old soul | matthew gray gubler

6. billboard flirts

charlotte nervously paced the area in front of her door, wringing her oily hands out every once and a while. she always anticipated the arrival of anybody coming to her house with anxiety. would she answer the door in time? would she be dressed in appropriate clothing for the amazon delivery guy? would matthew think she was trying too hard by wearing eyeliner?

no, he wasn't a douchebag who thought she wore makeup for other people- men, specifically. he was kind, as far as she could tell and-

literally exactly like her.

she was excited to speak to him sober, to hand him a series of books she loved and adored with all of her nimble-fingers-folding-dog-ears and pulsating heart.

suddenly the door was being knocked upon and charlotte skidded to a stop. she waited five seconds- counted them in her head- before opening the door.

"hey!" he spoke first, pushing himself inside the house.

charlotte hadn't realized the other night just how tall matthew was. she reached bicep, tilting her head back to gaze into his very pretty chocolate eyes. she couldn't help but grin back at him, noticing his shaggy hair pushed back by purple-lensed sunglasses. he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, unbuttoned to show a graphic t-shirt. his jeans were questionable for the weather that day, but checkered vans made so much sense.

charlotte shut the door behind him, "hey! how are you?"

he followed her into the kitchen as she walked there. his eyes flickered up and done her body, respectfully admiring her one choice of clothing. she had on bike shorts, a t-shirt designed with a cute, cartoon penguin. her hair was done, floating atop her shoulders. matthew wondered how soft it actually was, considering it seemed to shine in the light.

he stopped in his tracks, nearly skidding like a cartoon character, once he snapped back into reality and realized he was on her heels.

"i'm good, thank you," he finally remembered to say. "actually, on the way over here, i saw a billboard for the bold type! your face was, like, just staring down at la traffic, and i was like, "oh, my gosh! it's charlotte!'"

charlotte bent over slightly, giggling at him. she slid into a seat at the dining room table and he followed suit. "that's awesome! i was super nervous about having to have those photos done. i saw a replica before it was put up so i could approve it, and it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be."

"no, it's beautiful!" matthew chirped.

he wasn't even ashamed that he let the compliment pass through his vocal chords. yeah, maybe he wanted to keep his thoughts to himself, but whatever, right?

charlotte blushed, cleared her throat with a cheesy smile. "thank you. i haven't really seen any criminal minds billboards since i've lived here."

"we don't really publicize as much as we used to because we're so big," matthew shrugged.

charlotte nodded along, responding with, "yeah, ever since you guys started interacting with me on social media, i've been getting a lot more content from the show. even a spoiler or two."

he tugged his lips back in a seething shock. "oh, no! like what?"

"well, spencer gets addicted to something, right?" she used her fingers to count off the spoilers, which matthew found adorable.