"he's taking me out somewhere, i don't know. and we'll probably eat something once or twice because he wants to occupy me the entire day. but i have no idea where we're going, so."

cassie was talking with vanessa by the cafeteria, telling her about how matt had asked her out and what he had told her after. it's been a week since that, and matt and cassie had already finished the season of sense8, and she had gotten another letter in her chai latte. the letter k.

"you don't know where he's taking you? keep your phone on you in case he's a serial killer." vanessa joked and took a bite from her apple.

"believe me, i will." cassie laughed and looked up when alex joined them.

"what are you guys talking about?" she asked as she placed herself on the chair.

"matt and cassie." vanessa answered and cracked a wide smile.

"but you're not getting involved, so..." cassie trailed off, glancing at alex with a blink.

"i really never should've said that." alex sighed and folded her arms together. "can you at least tell me what you're doing?"

"i can't actually. ask your brother."

"i hate this." she muttered with a slight pout.

"i don't. i love this." vanessa smiled and looked at them.

"of course you do. i'll see you both later." cassie grabbed her things before standing up and returning to her room.

the next day at noon, cassie was sitting on her bed with the sheet up her chest and drawing when matt knocked and stepped inside.

as she looked up at him, she eyed him with a smile and locked her eyes on the little basket he held.

"hey." matt smiled and carefully sat down on the edge of the bed, his back facing her legs.

"hey." she laughed and put down her pen. "judging by the fact that you're wearing a jacket and holding a basket, i assume we're going out now?"

"unless you haven't changed your mind." he shrugged and looked back at her. "if you have, i'm gonna' cry." he added jokingly.

"don't worry, i haven't." she laughed and placed her things on the bedside table. "i just have to change my clothes."

cassie stood up from the bed and opened her closet. she was currently wearing an oversized shirt over her underwear, so matt looked away and scratched the back of his neck.

"where's alex?"

"library." she answered and pulled out a pair of wine red jeans and a black top.

matt nodded and watched as she locked herself in the bathroom to change. when finished dressing on, cassie brushed her hair and lightly put a little make up on.

she joined him again with folded arms and puckered with her lips a bit. he stood up and grabbed the basket again, moving towards the door.

"you ready?" he asked and opened the door.

"yes, but in case you're a serial killer, i've got pepper spray." she pointed out, walking out of the room.

"shit, am i busted?" he inhaled through gritted teeth and cocked his head to the side. "but don't worry, serial killers only go for hot chicks."

"hey!" she laughed and punched his arm, causing him to caress the spot with his free hand.

"ouch, the boxing is really making an impact." he remarked and exited the whole building.

"i know, i'm getting really strong!" she said happily and grinned at him. "so, where are we going?"

"keep on asking, but i won't answer." he teased and looked down at her.

"you're so annoying." she muttered and pouted slightly. "well, are we walking or driving, or what? say something."

"we either drive or take the train. your choice?"

"what?" she frowned and chewed on her bottom lip, already hating that he put the choice on her. "how am i supposed to choose when you're so mysterious?"

"just pick one." he shrugged and nudged her body with his.

"does it matter which one i pick?" she asked and gazed at him.

"it obviously takes longer time to get there with a train, but then it's easier to talk to you."

"i'm starting to get hungry, so the car." she decided and squinted with her eyes because of the sun.

matt nodded before pulling up his car keys from his pocket and whistling. cassie side-eyed him as he did so and suppressed a laughter. he unlocked his car when they reached it and opened the door for her, earning a silly eye roll.

after putting the basket in the backseat, he placed himself in the driver's seat and ignited the car, also putting the radio on in the process. she started bobbing her head to the music and glanced down at his phone that was put in the cup holder.

"you can change the music if you want. just connect your phone or mine to the car's bluetooth." he informed her quietly as he drove out of the parking lot.

"no, it's okay. you just got a message from mason." she smiled and pursed her lips.

"since i'm not a driving phone addict, i'll let you read it for me. my code is this year."

