As of yesterday, we hit 1k reads and #137 in ChickLit. That has been my goal this whole time, and I can't believe we've made it. This is thanks to all of you, readers and commenters alike. I love you all! Thank you so much!

This chapter is dedicated to all of you.

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Kirsten walked down Johnson Street with her arm through Genevieve's. Gen has met her at the office after work, greeted her with a smile so big that her tonsils were showing, and told her she was 'hijacking her for the afternoon'.

Kirsten was amazed at what a difference two days had made for Genevieve. He pale face, sunken eyes and crestfallen demeanor had been replaced with a hopeful and lighthearted air. She knew they would return; hollowness like Genevieve's didn't just disappear. However, now that Matt was in the picture, she hoped that he would be able gradually fill it.

"So," she asked slyly, "why do I need to be here for this?"

"Because," Genevieve justified, pulling her along, "I want you to meet him."

"And this couldn't have waited until a regular social situation where it would have occurred naturally?" Kirsten knew she was prodding her in the wrong places, but if she didn't, who would?

"Well..." Genevieve dragged out for a moment, then rolled her eyes. "I wanted to ask him for dinner and I didn't want to keep going over there for no reason."

Kirsten giggled, "That's so silly! One, you're going to be working there soon, and two, you're his girlfriend! You're allowed to want to see him."

Kirsten felt Genevieve stiffen under her arm. "I'm not sure if I would call it that."

She turned to Gen, "Do you like him?" When she nodded, she continued, "do you plan to keep seeing him?"

Genevieve looked uncomfortable, "I don't know. I guess so?"

"Well then, we can call you that. At least when no-one's around," she grinned with a wink.

Gen laughed and pushed her away. "Shut up, we're here."

Kirsten followed her in as she walked up to a tall, broad-shouldered man with a loose beanie at the desk. She was flabbergasted. This was not at all what she had thought Gen would go for at all.

She would have pegged her as someone who went for the dark haired men. Despite herself being a blonde, Kirsten didn't tend to be attracted to blondes, but with the golden strands poking out from the beanie and his sharp steel eyes, he was gorgeous. Good on her!

"Kirsten, hello?" Genevieve said, waving a hand in front of her face. "This is Mark."

She nodded at him and smiled. "Sorry! I was off in my own little world," she said nonchalantly.

Mark grinned at her, then turned back to Genevieve, sticking his pencil behind his ear and leaning on the counter. "What's up?"

Genevieve looked around, "Is Karen ever here?"

This made Mark laugh, "Not for the past two weeks. She's been in Sydney for a wedding."

Genevieve nodded and looked around, "Is Matt in? I need to talk to him."

Mark nodded and pointed behind him to some rooms. "He's back there. Head on in."

She smiled at him, then pointed a finger at Kirsten seriously. "You. Be good."

She held up her hands in mock surrender, causing her friend to smile and head through to Matt's room.

Mark shook his head with an amused expression. "What?" she asked warily.

"She's a funny one", he said, obviously amused.

She felt herself tense up at the accusation. "Excuse me?"

He looked at her startled face and shook his head. "Not like that. I like her! I like anyone who brings me food."

She crinkled her brow. "She baked for you?"

"Well I suspect it was mostly for Matt, but who could resist this face?" He added, pointing to his cheeky grin.

Kirsten couldn't help but giggle at this.

Not losing his smile, he continued "What I meant was that she's just a tough nut to crack."

She nodded, looking at the door she had disappeared into. "She is. Once you get to know her though, she's a good seed."

Mark  obviously found humor in her choice of expression. He looked at her as though sizing her up, his studious gaze making her uncomfortable. After a moment, he let out a sigh. "Ahh, well. It was bound to happen."

Kirsten looked at him inquisitively, "What makes you say that?"

"Well, love is a social disease." He said knowingly.

Kirsten looked at him in surprise; she hadn't expected that. She raised an eyebrow.  "That's certainly an interesting concept."

Mark stepped away from the desk, beginning to walk away. "That's also Bon Jovi" he said with a wink.

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Matt knocked on Genevieve's door a little after seven. She had said not to bring anything, but he knew what the commercials said; you always have to bring something, so his other clenched hand he was grasping a bottle of sparkling wine. He wouldn't drink it, but she had mentioned it was one of the few beverages she enjoyed.

His hands were clenched, shoulders tight, and he was bouncing on the balls of his feet. It was just Gen, and he savored every minute he had spent with her, but this was their first time alone together in a more-than-friends situation.

Matt wasn't expecting anything exciting to happen, mostly hopeful of getting to talk to her unassumingly, which  was something rare that he already enjoyed. He did, however, think it was highly likely that she'd be closed off and uncomfortable being in such a close proximity alone.

The door jerked open, and she greeted him with a smile. "Hey you."

He returned her smile. She stood there in dark jeans and a deep blue sweater, wearing an apron covered in various teacups. Her eyes were bright with contentment, and her brown hair was tied up into a loose pony tail; as usual she had a stand falling loose over the right side of her face.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He apologized, holding out the bottle. "But in my defense, I got you this."

She raised an eyebrow, as she held open the door for him. "You don't drink though."

He shrugged, "That doesn't mean other people can't."

She smiled and took the bottle from him, placing it on the hall table. "Thank you. You didn't have to."

