[centre][b][h1][color=00aeef]Matthew[/color] And [color=f7941d]Sasha[/color][/h1][/b]
also featuring [color=f6989d]Nikki[/color][/centre]

Sasha was exhausted after the events of the last few days, and fell into a deep sleep, where thankfully, she didn't dream. When she woke, it was slowly and she looked around, disorientated as to where she was. For one brief moment, she had expected to wake in the rooms she had had in the community. She rubbed her eyes, carefully sitting up, so as not to wake Grace, and tried to orientate herself. The farm house, right. 


She wondered if anyone had been watching for walkers, but figured they hadn't been over run, so they were probably safe for now. She glanced about the room, rising, she framed Grace with pillows, noting Matts absence. 


Giving a sigh, she began to explore the room, not taking anything, but also seeing if there was anything useful. 


Matt had gone downstairs and then outside. He sat on the steps and looked at the ranch. There was the barn. An area for training horses and a large garden behind the house. He had noted the canned fruits and vegetables in the house. He knew if they stayed at Violet's that they might be safe but that they would also go through her supplies in just a couple of days. 


He heard the screen door open and saw Nikki come out. "[color=f6989d]Hey, you couldn't sleep either she said. "I kept seeing Kat at the end.[/color]" Matt stated. "[color=00aeef]Nikki? Did Kat ever say anything to you about me?"[/color]


Nikki was obviously uncomfortable at this question. "[color=f6989d]What do you mean exactly[/color]?" Matt looked at Nikki with a knowing look. 


"[color=00aeef]What did she say? And don't hold back I need to know.[/color]"


Nikki didn't want to tell him. Matt was really a sensitive guy and she didn't want to hurt him. Emotionally Kat had been stronger than Matt was, with good reason. Nikki squirmed and said[color=f6989d]. "Why dwell on the past? She is gone. Just go forwards." [/color]


This made Matt angry. "[color=00aeef]Obviously there was something now tell me![/color]"


Nikki sighed and knew she had to tell him something. "[color=f6989d]Kat said that she was glad you were Grace's dad because you were a good man and she knew you would take good care of Grace and always be there for her.[/color]"  Nikki took a deep breath, "[color=f6989d]She also said that you cared too much about things. You were a great lay but that in the beginning she didn't want anything else from you."[/color]


He grinned at that. [color=00aeef]"I already knew that.[/color]" He chuckled. "[color=f6989d]Kat was selfish Matt. She would complain that you chose the people over your family constantly. Whether it was the military or after the walkers showed up."[/color] Nikki looked down and then up at Matt. "[color=f6989d]Kat was not the saint you make her out to be. She even once said that she was jealous of you and me being close. I think Malcolm really screwed her up and she wasn't capable of seeing what was right in front of her."[/color] Nikki reached over and hugged her brother. 


[color=f6989d]"I'm gonna go see if there are any decent movies to watch in the dvd player." [/color]Nikki got up and went back inside leaving Matt to think.


Sasha had soon explored the room, and she went back to the bed, and Grace. She watched her for a moment, not wanting to leave her alone. Apart from the fact it wouldn't be safe, she didn't want the girl to be scared if she woke up alone. Eventually, she gently picked Grace up, hoping not to wake her, figuring she'd go downstairs and see about what food there was, and perhaps make something up for everyone. 


Heading downstairs, she listened to see if anyone else was up and moving about, 


Matt sat there for a while thinking about what Nikki said. He knew he tended to put Kat up on a pedestal. He knew about her flaws he had just chosen to ignore them. Once said out loud by his sister though he couldn't do that anymore. He sighed, stood up and decided not to think about Kat and see if that would help him get past her in his mind. He went back inside and closed the door. Matt stopped when he got to the kitchen and he smiled. Sasha was in there while holding a sleeping Grace trying to figure out how to cook and hold a sleeping baby at the same time.


Matt smiled softly and thought that maybe he should look at what was right in front of him and not dwell on the tragedies life threw at him. He walked into the room and he smiled at her and scooped his sleeping daughter up and laid her against his shoulder and she just cuddled up moving her little feet around and stayed asleep. 


Matt reached down and kissed Sasha on the lips lightly and walked over to the refrigerator. "[color=00aeef]I wonder if this stuff is any good."[/color] he said.


Who would think cooking would require two hands, so much of the time? Sasha stood there, trying to figure out what she could make. Even bread required two hands to butter. Not that they had butter, but still. She looked over at the sound of footsteps and returned Matt's smile, and went to say thank you, when he kissed her. Perplexed, she watched him go to the refrigerator. 


[color=f7941d]"uh..Oh, the jars and stuff if they aren't open should be okay, I wouldn't trust anything that has meat in it though"[/color] She said, turning to sort through some supplies, although she was still puzzled. 