"why?" she asked with a frown and looked at him, unlocking his phone.

"at first i changed my code to the year for fun, but then it just got stuck. and no one ever guesses it." he smiled proudly and she cracked a grin while laughing through her nose.

"you're really special, aren't you?" she commented and read mason's message in her head first.

"i am." he frowned with his lips and laughed. "what'd he write?"

"oh my god daddario, you weren't lying when you said cassie agreed to go on a date. yes, i saw you like the true creep i am. well, unless you kidnapped her against her will. jesus christ, did you kidnap her? wouldn't surprise me." she quoted his message with a monotonic voice and smirked when she finished.

"wow. he's got so much faith in me." he joked and rolled his eyes, keeping them on the road.

"hello mason. yes, i did kidnap her because there's no way cassie would ever waste her time on me. i only lied to you so you wouldn't think i'm a twat, which i am. see you when i've buried the body." she wrote it down as she said it and sent it.

"he'll understand it's you right away, cass."

matt snickered and cast a few glances at her while she rolled her thumb, waiting for a reply. when mason finally texted back, cassie giggled and looked down while shaking her head.

"well hello, cassie." she started reading aloud with a smile. "nice to see you're finally loosing up. just don't be too romantic or he won't stop talking about you for hours. hugs, mason."

"i don't– i wouldn't do that." matt objected with a scoff. cassie raised her eyebrows and skeptically looked at him. "okay, maybe i would."

"you're so awkwardly cute." she chuckled and rested her arms against the car door, gazing out the window.

"you don't call a guy cu–"

"shut up, you're cute." she cut him off with a smile and watched everything they passed.

after a while, cassie ended up connecting his phone to the radio anyway and played some songs they both enjoyed and could sing along to. she started figuring out the fact that they were headed towards miami after a few minutes, and matt could see that on her face.

when she could see the beach, her head slowly shot up and she smiled at how sunny and warm it looked. he started whistling to the song and parked the car after a minute or so.

"i love this place because there's a beach, a city and a park." he uttered when they stepped out of the car and he grabbed the basket.

"and i assume we're going to all of them?" she mumbled with a smile and put her hands in her back pocket.

"if you want. i was going to exclude the beach though." he squinted with his eyes and moved to the central of the city.

"i won't die if we skip the beach." she said and walked closely beside him, looking up at the buildings. "wow."

"okay. so here we have... big skyscrapers. not something new but worth seeing." he raised his arm a bit to the side so he could gesture to the skyscrapers.

"i see. maybe you'll end up there one day." she frowned with her lips and pushed some hair away from her face.

"i can totally imagine us having a business in one of those together." he remarked, looking at her.

"yes, definitely! and we'd have this perfect partnership that everyone would be jealous of."

"yes! you'd be a perfect boss." he laughed and nodded a little. cassie jokingly gaped and laughed with him as they continued walking.

"is this the park you mentioned?" she smiled when they neared a green area.

"yeah, it's actually really big." he said and followed the little path.

"wow, it is." she agreed — even though they had only walked a few meters inside it. "that looks a little like a castle, don't you think?" she added and nodded to a white, small monument. it was really just a round roof, pillars to hold it up and three benches inside.

"it does. like, a country castle." he snickered and frowned a bit.

"maybe there's a princess there." she gasped dramatically on purpose and refrained from laughing again.

"soon, in a few seconds."

"oh, cheesy!" she nudged his body and hid a smile.

"i'm a cheeseball. what can i say?" he shrugged and turned around to walk in front of her backwards. "there's a really small hill with the view of the water and skyscrapers together. want to eat there?"

"sure." she nodded and started walking in that direction, with him beside her of course.

"and then i think we should find some place more quiet and alone, i don't know." he suggested.

"why, you wanna' make out?" she teased and raised her eyebrows at him.

"ew no, why would i want to do that?" he scoffed jokingly, looking almost offended. "what? no, gross."

"okay." she laughed and reached the top, only now realizing it wasn't exactly a hill. and they were standing on rocks.

