[100prompts] All in the Family - (Matt/Lucy)
Title: All in the Family
100Prompts: #46 - Family
Show(s): Die Hard 4.0
Pairing(s): Matt Farrell/Lucy McClane
Warning: If you've seen the movie, you're good
Summary: Fourth in a series of one-shots -- Matt and Lucy are both suffering. Can sibling interference save the day?
Disclaimer: Matt, Lucy, and Jack McClane are not mine.
Word Count: 2695
Matt shifted his bag on his shoulder as he walked down Baker Avenue. Normally he enjoyed this morning coffee run, but after the disappearance of Lucy yesterday, he’d found his appetite gone when he reached his favourite bakery and coffee spot that morning. Throughout the day and most of the night yesterday, between lines of coding and HTML algorithms, he’d wrestled with the idea of calling her. But what would he say?
“Hi Lucy, it’s Matt. Why did you leave without saying goodbye like you always do?”
The more appropriate phrase might be “Did I do something wrong?”. But every time Matt picked up the phone, what little pride he had managed to all gather together and make him put it down again. If he knew why Lucy had left without so much as a word, maybe he would know how to fix it.
Because Matt was slowly coming to the realization of how much he loved spending time with Lucy, how he enjoyed her company when she came over. How he wanted maybe to be more than friends, and to ask her how. He’d been planning to tell her when he returned with breakfast. But it’s difficult to tell someone something without their being there, now wasn’t it?
For a moment, Matt’s spirits lifted. As he turned the corner onto his street, Matt saw a figure sitting on the stairs. From the long hair, he guessed it was a woman, but as he drew closer he saw that the hair was not the brown he’d hoped. It was black. Like his.
That was when he realized who it was. And for the first time since yesterday, his heart lightened a little.
He approached with a lighter step and even grinned down at the figure. “Excuse me, but loitering is not allowed in front of this building,” Matt said when he’d reached her.
She looked up at him with the same blue eyes Matt had known all of his life. They brightened as she smiled. “Well, they let you live here, so they must know how to make exceptions.”
Matt winced playfully. “Ouch,” he said before allowing himself to get pulled into a hug. He felt as though the hug had recharged him a little when she pulled away. He grabbed a suitcase off of the front steps. “You been waiting long?”
She shrugged. “Not really. Ten minutes or so.”
“Really? Wow,” said Matt, looking at an imaginary watch on his wrist, “I totally meant to leave you waiting for twenty.”
“Touche,” she said, getting up to follow him in. She was surprised to find that he’d stopped on the top stair and was looking at her. She fought between frowning and grinning at him. “What’s that face for?”
Matt shrugged. “It’s just... I’m happy to see you Mags.”
Maggie Farrell frowned up at her brother. Suddenly, she broke into a huge grin. “I’m happy to see you too, baby brother.”
There was a long and curious pause between the two siblings when Maggie suddenly tilted her head, interested. “You’re not dying, are you?”
Matt let out a chuckle and went inside, ignoring his sister’s insistent questions that he must be. It was good to have her back.
Lucy smacked her hand angrily at the book as she read the same line for the fifth time. With the Aerosmith blaring through the wall next door and the suggestive sounds coming through the wall on the other side, the last place Lucy wanted to be was in her dorm room. But where was she supposed to go when her place of solace was now anything but?
Sighing, she closed the book and tossed it on her bed. For a brief moment, she entertained the idea of calling him, but then shook the idea out of her head. No, no way. Lucy McClane did not go crawling back. She did not like being played. That was not happening.
She was suddenly met with mixed feelings as the phone rang. She cringed. It could be Matt asking why she left. Or Tim calling to find out why she’d cancelled. Or a girlfriend wanting a designated driver for her club plans tonight. Before she could stop herself, Lucy answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“What are you doing answering your phone?”
The anxiety she felt picking up the receiver vanished when she recognized her brother’s voice. “Jack?”
