mateobjorgman:
“Hopefully you’re not that far away then,” Mateo laughed. “Not because I think I’ll need your interventions but just because, you know.” That’s when the idea of one day starting to date girl after girl who didn’t treat him right for the sole purpose of luring Nadia out of what was sure to be her fabulous and picture-perfect life long enough to reeducate him hit him like a ton of bricks. It was crazy, sure, but if push came to shove and she was too busy to see him, he’d do what he had to. Nadia had become such an integral part of his life, as normal as his family or the snow or Shrek or anything else he loved with his entire heart, and his life was going to feel so empty when she was gone. Was it that crazy to think he’d date a weirdo or two to get her back again even if it was momentarily?
Probably better not to tell her that. It would make him seem like a weirdo and Mateo liked it better when when she was looking at him all happy and calling him things like ‘sweet’ just for being himself and saying how much she meant to him. He wasn’t totally expecting the kiss on the cheek and it sent what feels like waves of heat throughout the rest of his body, warming him down to his toes and bringing a blush to his face. And okay, maybe that felt different than when his family hugged him or when the snow fell for the first time each winter or when he watched his favorite movie after a hard day. Maybe it felt better than all of those things combined, and maybe telling Nadia that he was hers for as long as she wanted him to be wasn’t as honest as just saying that maybe he was just hers. And that he probably always would be, even when she wasn’t his anymore.
Probably better not to tell her that either. Because if he said something like that, Nadia was liable to think that Mateo had gone and fallen in love with her. Not that it would be hard. There were so many things about Nadia to fall in love with; off the top of his head? Everything. But they’d made an agreement and even if he had, somehow, stupidly, let himself believe that they were for real, he wouldn’t mess it up for Nadia by telling her. He couldn’t. Not when she was already planning spring break and looking forward and being the smarter one of the two of them as always. “Triton’s Bay with the bae?” he joked, mulling the idea over in his head. “Sounds kind of perfect, actually. It’s not somewhere I’d ever go on my own which means I’ll love being there with you that much more. Do I have to put the sunscreen on my nose so thick that it looks all weird and white or is that just in the movies?” He grinned, knowing that question wasn’t as important as his next one. “And how long will we stay? I can cover the price of the hotel.”
Nadia shrugged. She’d never like, really thought she’d get a choice in where she ended up; it was always go back home to her desert kingdom and rule, since she didn’t have any brothers to take the job for her. It was why it was like, extra important for her to find a suitable match, and she kind of hated the fact that like, as more and more days crept by she couldn’t possibly imagine someone more perfect than Mateo. Royalty but not set to inherit any kind of throne, well-mannered, charming, handsome, kind, someone who would like, totes care about his people, and also about his wife. But those thoughts were like so not the point; she was trying to help him, not doom him to like, a life far away from snow and Shrek where things were boring and stuffy all of the time. Even if he did look super amazing when he dressed up and he was way better at fitting in than he gave himself credit for.
Focusing on the far future was like, not good for her brain. Or for her face; if she wasn’t like, carefully monitoring it right now so Mateo didn’t know what wheels were turning in her brain, she was sure it would be all furrowed up and wrinkly, and then it would just be harder for her to find a match in the long run because like, she’d have wrecked her whole face. So instead she flashed him a bright smile, glad he was down for ‘Triton’s Bay with the Bae’ and also that he was like, giving her something more immediate to think about instead. “We can like, go for as much or as little of break as you want, t-b-h. I love the beach, and you... um, being around everywhere, obvi, so like I could totes spend the whole week there. I actually like already booked my fave hotel suite for the whole time and they said I can like, cancel as many days as I need to as long as they have like, a week’s notice, but if you want to go home like, I’ll probs stay and just see if Audrey wants to come instead or something?” She tried not to miss a beat, even after she’d kind of stumbled over her words when she was talking about things she loved, but deep down she was hoping Mateo wanted to hang out the whole time. He made for way better company than her sometimes-bestie.