"it's comfier than it looks." he noticed her questioning expression and carefully sat down.

cassie mirrored his movement and rested her arms against her lap. she averted her eyes forward and parted her lips when she laid eyes on the view. the trees from the park hid the lower parts of the buildings, but it still looked very pretty. and then there was the water shining.

"beautiful." she exhaled with a smile, noticing how he was about to talk. "if you say something sickly cute i'll drown you." she said before he could utter a word.

"alright." he giggled and opened the basket. "i brought your favorite and some dessert. although, i've never tasted this dessert before so i hope it's good."

"sounds good to me." she grinned and carefully grabbed her chicken salad.

they mostly ate in silence, with matt occasionally commenting a bird flying by. he would scare her by saying how one of the birds must eventually shit on them, but those sentences ended with a slap against the arm.

"okay, i'm gonna' taste this now." matt proclaimed as he finished his food and took a bite from the dessert. she watched with anticipation and snorted when he made a displeased expression, trying to hide it as much as possible.

"you hate it, don't you?" she smirked and studied his face.

"no, it's not bad at all." he lied and glanced away.

"lies!" she said loudly and pointed with her fork at him.

"no, i like it." he continued lying before grabbing his drink and practically devouring it.

"you're washing it down because you hate it." she stated the obvious and ate the rest of her food.

"nope." he laughed and put away the dessert. she rolled her eyes and drank from her own drink, feeling a bit more happy now that she's got some food inside of her.

"taking the train here would've taken over an hour." she mumbled after a while and gazed at the view.

"i know." he nodded and peered down at her. she locked her hands together before leaning her head against his shoulder — which caused him to inhale sharply, but quietly.

"do you come here often?" she asked, sensing that this was a place he'd come to a lot.

"more or less. not as much as before, but i love miami and i used to come here many times before college." he explained vaguely and looked down at her.

"do you take all the girls here?" she smirked and licked her lips quickly.

"you're actually the first. but you know i don't really date people, so."

"i know." she laughed and nodded. "me neither."

"what?" he knitted his eyebrows together, believing she'd be out with boys a lot of times.

"i hate going on dates. it's so awkward and boring most of the times. i don't like it." she thought out loud and bit on her bottom lip.

"then why are you here with me?" he asked. she remained silent for a while, and when he thought she had dropped the topic, her mouth opened.

"because i think i knew this wasn't going to turn out to a proper, awkward date. we've only been here for a short while, but it's comfortable and not some fancy restaurant. and i'm here with you."

cassie removed her head from his shoulder and softly smiled up at him. matt returned it and tucked away some hair behind her ear, since the wind was blowing it everywhere.

she gently seized his hand and laced their fingers together, but only for a brief moment. during that short moment of hand contact, he had the time to feel his heart beat faster.

"i'm glad this is a good... thing then." he didn't want to call it a date anymore because of her little talk, and he didn't mind that.

"because it doesn't feel like a date, and that's great." she stood up carefully and grabbed the empty basked. "trash can?"

"right behind you." he smiled and pointed forward. cassie quickly found it and tossed the basket in it, along with the dirty plastic plates and cutlery. she noticed he had turned around, so she took the opportunity to sit beside him again and pulled up her phone. "what are you–"

"just pull that pretty smile of yours. i mean, we've got to have some material memory of this day, don't we? it's our first date after all." she half smiled, half smirked, and put the front camera on.

matt barely had any time to register her words as she placed her lips on his cheek and snapped a picture, causing him to lightly roll his eyes and pull a face.

"oh." he mumbled and smiled nevertheless. with a grin, she pulled back and opened the picture, showing him it. "i hate taking selfies."

"of course you do." she laughed and put her phone back in her pocket. "alright, daddario. where to now?"

"i do have planned for us to go somewhere else, but when it gets a bit darker." he shared, causing her to slowly look at him with barely wide eyes. "i'm not a serial killer, cass."

"right." she mumbled and fiddled with a small rock. "so you want to bond now?"