“Who else? I didn’t think you’d be there. I was all set to leave a very loud and rude message on your machine.”
Lucy smiled and relaxed in her chair. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“You’re forgiven, little grasshopper.”
Lucy laughed and rolled her eyes at her brother. “So why did you think I wouldn’t be home?”
“Well,” Jack said, through what sounded like him stretching on his end of the phone, “Well, today is Friday, and yesterday was Thursday, and there was very little phone actions happening yesterday around, say... seven at night?”
“Oh,” Lucy said, realizing what her brother was talking about and the purpose of his call. Lucy would always call to check in with her mom and brother once a week on Thursday nights, usually around seven. She’d been so upset about Matt last night that she’d forgotten to call. “I’m sorry. Were you worried?”
“Mom was, but I took care of it. I don’t get worried.”
Lucy smiled. “Not even a little?”
She heard her older brother huff into the phone. “A little, but don’t let that get around. Some of us have a reputation to hold up, you know?”
Lucy laughed. “Got it.”
“Good,” he said. She could hear her brother’s smile in his voice. “So what’s new?”
“Sorry I haven’t had a chance to tidy up yet. I totally wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow,” Matt said apologetically as his sister flopped onto the nearest couch. She looked at him with a mix of confusion and amusement as he tried his best to grab loose magazines and clothes that had been tossed carelessly.
“Matty, I’m not the apartment police. Just chill.” She grabbed a Vogue off of the table and started to flip through it, “Besides, if you were, I’d have arrested you for your last apartment. This place?” She looked around with an approving eye before nodding, “This place is swank.”
Matt stopped cleaning for a moment at that. “Yeah? I’ll tell the feds that my older sister approves. I’m sure they’ll love to hear it.”
Maggie let out a low whistle before giving the apartment another look over. “The feds? They gave you this place?”
“Yeah, well, that’s mostly only because they felt bad about how my last one got blown up, so...”
“Blown up? “
Matt heard the tone. Looking at his sister, he saw the concern registered across her face, that kind of vibe that tigers get when they feel that their cub is in danger. He instantly started to calm her down. “No no, it was nothing, you know? Just, like... well, yes there was an explosion, but... but I wasn’t hurt. And you know...” He was rambling, but his mouth wasn’t listening to him.
“Matt.”
He stopped. “Yeah?”
She smiled at him. “It’s okay.”
Matt nodded and sat down on the opposite end of the couch as his sister. She watched him carefully, knowing that one sign of something upsetting him was his difficulty talking about it. The things that bothered him the most would come out of his mouth the most jumbled. She didn’t press the issue and instead tisked, making him look up. She frowned at him. “Damn, it was that bad, huh?”
“Just be thankful you were in Germany,” Matt said, and Maggie noticed it was said with a hint of disdain. Sitting up on the sofa, she pulled her brother into another hug, resting her chin on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
“It’s okay,” he said, patting her, “I’m okay.”
“Good,” she said, sitting back down, “I did get the e-mail. Very exciting stuff. Detective McClane sounds like a brave guy.”
“He is,” Matt said, trailing off. The mention of the detective brought him back to thoughts of a certain brunette, and he became unaware that his sister was watching him intently. A small smile grazed her lips, and she let out a low whistle which brought Matt back to reality. He looked at her surprised. “What?”
“I get the feeling that there’s something... or someone... you’re not telling me,” she said as only a wise older sister could.
Matt shrugged. “No... wha-what makes you... you know, what makes you say that?”
Maggie grinned at him. “Because of the reading material in this apartment,” she said, tossing down the copy of Vogue that she’d been flipping through. She crossed her legs and moved next to her brother on the sofa.
“Spill.”
“Matt Farrell? That hacker guy that Dad was dragging around everywhere?”
Lucy dropped her head in her hands embarrassed. “Oh my God Jack, why don’t you say it a little louder?”
“Okay,” he said, “Hey Mom!”
