"They say we are asleep until we fall in love
We are children of dust and ashes
But when we fall in love we wake up
And we are a god and angels weep
But if I die here tonight
I die in my sleep"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Benicia answered Fran's voicemail with a call, which only left Fran yelling that it took her so long to respond. Benicia had forgotten she had even shared her number with Fran at some point, which was only if there was a genuine emergency. Maybe Matt screaming at the top of his lungs in his apartment was an emergency.
She stopped at his door and knocked. Benicia waited for a moment and moved her glasses up to rub her eyes. She stared ahead of her for a moment before letting them fall back down on her face. Benicia knocked again, "Matt?" She exhaled and knocked once more. "Matt, are you okay in there?"
The door swung open and Matt grinned at her, "Hey."
Benicia took him all in and realized that she was breathless, "Hey..."
"Sorry, you startled me."
"I didn't... mean to." Benicia stared at his face, "Are you okay? Fran said that you were yelling earlier."
"Oh, uh-" Matt stammered out and cleared his throat, "I should apologize... I'm-I'm fine. Sorry for worrying you." He shifted a bit and backed up from the door, "Come in."
"Oh, sure..." Benicia stepped inside and waited silently as he shut the door, "Are you sure you're alright?"
Matt broke out in a small smile, "I'm sure." He breathed out, "I... Uh, I heard what happened."
Benicia blinked for a moment before realizing what he was talking about, "Oh... Yeah, I'm fine."
Matt tilted his head to the side and could basically sense the injury on her arm, "You sure?"
Benicia felt her shoulders completely unravel and she shook her head, "No, uh, actually I'm-I'm kind of holdin it all in." Her voice wavered just a bit and she swallowed to control it, "I really don't enjoy being used as target practice."
Matt exhaled and reached out, he gently touched her upper arm, "Come here." He engulfed her in a hug, being mindful of the injury on her arm. Though, he noticed that she didn't seem to care much as she squeezed him back. He brushed his fingers up and threaded them through her hair, "I'm glad you're okay."
Benicia laughed against his chest, "Yeah, me too." She cleared her throat and dropped her arms, which made Matt slowly release her. He backed away from her and turned to walk further into his apartment. "And uh... how are you feeling? Foggy said you were taking a sick day."
"Oh-" Matt walked over to the kitchen counter, "Uh, me, yeah, I'm fine."
Nodding, Benicia paused at the sight of the broken glass on the floor, "Hair of the dog that bit you?" She kicked the glass closer to the wall before wincing. She felt like cleaning it up.
Matt put his glasses back on and faced her, "It's, uh, it's not what it looks like."
Benicia knelt down and started to instinctively clean up the shards, "What does it look like then?" She glanced back up at him and saw the face he made. With a small sigh, she sat on her feet in her kneeling position, "Sorry... I shouldn't pry. I don't mean to. I just worry-"
