Matt loves Foggy. He has loved Foggy since college, since the time Foggy calmed him down in the middle of the night because everything was just too loud and Matt needed some grounding, since the day they left Landman and Zack together, since the day they opened their own law firm, since forever. Matt loves the way Foggy treats him as an equal, loves the way he smells, loves the way Foggy’s arm is always up when they walk just in case Matt wants to hold on, which he usually does.
Matt loves Foggy despite everything in his upbringing telling him not to. But Foggy…Foggy doesn’t love Matt. At least not in the way Matt loves Foggy. How could he? Matt was bad for Foggy. He constantly left Foggy to run around in the streets at night. And of course, Foggy wouldn’t want to deal with Matts's baggage. Ok- he does deal with it most times anyway but that doesn’t mean he should have to or wants to. Sometimes Matt just lets things about his not-so-great past slip and Foggy is just a good enough friend that he doesn’t tell Matt to stop.
Matt learns to love Foggy quietly. He learns to love the little things he gets from Foggy in big ways. He memorizes Foggy’s coffee order and the way Foggy’s heartbeat sounds when he talks about the things he loves so that later, in the night, Matt can tap out the beat of Foggys “happy heartbeat” onto his leg to put him to sleep.
But none of that matters now because Foggy loves- or at least likes -Karen. Foggy is going to ask Karen out on Valentine's day and Matt is sure of it. Why else would they share glances every time the upcoming weekend is brought up? Why would their heartbeats speed up? Matts is glad they at least don’t say anything about it, they try to be considerate and quiet about it. It’s not their fault that they don’t know Matt can practically smell the excitement flowing from them over the fact that they get to be alone together this weekend. It’s fine.
“Matty? Did you get that?” Foggy asks in that sweet voice that was the reason Matt fell for him in the first place.
“What? Sorry I was…um”
“Thinking of your hot date for tomorrow? C’monnn Matty I bet you’ve got all the ladies begging to be your valentine!” Foggy says and while he sounds sincere, theres something strange about the way he says it that Matt can barely sense under the surface. Weird
“Um, no- sorry. What were you saying though before we got… side tracked?”
“Me and Foggy were just saying maybe we should close the office tomorrow?” Karen interjects. “ I know its not a big holiday but me and Foggy both have plans, right Fog?” and- ok. Karens a great girl and probably didn’t know that ‘Fog’ was Matts nickname for Foggy and no one elses but it still made Matts skin unreasonably hot. But Matt was tired, lonesome and jealous and so:
“Yeah, sure. That’s fine. I’ve got to go meet with that private client I was telling Foggy about now so see you guys monday. Lock the door on your way out.” Matt said as he stood up. He adjusted his glasses, grabbed his cane and left the office before Karen or Foggy could stop him.
That night, Matt partoled the streets of hells kitchen with just a bit more irritation than normal. He definitely hit harder than he needed to but it wasn’t his fault, really. Everything was just… loud and frustrating. He was reckless that night and when he finally crawled back into his dim lit apartment he mentally slapped himself because now he’d have to find an excuse for Foggy and Karen as to why he was so beat up yet again.
The next morning Matt woke up to the sound of his neighbor two floors down dropping a pot on their tile floor with a loud ‘BANG’ so… not the best start to his already bad Valentines day. He groaned and rolled off his couch, all the injuries from last night aching with more intensity now due to the lack of adrenaline. Matt was yet again tired and lonesome and, when he remembered that Foggy and Karen had “plans” tonght, jealous. In addition to all that, he had a headache.
After Matt sulked on his couch for a while and shoved down all his blue black feelings about having to spend another Valentines day without the one person he wanted to be with, he put on his best white button down and headed out. Mattwasn’t sure where to go, he never really went many places without Foggy that weren’t drug cartels or abandonded warehouses used for human trafficking. After some contemplation, he decided on the coffee shop that Foggy was always raving about and sometimes smelled like.
When Matt arrived in the small and crowded coffee shop though, the overwhelming smells and sounds hit him immediately. The grinding of coffee ricochetted in his ears and made it hard to focus on even ordering what he wanted and then well… there was the ordeal of actually ordering. Sure he could smell the different aromas of blueberry, chocolate and all other sweet things but… he didn’t actually know what they sold. On top of all that, the crowded feeling everyone huddled in this small coffee and donut shop made him almost lose his mind right then and there. It was like he could hear the thoughts of the people around him. In the end, he ended up ordering a small black coffee and a special valentines donut that was recommended to him and dropped a 20 on the counter despite his order only coming to around $5. He just needed to get out of there and somewhere quiet and hey, at least someone would have a good Valentine’s day.
Matt eventually ended up in the Nelson & Murdock office, sipping black coffee that he didn’t even like because it made his tongue feel like it was being attacked by ninjas and his throat feel like it was engulfed in lava. He was more of an iced coffee kind of guy. At least he was safe in the office now. No loud noises to bother his headache and no Foggy to think about.
No. He wouldn’t think about Foggy or Karen or the fact that seeing his two closest friends so happy hurt him because they weren’t just happy- they were happy because they were together. He wouldn’t think about the fact that Foggys voice filled him with so much tranquil that some nights when he had a bad night on the streets as The Devil Of Hell’s Kitchen he lied awake replaying Foggys voicemails until he fell asleep. No. Matt was definitely not thinking about that or the other million things that he loved about Foggy. He was thinking about his coffee and the donut he was most definitely going to eat and what sins he was going to confess tomorrow at mass and-
“Foggy?” Matt said outloud as he heard foot steps coming towards the office door and the oh so familiar heartbeat of Foggy Nelson. Why was Foggy coming to the office? And why was he alone? Wasn’t he spending the day with Karen?