“Don’t you dare!” Lucy shouted into the phone, and her anger was met with the sounds of her brother’s laughter.
“Chill baby sister, I’ve got you. So you think this guy is playing you, right? You know if he is, I’m taking a road trip out there...”
“No,” said Lucy, hearing Jack’s brotherly instincts kicking into overdrive, “No no, I just... need a sounding board.”
Jack made a noise of understanding into the phone. “Well then, sound away.”
Lucy opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. “You first.”
“What?”
“Tell me what you think, you dolt,” she said, part out of playfulness, part out of nervousness about discussing boys with her older brother. She was convinced that no other girl would do this with her brother. Of course, she wasn’t just some girl, and her brother and her shared a special bond that only kids with divorced parents could have.
Jack blew into the phone, obviously trying to decide what to say. “Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
“You won’t get mad?”
“No.”
“Women always say that until they hear what you have to say, then they get mad.”
“God, you sound like Dad.”
Jack chuckled as though taking that as a compliment. “Then, my honest opinion.”
“Okay.”
“Are there any magazines lying around in his apartment? Women’s magazines? Special food in the cupboard that he never eats or nothing? Did the woman on the phone indicate that she was a girlfriend?”
Lucy considered all of these questions. “No to all of those,” she said carefully.
“Then I don’t think he’s playing you. Tripping maybe, but not playing. He’s just a schmuck who doesn’t know how to handle himself. Maybe the person on the phone was his sister.”
Lucy nodded and frowned as her brother continued. “You must really like this guy to not want to confront him. In case you hurt his feelings or something.”
Lucy considered saying something against her brother, retorting in some way, but instead just said, and very weakly, “Shut up.”
Obviously Jack had also been expecting Lucy’s harangue. “Shut up? That’s it? Dude, you must really like him.”
Jack continued when Lucy stayed silent, as though sensing that her admitting to liking Matt to her older brother was making her uncomfortable. “I’m happy for you Luce. Just remember not to get hurt. And those guys need stuff spelled out for them, okay? But be careful.”
“All men need stuff spelled out for them, you dope,” she said smiling, suddenly happy.
“No, I don’t need it spelled out. Living with you and mom fixed that problem up years ago.”
Lucy laughed. “Don’t complain. Just be happy you’ve got a sister who loves you.”
“YOU LET HER GO? What are you, stupid?”
Matt cringed as his sister’s voice suddenly climbed into higher decibels and octaves simultaneously. “What was I supposed to do?”
Maggie scoffed and got off of the couch. “Be a man, for starters,” she said, grabbing his jacket off of his desk and throwing it at him, “Here. Go tell her how you feel.”
“And what... what do I say? I’m sorry? I don’t know what I did wrong!”
“That doesn’t matter! Just tell her how you feel. Do something,” she said, sounding out the words like she was ten and Matt was six again, and she was teaching him how to construct a sentence.
Matt was about to speak when his sister made another disapproving noise, looking down at the table from where she’d retrieved his jacket. “No wonder you left me outside! Don’t you ever check your messages?”
Before Matt could respond, Maggie pressed ‘play’ on the answering machine. The sound of Maggie’s voice filled the apartment. “Hi Matty, it’s me. You never called me last night like you said you would... So I’m just calling to make sure that you’re still okay with me crashing at your place for the weekend...”
Suddenly, a thunderbolt struck Matt. He spun to face his sister. “When did you call?”
“What?” she blinked, surprised.
He shouted over the message and she stopped it. “The message. When did you call and leave it?”
She shrugged. “Yesterday morning.”
Matt’s eyes widened and suddenly everything made sense. Putting on his coat, he ran for the door. “I’ll be back!”
“You better!” Maggie shouted after him as the door slammed shut. She grinned at the back of the door. “Of course you have to come back,” she said aloud to herself, “You live here, you knob.”
Matt had barely managed to regain his balance as he flew out of the building when he nearly crashed into someone coming up the steps to get in.
