summary: After giving in and letting your friends set you up on a blind date, it goes exactly as you expect it to. Well, okay, maybe not exactly like that.
word count: ~1.5k
tags/warnings: gn!reader, no use of y/n, reader getting stood up (not by Matt), blind date, first meetings, bad jokes & puns, Matt being himself, fluff
a/n: surprise, surprise, another blissfully angst free Matt story :D I hope you enjoy!
Letting anyone set you up on a blind date was the worst possible decision you could ever make. Not because it always went horrible, you weren't that cynical just yet, but because 90% of the time the other person turned out to not be a compatible match, much less a great one. Despite these facts (which you very much believed in), sometimes you had to get out of your comfort zone, if only to satisfy your friends' constant nagging. That's the exact reason why you ended up sitting in an unfamiliar café in Hell's Kitchen on a Friday afternoon, alone and waiting.
Let it be known that you were a patient person, and you gave (arguably) too many second chances to people if they didn't horribly hurt or offend you. But having to tell the waitress that it was alright, you didn't want another drink, your date was just a little late was starting to sound less ridiculous and more pathetic as the minutes went by. You've sent a text when you arrived, saw it stay on delivered for a while, then asked for a non-caffeinated coffee to have something to do with your hands until your company showed up. After some more time has passed, you checked your messages again, but were met with still just as much luck as before. That was fine; you could wait for a little while more, there was nowhere else you had to be after all. The minutes spent alone gave you quite frankly too much time to think, and you started ruminating whether your friends were right about your tendency to give another shot to people you maybe shouldn't have. Sure, you made excuses in your head about how your date must just be stuck at work, maybe traffic is bad on the way, perhaps something urgent came up and they won't be able to make it. But it's not like you just let people walk over you, not at all. Staying true to this, at the twenty minute mark you sent another message — left on delivered again, surprise — and decided to give them another ten. If they didn't show or text, you'd get up and leave. You were already reciting how the phone call to your friends would sound, telling them this scenario is exactly why you did not let anyone set you up blindly.
After the deadline you set for yourself has passed, you decided to get your order sorted and finally leave. It was no use staying longer, your time was worth more and you've aready given the benefit of the doubt. Reaching into your bag for your wallet with a heavy sigh, a sudden jolt shook the table, making you flinch and instinctively grip your half-empty cup to steady it. Snapping your head up, you were greeted by a man standing next to your chair with an apologetic smile on his face.
"Excuse me, I didn't see where I was going."
"It's alright, don't worry about it."
Your reply came automatically, accompanied by a shake of your head. The initial shock passed quickly, and you let your eyes linger a little on the stranger. You noted the red, round glasses perched on his nose and a white cane in one his hands. A snort broke out of you before you could stop it, and as you slapped a palm over your mouth there was an audible 'smack' sound. With wide eyes, you fearfully looked back up at his face, ready to spew out a ton of apologies, but the man just tilted his head slightly and gave you an entirely disarming smile.
"That's not the reaction I usually get, but I will take it."
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't making fun of you or anything, my brain was just slow to catch up and I found your comment funny. I'm sorry."
"Don't be, really. Always nice to hear when someone appreciates my jokes."
You were hiding your practically flaming face in your hands, begging the ground to swallow you up. Even though he didn't seem offended and looked even amused by your stumble, you still felt really bad.
"Mind if I take a seat?"
His voice brought you back to the moment, finally dropping your arms and focusing your attention on him again. His free palm was gesturing towards the empty chair across from you, waiting for permission. You had no idea why he'd want to join you, but there was nothing you could lose by saying yes anyways — except perhaps even more of your dignity, but you could live with that.
"Uh sure, you can."
"Thank you."
With another kind smile directed at you, the man shuffled in place a little, cane tapping against the legs of the table before he efficiently found the free seat. He turned and sat down, folding his cane and putting it in a pocket in his jacket. Did they make pockets that deep? You didn't dwell on it for long because he continued the conversation.
"I'm Matt."
He extended a hand towards you which you politely took, along with the exchange of names.
"May I ask what you're drinking?"
"It's just a decaf latte, nothing too serious."
"Not a fan of caffeine?"
"Oh no, I was just waiting and didn't want to overwhelm myself with double of my usual."
"In that case, can I get you an actual cup?"
The man — Matt — sent a winning smile your way, something that leaned towards more like a self-assured smirk. Normally you'd dislike that, people who acted arrogant and full of themselves in general, but he wore the look well. It didn't seem malicious coming from him, as naive as perhaps that sounded. And so far, he did not give you the impression of being a bad guy; he was dressed well, wearing a black suit that looked both casual and professional at the samr time somehow. He spoke politely, and was quick to reply to your jokes with some of his own. Even with the obvious exhaustion radiating off his form, he took the time to introduce himself properly and ask before joining you. It didn't take much thinking after that for your decision to be made.
