed for a while because of Patrick's death so there's no harm in taking some time off." Mary replied.

"As long as you're sure you're okay."

"I am. What's going on with you?"

"Well, my boss has signed me off for the week because of Patrick's death. Harvell is concerned that if I continued to work whilst processing a loss, I might make a mistake that the firm can't afford to make." Matthew sighed.

"And being home alone is driving you mad?" Mary guessed.

"It is," Matthew confirmed, "There's only so much housework and amusing myself that I can do alone."

"Are you busy tomorrow?" Mary asked.

"No, why?"

"Maybe we could go for that run you suggested?"

There was a pause before Matthew cleared his throat.

"I'd like that…but will Tony mind?" he asked.

Tony? Why was he asking if Tony would care if she went for a run with him?

"I don't see why he would…why?" Mary questioned.

"I-I just don't…want to step on any toes…" Matthew stammered.

"Matthew, it's early days with Tony, it's not like he's my boyfriend yet."

"Oh…"

Another pause.

A slightly uncomfortable one.

It made her wonder if she and Matthew would ever get back to a comfortable place. Would there always be a little awkwardness between them? The weekend just gone, spending time with him, the times where they hadn't talked about their past and talked about the present had reminded her of their friendship years ago. It was easy and familiar. It had given her hope that they could get back to that place and move on from their past.

And now he was asking her if Tony would be bothered if they spent time together.

But asking him to explain would only make things worse.

"So, what do you say? I can meet you at the park for eight?" Mary suggested.

"Sure. I'd like that." Matthew replied softly.

"Okay. Goodnight Matthew."

"Goodnight Mary."

The call ended and Mary placed her phone back on the coffee table; trying to ignore the hundreds of questions about Matthew that were spinning around in her head. surrounded Patrick's death.