“Sorry! God, I’m sorry, I just...”
“Where’s the fire?”
Matt stopped at the sound of the voice and turned to see the smiling face of Lucy in front of him. “Lucy!” he said, surprised and ecstatic, “I was just...”
She smiled as he realized what he was trying to say. “Here I am.”
“The message on the phone--”
“-you don’t need to explain Matt-”
“My sister,” he said, suddenly out of breath. He felt encouraged at the brightening face of Lucy as he continued, “The call was from my sister. She was getting her apartment renovated while she was away, and she’s back and it’s not done yet. Figured she’d crash with me.”
Lucy nodded. “That was nice of you.”
Matt nodded at first in agreement but then shook his head. “She could beat me up, so... it’s more about, you know, preserving my safety, than anything.”
Lucy laughed at that and nodded. “I can see how that would be important.”
The two nodded nervously in agreement at that like a pair of bobbleheads before embarrassingly ducking their heads down. Matt thought for a moment about what his sister said, about how he should do something.
So he did. Bringing a shaky hand to Lucy’s face, he pulled her close and kissed her.
It was the most simple and gentle kiss that Lucy had ever received in her entire life. Most kisses were so passionate that you became confused as to which way was up. This kiss was direct and simple, his lips pressed firmly against hers. Matt was telling Lucy that he liked her. No tricks, no more uncertainties. He liked her. She loved him for that, for trying. She debated pulling him closer, but decided to let him control this first one.
When he pulled away, Matt had the largest and brightest grin that she’d ever seen on his face before. It made him even cuter. She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder.
“When you two are done making out down there,” a sudden voice said loudly from above, “Maybe you’d like to invite her to stay for lunch.”
Matt and Lucy looked up to see Maggie leaning out of the window, looking down at the pair with increased interest. Lucy blushed a shade of crimson, but Matt simply shrugged. “Coming up now,” he shouted to her.
Smiling, he held his arm out to Lucy. “Shall we?”
She took his arm. “Let’s shall.”
They entered the apartment, arm in arm.
100Prompts: #46 - Family
Show(s): Die Hard 4.0
Pairing(s): Matt Farrell/Lucy McClane
Warning: If you've seen the movie, you're good
Summary: Fourth in a series of one-shots -- Matt and Lucy are both suffering. Can sibling interference save the day?
Disclaimer: Matt, Lucy, and Jack McClane are not mine.
Word Count: 2695
Matt shifted his bag on his shoulder as he walked down Baker Avenue. Normally he enjoyed this morning coffee run, but after the disappearance of Lucy yesterday, he’d found his appetite gone when he reached his favourite bakery and coffee spot that morning. Throughout the day and most of the night yesterday, between lines of coding and HTML algorithms, he’d wrestled with the idea of calling her. But what would he say?
“Hi Lucy, it’s Matt. Why did you leave without saying goodbye like you always do?”
The more appropriate phrase might be “Did I do something wrong?”. But every time Matt picked up the phone, what little pride he had managed to all gather together and make him put it down again. If he knew why Lucy had left without so much as a word, maybe he would know how to fix it.
Because Matt was slowly coming to the realization of how much he loved spending time with Lucy, how he enjoyed her company when she came over. How he wanted maybe to be more than friends, and to ask her how. He’d been planning to tell her when he returned with breakfast. But it’s difficult to tell someone something without their being there, now wasn’t it?
For a moment, Matt’s spirits lifted. As he turned the corner onto his street, Matt saw a figure sitting on the stairs. From the long hair, he guessed it was a woman, but as he drew closer he saw that the hair was not the brown he’d hoped. It was black. Like his.
That was when he realized who it was. And for the first time since yesterday, his heart lightened a little.
He approached with a lighter step and even grinned down at the figure. “Excuse me, but loitering is not allowed in front of this building,” Matt said when he’d reached her.
She looked up at him with the same blue eyes Matt had known all of his life. They brightened as she smiled. “Well, they let you live here, so they must know how to make exceptions.”
