#ericca’s rambling again

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Been trying to…

Put out this Leo Barnes fic that’s been done for awhile now for my darling Lily. Soon!! @munsonownsmyass

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Dance with Me

Pairing:  Matt Murdock X GN! Reader

Warnings:  None really….I don’t think.  Reader has a bit of anxiety.  There are a few tears but just Matt being sweet as can be and comforting.

Word Count: 1554-ish

Summary:  Reader decides to cook dinner for Matt and it doesn’t go exactly how they planned.  What may not be a big deal to others, is a big deal for them and Matt understands this so he does what he can to comfort you and make you feel better about….everything.

A/N:  Well, when I started this one I had a different song in mind to use for inspiration, “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran BUT as I was writing it and the further I got into it, I realized that while “Perfect” is a great song, I wasn’t feeling it, I thought this whole idea was stupid and I almost scrapped the whole thing because it wasn’t coming together like I wanted.  So I decided to use “Everything (Live In-Studio Version)” by Lifehouse.  It completely changed for me after I decided to use that song.  

And if I may digress for a minute, I’ve seen Lifehouse a handful of times live and in all the times I’ve seen them, they never played this song live. I think it was one of the last times I saw them, their encore song was “Everything” and can I tell you how excited I was, it is my favorite song by them.  Then came the part of the song where the tempo starts to pick up, it’s probably the bridge of the song and I just started to cry, not full on ugly girl crying, but crying.  That song is just IT for me, it hits me deep and I love it so much.  I was just so happy they finally played my favorite song live, while I was there to see it. I don’t think I’ve ever told that story before, not even my friends I was with at the show know about it.  So if you’ve never heard it or need a refresher, give it a listen and my full playlist of slow dance songs for Matt should be up soon.  I hope you like it and this.  Jeez Louise, talk about rambling…shut it, Ericca!!  As always, thank you for reading!  I appreciate it so much and comments are always welcome.

It was just a Tuesday, not a special occasion, not his birthday, just Tuesday.  You thought cooking dinner for Matt sounded like a nice thing to do, as he had been working very hard lately and you thought this would be a nice surprise.  However, you were not known for your culinary skills, baking was a different story, that came easy to you but you felt you weren’t the best cook.  Mostly it was because you were a perfectionist and everything had to be just so or you were not going to be happy.  You had planned it all out though, everything from the wine down to the dessert, what could go wrong?  It turns out plenty could go wrong, and it did. 

It was a bunch of little things that would definitely not be a big deal to most people, but you weren’t most people. The plan was to leave work early, however the paperwork on your desk needed to be finished so you were late leaving, and also the grocery store you usually go to didn’t have everything you needed so you had to go to a few places which ate up more time.  

Tomato sauce from scratch also takes more time than you thought it would, which leads you to rush and that caused you to slice open your knuckles on the cheese grater.  The chicken sausage you wanted, the store ran out of so you had to get regular.  It’s not necessarily a bad thing but again, you didn’t plan for that so it elevated your stress levels. That’s just how your brain worked, it’s difficult to get out of your own head sometimes and you wanted everything to be….perfect.  

The dish you were making was simple enough but very tasty, crumbled sweet Italian sausage, in a light tomato cream sauce over spaghetti with a Caesar side salad and garlic bread. Checking your watch, you realized Matt would be home soon, however the sauce still needed more time to simmer.

Even the fruit tart you had planned to make, again it should have been easy for you, but the crust was baked you thought, just a little too long.   And you forgot that it takes 2-3 hours for the pastry cream to chill, you didn’t have that kind of time or a blast chiller!  This is a disaster, nothing is ready, and you start to panic.  

You weren’t happy about it but you start thinking about abandoning the idea of dessert because it wasn’t going to be ready in time. This was very frustrating because you had the fruit cut up and in the fridge already, even the pineapple was cut into little stars.  The picture you had of it in your head was so pretty but than plan went right out the window when you saw what time it was.

It was 6:15, you knew Matt would be home in give or take fifteen minutes.  Aside from tart, you sucked it up and pulled the rest of it together when you hear the keys in the door.  Matt opens the door, puts all his things away and says “Something smells good in here.  Are you alright, sweetheart, I can smell blood too…did you cut yourself?”

Damn that man and his bloodhound nose!  You had forgotten about the cuts on your knuckles, it’s such a stupid injury and you felt like a complete idiot for letting that happen but you tried to control your anxiety anyway as you answered him.

“Um, yeah I got a couple of cuts on my knuckles, no big deal.  How was your day today?”

