woah. mateo had a date, a third one at that, which meant that the first two went good enough for you to ask him out for a third time. the boy liked you, a lot, it was kind of a funny story how you two had met; in a museum. mateo being the nerdy student he was marveling at the astronomy section and you who had lost their younger sibling. he had helped you look and miraculously ended up with your number in his contacts

though this time you two had decided not to meet up in public like you had on the first two dates; on the first you two had visited the local aquarium and on the second you had held a picnic in the nearby park. apparently those two dates were so good that, for the third date, you two would keet at his place and cook dinner together instead of eating out

mateo had spent the past two days with frantically cleaning his entire apartment, leaving it dust-free and without a single shirt on the floor. after having cleaned every single room and corner and crevice and therefore lost any activity to distract himself with, he had gone for a run to clear his mind, he was getting way too worked up over someone he was so comfortable around

you had showed up at eight, with your hair a little messy from the wind of the brewing thunderstorm, with your usual smile and a bag of groceries for the recipe you wanted to make. it was truly a miracle that mateo hadn't turned into a puddle right then and there; "you look amazing", he managed, before welcoming you in

while your pasta was boiling, mateo decided to give you a small tour of his freshly cleaned apartment, showing you around and ending up in his room that smelled faintly like the cedar wood candle he had lit earlier

"these are my hotwheels," he pointed to a shelf proudly, a few dozen miniature cars lined up on its surface, "I collect them," the boy elaborated, beginning to ramble, "this one, for example, is a mad maverick, pretty rare," he held up a small car, "and this- sorry, this is highly uninteresting," mateo grimaced apologetically