It goes something like this [Part Two of...? Karen/Matt]
It goes something like this: part I here
~
They didn’t live together.
Officially.
~
Later Matt would tell, he would swear on a pile of Bibles that in the end it had been Karen’s idea. Karen would softly smile at her boyfriend’s words, she would nod at the right times, comforted, as always, by the weight of his thigh pressed against hers while they were sitting together
But the truth was? It had been Matt. It started when she found a spare toothbrush in Matt’s bathroom…it was a pink, girlish thing and Karen, holding both teeth brush in her hands - hers, a simple green one - and the one Matt had bought her - burst out laughing.
“What’s the matter?” Matt had asked, his head peaking in the bathroom, his cheeks stubbled and his glasses perched on his nose.
He was adorable…and she didn’t have the heart to tell him that a pink toothbrush was cute, but definitely not needed.
“Nothing…” She had said, still smiling, holding both items in her hands, realizing just in that moment that she was in Matt’s bathroom, wearing pajamas and slippers and was having a silent conversation made of smiles and arched eyebrows with her boyfriend.
Matt had shaken his head and said, “You’re crazy…coffee is ready by the way”
And the thing was…Matt used to drink only tea in the morning. He had started buying coffee - and a coffee machine - since she had been …
…bloody hell, since she had started spending almost all her nights in his apartment!
It was Matt who made room in his closet for her.
Official excuse: “So that I don’t trip in that blasted bag on the floor every morning!”
And then…Karen started to notice things: how while picking groceries, she knew that Matt would just love a particular brand of tea or sandwich, just like she knew she always had to remember to pick a different shampoo for him, since that incident when Matt came to set, one morning, suspiciously smelling of strawberry and Arthur hadn’t stop snickering every time they were close.
And then Karen noticed that their scarves, shoes mingled well together, that sometimes she went to bed wearing one of Matt’s shirts and he went to buy milk with one of her scarves wrapped around his neck.
Their cds, their books and their dvds were next to each other and she had surprised Matt listening to some of her cds, and she was coming around reading one of his poetry books he loved so much, it was on her nightstand now.
When the producers, her mother and friends start to call her at Matt’s, to be sure to find her she realized that maybe, somewhere along the line she had moved into Matt’s apartment…without even noticing.
“It makes sense” Matt had explained, once the fit of laughter had died down and he was rubbing his side, after her nudge, “We spend so much time together anyway…”
“Of course after sixteen hours at day spent on set, why wouldn’t we want to live together” She dead-panned.
“It’s working…” Matt had said simply, looking at her, with so much honesty and openness that Karen’s heart had done a weird dance in her chest…
She had looked around in the bedroom, their bedroom, and how clear her presence was there, how much their things mingled together: wool and velvet, giant sunglasses and lipsticks, their scripts towering over a chair: his and hers, an old ring her grandmother had given her was on Matt’s nightstand, and Matt’s ipod was on hers.
It was working. They did fight, because she could be a slob one minute and a moment after some obsessive compulsive raptus struck her and she ended up cleaning the whole house while Matt looked around in disbelief.
Matt could sing his heart out one minute and the next be moody and withdrawn, sitting on their couch, reading.
It was working…because she honestly didn’t remember when was last time she had gone to bed alone…
And Matt was always the first face she saw when she woke up…
It was working: bed hair, morning breaths, breakfasts eaten quickly before they were picked up by their driver, each reminding the other to do something, because their life was crazy and mundane things sometimes just didn’t register
So she let him tell his side of his story, smiling and nodding at the right places, their knees pressed together, her heart racing sometimes, when she could feel Matt’s stare on her… It didn’t really matter, she decided.
And that pink toothbrush? She still giggled every time she looked at it, although Matt, adorable, hyper, considerate boyfriend, didn’t have a clue as to why.
~
When Matt decided to romance her...he knew exactly what to do: candles, music, fine food and wine.
She was lucky
~
Packing was a weird thing. They had wrapped for the season, partied with the crew and the actors, had a long and interesting talk with the producers about both the future of the Doctor and Amy and how they were going to address the rumors about them.
Turned out…that they weren’t, not until they kept working together. Yes, it was going to be an interesting sixth season…
Matt had been adamant in keeping their relationship a secret. He loved, adored to tease her in front of cameras, he had no problems with the crew knowing about them, but he absolutely did not want the public to know.