"something like that." he laughed and smiled as she rested her head against his shoulder again.

"how did you meet your ex?" she asked out of the blue and gazed at the view.

"i met marina through work. we worked at a juice café and when she misplaced the fruit, we had an argument. i hated her in the beginning because she was so damn stubborn, and then i just asked her out out of nowhere." he laughed a bit by the end, and so did she.

"i like her already."

"she would've liked you too."

"how far in your relation did you come before she had to move?" cassie asked carefully and glanced up at him.

"how do you mean?"

"well, how close did you get?" she mumbled with a shrug, having a hard time choosing her words. she did wonder two things.

matt looked down at her and swallowed quickly. he contemplated on what exactly to tell her and he had no idea what kind of answer she wanted. so he put it rather bluntly.

"we reached the 'i love you' state, and i do love her still. just not in the same way. and... we never had sex."

"oh." she pursed her lips and tried not to move that much. "why not?"

"i guess both of us were kinda scared to do it, and then she moved. really, all we did was watching movies or take walks around the neighborhood. and work."

"are you a virgin?" she finally asked and looked up at him properly.

"yeah." he laughed, nodding a bit. "please don't laugh."

"why would i laugh?" she grinned and studied his face. "i'm just a bit surprised."

"it's not exactly something i brag about." he shrugged and smiled down at her. "but it's nothing i care about that much either."

cassie just softly smiled at him for a moment before looking back at the skyscrapers. they say there in silence for quite a while; matt would rarely gather some courage to fiddle with her fingers, and cassie would just let him.

after that a long while passed and the sky darkened with a few shades, matt stood up and grabbed her hand to help her up. she didn't ask about where they're going as they walked through the park again.

"... and then alex turned around because i was teasing her, and i got a bit scared. so when i was going to take a step back, my foot slipped over the gravel and i fell down on my butt, scraping the top of my knee too somehow." cassie finished her story-telling, making him crack up in laughter.

"that's one of the clumsiest things i've ever heard of to be honest." he chuckled and shook his head a bit.

"it stung like hell the day after and i made the mistake of showering."

"that's what you get for being an annoying ass." he stated, being the reason behind her wide grin. when silence surrounded them again, she opened her mouth.

"i don't believe you." she said quietly, licking her lips. "i don't believe that you only wanted to get to know me because i wouldn't talk to you. what's the real reason why you wanted to be my friend?"

matt looked at her and slowly stopped walking, placing himself in front of her instead. cassie kept a serious expression on her face as she waited for his answer.

"remember that masquerade the school threw like a year ago?" he asked, receiving a nod. "you wore a black, tight dress and a simple matching mask covering your eyes. i was the mummy."

"that was you?" she frowned and parted her lips.

"yeah. we talked for quite a while, didn't we?" he briefly laughed and looked down at the ground. "you were just so easy to talk to and so nice. it was after that night that i wanted to hang out with you."

"matt, you could've just told me that was you." she smiled and tilted her head sideways.

"i know. but you didn't seem to like me otherwise, so i didn't." he shrugged and tucked some hair behind her ear.

"thank god we didn't make out then because that'd be awkward." she partly joked and peered at his hand.

after that comment, he continued walking and looked over at some food stores. the two decided to buy something easy to take with them, and matt finally told her what they were doing.

he brought her to the back of a building and revealed a metal ladder reaching the top. when she gave up on reminding him how illegal that was, she finally climbed up the ladder and carefully grabbed the food from him when he reached her.

"don't worry, no one's gonna' see us." he assured her once again and sat down by the edge. she doubtfully did the same and dangled with her legs before looking at him with a smile and wrapping her fingers around the edge.

"this is pretty cool." she admitted and gazed at the amazing view, consisting of the large and bright skyscrapers, the darker sky behind them and the people beneath them.

"i knew you'd like it. well, mostly i hoped, but a part of me knew."

cassie laughed quietly and shook her head a bit. she watched a few cars pass by below them and licked her bottom lip inside her mouth, enjoying the