Italic parentheses are spoken in Spanish

You're with your friend in the elevator on the way to her apartment, and once again, her blind neighbor gets on with you. It's a shame you didn't pay better attention in your Spanish class. He's cute and it's the only language you've ever heard him speak. Your friend is still conversational, so she always talks to him, and you're left to stand there awkwardly.

"So, you only speak Spanish?" You finally ask him.

(Pretend you do, it'll be funny) Your friend says to him. "Sorry, I was translating for him."

(Come on, that's mean.) He responds.

(It's okay, she's got thick skin)

He sighs. (You better not be lying)

"So are you two just talking now?" You ask.

"Sorry. He says he wishes he was more fluent in English. I told him it's okay, and he apologized again."

"That sounded like a lot more than that. Or is that the condensed version?"

"Yeah."

You analyze her for a minute before you (foolishly) believe her. "Alright. He's cute."

Her eyes widen. (Matthew, my friend—)

You elbow her. "Stop it right now." You warn her.

"Relax, I wouldn't do that to you."

You look between them, trying to contain their laughter. "Alright, I'm not a complete idiot guys."

"What? I'm laughing at you getting all flustered. You never do that."

"Then what's he laughing at?"

(She wants to know why you're laughing.) Your friend 'translates'.

(You know when you don't get a joke, but you laugh anyway, like second-hand laughter?)

Your friend relays his sentence to you

"Sure..."

"That's what he's doing."

You nod. "I see." The elevator opens and you walk out, your friend and her neighbor following.

"Adiós." Matt smiles and waves before unlocking his door and walking in.

"Oh, I got that one!" You say, before saying bye to him.

She laughs. "I'm so proud." She pauses. "But you know he can't see you waving, right?"

"Shut up." You chide. "So what's his name again?"

"Matt."

— A few weeks later —

You go to your friend's apartment more often than not, and you've been running into Matt almost every time. According to your friend, they get off work around the same time.

"Wait, so he speaks no English at all?" You ask as you get in the elevator with her.

"He knows a couple things like hi, what's your name? Where's the bathroom?"

You nod.

(Hold the elevator) You hear Matt call.

Even you got that one, so you press the button to hold the doors.

"Gracias." He says as he gets in.

"De nada."

He turns to your friend. (You think it's time we tell her?)

Your friend shrugs. (It's up to you)

When there's a pause in their conversation you address your friend. "So did you and Mr. Perfect lips finally run out of things to say?"

Matt and your friend burst out laughing. You stand there for a full minute wondering what the hell they're doing, and panicking that he did, in fact, understand what you said. He recovers before your friend does.

"I think it's time that you know." He says in perfect English.

"Fuck." You say under your breath. The ding signaling your floor has never sounded more beautiful than it does at this moment.

Matt senses your mood shift as you get out of the elevator and follows after you. "Hey, listen. I'm sorry."

"This has been going on for three weeks and you just let me go on about how cute you are all this time?"

"I'm sorry. We were just messing around, your friend said you have thick skin. When you said I was cute that first time we met I didn't want to embarrass you, so I didn't say anything."

"Well, that worked out well for all parties."

"I'm sorry."

He looks pretty broken up about it, so you sigh and forgive him. "I guess it is kind of funny." His face lights up, and you think you'd do anything to see it do that again. You pause. "And Mr. Perfect lips is not the best I can come up with, I swear."

He chuckles. "I'll be glad to hear the improved version."

You laugh again. "I'll be working on it."

"So are we okay?" He asks.

"Yeah. We're okay. I might still have to kick her ass though." You throw a glare in your friend's direction.

"I hope you're not giving me a pass just because I'm blind." Matt jokes.

"You wanna fight— what's your last name?"

"Murdock." He smiles.

"You wanna fight Murdock? I'll take you right now." You pause. "Wait, Murdock? As in Battlin' Jack Murdock?"

He chuckles, but it's softer than before. "Yeah. I'm his son."

