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The small party had winded down (Karen left), and it was only the two of them again.
“Just like in the good old days,” Foggy said as he turned to Matt, who grinned.
“They weren’t that long ago,”
“Sure feels like it’s been ages,” Foggy said, taking a sip of his beer.
Matt turned away, “Yeah, sure does,”
The silence that then crept in was tinged with thoughts of everything that had happened since those “good old days”.
Foggy eventually broke the silence, “Can I ask you a question?”
“You just did,” Matt grinned as Foggy swatted at his shoulder, missing by a mile.
Foggy hesitated for a moment, trying to gather his words, “I just wanted to ask-,” Matt could hear his heart beat speeding up. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
Matt looked at the floor, his stomach turning in a guilty knot. He was probably never going to be able to forgive himself for the pain he caused his closest friend. He couldn’t stand lying to him again, even like this.
“No, probably not,” He finally stammered out, trying his hardest to keep his face composed. Why did they even need to go back there, back when they were so ripped apart? “I only wanted to keep you safe,”
Foggy just stared at the far wall, letting the room fall back into silence.
After what felt like forever, Foggy finally responded, “If you ever need anyone to talk to about it, you do know I’m always here for you right?”
Matt was shocked for a moment, so grateful for the turn of the conversation that he didn’t reply for a beat. “Of course, and the same goes for you,”
Foggy chuckled, “I’m not the one who gets beaten to a pulp regularly, and has tons of secret identities to keep,”
Now Matt was smiling too. “That is true,”
-- -- --
His living room light was on. This would have been totally normal, if he had been the one to turn it on.
“Hello?” Foggy tentatively asked, as he stepped into the main room of his apartment and looked around, half prepared for some crazy robber to jump out and grab him.
From the corner near a window came a small sound, followed by, “It’s just me Foggy,”
“Matt?” Foggy asked as he stepped forward, all the fear instantly melting away, “What are you doing here? It’s late,”
“You said once, that I could talk to you about anything,”
“Of course,” Foggy took another step closer, and could see that Matt was still mostly in costume, holding his helmet in his lap, “What’s wrong?”
Matt made another small sound and looked up in the general direction of Foggy, who could read that face like no one else. He smiled sadly and sat down next to Matt, leaning his head against the wall. “That bad huh,”
Matt settled the mask on the floor and paused. “I wasn’t fast enough,”
Foggy nodded and listened quietly as Matt explained what happened.
“I was on patrol when I heard it. She was walking home, but got stopped, a couple blocks away by a mugger. He pulled a gun…” Matt’s words stumbled slightly as he remembered, “I tried to save her, but I was too late,”
Foggy looked over at his friend, “I’m sorry,” he reached up and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, “You tried, that’s what matters,”
Matt grimaced, “I’m sure she had family. They would disagree with you,”
Foggy tried to think of something more reassuring to say, but came up empty. The only thing he wanted was to be there for his friend, but he could barely imagine the turmoil Matt was feeling.
So he did the only thing he could think of.
As Matt tried to wipe away the tears threatening to run down his face, Foggy leaned over and wrapped him in the biggest hug he could. Matt was startled for a second, but then gave in to it whole heartedly, burying his face in Foggy’s shoulder.
Matt let himself get drawn into Foggy’s embrace even further until he curled up in his lap and was basically surrounded by his friend.
“There are others, that I couldn’t get to,” Matt hesitantly confessed, his voice thick with emotion.
Foggy murmured “I know,” and started to rub slow circles across Matt’s back.
He moved his head so that the comforting sound of Foggy’s pulse, the same beat he had been memorizing for years, thundered in his ears. Neither of them noticed as the minutes slipped by and began turning into hours.
They just stayed like that, calm in each other’s arms, until Matt finally pulled away.
He turned to face Foggy, and gently placed his hand in Foggy’s, and squeezed reassuringly. “Thank you,”
“No problem,” Foggy smiled sleepily and tried to stifle a yawn, alerting Matt to how late it had actually gotten.
“You should go to bed,”
“Nah, I don’t need sleep,” Foggy waved a hand dismissively, “I have like five other superheroes to comfort tonight. Captain America is next,” He grinned as Matt made an offended look.
“There are others?” he asked, the sly smile never leaving his face.
“What? We never said we were exclusive,”
Matt laughed quietly and began to stand up, but was stopped when Foggy grabbed his wrist. “Are you gonna get home okay?” he asked, concern evident in every word, “You can crash here if you want,”
Matt was about to reply with an easy reply about how he could easily make it the few blocks to his apartment, but stopped himself. He could still hear Foggy’s heart beat thrumming in his ears, and the idea of trying to fall asleep without it was an unhappy one.
“Yeah,” he said, “That would be good,” Matt pulled Foggy up, and put a hand on his shoulder. “I know I’ve already said it, but thank you,”
Foggy nodded, “Yeah, yeah, I’m the best, now let’s get some sleep maybe?” Matt smiled again.
“Sounds good,”
Foggy finally let go of Matt’s wrist and started walking towards his room, “Do you want some sweatpants, or are you just gonna sleep like that?” Matt nodded. “Okay, so you know, Mr. Super-in-Shape, that this is not gonna fit very well, right?”
“Even better,” With a smile, Matt started to pull off the suit. As Foggy stepped back into the room, he drew back for a second, but then grinned.
“Woah , well that really brings me back. I haven’t seen you in your underwear since college,” They both laughed, as Foggy threw the sweatpants and a t-shirt at Matt, catching him in the face as he tried to pull his leg out of the tight material.
“Thanks,” Matt said, slipping into the much more comfortable cloths, while overtly taking in the smell that was 100% Foggy. He threw the suit over to the side of the room and started to clear off the couch, carefully feeling for an empty space on the coffee table for his friend’s books.
Foggy stood hesitantly by the door, looking at his feet for a moment. Matt resisted the urge to ask him what he wanted to say, letting him get there on his own.
“Do-” Foggy hesitated again, “do you want to maybe sleep in here?” He jerked his thumb towards his room. Matt nodded slowly and made his way over to Foggy.
“I’m smiling like a fool right now, by the way,” Foggy said, even if he didn’t need to.
Matt’s face split in one of his slow smiles too, as he followed Foggy into the room. Soon, they both laid down, and Foggy almost instantly wrapped his arms around Matt, resting his head on the other man’s chest.
He hummed contentedly and quietly said, “You really scare me sometimes. The last time I found you like this, you were half-dead,”
Matt started running his fingers through Foggy’s hair. “I know, I’m sorry,”
“Don’t be sorry, just-“ Foggy moved his head a little so he could hear Matt’s heart, listening to the even rhythm, “just promise me you’re not gonna get yourself killed, okay?”
Matt stayed silent for a second, not wanting to make a promise he knew he might break, “I’ll try,”
“Okay, good,” Foggy murmured. He pulled Matt closer and began to drift off, “The sign would look stupid with just one name,”
Matt smiled, feeling sleep beginning to pull at him too. He relaxed into Foggy’s arms, blocking out the rest of the city, just for a night.
As his eyes began to close, Foggy started to quietly snore. Matt grinned.
Just like the good old days.