Matt came up behind you, wrapped his arms around your waist, and kissed that sweet spot on the side of your neck.  His response was, “Well I missed you, so it was terrible.”

“Oh really?” You tried to sound like you weren’t in panic mode.

Of course he could tell something was wrong.

“What’s wrong, my love? Your pulse is all over the place.”  

Obviously, you knew you couldn’t lie to him, he would know so you threw up your hands in frustration, turned around to face him, and just told him everything.

“Matty, I wanted to do something nice for you so I planned it all out, I was going to leave work early and get back here in plenty of time to make a nice dinner for you.”

The look on his face was soft and he looked so touched that you would do something like this for him.

 “But I got held up at work, the grocery store didn’t have everything I needed so I had to go to a couple other places to find everything, and the dessert I wanted to make you, I forgot that the pastry cream needs 3 hours to chill in the fridge before I could put everything together…”

Your voice started to crack because all that anxiety came back.

“And I just—“ You took a minute to breathe.  When you regained your composure, you let out a big exhale and asked him ��Do you want a glass of wine because I sure do.”  You started to smile only to realize in the middle of running around all afternoon, you forgot to pick up the wine at the package store.  That was the last straw, you burst into tears, and slumped over the counter with your head in your hands.  “Oh no!  I forgot to get the wine!!!!”  Matt knew how important getting this all right was to you, he loosened his tie a little and rolled up his sleeves.

“Oh angel, please don’t cry.  This is all so nice, you doing all this for me.  It smells delicious and I’m sure it’s going to taste even better.  Plus we have beer and whiskey, I don’t need fancy wine…you know that.”

He turned you around gently to face him and brushed the tears away with his thumbs.

“Look, I know it’s not exactly how you wanted everything to turn out but do you understand how incredible you are for doing this?  Before you, no one has even attempted to cook dinner all for me.”  

He could tell you needed more convincing and with his signature smirk, you could see Matt had an idea.

“Here…take this apron off and just stand right here for a second, don’t move.”

As you brush the tears from your cheeks, he walks to the bedroom and comes back holding your Bluetooth speaker, places it on the counter and disappears to the bedroom one more time.  You’re standing there confused when you hear music start to play and recognize the song…”Everything” by Lifehouse.  

You are the strength, That keeps me walking. You are the hope, That keeps me trusting. You are the light, To my soul. You are my purpose, You're everything.

He didn’t want you to hear him when he spoke into the phone to play the song, so that’s why he went back to the bedroom. Matt knows music hits you differently than some people, you feel it in your soul and at times have emotional reactions to it.  He had a strong feeling this song would help you calm down…

He came back to the kitchen, and with his hand outstretched he asked:

“Dance with me?”  

Your reaction was genuine surprise “What? Dance with you? Now?”

“C’mere…it will help you relax.”

You couldn’t help but smile as you gently placed your hand in his and rested your head on his chest as you two swayed back and forth to the music.  Why does he always know what to do to make you feel better?  The chorus comes on…  

How can I stand here with you, And not be moved by you? Would you tell me, How could it be, Any better than this?

As the two of you continued to slow dance in the kitchen, he said:

“My love, tonight may not have been to your standards but believe me, I couldn’t have asked for anything more thoughtful.”

You were feeling a little better but still disappointed in yourself.

“Matty, my planning was all off and I just wanted it to be really nice for you.”

“It is, sweetheart…it is.  Put your hand on my heart.”

You lay your palm flat against Matt’s chest.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, all of this is absolutely wonderful…YOU are wonderful. I couldn’t love anything more.”

Of course his heartbeat never faltered, he’d never lie to you.  The song continues…

You're all I want, You're all I need, You're everything, everything.

“And listen, I know you have everything prepared for the fruit tart because I can smell all of it so tomorrow, I’ll help you put it together and we can have it then.  How’s that sound?”

You had tears in your eyes but they were because no other man had gone to the lengths that Matt did to help you deal with your anxiety.  You knew he couldn’t fix everything but it doesn’t mean he didn’t try and that’s just one of the reasons why you loved him so much. He tilted your chin up and pressed his lips softly to yours.

And how can I stand here with you, And not be moved by you Would you tell me, How could it be, Any better than this?

Would you tell me, How could it be, Any better than this...

You’re everything…

As the end of the song plays, with your hand still on his heart, you say “Matty, that sounds…perfect.”

Tag list: @freshabogados @skvatnavle @phoebe-danvers @moonlarking @shedaresthedevil @mindidjarin @matt-erialgirl @nelson-et-murdock @elgrandeavocados

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