The following morning, after being woken by a peck on the check and murmured goodbyes, Genevieve stretched her aching body out and exhaled a deep breath. She'd had many times when she had gone into a stupor and cried herself to sleep, but that was the first time someone had ever caught her.

As kind as it had been of him to stay with her the whole night, she wasn't sureif she'd let her guard down like that again. She certainly didn't like exposing her vulnerabilities, but above all else she knew it wasn't fair to whoever had to shoulder her burden.

Despite her outburst, she still felt like Matt had stayed with her the whole night; she had never had had anyone do that before. Given she had never given anyone the opportunity, but not many people would want to deal with that.

Genevieve could hardly believe that Matt was a real person. The big heart, generous spirit and blunt opinions that has shaken her out of nasty thoughts were only part of the reason that she thought she was...

She refused to think that way. It wasn't fair to either of them, despite last night forcing her to question her own ideas. Besides, it was far too early to be this deep without having a coffee. After a quick phone call to check in on her mother, Genevieve threw her bag over her shoulder and pushed her way out of the apartment still lined with the darkness of yesterday.

---

Four coffees in hand, she unlocked the door to the empty studio. Whilst both workrooms had lights on, the doors were mostly closed, indicating productively. She headed to the desk to boot up the computer, but a text from her sister caused her to change course.

Mark was hunched over his gun when she opened his door, an array of tools laid out over chair. Whilst his beanie hung low, she could see the deep look of concentration etched on his face, highlighted by the gnawing on his lips. He looked up at her, and sighed in relief as he saw her holding out a cup.

She sat down on the other chair and looked at the mess of what was once a machine. "Is everything ok?"

He took a gulp of coffee as he leaned back into his seat with a huff. "There's something wrong with this blasted thing and I can't find the manual for it anywhere, so I've just been trying to guess what the hell is going on."

"You probably can't find it because you had it stuffed in the bottom drawer in the kitchen," She said with a grin, noticing the tension in his face instantly ease. "It's now in the bottom drawer if the desk."

Mark jumped up, grabbed her face in his hands and planted a sloppy kiss on her before he all but ran out of the room. She couldn't help but laugh as she picked up his drawing, and saw why he was losing his mind.

The design was what looked looked like a comic book character, very intricate and very colorful, and something that would take hours to do. A setback like this would make for a very unhappy client, and a very grumpy artist.

She heard a grunt of approval come from the other room and not long after he barged back though, paper scrunched up and a look of determination on his face. "I knew it!"

He began tinkering away, and a few minutes after watching the intense concentration, she felt it would be ok to ask how it was coming along.

"All good. This part," he pointed to a screw in the intricate, tiny frame. "Had buildup, and when I tried to clean it I must have loosened a screw." He set the gun down and stretched up high, his long arms creaking with the sound of being held tight too long. "What brings you in so early?"

She took a gulp of coffee and leaned back into her chair. "I just wanted to see if you would be ok with me taking the weekend off? It's my dad's fiftieth and my mum has planned a huge weekend to celebrate."

Mark shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure. Make sure you can reschedule Mattie's appointments though."

Genevieve raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why? Is he going somewhere?"

She didn't know what she had said, but this caused Mark to raise an eyebrow expectantly. "Are you not bringing him with you?"

Genevieve shifted in her chair uncomfortably. She had mentally been debating with the idea for the past week, and still wasn't certain it was a great idea. "I wasn't planning on it."

This obviously struck a nerve, as he folded his arms and the look he was giving her made her feel as though she was being interrogated.

"What?" She asked defensively. She could hear the testy tone in her voice, but she didn't care. She thought she had valid reasoning. "Considering what happened to his family, I don't really want to rub my huge one in his face."

Mark's jaw dropped and his eyes widened, and he sat that way for a moment before composing himself. "He told you about that?"

"Yes," she began slowly, feeling as though she was talking to a mad man. "Hence the not wanting to smother him with it."

Mark opened and closed his mouth a few times, obviously trying to construct an argument, and this unsettled her. "He loves my family functions." He paused, before he folded his arms. "Did you think he maybe wants a family?"

This startled Genevieve. She hadn't thought of that; she had only thought that it would be too painful to be around somebody else's family. She had been stupid enough to not even consider the fact that he was lonely.

She stood up abruptly, trying to process the hundreds of thoughts trying to make their way to the front of her head. "I might have a play around with the appointments. I'll catch you later."

She could still hear his chuckle as she made her way to Matt's workroom. She knew it was ridiculous to feel as nervous to ask him as she was, but the consequences of doing this...