Foggy interrupted Matts thoughts as he creaked open “Matt are you in here? I came to your apartment after you didn’t answer your phone but you weren’t there. You know for someone who spends a lot of time in the same two or three places, you sure are hard to find.”
“Yeah I’m in here Fogs.” Matt said as he felt a warm shade of pink grow across his cheeks because why on earth does his best friend here to find him sulking on valentines instead of out with Karen?
“Awesom sauce! So uh… whatcha up to?” Foggy said as he crossed the small office and went to sit across from Matt who- well- didn’t look the best. His face was littered with bruises and cuts from the previous night but hey- at least he was in his best button up because why not?
“Not much, just um…” Matt paused to pull a few things from the folder closest to him. “Working on our newest case”
“Matt. Those aren’t even in braille so how-” Foggy paused and took a deep breath. “Wait is that Pete’s coffee I smell? Matthew Murdock is drinking coffee?? Who are you and what did you do with my Matt?”
“Hey! I drink coffee just not… this. Do you want it?” Matt asked and subtly slid both the coffee and donut in Foggys direction.
“Sure buddy. Should I even ask how you ended up with two things that you have, on multiple occasions, stated that you strongly disliked?”
“...no.”
Foggy chuckled and then took a sip of the coffee before continuing “Okay well. Can you at least explain why you’re here on the day we said we’d close without your phone and dressed in a button up like you’re going to church?”
“...no. Anyway I could ask you the same thing you know! Didn’t you have plans with Karen?”
“Yeah… about that…” Foggy began. Matt sensed Foggys heartbeat starting to race and instantly he began to worry for his friend.
“Oh no Foggy, what happened?”
“Nothing! Nothing just… me and Karen had different plans for tonight is all”
“What do you mean?” Matt furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head. He was so sure of the signs. Karen and Foggy had been making faces and subtle geutures to each other for weeks up until today, that had to have meant something.
“Well, it’s just that…”
“Oh Fogs I’m sorry you don’t have to explain at all. Do you just want to go to Josie’s and drink? I know it’s only the afternoon but hey- It’s Valentine’s day. No one will judge”
Foggy took a deep breath before responding in rushed tone “actually I was wondering if you’d maybe like to go to dinner with me tonight or you know if you don’t feel like eating out we could go to mine and just order in and maybe watch a movie and then go on a walk or something? There’s supposed to be a meteor shower tonight and I’ve been talking to Karen about for weeks and I know you can’t see it because well- yeah but I thought I could describe it to you and-”
“Foggy, Foggy… what? I mean I got you but- what? Like do you just want to hang out tonight? We can do that.”
“No I don’t think you get what I mean Matty I’m…you know…”
Matt stared at Foggy blanky for a moment before it finally clicked. Foggy, the man Matt has been in love with for years, was asking him, Matthew Murdock, out on a date. On valentines day. He was dumbfounded yet all he could let out was a simple “Oh.”
“Oh- no. Oh crap I’m sorry Matt I just- I thought I’d ask. I didn’t want to make things weird between us I just- I’ve had feelings for you for a while now, well actually probably since college but thats besides the point and just thought I’d finally ask since we’re so close and I thought you know there was a chance so I -”
“Foggy. Foggy hold on shh.” Matt said, his cheeks burning and his mind racing. This was actually happening and somehow Matt had gotten Foggy to start falling apart.
“Ok… sorry. I just-”
“I do.”
“What?”
“I do- I do um- I would love to go on a date with you Foggy.”
“Oh… Are you sure? Because I totally don’t want to pressure you into anything or something-” Foggy was spiralling just as rapidly as Matts brain was spinning and the only thing Matt could think of to make Foggy stop talking was to kiss him so that’s exactly what he did. He leaned across the table and kissed him.
“I’m sure, Foggy.” Matt said quietly and sat back down in his seat, nervously readjusting his glasses. His brain silently exploding into a million pieces as he tried to keep a straight face.
Now it was Foggy’s turn to be dumbfounded. “Oh- well you- if you- well. Okay. Cool. Awesome.”
This made Matt laugh. “Yeah, awesome. So… do you want to get out of here? Maybe you could order me some coffee that actually tastes good? As long as I get to stay outside the very loud coffee shop. And then we can um… go on a walk or…” He hushed his tone a little “Or kiss again…”
Foggy nodded quickly and stared at Matt in awe before correcting himself. “Oh- I’m nodding and, also I really like those options. Especially the second one.”
Matt chuckled before putting on the most subtle smirk to lean in and kiss Foggy again.
“Wow. You- You’re. Wow.”
“Wow.” Matt echoed and smiled. “So. Coffee?” Matt asked with a whirl of anticipation building in his chest.
“Yes- yup. Coffee. Okay. Yup. Sounds good” Foggy stuttured out before getting up and taking Matt’s hand to rest it on his arm as they walked out of the office.
“Do you… want to just hold hands?” Matt asked and tilted his head oh so slightly.
“That would be nice. That would be great, actually,” Foggy replied hastily.
Matt pulled his hand away momentarily until it founds its proper place, interlocked with Foggy’s. Matt loved Foggy and Foggy loved Matt and now Matt would never have to love Foggy quietly again.