"Shit, I'm not fighting you. Your dad probably taught you everything knew."

He shakes his head. "No, he didn't want me to fight. I mean, I learned anyway, but he didn't teach me."

"Well, you'll have to tell me more about that sometime."

He nods. "How about over coffee?"

"That sounds great." You smile.

"Great, does tomorrow morning work?"

"Depends on what you mean by morning. Tomorrow's Saturday."

He chuckles. "Sorry, I'm starting my own practice so weekends don't really exist for me. Will you be here overnight by any chance?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Two single girls going home on a Friday night." He shrugs. "It wasn't that far of a jump."

You nod. "There you go."

He smiles. "So can I drop by around 11?"

"Yeah. I'll be anxiously awaiting my gentleman caller."

He laughs. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"What? I don't get invited?" Your friend chimes in.

"I'm sorry, would you like to come?" He asks.

"No, you're going to be flirting and talking about boxing. I'll get the highlights from y/n."

"Alright then. Good night."

"Night." You reply before you head to your friend's apartment with her. "What?" You ask as she starts laughing.

"You. Only you could start a conversation asking to fight and end up with a date."

"That's the only way I get dates."

"That explains why you haven't been out in so long."

You roll your eyes at her and go to her fridge.

—0—

Matt knocks on the door at 11 on the dot.

"Hey, Matt. You have incredible timing."

"Well I'm just a few doors down, I hope I can get here on time."

You smile. "A date being punctual? That's new and different."

"Hard to find people with common courtesy in Hell's Kitchen?" He chuckles.

"Says the man who pretended not to speak English for three weeks."

He drops his head. "I'm sorry about that. Again."

"Eh, it's fine. Alley can be pretty convincing. And if I wasn't on the receiving end of it I'd think it was pretty damn hilarious as well. I didn't have to open my mouth and embarrass myself."

"Well, I'm glad you did. I might not have worked up the nerve to ask you out otherwise."

"What makes me so special?"

"Hmm?"

"What makes me so special? Alley says she sees you with girls all the time. And then there's that strawberry blonde I've seen you with a couple times? I'm guessing she speaks English too."

He chuckles. "Uh yeah. Karen's just a friend and colleague. And I like you."

"Well, I hope so."

"I mean, that's why it would've been hard. I'm not just trying to get into your pants."

"I bet that's what you tell all the girls."

He shakes his head. "No. I try not to be a dick about it."

"You're full of surprises."

He chuckles. "Well, I hope they continue to be pleasantly surprising."

"Me too." You take his arm in yours. "So where are we headed? I just realized I'm following a blind man."

He chuckles. "Are you hungry? We could grab a bagel or something with the coffee."

"Sounds good."

—0—

"This has been so nice Matt, I can't remember ever having a first date go this well."

"Well, I was on my best behavior. I had to make up for the last three weeks."

"You succeeded. Your mission is complete, you never have to see— or I guess talk to me again."

"What if I want to talk to you again?"

"I'd say that would make for less awkward elevator rides."

He smiles. "In the spirit of preventing awkwardness in the future, could I have your number?"

"Yeah. Let me put it in your phone." He hands you his phone and you put your number in before you send a text to yourself so you'll have his number. "Here you go." You hand his phone back.

"Thanks. I had a great time today."

"Yeah. I can't wait for next time."

He smirks. "Why wait then?"

"Because I actually like you. You said it yourself earlier."

He nods. "I should've known that would come back to bite me. Goodnight then." He takes your hand and bends down to kiss it.

"You charming bastard. Get over here." When he stands upright again you yank him forward by his shirt, causing your chests to smash together.

He smirks down at you, waiting for you to make a move. And you do. You crush your lips together and you can feel his smile widen against your face. He puts his hands at your waist as you run your hands through his hair before pulling back. When you part you look up at his dazed expression and crooked glasses and it's your turn to smirk.

"Goodnight Matthew." You say as you walk in your apartment.