Matt winced playfully. “Ouch,” he said before allowing himself to get pulled into a hug. He felt as though the hug had recharged him a little when she pulled away. He grabbed a suitcase off of the front steps. “You been waiting long?”
She shrugged. “Not really. Ten minutes or so.”
“Really? Wow,” said Matt, looking at an imaginary watch on his wrist, “I totally meant to leave you waiting for twenty.”
“Touche,” she said, getting up to follow him in. She was surprised to find that he’d stopped on the top stair and was looking at her. She fought between frowning and grinning at him. “What’s that face for?”
Matt shrugged. “It’s just... I’m happy to see you Mags.”
Maggie Farrell frowned up at her brother. Suddenly, she broke into a huge grin. “I’m happy to see you too, baby brother.”
There was a long and curious pause between the two siblings when Maggie suddenly tilted her head, interested. “You’re not dying, are you?”
Matt let out a chuckle and went inside, ignoring his sister’s insistent questions that he must be. It was good to have her back.
Lucy smacked her hand angrily at the book as she read the same line for the fifth time. With the Aerosmith blaring through the wall next door and the suggestive sounds coming through the wall on the other side, the last place Lucy wanted to be was in her dorm room. But where was she supposed to go when her place of solace was now anything but?
Sighing, she closed the book and tossed it on her bed. For a brief moment, she entertained the idea of calling him, but then shook the idea out of her head. No, no way. Lucy McClane did not go crawling back. She did not like being played. That was not happening.
She was suddenly met with mixed feelings as the phone rang. She cringed. It could be Matt asking why she left. Or Tim calling to find out why she’d cancelled. Or a girlfriend wanting a designated driver for her club plans tonight. Before she could stop herself, Lucy answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“What are you doing answering your phone?”
The anxiety she felt picking up the receiver vanished when she recognized her brother’s voice. “Jack?”
“Who else? I didn’t think you’d be there. I was all set to leave a very loud and rude message on your machine.”
Lucy smiled and relaxed in her chair. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“You’re forgiven, little grasshopper.”
Lucy laughed and rolled her eyes at her brother. “So why did you think I wouldn’t be home?”
“Well,” Jack said, through what sounded like him stretching on his end of the phone, “Well, today is Friday, and yesterday was Thursday, and there was very little phone actions happening yesterday around, say... seven at night?”
“Oh,” Lucy said, realizing what her brother was talking about and the purpose of his call. Lucy would always call to check in with her mom and brother once a week on Thursday nights, usually around seven. She’d been so upset about Matt last night that she’d forgotten to call. “I’m sorry. Were you worried?”
“Mom was, but I took care of it. I don’t get worried.”
Lucy smiled. “Not even a little?”
She heard her older brother huff into the phone. “A little, but don’t let that get around. Some of us have a reputation to hold up, you know?”
Lucy laughed. “Got it.”
“Good,” he said. She could hear her brother’s smile in his voice. “So what’s new?”
“Sorry I haven’t had a chance to tidy up yet. I totally wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow,” Matt said apologetically as his sister flopped onto the nearest couch. She looked at him with a mix of confusion and amusement as he tried his best to grab loose magazines and clothes that had been tossed carelessly.
“Matty, I’m not the apartment police. Just chill.” She grabbed a Vogue off of the table and started to flip through it, “Besides, if you were, I’d have arrested you for your last apartment. This place?” She looked around with an approving eye before nodding, “This place is swank.”
Matt stopped cleaning for a moment at that. “Yeah? I’ll tell the feds that my older sister approves. I’m sure they’ll love to hear it.”
Maggie let out a low whistle before giving the apartment another look over. “The feds? They gave you this place?”
“Yeah, well, that’s mostly only because they felt bad about how my last one got blown up, so...”
