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BACK AT MATT'S APARTMENT, CASSIE INSISTS ON BEING THE ONE TO COOK FOR HIM. With everything going on, she realized that she never did get to cook for him or her brother. She ends up calling Foggy to ask if he wants to join them, but he declines, saying he's going out again with Karen.
After a minute of back-and-forth, Matt finally agrees to let Cassie do the cooking, saying he missed it. Once he heads off to take a shower, Cassie looks through his cabinets, pulling out a few pots and pans. It's nearly 11pm already, so she settles on making something quick.
By the time Matt exits the bathroom, the noodles are almost done cooking, and Cassie has just finished chopping up the tomatoes, putting them into another pot on the stove.
Matt takes a seat, and just listens to the sound of Cassie in the kitchen. He loves that he can sense her intense concentration, and thinks it's cute that she quietly hums to herself as she works.
"Try this," Cassie approaches on his left, holding out a spoon with a little sauce on it.
Although she doesn't say out loud what she means, he can smell it, and leans forward. "Perfect."
"I have a feeling you'd say that even if it tasted terrible."
"What can I say? You're the best cook I know."
Matt gets up and grabs two bowls from one of the cabinets, and Cassie grabs two forks from one of the drawers. Neither comment on how intimate this moment feels, like many others that they've had somewhat recently.
They're both silent as they eat, and Cassie admits that she didn't even realize how hungry she was until she took that first bite.
"So how's all the planning coming?"
"Well apart from sketching the layout, which you heard how well that was going, honestly pretty good. Simon's trusting me with a lot so I just want to make sure everything is perfect."
"When does he get back to town again?"
"He's actually coming back early, he said he'll come in to the gallery sometime tomorrow afternoon and let me go home early since I've been working nonstop so that'll be nice."
Cassie yawns twice in the span of a couple of minutes, and Matt picks up their bowls and forks before taking them over to the sink. "You can go shower, I'll do the dishes."
Not needing to be told twice, Cassie grabs her pajamas and heads to the bathroom. As she stands under the hot water, she thinks about the events of this past week. And how... normal, these little moments with Matt feel.
After not speaking with Cassie for those few days, Matt felt awful. And he missed her a lot more than he cared to admit. Even if Karen hadn't said anything to him earlier about how tired she seemed despite the excitement when they had lunch, he was going to go that night anyway.
Luckily for both of them, Foggy bought the excuse of her just being extremely busy, knowing how much his sister really threw herself into her work. Cassie didn't even want to think of what conclusions Foggy would jump to if he knew that Matt was who she was specifically avoiding.
He thought about their almost kiss, probably too much. And knowing Cassie was going to be spending the night in his apartment again, he had to force those thoughts out of his mind.
It was clear, the hurt that he caused her. And he knew most of it could be explained if he just let her in to that other part of his life. But knowing the danger she'd be in, he decided he couldn't tell her, at least not yet. The flip side to that, was that he knew the longer he waited, the more hurt she'd be when she found out how long he was keeping this secret.
Someday, he'd have to tell her. That much was obvious. She was someone that he knew he'd always need in his life, and there was no version of that happening in which she didn't know the full truth.
"Matt?"
He was so caught up in his own thoughts, that he didn't even hear her come out of the bathroom.
"Are you okay?" She takes a seat next to him on the couch, studying his features. He was so quiet when she walked out of the bathroom that for a moment, she panicked.
"Yeah, sorry just deep in thought I guess."
"Come on, you need rest too."
"That your way of saying I look tired?"
Cassie stands up and heads to Matt's bedroom. She gets under the covers, slowly counting to see how long it takes Matt to work out that she left the room. Of course, she sometimes forgets just how good his hearing is. He knew the moment she stood up.
Matt eventually makes his way into the room, removing his glasses and setting them on the table beside the bed. He starts to slip his shirt off, but stops halfway, putting it back on.
"What are you doing?" Cassie mumbles, already starting to fall asleep.
"Sorry. Habit. I don't— uh, want to make you uncomfortable."
"Matthew Murdock, such a gentleman. It's fine, you can sleep with your shirt off. I'm too tired to make a move on you anyway," she laughs, and Matt realizes how tired she must be.
He quickly removes his shirt before getting in bed. "Night Cassie."
"Night Matty."
While she falls asleep almost immediately, he lays wide awake. Going over all of the things that have happened recently, the memories playing in his mind on repeat.
As he listens to the sound of Cassie's heartbeat, he waits until he's sure she's in a deep sleep. When he carefully gets out of bed and she doesn't even stir, it's a relief.
More than anything, he wants to lay right next to her and join her in peaceful slumber. He wants to lay there and continue to imagine a future with her.
But unfortunately, he isn't just Matt Murdock, lawyer. And the Devil of Hell's Kitchen has some unfinished business he has to take care of.
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a/n: shortest chapter yet but i didn't want to make it four times as long djdjdjs