"Sure."
Matt flagged down a waitress, the same woman that you had spoken to before, and politely ordered two new drinks, a regular latte for you and a double espresso for himself. When she walked away with your information, he turned his attention back to you.
"So, what were you waiting for?"
"More like who."
The snarky comment escaped before you could stop it, and for the second time that day you had to groan and hide your burning face behind your hands.
"Not a punctual friend?"
"I'm sorry, I swear I'm not normally this rude."
"It's alright, I did not find you rude at all."
With a sigh, you tried to shrug off the embarrassment. He really did not seem bothered by your tone, easy-going smile still on his face, and that was reassuring enough to have you answer truthfully.
"Ugh, that's good. Anyways, yeah, my friends set me up with this person they swore was going to be good company, but they never showed."
"Oof, classic blind date move."
"Right?! It just irks me so much, a simple message would have spared the inconvenience for the both of us."
Just as you finished the sentence the waitress arrived back with your drinks, and you thanked her with a nod. Matt did similarly, then took a long sip of his coffee that must have still been scalding hot.
"Jesus, what are you, a superhero? I know that burned."
His mouth curled into a smile that you could not fully decipher, almost like a knowing sort of thing before he answered.
"No, just a really tired man in need of caffeine."
"Yeah? Well, what does this really tired man do?"
Leaning back in your chair comfortably, you kept one hand around your warm cup while the other drummed a quiet rhythm on the tabletop. He had your full attention now.
"I'm a lawyer."
"That explains the suit at least."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. That, and the way you talk. Really "polite to a fault"."
Matt laughed, the sound bright and delighted in your ears. It made you smile in return, cheeks almost hurting with the force of it.
"I'm sure my firm partner wouldn't agree."
"You're probably right. They must hear you curse up a storm after every lost trial."
"Now, who said anything about losing?"
Both of your cups have been empty for a while, but the conversation continued flowing uninterrupted the entire time. It's been a few hours since you sat down, and when you eventually allowed yourself to check the time, it brought your mood down immediately. You had to get going, because unfortunately life did not stop for anyone — even though the minutes spent in Matt's company sure felt that way.
Slowly getting ready to leave, trying to stall by making sure you had everything in your bag with you, Matt didn't fail to make even this painstaking process entertaining.
"So, what's the verdict on our first date?"
"I'm sorry, our what?"
"Technically this counts as a first date, doesn't it?"
"And what qualifies as a first date?"
"I bought you coffee, we get to know each other and I know where you live now."
"You're unbelievable."
"So I've been told."
That newly familiar smirk of his was back, and you noticed how it brought a wide smile to your face in response yet again. You may or may not have liked him already. Just a little. (A lot.)
Finally stepping out onto the street a few minutes later, you were both quiet for a long moment. It wasn't uncomfortable exactly; you were deep in thought, trying to decide how to go from there, while you guessed Matt was doing the same in his own head. Predictably, it was him who broke the silence first.
"May I get your number?"
As much as you wanted to pretend otherwise, the question took you by surprise. Just because you had spent a nice afternoon together, you weren't sure he'd want to meet again. It took a lot to ignore the disappointment that came with that thought, but it seemed like luck was on your side at last. Glancing up at him, Matt looked just as earnest as he did all through the day, still no trace of ill intent in his expression. You decided then that this deserved another opportunity, even if you didn't directly say it.
"Why?"
"So that I can take you out on a second date."
The laugh that tumbled out of you was loud and entirely genuine.
"Yes, you can have it."
His smile in response made your heart stutter for a beat, a happy little skip that confirmed how right all of it felt. And if later you were practically beaming at your phonescreen while reading his good night text, no one had to know.
The thing about the Drama that I have a hard time coming to terms with is the reason why Emma didn't go and commit the shooting. Everyone goes with the most uncharitable interpretation of those events; as if she didn't do it because she would no longer be "the first" one to do it in her town.
The movie shows how the shooting impacted the students at Emma's school, and Emma had to sit and take in all the reactions of those around her. The pain it caused others, how shameful it is to do such a thing, the weight of real life taken. Her not going through with it read to me less as a disappointment, and more as a wake-up call.
Before the shooting happened, her view of such events was glamorized play pretend. She was trying to make a "cool" sounding manifesto putting on silly makeup and clothes. After it happened, she was face-to-face with the real consequences that would have on the people around her, and she chose not to go through with her plan.
Charlie's interpretation of this event was the MOST uncharitable possible interpretation of how things went down and idk why his viewpoint is the one taken in this scenario.
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