Hey everyone!

Ready for Matt cuteness? :-)

*

Sleeping

We said nothing on the ride to my house but once there he was out of the car before me and getting my door. Inside I fumbled with the lights a little clumsily and realized my hands were shaking. "Darling," Matt murmured while he wrapped an arm around me and started steadily guiding me through the house and up the stairs. "It's okay, I got you." It was then I noticed the duffel in his other hand.

"You don't think it's safe? That they might find me here? There's an alarm system you know..." I told him but I could hear the uncertainty in my own voice. With all that was left unsaid between us I didn't want to presume that he'd just stay, though I wanted him to very badly. "I don't know... They've probably run off to lick their wounds but I don't think they'll give up. The alarm system is a joke, I could get past that easily."

My eyebrows went up, "Really? Have some trespassing experience of your own do you?" I joked, referring to one of our first meetings. He laughed, "Yeah some. I was a Combat Diver for the navy you know, me and Thorne both." I was grateful for the distracting conversation so I pounced on that, "Isn't it cheating? You can turn into half a fish..." "Yeah but I couldn't very well do that with everyone watching now could I? Only advantage I had over the other guys was holding my breath. I can do fifteen to twenty minutes just like you if I don't change shape."

I'd pointed us to my bedroom and now we stood in the door opening surveying the mess I'd left behind that morning. The red numbers on my alarm clock informed me that it was barely midnight which shocked me, it felt like it was almost morning but then so much had happened...

"Okay check, you were a Combat Diver with Thorne, so he's a strong swimmer too huh? Does he know?" I shrugged out from under Matt's arm and headed for my closet so I could dig out a more modest pair of pajamas. He watched me from the door, "He knows about me. Caught me when I returned from a solo mission once..." "But not about the rest of your family? Or me?" When Matt shook his head I thought he looked a little melancholic, clearly it didn't sit well with him to hide things from his friend.

Changing the subject I eyed the duffel he was still holding in one hand, "You're planning on staying the night aren't you?" I wasn't sure what he was expecting but I knew I didn't want him to go, it didn't seem likely that they'd find my house but the thought of him staying eased my mind. He shrugged his wide shoulders and winced, the first sign that he might actually be in a little pain. "I don't like the thought of you alone in the house and like I pointed out, I don't trust that alarm system. I'll sleep on the couch of course."

"There's a guest bedroom down the hall," I pointed in the direction he should head and he gave a single nod and disappeared. I watched him go and wondered where the hell things were headed now between us. Where did I want things to head? Certainly not anywhere tonight.

In the bathroom I stripped and checked out the bruises on my hip and the minor abrasions on my wrists. I couldn't believe how unscathed I had gotten away from Gavin. No scratches, no extra bruises, I was more marked up from Jamie and her ambush on Friday evening than from what had happened tonight. Somehow that almost made it seem like it hadn't happened to me but some other person.

When I'd performed some of my standard evening rituals, like brushing my teeth and braiding my long hair I felt a little more like myself somehow. Dressed in long cotton pajama pants and a tank top I went to my bed and sat down, only to startle when Matt knocked on my door. "You want to go to sleep right away?" he asked when he stepped inside. I noticed that he'd put on a pair of sweats but was bare foot again.

At my nod he hesitated a moment before he said quietly, "If there's anything you want or need, call for me okay? You can wake me up anytime. Bar's closed this Sunday and Monday anyway, I can miss some sleep." I promised him I would and curled myself up under the covers in bed after we'd sort of awkwardly said goodnight.

*

I couldn't sleep, I'd tried for over an hour but I kept seeing what had happened over and over in my head. Kept remembering the awful realization when I knew that Gavin intended to try to rape me right there in the water. The way I'd nearly drowned several times and the way I'd lost all my sense of direction when I'd floated there in the deep end, just blackness surrounding me.

