Mason glanced at Paris beside him, resisting a smile when he noticed her already looking at him. He loved that. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she shook her head softly. "It's beautiful out," she turned away from him, gesturing with her hand and subsequently lifting his in the process. He squeezed her hand in response, his heart racing when she grinned at him.

"It is," he agreed, looking up to see the expanse of stars above them. He wasn't usually one to go for late night walks, but being with Paris made it feel so fucking right.

Paris suddenly slowed - lingering slightly behind him - before she stopped walking altogether only a brief moment later. Mason stepped in front of her at the sudden halt, sliding his hands around her waist and resting them on her lower back. He forced himself to stay there, knowing that the desire to pull her against him was growing by the second.

She looked thoughtful, her teeth tugging on her bottom lip as she stared past his form. He purposefully moved his head in the direction of where she was looking, earning him a small giggle when they made eye contact.

"I told you we should've done something else," he pointed out. He wasn't exactly sure he knew what she was thinking, but it was very likely about the date that Mason failed to plan.

She glared at him at that, suddenly reaching up to rest her arms on his shoulders. Mason swore his heart was going to jump out of his chest. "Oh shut up," she rolled her eyes. "This is a great first date. It's just that," she trailed off.

Mason was too busy mooning over the fact that Paris had thought it was a great date to realize that she had stopped mid-sentence. Only when her hands settled on the back of his neck did he notice the abrupt silence. "Just what? Just that I'm an asshole? I thought we went over this," he joked.

"Yes," she laughed. "But no. It's about-," her gaze suddenly left his. Was Paris looking at his lips? "The kiss."

So she was looking at his lips.

Mason titled his head, "And what the hell about it?" He couldn't understand why she wanted to talk about it. It was a kiss after all, what else was there to say?

While it may not have been exactly what Mason had initially planned for their first kiss, he didn't regret a second of it. But maybe she did? Granted, it was impulsive as hell so he could slightly understand that. But he couldn't help it; he had glanced over at her and she had just just looked so fucking cute that it was almost second nature to lean down and peck her lips.

Even that brief touch was as satisfying as he could hope for.

"Well it was my first kiss so." She didn't say anymore, as though she wasn't sure where she was going with the sentence in the first place.

Mason froze. "That was your first fucking kiss? Like first ever kiss on the lips with a person?"

"Yeah," she nodded almost shyly.

He sputtered at her response, shaking his head vehemently in denial. "No fucking way it wasn't." There was no way in hell that she was this perfect and had never kissed someone before him.

"But it was," she laughed.

Mason hung his head, "Shit. I'm sorry. Your first kiss should not have been that of all fucking things." He couldn't even begin to imagine how much he had ruined the experience for her. To think she might've been looking forward to it and he had just gone and pecked her just like that.

She suddenly brought herself closer to him, resting her head on his chest and creating some semblance of a hug. "It's fine," he felt her shrug, "I can't exactly erase it."

Mason nodded, laying his head on top of hers and swaying to nothing but the wind when an idea suddenly presented itself. "But maybe I can," he muttered into her ear. He felt her shudder against him in response and he swallowed as he pulled away only slightly.

He started gently kissing her neck, featherlight touches that had her chest rising and falling in tandem as his lips trailed over her skin. He made his way up to her jaw, his own breath hitching when he caught the sweet aroma of her hair.

Fuck.

He finally pressed his lips to hers, his eyes rolling closed as he focused on the feel of her.

Definitely passionate, Mason absentmindedly thought when Paris unexpectedly clutched the hair on the nape of his neck. And he had to resist the urge to groan when she pulled.

He let his tongue meet hers, stroking and caressing as he panted into her mouth and tugged her closer to him.

He struggled to stay focused; struggled to fully come to terms with the fact that they were still in public and this wasn't the time or place for such a heavy make out session.

Mason slowed the kiss, his chest warming as he felt Paris smile. He released her mouth then, resting his forehead on hers and using the time to catch his breath. "If anyone asks that was your first fucking kiss, not the shitty one from earlier. Okay?"

She looked so sweet right then, staring up at him with swollen lips and gentle eyes; so soft and content that it made Mason grin.

"What other kiss?"

