good/right/real

Chapter 56: Shaking Your Faith

Summary:Matt gets some closure.

Matt knows he looks like an idiot this morning. He got to the Firehouse early so he could keep an eye out for Brett. They hadn't had a chance to talk much since he literally fell asleep on her the other night. He thinks she's fine but it's hard to tell over text and he has to make sure he didn't somehow over step. He's anxious so everytime the bunk room door opens he looks up. He's made awkward eye contact with nearly everyone in the house at this point.

She walks into the room and he quickly catches her eye to beckon her closer.

Her smile is affectionate as she reaches him. He takes that as a good sign.

"Hey," she greets.

"Hey," he parrots. "We haven't really talked since the other night. Do we need to talk about it?"

She looks amused at his concern. "About what? You falling asleep in the middle of my story? Am I that boring?"

The tension in his shoulders eases at her joke. "No. I just wanted to make sure I didn't make you uncomfortable or anything."

"Matt, you very innocently fell asleep with your head in my lap," she reminds him, quietly to keep anyone from over hearing. "It's not like you made a move on me or anything."

"So, we're good?" He asks, with cautious optimism.

"We're good," she assures him. "I'm just happy you were able to sleep, honest."

He was able to sleep because of her. He's certain of that. "Me too. Thank you for that."

She waves him off and shakes her head. "All I did was talk. You don't have to thank me for that. Although, I do think I left my jacket at your place—"

He nods, interrupting her. "You did. It's in my truck. I'll go get it now while we have a few minutes and leave it on your bunk for you."

"Thank you! It's my favorite jacket," she says, squeezing his arm gently. "I'm gonna go finish getting ready for shift. I'll see you at breakfast."

"Yeah," he replies, lamely. "See ya."

He's not sure what it means that Sylvie seems so cool about her essentially sleeping over. That's not typical friend behavior but she genuinely doesn't seem worried. Does that mean it truly was as simple as she's making it seem for her? Did the gesture mean more to him than it did to her? Is he feeling these things for Sylvie because she's safe and reliable? Is she a rebound or is it real? He's still all turned around in his head.

He contemplates all of this as he walks to his truck. He grabs Sylvie's jacket out of the passenger seat and makes his way back to the apron. He's one step from reaching the driveway, distracted by his thoughts, when Nesbitt appears out of nowhere.

"Hear me out. You and I are on the same side. You gotta believe that."

Bull. Shit. What a fucking load of bullshit.

"We got in this thing for the same reason--to put an end to it."

Matt fights the urge to punch the bastard in the face. One because he's at work and in his uniform. He wouldn't want a conduct unbecoming on his record. Two because he's not buying Nesbitt's "we're in this together" act but he's not sure he wants him to know that.

"Why are you here?" Matt asks.

"Katya's notebook," he answers.

"What about it?"

No way is Matt helping this son of a bitch find it.

"If we're gonna nail these bastards, we gotta find it. Now, what exactly did she say about where it was?"