Then there was the fact that Matt was right in the other room, was he able to sleep? Was he hurting from the blows he'd taken for me? The slash across his chest? He said he wouldn't care if it scarred, but would he really be okay with carrying a reminder of me and what had happened permanently on his body?

For a man who I'd accused of not being able to do a serious relationship, he was certainly pulling through for me now. And why had he been so short and grumpy with me when he'd come home last night? I rolled over, annoyed with myself, why was I even thinking of me and Matt and what was going on with us when I'd just gone through such a horrible thing?

In the end my endlessly circling thoughts, going from the incident to Matt again in a crazy loop, drove me nuts. I got out of bed quietly and headed for my bedroom door, maybe a cup of warm milk would settle me.

When I stepped out of my room I screamed in shock, finding a dark shape sprawled out against the wall next to my door. Then I saw eyes flicker in the pale light coming from the window and Matt's voice huskily telling me all was fine, that it was just him.

My hand found the nearest light switch and when the light flooded us I stood stupidly blinking until my eyes adjusted to it. Matt was getting to his feet, wearing only his sweats so that the white square of bandage on his chest stood out against his inked and tanned skin. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you but I couldn't sleep and I thought I'd just keep watch for a bit, center myself..."

I drew in a deep breath and finally dropped the hand that I'd defensively clutched to my breasts. "I couldn't sleep either, I was going to heat some milk, you want some?" When he nodded I started down the stairs and soon we found ourselves in the den, sitting side by side on the couch and cradling hot mugs in our hands.

"You want to talk?" Matt asked me and when I shook my head he just nodded and we finished our drinks in silence. I still didn't really want to go back to bed and since he didn't move either I thought that he didn't either. Or maybe he was just waiting to see what I wanted. When I just keep sitting still, trying to get my thoughts to slow down and centered so maybe I could actually sleep he finally sighed and shifted his body.

"Come here darling, I'll hold you till you fall asleep and then I'll put you to bed," he offered while gesturing for me to come to him. He'd shifted and now slid down the couch until he was lying stretched out on it. Creating a space for me at his side under his tattooed arm. When I hesitated he patted the spot he wanted me to lie in and smiled, "Come on Dani. Let me make you feel safe."

Settling down against him felt incredibly right, just like being in his arms in the water had been. When I nestled my head on his shoulder, pressing my face into his neck I soaked up his heat and drew his unique scent eagerly into my lungs. His arm held me close while the other hand lifted to cradle the back of my head.

"Maybe now's not the time but I gotta ask since Thorne wouldn't say. The other bruises, who gave them to you?" Matt rumbled and I felt his chest vibrate beneath my cheek. Felt the tension in his big body. I wanted to sit up and look him in the eye but he held me tight, after today that should have felt restrictive but instead I still felt really safe. There was nothing but gentleness in the way he was holding me.

"Thorne promised he wouldn't tell!" I exclaimed, feeling a little annoyed that he'd gone back on his word. I'd told him it was because I didn't want Mitch and Dev to get in anymore trouble on my account but I also figured Matt would do something impulsive on my behalf or get insufferably more annoying than usual.

"Thorne didn't say a word, but Shaun saw you come in with a bloody nose. Did you forget about the cook?" Matt said it quietly and I could tell he was making an effort to stay calm about it. "Come on Dani tell me, I've been gone two weeks and I come home to find you in two fights in as many days. Give me a break okay? Do I have to worry about a second group of people threatening you?"

I shrugged and relented, "It was just Jamie and some of her friends. They ambushed me on the way to the Stonefish. Retaliation for the ink in her face thing." He let out a long breath and relaxed some, "Okay we can deal with that. Later." He said nothing else but took up to stroking my back in a soothing pattern.

I surrendered to the feeling of him against me, of him holding me safe and once I did it wasn't hard to relax and close my eyes. Tomorrow we'd sort it out, we'd talk, we'd find a way to deal with what happened. For now I should stuff all of tonight's memories in a dark corner and forget about them.

*

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Robin