Perfect. That's the only way he would be able to describe this moment.

~~~

"Welcome back lovebirds," Carly greeted when they walked into the dorm later that night. It was almost midnight at that point, but both Paris and Mason had later classes the next day so he wasn't too worried about going to bed.

Mason chuckled at her words, "Shut the fuck up."

"Be nice," Paris scolded from beside him and he pouted when she elbowed his ribs.

"Rude," he mumbled, kissing her on the cheek. "You're causing strife in my relationship," he announced to Carly with a pointed glare.

She scoffed in return, "As if. You're too obsessed with her to let anyone - let alone me - get in the way."

He shrugged, thinking that it was true but not wanting to admit it in front of said girl. "The way I see it is you're jealous," he argued just for fuck's sake.

"I am." Mason blinked. She agreed way too easily. "Paris is my dream girl," she sighed dramatically. "Woe is me! How shall I ever move on without such a gorgeous individual?"

Paris snorted, "Considering that I'm straight and in a relationship, I might need to ask you to reevaluate your dreams." Carly erupted into laughter at that, throwing her head back as she practically cackled.

Mason shot Paris a look. "Does she seem crazier than usual to you?"

"Don't ask me," she shook her head. "The last conversation we had was about food. And she's always crazy about that."

He chuckled before leaning down to nuzzle his face in her hair; he inhaled deeply, basking in an aroma that was entirely her. "I'll ask her about it," he told her.

"Good idea," she whispered in return. Paris turned around then, kissing Mason and pulling away before he even had a chance to return it. She winked when his eyes widened. "Jealousy suits you by the way."

And then she was gone, through the hallway and presumably into her room.

He leant back against the door, completely bewildered by how easily she made him feel; it wasn't something he experienced often.

After a moment he moved to sit on the couch, slinging an arm around Carly's shoulders. "What the fuck's up with you?"

"Saw my ex again," she laughed humorlessly.

Mason winced sympathetically, "Yikes." He had only ever heard about said ex-girlfriend once, but apparently it ended rather badly and Carly was still hung up on it months later. "That shit sucks."

She nodded, "Yeah it does," before abruptly shaking her head and pulling away from Mason. "But enough about my lonely ass," she looked more excited than upset now, for which he was relieved. Him and comfort did not mix. "How was the date?"

He sighed at the change of topic, feeling his face grow hot as he fought back a smile. "Good."

"Good? That's it?" She raised an incredulous eyebrow.

He slumped onto the back of the couch dragged his hands down his face with a groan. "Fuck. I don't know. It was great. Perfect even. She was perfect. She always is." At the sudden look of shock on Carly's expression, he paused.

"Don't stop," she chided when he didn't say anything more. "More details."

"Well we went to eat, and then we went for a walk and- fuck she's so beautiful, you know that? It's like I look at her and it feels like I'm fucking suffocating. But in a good way, you know? And when she laughs it's like it's the only thing keeping my shitty heart functioning or something. And she's so fucking wonderful and everyone notices; it drives me insane that she's so great but it's also amazing because she's still with me, you know? Of all people, she still chose me."

Mason was interrupted from saying anything more by the sound of Carly's voice "Woah."

"What?" She looked even more shocked than before, mouth visibly agape as she looked at him. He shifted uncomfortably under her stare.

"It sounds like you're in love with her," she finally responded after a beat of silence.

Mason's eyes widened, "What?" He laughed incredulously. "There's no fucking way. We just started dating; it's way too early for that." They had only been dating for - he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall - 19 hours, there was no way he was in love with her.

"It only takes eight minutes to fall in love with someone," she shrugged.

Mason's eyebrows furrowed at that - he was sure that that was an old wives tale or something - but was it really possibly that he loved Paris?

He had no more time to think about it as the girl in question suddenly reentered the living room.

She walked towards Mason, leaning down slightly and using the armrest beside him as support so she could ruffle his hair with one hand. "I'm going to go shower, but I was thinking we could finish that movie after?"

Mason cleared his throat, his heart pounding at how close her face was to his. "Meet you in my room," he agreed. She grinned, pecking Mason's cheek before bounding away from him, practically skipping in her excitement.

Mason watched her leave the room before turning to look back at Carly, who was currently smirking at him.

Shit.

~~~

8