and the world is gunna know your name

▲ LIGHT ME UP INSIDE

platomateo-blog

If it wasn’t for the squeal, he probably would have missed her. Mateo was outside the coffee shop, figuring it’d be easy to spot her from the sidewalk than from the inside, and he had been looking at his phone because, honestly, for the first five minutes all he was doing was swinging his head to either side trying to spot her. Once he realized what he was doing, he forced himself to be preoccupied (because obviously no one wants to look like a complete tourist). All he had been doing was scrolling through his contacts, spelling out their names in his head, because apps and games weren’t really his thing, when that squeal managed to overcome the noisy, New York street. He looked up, almost immediately, eyes finding the girl within a matter of seconds. Once it registered that he was really seeing her, in person again, a smile came across Mateo’s face that could only be described as goofy.

Mateo slid his phone back into his pocket, standing still since he saw that she was running towards him. “Oh— Jesus,” Mateo muttered to himself, holding his arms out and bracing for impact. Oof. A small step backwards, but he was able to hold onto her as arms snaked around her, even picking her off the ground for a moment while he squeezed into the bear hug. “Mims, hey.” And that’s when it hit — boom. Like a sledgehammer. The very real butterflies had come back alive inside his stomach. Thankfully, she was the one to pull away, because Mateo probably wouldn’t have if it was up to him. It takes a moment for him to form words, still in disbelief of the situation, but he nodded his head at her, slipping his hands into his shorts’ pocket.

"Yeah, yeah. I still can’t believe you’ve been in the city and didn’t tell me." He goes quiet as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. "You look good." And then it swears he makes it awkward, so, he abruptly turned his head, opening the door for her. "Coffee’s on me," Mateo stated as he held the door open, waiting for her to walk past him, "I’m excited to see your class in action. What else have you’ve been doing since being here?"

#p;mateo #para #light me up inside

Mimi still couldn't believe that she was actually seeing Mateo, in New York, in the flesh. Granted, she was pretty sure she'd known he was from the city, and she probably should have worked harder on trying to find him somewhere, but it was a real big transition for her. She'd gone from living her completely sheltered, ballerina life, with her parents, to living completely on her own, but not really since she had 20 other people who going through what she was and who were always there for her. After she left the city, she was really on her own. Well, except for living with Jay for a bit, but it was really nice. She liked to think herself an independent person and it was nice to really just take some time to really, really focus on herself. Still, it was overwhelmingly nice to see Mateo, and Mimi wasn't entirely sure she wasn't going to cry as he snaked his arms around her, and she buried her face in his shoulder. He even smelled the way she remembered, and okay Mims, maybe that was a little creepy, but she always absolutely loved the way that he smelled. Although, he snuck a surprised giggle out of her as she felt her feet lift from the floor, and she shook her head a little as she pulled away. All she could do was beam at him before she realized that okay, right, they were standing outside a building in the middle of the street, maybe she should actually stay something and not just stare at him. But hello - he was Mateo. "I missed you." The brunette settled on eventually, even though that probably went without saying, didn't it? Still, it kind of came out before she could even really stop it.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. Things just got - ridiculously crazy. And I didn't know if you'd still be in the city and - you know." Getting a job so she could support herself had been her number one priority, and she was glad when she actually found a job at a studio. Her injury was such that she'd obviously never be able to dance professionally again, but she was still able to dance as long as she didn't put too much strain on her knees, and teaching little ones was more about them having fun than being too overly technical, anyway. Her smile got wider at Mateo's next comment, and she had to bite her bottom lip to try to stop. "So do you." And he did. "You've been alright, and everything? You know, since the project got shut down?" Bouncing through the door, she chuckled, "Thank you. I can't actually drink coffee because it gets me way too hyped up, but I will never say no to a cup of tea. I'm excited for you to come sit in, though. Maybe you can even show everyone a thing or two." She remembered his phenomenal dance skills, even though they hadn't really danced together that often. But when you shared an interest like that with someone, it just wasn't something you could super easily forget. "Not much, honestly. I've mostly just been working." That was kind of sad, wasn't it? But it was her passion, it was what she wanted to do. She'd dated a few guys here and there, and she'd made a nice circle of friends with all of the other dance teachers, and they went out from time to time, but she didn't really dedicate her time to anything else. Okay, clearly she needed to pick up another hobby. "What have you been up to? Keeping busy?" Mimi walked over to the counter, and ordered her tea, stepping back so Mateo could order his coffee.