He took a step forward, and pulled her into his arms. He dropped his face close to hers, and said softly. "I'm going to kiss you. Is that ok?"

She bit her lip, trying surpress a smile and nodded sheepishly. He grinned and lightly cupped her face as he kissed her.

She stepped away as the oven timer went off. "Excuse me for a moment," she said, oddly formal.

Matt couldn't help but chuckle as he followed her into the kitchen.

As she pull a tray out of the oven and began to dish it up, she casually asked, "how much longer are you going to ask me that?"

Matt leaned back onto the kitchen bench, watching her work. "Until you ask me to stop. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

She thought for a moment as she began to carry plates to the table. "Ok."

He stood there, arms crossed and brow furrowed at her simple response. "Do I make you uncomfortable?"

She straightened up, hovering over the table. She wiped her hands on her apron as she shrugged, looking him directly in the face. "Yes." She began slowly, "but I don't think it's a bad thing."

Before he could add anything, she pulled out a chair for him. "Please. Sit down."

He sat down, and felt his eyes widen in awe as he looked at the laden table. "How many people were coming for dinner?"

She shrugged sheepishly. "I wasn't sure you much you would eat."

"Do I look like I'm training for competive eating?"

He saw her breath hitch, "I'm sorry."

Matt quickly shook his head, and brought her hand up to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles. "I didn't mean it like that. It all looks great, but you must've been here all day."

She smiled again, resting their still-joined hands on the table. "I wasn't sure what you would like. I don't think dinner is complete without a cheeseboard and dips, so there's that. I wasn't sure if you'd like sticky pork belly, so I made the chicken kiev's, and you can't have it without a salad. Plus wedges. I love wedges."

He looked at the spread hungrily. "The only thing I don't like is asparagus," he said, which was the only thing he could manage to get out.

She held out the serving spoons to him, and leaned onto the table as she asked him about his day.

They talked through dinner, discussing everything from favorite tv shows to childhood fears and the most interesting people they've ever met. The conversation flowed naturally, with Matt feeling Genevieve relaxing and, hopefully, enjoying his company as much he was hers. The setting just felt right.

Her eyes were sparkling as she placed a coffee on the table in front of him, and casually sat back in her chair. He leaned onto the table to be near to her. "Tell me something no one else would know about you."

She bit her lip as she studied him for a moment, a smile slowly creeping onto her face. "I will if you will."

He grinned back. "I'm allergic to cats."

She mimicked his position, leaning forward and sizing up his answer. "I've never been to Europe."

Matt hesitated. He knew unless he gave her something intimate he wouldn't be able to crack the surface. He took a deep breath, "I got arrested a few times growing up. If it wasn't for Big Tom and Mark's parents, I would probably be in jail now."

She saw her open her mouth to speak, but rapidly close it. He felt one side of his mouth rise into a challenging grin. Genevieve was smart; she knew that if she started asking questions, he would return the favor. He wasn't sure she was ready for that level of intimacy yet.

She paused, looking down at her intertwined fingers. He had slowly begun to realize that this wasn't just a habit, but a coping mechanism that he was pretty sure was used to try and hold herself together.

"My dad is a really good man, but he has a horrible temper. He can just flip at the flick of a switch. He was never physical or anything, but he was nasty and loud and could be extremely horrible." She looked up at him, eyes glassy. "Mum said he was never like that when they got married. Don't get me wrong, he's an extremely generous man, but just doesn't express himself much at all on a regular basis, and when he gets mad, he explodes. I just can't cope with him like that. It still scares me."

Matt didn't say anything, but just looked down at his own hands. The one thing that he had that was as personal as that...

Well, he wasn't ready to talk about it. Quietly, he said, "I've had many flings and girlfriends before, but I've only cared about one. It's not like I've ever used someone for sex, I've just never really cared about them more then you would anyone else."

She sat back into her chair, pulling her arms close around her. "I promised myself I would never get married because I don't know what I would do if someone I loved turned into my father."

He felt a stinging deep within his chest, as the idea that this wonderful girl in front of went blank as she got lost in her thoughts. He scooted his chair in front of her, and brushed that lonely lock of hair behind her ear. He then encased her hands in his and gave her a warm smile. "I get this fluttery feeling inside every time you smile at me."

She blushed, but he saw the edges of her lips tilting upwards. "I think I'm really starting to like you."

He leaned closer to her, and as his grin grew, he whispered, "I'm really excited for what you made for dessert."

She let out a laugh mixed with a sigh of relief. "I made peach pie," she added with a sly grin.

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I apologize for the slightly longer chapter. I've been writing this on my phone (don't ask), and it was either going to be a super short, or super long chapter. I hope you thought it was worth it!

I don't know about you, but I'm very proud of Genevieve. She's the type of person that's uncomfortable around strangers, but once she get's to know you she quite warm and open... except with her feelings. It's taking a lot for her to open up. What do you think about her progress?

I have two particular questions for you about this chapter:

1. Who is your favorite character, and why?

2. How do you feel about chapters being in the third person from a person's POV other then Gen or Matt, like Kirsten's in this chapter. Yay or nay?

And please, as usual, don't forget to vote and leave me any comments, suggestions or ideas below.

I've also just posted the synopsis to my new story, If I Didn't Know Better, a story revolving around love in the music industry. Please go check it out :)

Thank you all for reading!

G xx