All the questions, the problems with her family, what it would mean with Matt... Well, there would be so many consequences to this little question, but after what Mark said, it felt wrong not to ask. Besides, it would be nice to have someone by her side when dealing with the nightmare that was her relations.

Quietly, she pushed the door open and found him casually sketching, his feet propped up on the table. His hair was tied back into what she called his work bun, and the glasses that sat on the edge of his nose highlighted his clear blue eyes. Whist an odd look, she couldn't help but smile at the mismatched man that sat in front of her.

Matt looked up and smiled when he saw her. He swung his feet down and moved to stand, but she sat on the edge of the work chair and smiled. "Morning. Again."

He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it light, then lay their entwined fingers on his leg as he settled next to her. "What are you doing here so early? I thought you started late today!"

"I, uh," she began, fumbling her way through her words. "I wanted to talk to you."

This instantly caused him to frown. After the catastrophe that he had witnessed last night, she wasn't surprised he thought she was a nutcase. "What's wrong? Is everything ok?" He eagerly asked, face full of concern.

She shook her head. "No, nothing bad..."

"I've been thinking about you all morning," he interrupted, giving her hand a squeeze. "I was worried about you."

She could feel a faint smile forming on her face, and she shook her head once more. "I'm fine. I'm just..." She trailed off in thought, then sighed. "I'm just really bad at sharing my emotions, so every now and then I kind of explode. I'm sorry you had to see that."

This time, it was him who shook his head. "I don't want you to have to go through that alone."

She didn't say anything, so he continued, "Besides, if I can sit through the Sound of Music, I can do anything."

At this, she couldn't help but laugh. He had such an earnest face, but she could see the joking undertones hiding in his eyes, and smiled as she smoothed his eyebrow. Perhaps with him there the weekend wouldn't be terrible.

He watched her study his face, and his brow furrowed in concern. "What is it?"

Genevieve bit her lip as he gave her a look prompting her to speak. She sighed, before blurting out in a rushed breath, "Would-you-like-to-come-to-my-dads-birthday-this-weekend?"

His face instantly softened, and an expression she couldn't read crossed his face. It was almost like appreciation crossed with confusion, crossed with sadness. There were too many feelings there for her to be able to decipher what he was thinking. "It's ok if you don't want to. I wasn't going to ask, because I didn't want to push-"

Matt cut her off mid sentence. "You want me to meet your family?" He questioned, eyes narrowing as he looked over her face.

Her breath hitched, as she hesitated. Genevieve wasn't sure what she has been expecting, but the look he was giving her was causing her to squirm in spot. Trying to compose herself, she tried to appear nonchalant by inspecting nonexistent scuffs on her nails. "If you want to. You don't have to."

They sat in silence for a moment. Whilst their hand was entwined, neither made a motion to move, and neither said anything; Genevieve focused on her nails, but she was nervously awaiting an answer, until she felt his finger gently running a circle on her hand. He hadn't looked up, but his face was furrowed in concentration.

Genevieve sighed, and sidled up to him, threading her free arm through his. "I didn't want to put you on the spot or make you uncomfortable. I just thought..."

"I'd like to meet your family," he interrupted quietly, face still furrowed in thought.

She hadn't expected that answer at all. "Really?" She questioned, voice a few octaves higher than usual.

Matt finally looked across at her, with an eyebrow raised. "Does that surprise you?"

She shrugged, not sure what had caused him to consider for so long. "You looked like you had to think about it for a while."

It was his turn to shrug. "I've never met a girlfriend's parents before."

Her mouth dropped, and before she could stop herself she blurted out, "No one has ever asked you?"

This caused him to chuckle lightly, "I've been asked, I've just never gone."

"Oh." The realization of what she was doing had just fully hit her.

"If you're sure it's ok," he began slowly, treading lightly for her or for himself she wasn't sure. "I'd like to come with you."

Genevieve bit her lip and smiled. "I've never brought a.." She looked at him, trying to decide what to call him, "a guy home to visit. This should be interesting."

He let out a snort of laughter and draped his arm across her shoulder, pulling her in to kiss her forehead.

She pulled back and looked at his arms, covered in their brilliant artwork, and her breath hitched. "Perhaps you should pack some long-sleeved shirts."

---------------------

I. Am. So. Sorry.

That's really all I can say. Between exams, full time work, volunteering and 4.30am starts, I've had no time or energy to write, and I'm sorry.

I've got the plan in my head, and I know exactly what the plan is for this story, and I know I have a lot of you who constantly read it, and I apologize for not updating sooner. This was just meant to be a filler chapter before some fun stuff, but then I was just feeling the Mark/Gen love.

I hope it was worth the wait. If you didn't think so, I think the upcoming chapters will be! Thank you for your patience :)

Don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts below!

G xx