“Blown up? “
Matt heard the tone. Looking at his sister, he saw the concern registered across her face, that kind of vibe that tigers get when they feel that their cub is in danger. He instantly started to calm her down. “No no, it was nothing, you know? Just, like... well, yes there was an explosion, but... but I wasn’t hurt. And you know...” He was rambling, but his mouth wasn’t listening to him.
“Matt.”
He stopped. “Yeah?”
She smiled at him. “It’s okay.”
Matt nodded and sat down on the opposite end of the couch as his sister. She watched him carefully, knowing that one sign of something upsetting him was his difficulty talking about it. The things that bothered him the most would come out of his mouth the most jumbled. She didn’t press the issue and instead tisked, making him look up. She frowned at him. “Damn, it was that bad, huh?”
“Just be thankful you were in Germany,” Matt said, and Maggie noticed it was said with a hint of disdain. Sitting up on the sofa, she pulled her brother into another hug, resting her chin on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”
“It’s okay,” he said, patting her, “I’m okay.”
“Good,” she said, sitting back down, “I did get the e-mail. Very exciting stuff. Detective McClane sounds like a brave guy.”
“He is,” Matt said, trailing off. The mention of the detective brought him back to thoughts of a certain brunette, and he became unaware that his sister was watching him intently. A small smile grazed her lips, and she let out a low whistle which brought Matt back to reality. He looked at her surprised. “What?”
“I get the feeling that there’s something... or someone... you’re not telling me,” she said as only a wise older sister could.
Matt shrugged. “No... wha-what makes you... you know, what makes you say that?”
Maggie grinned at him. “Because of the reading material in this apartment,” she said, tossing down the copy of Vogue that she’d been flipping through. She crossed her legs and moved next to her brother on the sofa.
“Spill.”
“Matt Farrell? That hacker guy that Dad was dragging around everywhere?”
Lucy dropped her head in her hands embarrassed. “Oh my God Jack, why don’t you say it a little louder?”
“Okay,” he said, “Hey Mom!”
“Don’t you dare!” Lucy shouted into the phone, and her anger was met with the sounds of her brother’s laughter.
“Chill baby sister, I’ve got you. So you think this guy is playing you, right? You know if he is, I’m taking a road trip out there...”
“No,” said Lucy, hearing Jack’s brotherly instincts kicking into overdrive, “No no, I just... need a sounding board.”
Jack made a noise of understanding into the phone. “Well then, sound away.”
Lucy opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again. “You first.”
“What?”
“Tell me what you think, you dolt,” she said, part out of playfulness, part out of nervousness about discussing boys with her older brother. She was convinced that no other girl would do this with her brother. Of course, she wasn’t just some girl, and her brother and her shared a special bond that only kids with divorced parents could have.
Jack blew into the phone, obviously trying to decide what to say. “Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
“You won’t get mad?”
“No.”
“Women always say that until they hear what you have to say, then they get mad.”
“God, you sound like Dad.”
Jack chuckled as though taking that as a compliment. “Then, my honest opinion.”
“Okay.”
“Are there any magazines lying around in his apartment? Women’s magazines? Special food in the cupboard that he never eats or nothing? Did the woman on the phone indicate that she was a girlfriend?”
Lucy considered all of these questions. “No to all of those,” she said carefully.
“Then I don’t think he’s playing you. Tripping maybe, but not playing. He’s just a schmuck who doesn’t know how to handle himself. Maybe the person on the phone was his sister.”
Lucy nodded and frowned as her brother continued. “You must really like this guy to not want to confront him. In case you hurt his feelings or something.”
Lucy considered saying something against her brother, retorting in some way, but instead just said, and very weakly, “Shut up.”
Obviously Jack had also been expecting Lucy’s harangue. “Shut up? That’s it? Dude, you must really like him.”
Jack continued when Lucy stayed silent, as though sensing that her admitting to liking Matt to her older brother was making her uncomfortable. “I’m happy for you Luce. Just remember not to get hurt. And those guys need stuff spelled out for them, okay? But be careful.”