▲ LIGHT ME UP INSIDE

Mateo didn’t want to say that it had never crossed his mind that he would never see Mimi again, but, that would be a lie. That was him being realistic, though. After his City X departure, it was back to life the way it was before. Sure, great friendships were made, and he would do everything in his power to keep up via email, text, etc. But the whole travelling to see people who came from various places around the world was an expensive idea, one that Mateo knew that he couldn’t afford. Truthfully, he was baffled to hear that Mimi was living in the city — his city. He didn’t want to sound like a chum, but there was a possibility that he may have considered the notion to be a sign of fate. But, just like they’ve always been, they were just friends.

Jogging up the steps of the subway station where he was to meet the girl, there was no denying that there was a bit of a jump within his step. Literally, the only thing that was on his mind then was seeing her; wondering how she looked (probably still gorgeous, as she will forever be). It was early, but he had been promised coffee, and he was excited to watch her teach a class later on to finally see the girl in action, something the two had promised each other previously but seemed to never really get around to it. Mateo stopped at the top step, moving out of the way so that people could continue going in and out, while waiting to spot out a familiar brunette with enough pep in her to fuel twenty pep-squads.

OUTFIT [ x ]

#p;mateo #para #light me up inside

Mimi really missed City X. Sure, it had it's ups and downs, she would have preferred to live life without being someone's human guinea pig, but the friendships she'd made well - they had honestly been some of her first friends. She missed everyone, way more than she probably should have. And sure, she had kept in contact with most people she'd been close with in the city, but it wasn't quite the same. Even when they all started moving up and weren't in the same building, no one was further than a bus ride away. Now, everyone was scattered across the country, and sure, she knew she'd be friends with these people for life, because she didn't think it was possible to go through what they all went through together and not stay friends, but it just wasn't the same. The only person she'd really seen was Jay, as she'd moved in with him after the project got shut down and everyone got sent home. Adjusting back to real life had been - well, it had been hard. It was also really weird for her, going from no sex, to lots of sex, to barely any sex at all. That was possibly one of the hardest things to get used to. Still, she'd taken a lot away from the project, and grown up a lot as a person, and she'd never forget it.

However, meeting up with Mateo again was ... well, it had her heart fluttering and she felt stupid and foolish for it, but she couldn't get herself to calm down. Even when they were fighting, he was still the first person to put a smile on her face, and she knew they were just friends, and that was probably all they'd ever be, but she'd rather they be just friends, and him be in her life, then not be in her life at all. Pulling on one of her favourite, pink flowy dresses and strapping on her most comfortable walking heels, shoving her dance clothes into her over-sized purse as she set out on her way to meet her friend. It was still a little hard to believe, that out of everyone, she got to live in the same city as Mateo, but she was really excited about it. Bouncing all the way over to the shop she promised to meet him, Mimi let out a squeal and went running as soon as her eyes landed on him, throwing her arms around his neck as she nearly bowled him over in a hug. "TEO!" She couldn't really think of what to say, which didn't happen often as she usually had so much to say, so after she pulled away from the hug, she just beamed at him. "I'm so glad we could meet up."

Those are rich sounding names, you know? I mean, no judgement here, just an observation. And alright, I look forward to seeing that list. Guess someone plans on creating their own basketball team in the future.

I’m always right.

— just kidding, I’m only messing with you. So tomorrow, right? Where are you anyway, Manhattan?

I didn't know that there were rich sounding names and ... poor sounding names? Oh god, no! I mean, two kids would probably be my limit, but you know, you never know what my future husband will like and what he won't like, so we have to have options.

You are not.

Sounds good, Teo. Yeah, I am!

And what names are you looking at, then?

Been busy gettin’ busy, am I right? Ain’t nothing wrong with a little blush, and it looks good when it’s on you.

I love Grayson for a boy. I like Chloe for a girl. I have a whole list somewhere, I'll have to show you one day.

Oh my god, you're not right. It's honestly okay though.

Now, I know I didn’t pay much attention in any of my classes, but I am 95.93% sure that you can’t pick the gender of your kid, Mims.

I’m have the hardest time believing that you haven’t been getting laid, like, at all. You’re a stunner, kid.

Well .. NO, I KNOW THAT! BUT YOU CAN STILL PICK A NAMES. JUST ONE FOR IF IT'S A GIRL, AND THEN ONE FOR IF IT'S A BOY. Or you could go gender neutral and then it'll work for all of the above.

I've been busy! STOP YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE ME BLUSH.