It had been the reason of their only real fight, shortly after the show had begun to air, and it ended up with her in tears because Matt had raised his voice and in a fit of frustration had exclaimed, “It’s you I want to protect, Kaz!”
“You’re not the Doctor…and I’m not Amy bloody Pond!” She had retorted.
Matt had run a hand through his hair, taking deep breaths and then in a low voice had said, “I’d scream it from the rooftops, hell…I don’t even try to hide it! But it’s you and your career I’m concerned about…criticisms about me?” He had shrugged, “But using our relationship to hit you, because of their immaturity? No! You’re too good, you don’t deserve it”
The vehemence in Matt’s words, the way he had taken her hands in his when he had sat next to her had shut her up.
Matt telling her he loved her, a moment later, for the first time, had floored her…
So, the public would not know, and Karen was okay with that, for the moment. It was fun sometimes, to play that kind of game, to engage in staring contests with Matt, while they were on events, to make him blush when their bodies brushed a bit too close for simple friends.
But they both loved their jobs, they loved their roles on WHO and they loved the chances they got.
She was proud of Matt, proud of the kind of role he had chosen to play during hiatus, even if it meant they wouldn’t spend a lot of time together…
Even if looking around seeing their suitcases already packed, made her uneasy for a moment.
She smiled when she heard Matt, he was in the kitchen - he had hushed her away with a curt, “Go away…genius at work!”, he was singing, and she would have to act surprised when he’d call her in the kitchen to show her the dinner he had prepared for them both.
You are an actor, Gillan…you can do that!
Not surprisingly, it was raining outside, a real storm and Karen hugged her arms over her chest, looking at herself in the mirror.
Matt had asked to put on her best dress, just before disappearing into the kitchen.
They couldn’t do grand gestures, they didn’t have the time: work consumed every waking hour, and yet she had never felt more loved, more cherished…it was the way Matt made her laugh, even when everything around her seemed too crazy and unreal, it was how he knew instinctively when to leave her alone and when not to. It was the way his eyes lingered over her body, while she was getting ready before they went out, and how those looks made her feel proud and so damn lucky.
She had obliged Matt - and she remembered telling him, beyond the closed door, “Then you’ll better be very presentable, Smith…do you hear me?”
Matt had opened the door, still wearing his jeans and shirt, his hair slicked back and a hint of flour on his cheeks and nose, “When I am not?”
“Chronological or Alphabetical, luv?” Karen had replied.
Matt had laughed, and then had said, “You just don’t get my sense of style!”
He had taken her by her shoulders, silencing her protests with a quick kiss on the lips and then turned her, pointing with a long finger toward the bedroom, “now go…”
“Ok, I’m going…but just a warning: I will burn the red scarf if I see it on you!”
She had been laughing while she rummaged through her clothes, making a mess of the so carefully done suitcase, but in the end she had found the perfect dress…one she was sure Matt would love.
Almost as if he had heard her thoughts, Matt called,
And of course…it was them: Matt and Kaz, on a date…
Could things go smoothly?
She heard the crash in the kitchen just when the lights went out and a lightening struck, making her jump.
“Matt? Is everything ok?” She asked.
Another crash was the answer and then a curt, “Just bloody fantastic, Kaz…”
Karen sighed, searching for the flashlight that Matt - who had probably been a boyscout in a previous life - always kept in a drawer of his nightstand and made her way to the kitchen.
Another crash was the answer and then a curt, “Just bloody fantastic, Kaz…”
Matt, beautiful, dressed in black trousers and a black shirt was leaning against the sink, while on the floor lied their dinner...a lasagna!
Matt had cooked a lasagna for them…and she could still the perfectly set up table, with wine chilling in a basket.
“Oh, Matt..” Karen sighed.
“You look…fantastic!” Matt said and without missing a beat he added, “And I dropped the lasagna when the power went out!”
“You look…presentable” Karen said.
The dirty look Matt gave her would have made her blush a few months before, it was the kind of look he sometimes gave her on set, when he wanted to embarrass her.
Too bad she had sort of fallen in love with that look, with the mischief and promises in it.