“All men need stuff spelled out for them, you dope,” she said smiling, suddenly happy.
“No, I don’t need it spelled out. Living with you and mom fixed that problem up years ago.”
Lucy laughed. “Don’t complain. Just be happy you’ve got a sister who loves you.”
“YOU LET HER GO? What are you, stupid?”
Matt cringed as his sister’s voice suddenly climbed into higher decibels and octaves simultaneously. “What was I supposed to do?”
Maggie scoffed and got off of the couch. “Be a man, for starters,” she said, grabbing his jacket off of his desk and throwing it at him, “Here. Go tell her how you feel.”
“And what... what do I say? I’m sorry? I don’t know what I did wrong!”
“That doesn’t matter! Just tell her how you feel. Do something,” she said, sounding out the words like she was ten and Matt was six again, and she was teaching him how to construct a sentence.
Matt was about to speak when his sister made another disapproving noise, looking down at the table from where she’d retrieved his jacket. “No wonder you left me outside! Don’t you ever check your messages?”
Before Matt could respond, Maggie pressed ‘play’ on the answering machine. The sound of Maggie’s voice filled the apartment. “Hi Matty, it’s me. You never called me last night like you said you would... So I’m just calling to make sure that you’re still okay with me crashing at your place for the weekend...”
Suddenly, a thunderbolt struck Matt. He spun to face his sister. “When did you call?”
“What?” she blinked, surprised.
He shouted over the message and she stopped it. “The message. When did you call and leave it?”
She shrugged. “Yesterday morning.”
Matt’s eyes widened and suddenly everything made sense. Putting on his coat, he ran for the door. “I’ll be back!”
“You better!” Maggie shouted after him as the door slammed shut. She grinned at the back of the door. “Of course you have to come back,” she said aloud to herself, “You live here, you knob.”
Matt had barely managed to regain his balance as he flew out of the building when he nearly crashed into someone coming up the steps to get in.
“Sorry! God, I’m sorry, I just...”
“Where’s the fire?”
Matt stopped at the sound of the voice and turned to see the smiling face of Lucy in front of him. “Lucy!” he said, surprised and ecstatic, “I was just...”
She smiled as he realized what he was trying to say. “Here I am.”
“The message on the phone--”
“-you don’t need to explain Matt-”
“My sister,” he said, suddenly out of breath. He felt encouraged at the brightening face of Lucy as he continued, “The call was from my sister. She was getting her apartment renovated while she was away, and she’s back and it’s not done yet. Figured she’d crash with me.”
Lucy nodded. “That was nice of you.”
Matt nodded at first in agreement but then shook his head. “She could beat me up, so... it’s more about, you know, preserving my safety, than anything.”
Lucy laughed at that and nodded. “I can see how that would be important.”
The two nodded nervously in agreement at that like a pair of bobbleheads before embarrassingly ducking their heads down. Matt thought for a moment about what his sister said, about how he should do something.
So he did. Bringing a shaky hand to Lucy’s face, he pulled her close and kissed her.
It was the most simple and gentle kiss that Lucy had ever received in her entire life. Most kisses were so passionate that you became confused as to which way was up. This kiss was direct and simple, his lips pressed firmly against hers. Matt was telling Lucy that he liked her. No tricks, no more uncertainties. He liked her. She loved him for that, for trying. She debated pulling him closer, but decided to let him control this first one.
When he pulled away, Matt had the largest and brightest grin that she’d ever seen on his face before. It made him even cuter. She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder.
“When you two are done making out down there,” a sudden voice said loudly from above, “Maybe you’d like to invite her to stay for lunch.”
Matt and Lucy looked up to see Maggie leaning out of the window, looking down at the pair with increased interest. Lucy blushed a shade of crimson, but Matt simply shrugged. “Coming up now,” he shouted to her.
Smiling, he held his arm out to Lucy. “Shall we?”
She took his arm. “Let’s shall.”
They entered the apartment, arm in arm.