Then I Met You | Mat Barzal

The Second Date

He hasn't left your mind, not for a day, an hour, or a minute.

You were one step away from drawing silly doodles in your textbook about him in your classes, and it was painfully obvious to you how fast you'd connected.

What didn't help is that he was texting you, every day.

Because you hadn't left his mind either.

When he was listening to music he wanted to know what music you listened to. When he was watching a movie he wanted to know if you'd watched it or if you'd like it. When the sunshine poured in through his window he wondered what you'd look like covered in the golden light.

The café was quiet this early on a Wednesday, Mat had been keeping Lucy company since they opened, writing songs on the bar as she cleaned the coffee machine 5 times just to have something to do.

You'd let him know you'd be there around 12, right in time for lunch. You took your time in the morning, deciding to do some reading for one of your classes, but ending up reading the same sentence three times because your mind was elsewhere. Each time you finished a paragraph you'd check the time to see if you should leave soon.

A few minutes after 11:30 you decided to just go, going to the bathroom to check your appearance one last time before heading to the door. You don't even put on your jacket properly before leaving, locking the door before heading down the stairs - clumsily sliding your arms into the sleeves on your way down to the exit. The air was colder than you expected and for a second you debate going back up for a scarf, but you decide against it, wrapping your arms around yourself instead.

Mat's filled up more pages than he can count in his notebook since your date, and he's so wrapped up in it that he doesn't even notice the time passing him by - doesn't register the rare few times the bell over the door rings and doesn't realize you've arrived until he hears your voice.

"Hey" you breathe out, making his head shoot up. Lucy greets you before he finds his voice, offering you a coffee as he takes you in.

"Hi" he finally says, writing one last thing in his book before marking his page and closing it.

Lucy turns around to make your coffee as he stands up. You're about to shrug your jacket off when he steps to you, cupping your cheeks gently before kissing you. Though he caught you by surprise, you don't hesitate to kiss him back, your hands sliding up to his shoulders.

It's when Lucy clears her throat that he pulls away, a blush on his cheeks as he avoids her eyes, scratching his neck. You're left with warm cheeks and goosebumps, speechless - having to shake yourself out of it before taking your coffee from Lucy, a small embarrassed "thank you," leaving you.

The two of you order food before sitting down at the same table you sat at on Saturday, his hand finding yours across the table. Before lunch, you catch up on the little things you hadn't already spoken about over text since last time. By the time food comes he mentions that he'd spoken to his family the night before and you notice the tiniest hint of sadness in his tone.

"Do you miss them?" you ask, feeling a bit stupid, of course he misses them.

"Yeah" he sighs.

"I talk to them a lot though, but it's not the same. I'm super happy that they call me when they get together, but I just feel like I'm missing out on their lives sometimes" he pauses for a moment, "I'm super grateful for FaceTime, don't get me wrong" he laughs a humorless laugh, "but it's not the same at all, you know?"

You squeeze his hand - "it's like they're with you, but not really" you say, and he knows you understand what he means as he looks into your eyes.

"I don't know what I would do without Dan and Lucy, to be honest - probably drift away" he smiles, glancing over at Lucy who was now cleaning the fridge doors. And you hum, "my roommate is my anchor" you laugh.

"Yeah?" he asks, a small smile on his face

"She's a pain sometimes, but I'd be lost without her"

"Any friend you live with is a pain sometimes" he laughs, thinking back to when he lived with his friends. Sure, they were loud and way too messy, but sometimes he missed having someone around to keep him company. He used to go to Daniel's for dinner a lot, but he'd been so busy lately and Mat didn't want to impose.

The bell over the door rings again, making you both look over. A man walks in, waving casually at Mat before doing a double-take, turning to walk over to your table.

He speaks your name enthusiastically and you're confused as to who this man is and why he knows your name. He holds his hand out to you and now that he's closer you think you might recognize him from the concert, if you were to guess you'd say that this is-

"I'm Daniel, so nice to meet you" he smiles, shaking your hand.

"Nice to meet you too" you smile back, feeling slightly accomplished that you'd guessed right.

He looks between the two of you, "I've got to work a little, but you two have a lovely date."

He walks over to Lucy and you hear them talking about getting some things from storage before his voice picks up again. "Mat, can you keep an eye on the bar for me? Call me if anyone comes in?"

"Of course" Mat smiles.

You're left alone in the café as they walk into the kitchen. There seems to be something on Mat's mind and before you can ask him, he's standing up, pulling you with him.

You'd taken his breath away when he first saw you, but being around you now, he felt like he could truly breathe. Like that first breath of fresh air after being stuck inside a stuffy room, or a cool breeze on a hot day. He felt like he could be himself completely, he could tell you his highs and lows without filtering out any details, and you'd listen to him.

"Can I play you something?" he asks, walking you over to the piano.

As he sits down, he makes room for you on the bench too - patting the spot to urge you to sit down.

"One of your songs?" you hope.

"Yeah, it's uh- the one I was playing when you walked in on Friday"

A shiver runs down your spine as you think back to it. And you're left with your mouth gaping as he continues to speak.

"I'd written it the night before, and I didn't know why or who it was about. When you walked in it was like I found the missing puzzle piece, and fuck- it sounds weird but-"

You kiss him.

Threading your fingers through his hair on instinct, as he hums into the kiss.

"I've felt those words in my bones since I heard you sing them, Mat. Please, sing it to me again" you murmur against his lips.

His lips find yours again, softly, before he speaks - "okay"

You lean your head on his shoulder as his fingers brush over the keys on the piano.

Closing your eyes as the first note fills the room, his voice finds its way into your soul as he opens his heart to you, for you. You meet his eyes for a moment seeing his emotions painted on them, hearing them laced into the words, hiding between each note. He knows you're the one the song is about, he knew the moment he saw you, but he's finally admitted it to himself. And the way you look at him only confirms it. Since he met you his chest hasn't felt so heavy, his morning headaches were gone, they'd been replaced by you - images of your face, the memory of your voice, your laugh, they all played through in his mind. Grounding him.