No— oh, wow, no. If it’s a boy, or even a girl, since I think it’s a girl’s name, I want to name them after my father. From time to time, yeah. I think Lily stayed up in Canada with Maggie, so I haven’t seen them since the city. How’s Jay doing? That must have been easy to move into given that you were roomies in Russo. Wait, none at all? You’re lying.

Oh wow, really? That's ... really cute. I have my wedding all planned out, and I know I want kids, but I haven't really planned out how many I want or what genders or what their names would be. Yeah, it was. He's good! He told me to come find him after I left the city so, you know, I did. Oh my god - yeah, none at all. I guess I've just been busy or ... yeah.

Aw, you did remember.

I’m a believer with naming your children after people who have heavily influence your lives, so maybe the person just really liked Apples, we don’t know; we shouldn’t judge, Mimi. Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s weird not having Lily or Maggie at a moment’s notice. And you know what else is weird? Not saying “want to earn a credit?” as casual conversation.

Of course I did.

Oh god, don't tell me you're planning on naming your children like, I don't know, 'Dance' or something because you love it so much. I don't plan on naming any of my children 'Ballet'. Alright, alright. It is really weird. Do you still talk to them much? I still talk to Lily a bit - and I moved in with Jay for a little while when I left the city but yeah. Okay seriously, that was probably the weirdest part. I went from like, none of it to, you know, a lot of it, and then going back to none was really strange.

You remember how I take it?

Aw, Mims. You can’t judge people just by their parents’ poor decision in naming a baby! What if she was really nice and really smart and the perfect girl for me? I did call myself stud. Didn’t I, Stud? And I just did it again, but in the third person. Not that long…. Has it been that long?

Black with a bit of sugar, right?

Yeah but - still, Apple? I mean, come on. Even if my parents named me that legally, I'd still probably decided to go by something else. Well -- okay, you've got a point, I suppose. Oh my god, stop! It feels like it's been forever. I mean, going every day seeing and talking to everyone to just, nothing. I don't know, maybe that's just me.

Ugh. If you have coffee ready and warm by the time I meet you wherever, then I’m in.

Now you know who I’m talking about? She’s beautiful, isn’t she? C’mon, Mims, do I look like the “dating” kind of guy to you? You know I’m more of an “all or nothing” stud.

Fine, I can do that.

Yeah, I do. I genuinely thought you were dating someone named Apple and we were going to have to have a serious discussion about your life choices. Okay, first of all, you did not just call yourself a stud. Second - well, it's been a long time.

Ugh. You want me there early? Hey, don’t hate on the name. She is a very beautiful lady! Very bright, very broad… She just lights up whenever you look at her.

Eight am isn't that early, Mateo. The sun's already been up for hours by that point.

OH MY GOD, YOU DID NOT. YOU HAD ME GOING THERE FOR A MINUTE.

Then it’s a date, then. After you teach your class I’ll take you out for breakfast. If you have another class after your first, it can wait. Oh, yeah, totally. She’s a bit older than me, pretty gritty — her name is Apple.

Sounds good. Wait, I was thinking before my first class, if you can handle that. It doesn't usually start until nine thirty. You're - Apple? You're dating a woman named ... Apple?

Now I know where to find Mimi Sinclair whenever I want to bother her. Then I will see you Saturday. If you’re up for it, we can get breakfast. Or lunch. Or brunch— whatever floats your ballerina boat. Oh, yeah, totally. I have a hot date. Might be out most of the night.

You could never both me, Teo. Especially since it's been such a long time, you'd really have to try to make me sick of you, I think. Breakfast sounds good, I'm usually up at 5 or 6 am anyway. Oh -- wow, really?

It’s been, like, pretty hot so I probably won’t, so let’s put that idea up on our idea board and save it for a rainy day. Do you teach Saturday mornings? I’m free till Saturday night, basically.

Buzz kill. Alright, alright, fine. Yeah, I teach Saturday and Sunday all day, and then pretty much sporadically during the week. And then, even when I'm not teaching I'm still pretty much there all the time. Ooh, special plans for Saturday night?

I’ll wear them under my jeans for you. But, by the way, Miss, it’s rude to take advantage of your students.

You're way too go to me, as always. I - HEY! I KNOW THAT, THAT'S WHY I DIDN'T ACTUALLY DO IT. I was just tempted.

Right, right. I think I know where that is. Do you have a “no tights, no enter” policy? Because, if you do, I’m sure I have a spare pair lying around somewhere.

I mean, we don't, but I'm really tempted to tell you that we do because I'm pretty sure I'd love to see you in a pair of tights.

I’d love to check out one of your classes — if you’d let me, of course.