Eli did his absolute best to stay out of Matthew's way in the coming weeks.

 It was a good thing that Matthew didn't show up nearly as often as before. He supposed fighting crime on a regular basis cut into one's coffee shop time. That, or he’d finally gotten too lazy to drag himself out of bed and walk to the shop. 

"Hey, Matthew's been looking pretty beat up lately," Michael commented one day. The very man in question had just left with what was his third coffee cup of the day and a bag full of muffins. Eli had to wonder how he could stay so fit on that kind of terrible diet.

"Has he? I hadn't noticed," Eli said, and he thought his lie sounded rather convincing. Michael certainly didn't question him.

"Yeah, he has. Not that he doesn't usually look like crap," Michael said with a thoughtful look on his face and a slight frown. Eli snorted and wished Matthew would have heard that. "Wonder what he does," Michael muttered, as he moved out from behind the counter to wipe the tables.

Personally, Eli thought Michael was better off not knowing what Matthew did to look so utterly exhausted. After all, he knew and it got him nothing but trouble. Granted, he hadn't talked to Matthew since that night on the rooftop. He still wasn't sure whether he was glad for that or not.

If he were to be honest, Eli would admit that a part of himself found the man amusing. Even if he constantly irritated Eli close to the point of getting a fist to the face. Still, Matthew had helped him out of a few tight spots and Eli figured he owed the man at least a bit of gratitude.

But just a smidge.

He still felt that way as he walked into his apartment after another grueling day at school. Not so much after he walked into his bedroom to see Matthew walking out of his bathroom with a hand towel held up to his head. Eli wasn't all that aware of his schoolbag falling with a dull THUD, nor did he notice he was openly staring. At the moment, all he really knew was that there was a masked man bleeding in his apartment. Matthew gave him a sheepish grin.

"Oh, uh, hey there Eli," he greeted lamely with a weak wave of his hand. It took Eli a moment to say something, the words stuck in his throat.

"'Hey'? 'Hey'?! That's what you have to say? What the hell?!" Eli never had been known for his composure.

"Uh, how was school?" Matthew tried again. Eli just stared at him blankly for a moment before shaking his head.

"Nope, I can't do this," he said. "I can't have masked men bleeding all over my apartment, breaking in whenever they feel like it, and dragging me on drug busts."

"Oh that was hardly a real drug bust," Matthew said with a roll of his eyes.

Eli just looked at him like he was insane—which he probably was—before throwing his arms up into the air in frustration. "Nope, I'm done," Eli said, ignoring Matthew.

"Really? You're just going to leave me here. I need medical attention, you know," Matthew said, not sounding particularly pained.

"Then go get some!" Eli snapped. "I'm a college student not a doctor," he added when he saw the way Matthew was looking at him.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. Just patch me up a bit and I'll be on my way," Matthew insisted.

Very reluctantly, Eli agreed to help Matthew, if only so he'd get out of his hair for a while. Of course, once he decided on that, he realized he had no medical supplies.

"Huh. Well that explains why I couldn't find them," Matthew said from his seat on the edge of the bathtub as he watched Eli walk into the bathroom. 

He'd had to run to the store around the corner to get what he needed. Eli was just glad the cashier had seen enough shit around that neighborhood to question why a small, out of breath redhead, was buying all the medical supplies he could find. Which, to be honest, was a surprising amount for such a small shop. Apparently, it was Matthew’s lucky day. 

"You know, I'd appreciate it if you didn't break in here to dig around in my bathroom cabinet," Eli said as he unpacked his purchases. "Actually, I'd appreciate it if you just didn't break in at all," he added after a moment. He was fairly certain that if he didn't he'd find Matthew in his apartment again.

"I didn't break in. By the way, you should really close your windows, even if you’re on the second floor," he said, a reproachful tone in his voice.

"It's not my fault. The lock doesn't work on that window. Besides, you're the only one that bothers using the window instead of the door like a normal person."

"I doubt it'd be a good idea to use the door when I look like this," Matthew pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess," Eli admitted as he cleaned up the wound on Matthew's head. 

It wasn't that bad, but it took a while to stop the bleeding and Eli didn't really know much about treating injuries. He ended up looking it up with his phone, something that made Matthew snort in amusement. 

"Shut up," Eli said, annoyed. "By the way, how did this happen?" he asked.

"I slipped up, it's not a big deal," Matthew answered simply. "Why, are you worried about me?" he asked, and Eli didn't have to look up to know he was grinning.

"Of course I am," he said, doing his best to sound sincerely worried. "After all, you give the best tips. It's hard to find customers that aren't cheap when you sell coffee to college students."

"Wow, you're mean," Matthew said, wincing as Eli slapped a bandage onto his head.

"That's right, I'm mean and you shouldn't annoy mean people," Eli said with a grin. "Done, now go away."

"Like I said before, you're mean," Matthew said, standing. "You're so much nicer at the coffee shop."

"I get paid to be nicer at the coffee shop," Eli pointed out. "Are you disappointed now that you know what I'm really like?" He couldn't help but grin at the thought. Matthew, however, just laughed.

"No, not really," he said, giving Eli an amused look. "I think it's nice to see this side of you. I feel kind of honored," he joked.

"Oh yeah, what an honor," Eli deadpanned. "Whatever, just go home." Eli sighed tiredly, running a hand through messy red curls. He seriously didn't have the energy to deal with that kind of thing.

"No way, it's too early," Matthew said. Eli didn't even bother to say anything about Matthew heading for the window instead of the door. He also didn’t stop to process the fact that he no longer questioned Matthew’s stranger habits.

"You're going to be exhausted tomorrow," he pointed out before Matthew could leave. Which actually explained why Matthew was determined to drink his weight in coffee every day. The other man paused, looking at Eli with a questioning look. "I don't get why you do this in the first place. It's not your job." Matthew just smiled at Eli.

"Maybe not, but I have my reasons," Matthew said. He reached over and ruffled Eli's hair. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

Eli scowled and pushed Matthew's hand away from his already messy hair. His face felt hot and, if the look of amusement on Matthew's face was anything to go by, he was most likely blushing. "I'm not worried! Why would I worry about you?" he said, sounding flustered and hating it.

"Of course you aren't," Matthew said with a laugh. "I'll see you later." And then he winked like the absolute asshole he was. 

He was gone just a moment later and Eli really couldn't be bothered with watching him leave. With a few muttered complaints about Matthew and his life in general, he closed his window and went off in search of something to eat before he settled down for a long round of studying.