“It’s not too late to go outside…” Matt said
Karen shook her head, took the wine from the basket, and gestured Matt to come close, “We, my dear, are going to have our perfect date here, in our house…” she handed the bottle to Matt, and then took the glasses and as he filled she said, “Besides, with our luck with dates, we’d end up in a ditch”
“But the Lasagna…” Matt trailed.
Karen stood on her tiptoes and softly kissed Matt’s lips, “I’m sure it was perfect…and we’ll clean up later, but now…?”
She touched his glass with hers and said, “Let’s have a toast!”
Matt’s smile was binding, even in the half darkness of the kitchen, “Let’s…” he said, “To our last night here…”
“To rainy nights and dates, ours.” Karen added.
“To my beautiful Kaz” Matt said, shortening the distance between them, a finger tracing a slow, lingering pattern on her hip.
“To you, Matt…” Karen whispered, not really trusting her voice in that moment.
They drank their wine, and then Matt set both their glasses on the table, clapped his hands and said, “I’ll go look for a couple of candles…and something…edible…”
He stopped in front of her for a moment, a hand reaching to brush away some locks from her face, a soft kiss on her lips, and then he was a whirl of activity as she tried to follow him and make light for him with the flashlight…and for some reason she couldn’t stop laughing.
Matt came back holding a few candles which he added to the ones already on the table. They lit the candles together, placing in various points of the kitchen, making their best not to trip over spilled Lasagna - it was useless to try and clean that mess up while during a black out… Matt had reasoned - and then looked at the lit kitchen, satisfied with the results.
“And now…let’s see what we can actually eat…” Matt said.
“Good luck with that” Karen replied. They had emptied the fridge from most of its contents, since they were leaving the flat in the following days.
“Trust me Gillan…” Matt replied, his face buried in the fridge . “With my life…” She said, “with my stomach? I still remember last month’s paella!”
“Ah!” Matt exclaimed, ignoring her teasing and a moment later he showed her a huge tub of ice cream.
“Ice cream?” Karen asked.
“It’s your favorite…” Matt shrugged, “It was the surprise dessert”
At her surprised face Matt actually pouted, or at least he tried to, the smirk that crept on his lips when he saw the way she was eyeing the tub sort of defeated the purpose.
“our last night here…and we dine with ice cream…” Matt said after a few minuted
“And excellent wine…” Karen added.
Matt nodded, “By candlelight…”
Karen looked around, and she could feel Matt’s eyes on her, his warm stare, and even after months together it still had the power to make the breath catch in her throat.
“It’s perfect…” Karen breathed.
“We’d just need some music….” Matt observed…and Karen had the distinct feeling that maybe he had meant to say something else.
“Yes, that would be perfect” Karen said, ignoring for a moment the sudden lump in her throat, and how the look in Matt’s eyes was making it impossible to.
Matt cocked an eyebrow at her and produced his ipod from the pocket of his trousers, he gave her one of the headphones and before she put it on she gestured with a hand and said, “Shall we?”
“What?” Karen asked blinked her eyes in confusion.
“Dance with me?” Matt asked.
I’d walk through the bloody fire for you, you idiot! A voice in the back of Karen’s mind said, but Karen just nodded, she let Matt take her by the hand, tilted her head on a side, when Matt applied the headphone to her ear, his thumbs brushing her cheeks
The song started as Matt’s hand draped around her waist to pull her closer
Here we are
On earth together
It's you and I
God has made us fall in love
They started moving, in time with the music, his eyes boring into hers, the words flowing into her, making her heart beat faster and faster in her chest.
All the last months…from their first reading together, to the first time they had kissed, to every day after that
Cause in my mind
You will stay here always
In love you and I
You and I, you and I
You and I, you and I
You and I
She closed her eyes, resting her forehead against Matt’s chest, and she could hear how strong his heart was beating, and she couldn’t help the tears that she could feel falling on her cheeks, as Matt held her tighter at him
In my mind
We can conquer the world
In love you and I
You and I, you and I
You and I...
“Oh God…” she whispered against his chest, “I really love you…”
A kiss on her forehead was the only answer Matt gave her, the only one she needed.
Ice cream, candlelight and the man she loved…she couldn’t have asked for more.
Tbc
a/n: the song used is “You and I” by Michael Bublé