Matt nodded. "[color=00aeef]So what are you going to make?" [/color]He asked while he shifted Grace to his leg that he had bent and shifted so it would cradle her nicely. "[color=00aeef]I can help if I can do it from here.[/color]" he said grinning at his baby. 


"[color=00aeef]Sasha, come here a moment.[/color]" When she did he took her hands in his and said, "I hope I'm not confusing you too much." He looked down at the baby and said, "I[color=00aeef] always put Kat on a pedestal because I chose to. I ignored some pretty important character flaws. Now, I'm trying to look at her as who she really was. I figure it's kinda hard to move forward if I keep allowing myself to make her into someone she wasn't. I like you and I hope you won't slug me." [/color]He finished with a slight smile.


There was a lot of thoughts, feelings that Sasha experienced as Matt talked. She knew things weren't what they were, before the outbreak. When you lived with constant death, when so many people could die all at once, things couldn't be the same. When you could die at any moment, it taught you to adjust faster to new situations. She knew that, in this world, having any sort of happiness was something to hold on tight to. 


[color=f7941d]"Why would I hit you?"[/color] There was more she wanted to say, but it seemed for once she didn't have any words. 


Matt chuckled at her response. [color=00aeef]"I can think of many reasons people want to hit me. You might not have appreciated the personal space invasion might be one."[/color]  Ingrid wandered sleepily yawning into the room. Matt looked at her and after she got a glass of water he asked her if she was going back to bed and she nodded. "[color=00aeef]Let me take the babe. She can cuddle with me." [/color]Ingrid scooped up the baby and disappeared. Matt grinned and stood up. He turned back to Sasha and smiled sheepishly. 


Matt took Sasha's hand and kissed it.He sighed and said, "[color=00aeef]I'm not trying to say that I'm healed or anything close to that but I think in this world as it is right now, if we don't push the pain aside and move forward we will waste whatever time we are given. I don't want to do that. I don't want you to do that. I know you lost a lot recently too. I'm hoping we can heal together. Would it be alright if I kiss you?[/color]" Matt said moving a little closer to her.


Sasha knew that she herself was by no means healed, and yet...the day  before, she'd simply been waiting for a walker to bite her. Now...Well, perhaps it was simply the rest, or simply being around others again...she was feeling even just a little better...Some times though...maybe there didn't need to be an explaination for things.


[color=f7941d]"Yes, it...it would be":[/color]


Matt moved closer and pulled her to him slowly looking at her eyes the entire time. He leaned down and tenderly kissed her lips in an exploratory kiss full of curiosity and warmth.


Sasha returned the kiss, letting herself enjoy the warmth of his lips against hers, the intimacy of such an action flowing over her. The tenderness seemed a stark contrast compared to the violence of recent days, and it nearly broke her, the way it brought on such an emotional response. Grief and hope intertwined, and she moved her arms around him, enjoying both the kiss, and the closeness. 


When Matt pulled back finally he was surprised at his own response. He didn't think he could feel anything with anyone else yet. He was very happy to find out that he was wrong. Maybe he could get past his pain faster if there was something else growing. He looked at her and kissed her again picking her up and putting her on the counter. This time the kiss was full of passion and need.


A warmth seemed to spread through Sasha at this new kiss, from her chest outwards, slowly spreading throughout her body, as if...she was warming up from being cold, coming back to...life. She could feel her heart speed up, and matched the passion, the need, wanting that fiery feeling, as it seemed, for a moment, the world fell away, until it was just them. 


Matt pulled back and looked at her eyes still glazed from the passion they had just shared. He picked her up and carried her up the stairs to their room and shut the door. When he set her on the bed he caressed her hair back and began kissing her. Breathing huskily he asked her, "[color=00aeef]How long has it been since you were intimate with your boyfriend?"[/color]


The question took Sasha by surprise, and her mind, a slight haze of the emotions sparked by the kissing, took a moment to process it. She wondered, first, why he had asked that, but answered [color=f7941d]"A couple of weeks, I guess. Its hard to keep track of days"[/color]


Matt looked at her and kissed her again. "[color=00aeef]It's been a couple of months for me. She didn't want to when she found out she was pregnant."[/color] He kissed her again and let his need for her be known and waited for her to push him away.


Sasha kissed him back, before what he had said sunk into her haze filled mind. She'd been pregnant, when she'd died? The world seemed more than cruel, then. Perhaps it was selfish not to ask, not to say anything more. It felt like they'd gone over some line. The need he showed her, fired her own, and she kissed him, deeply, softly, tenderly. 


Matt slowly pushed her backwards onto the bed and he felt the tenderness and heat from her he let his body explore hers and he began kissing her body everywhere stripping their clothes off as he did.