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Matt was sulking. Frank knew that, he just couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why.
It had been a few days, two or three, maybe. They’d woken up one morning and Matt was all springy and bubbly and just... not himself. Too happy, too smiley. Then during the day he’d grown increasingly dark and snappy and now, three days later, he was barely talking to Frank.
Frank felt like the temperature in the apartment dropped a few degrees every time Matt entered the room he was in.
He’d tried to talk to him the previous night, but Matt had simply turned his back on him, mumbled an “I’m OK, stop asking” and gone to sleep.
Frank was getting edgy. Matt wasn’t exactly a ray of sunshine when he was at his best, but this was too much even for him. He usually managed to make him smile, even laugh if he was lucky. He hadn’t seen Matt smile in three days. He missed Matt’s smile.
He picked up the phone.
“Nelson and Murdock, how can we help you?”
“Karen, hi, it’s... it’s Frank.”
“Oh, hello Frank. If you’re looking for Matt I’m afraid he’s...”
“No, no, I wanted to talk to you.”
“Me?” Karen was surprised. They were good friends, but Frank never called her at the firm. Frank almost never called at the firm, at all.
“What happened? Something wrong?”
“No, no, it’s just... Have you spoken to Matt, lately?”
“Why?”
“He’s mad at me and I don’t know why.”
“Oh, Frank...” Karen sighed. Frank could hear the smile in her voice, like she was trying not to laugh out loud.
“What? What did I do?”
“Frank, you know that last Sunday was September 21, right?”
“Yeah, and...?” he began. Then it hit him. “Shit. I forgot our anniversary again, didn’t I?”
“I’m afraid you did. Frank, come on! You know how Matt is! You can’t do this every year!”
“I know! What can I do? My memory’s worth shit!”
“Get a calendar!” Karen replied, before hastily saying goodbye in a hushed voice: Matt and Foggy had just returned to the office after a visit to a Client’s house.
Frank hung up the phone and sighed. “Not again, you idiot. It’s the third year in a row.”
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
When Matt got back home that evening, the apartment was empty. No sign of Frank or Max. He was surprised, but not worried. Frank had probably taken Max out for a walk. He stepped out of his shoes and walked to the bedroom, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.
He entered the room and stopped. There was a scent... something... “Are those roses?”
He walked to the bed, following the scent. There was something on his pillow. He took it in his hands. At least two dozen roses, wrapped in thin fabric. Their scent was strong and sweet. The felt the petals, the leaves. Not a single thorn. Then his fingers closed on a piece of thick paper.
He took it. There was something written on it, in Braille. Matt was amazed. He laid the paper on the bedside table and ran his fingers over it.
“I’m sorry”, it read “I love you.”
And below that, another line: “I’m on the roof”.
Matt smiled to himself in disbelief. Frank had actually taken the time to punch every single dot on that little piece of paper. He had no idea Frank knew Braille.
He finished changing into his jeans and hoodie, then took the stairs to the roof.
“Frank?” he called when he opened the heavy door on top of the staircase.
“Over here.” Frank’s voice was clear over the noises of the city, the sirens, the voices, the wind. He walked towards him.
“What’s this about?”
“Listen, Red, I... I’m sorry I forgot our anniversary. I really am.You know me, I’m just...”
Matt silenced him with a finger on his lips.
“Shut up. I know you’re sorry. And I’m sorry for giving you the cold shoulder all this time. I’ve been childish.”
“Yeah, a bit.”
“Hey, now don’t test you luck, Mr. Castle!” Matt laughed, before leaning down and kissing Frank on his lips.
“Why the roses?” he asked when they broke the kiss. Frank had never given him flowers before. His first ever gift to Matt had been a pocket knife.
“They’re red and beautiful, and they have thorns. They reminded me of you. And they smelled good.”
“Those don’t have thorns, though.”
“I told the lady in the shop to make sure she took them all away. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
Matt smiled and kissed him again, then took his hand and led him back into the apartment.
He had a couple ideas on how to end this day and, finally, celebrate their anniversary, and none of them involved things that could be done on a rooftop where anyone could see.