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The last lecture of the day marked a profound moment for Mathias. He officially had free time for the first time in what felt like a month. Stashing his books and stuff away in his car, he slumped down into the driver's seat and rested his head against the headrest. The first time in two weeks he didn't have a studio after lectures. He almost didn't know what to do with himself.

Actually - he really didn't know what to do, it'd been so long since he'd had free time that hadn't been eaten up in the studio painting that he wasn't sure what he wanted to do.

Something other than paint though - that was for sure. Not that he didn't love to paint - he really did - but after two weeks of practically living in the studio to get a slew of his projects done. Well, it was time for a break.

Pulling out his phone, he scrolled through his contacts, seeing if any name sang to him in particular.

He made it to as far as the C's before he stopped, squinted for a second and snorted. Of course - why didn't he think of her first?

Tapping her name, he hit the text message button and quickly shot her a text.



Sending the message her way, he rested the phone next to him and waited for a reply.

Hearing his phone beep, Mathias reached out and picked it up, sliding it open to take a look at the text Cora had sent back to him. With a smirk and a low chuckle he shook his head.

"Classic Cora," he muttered to himself as he turned the phone and replied back.



Mathias closed his phone after it told him it had sent the message, turned on his car and drove across campus to what he'd dubbed "writer's row" where all the journalism, English and other writing focused students tended to hang out. There were plenty of trees to look under, but Cora had a habit of standing out in the crowd.

Parking his car, he walked across the quad, scoping out each tree until he found the shock of red hair that he was looking for, and made his way over. Leaning against the tree, he looked down at Cora and chuckled.

"So, you ready to get going?"

Mathias laughed and pulled her Cora into a tight hug, giving her a good squeeze as he leans in and whispers in her ear. "Course you get a hug Cora, you'll always get hugs," Mathias laughed softly, rubbing her back for a moment before slowly letting her go - almost reluctantly at that. Holding her by the shoulders for a moment, he smiled at her softly before letting her go.

"Haha, well I managed to get some free time today, thank god." He shook his head slowly. "Besides, it's been awhile since we just hung out - since you won't let me paint you for some odd reason," he grinned at her, placing two fingers under her chin and lifting it slightly. "Even if you are perfect for being a model."

He slowly moved his hand back to his hip and chuckled. He still had feelings for her, and wished he could act on them - especially given what she was wearing right this moment. Of course, that didn't stop him from getting a good look at her anyway.

Mathias laughed and tickled her side slightly. "Oh come on, you know you don't have to pose nude if you don't want - and it's getting near crunch time, so I had to put an ad out to see if I could get some models. I'm strapped for cash so I figure what I'll do is let them keep their portrait once it's been graded."

Shrugging a bit at her question he chuckles. "Let's snag some lunch, have you eaten yet?" He asked, rolling his shoulders a bit before looking toward his car. "We can take my car, since I don't have studio today it's not full of crap."

Mathias laughs and chases after her as she darts off ahead of him. "HEY!" He shouted as she commented that his car was actually clean. He sprinted hard after her, arms pumping as he used his naturally longer stride to cover ground and chase after her. When they reached his car, he placed his hands to either side of her and tickled her relentlessly.

"Yeah sure, make sure it goes on the five o'clock news," he chuckled as his fingers tickled her sides, before slowly stopping, his nose just a mere inch from hers, his lips a slight grin.

"Also, deal," he murmured, and kissed the tip of her nose before straightening up and moving over to open the door for Cora. "Alright, well I'll treat you to lunch then! Anything speaking to you in particular?"

"Sure you don't just want to get laid?" Mathias said as he buckled in and started the car. "Cause I can help with that too." His tone was joking, but it had a hint of seriousness about it. Truth be told, he'd get back with Cora, even for just a casual fling, in a heartbeat. He hadn't had a steady or solid relationship since her - and he knew she'd be safe.

Which was part of why they'd broken their freshman year of college - to see if it was really meant to be. Obviously Mathias hadn't found anyone that had made him near as happy as when he'd been with Cora, and he wasn't sure how she was doing in the dating scene, but he didn't want to seem overly nosy and ask.

He regretted it now of course. But it wasn't something you could go back on really. They needed their time apart to grow as people - they had gotten too comfortable - too safe with each other. They had needed the space to grow up and not be teenagers anymore.

But Mathias wasn't going to lie, he was lonely, and sure - he saw plenty of cute girls when they did classroom modeling - but most of them were either taken or didn't date the students they posed for.

"But yeah, I can hook you up with a hamburger," he finally added, pulling out of the parking spot after a few seconds. "I know a good place not too far from here. Little diner, serves damn good milkshakes too."

"Only if my mother counts as another girl, she introduced me to the place when she was here last month for her usual quarterly visit," Mathias chuckled as he allowed his glance to drift over to her for a moment as he drove. He was a pretty defensive driver, so it was only for a split second that he allowed his vision to shift, before going right back to the road, taking a few turns before they were off the beaten path and into an older part of town.

"But no, I haven't dated anyone since Leanne, so like what... Six months? And you remember how that ended," he shook his head slowly and sighed. "Two days is a new record to find out your girlfriend is a cheater."

Chuckling he puled into a parking lot outside of a small 50's style diner. "How about you, been seeing any guys lately?"

He kinda hoped yes - if only cause Cora was hot and deserved it. But a part of him also hoped she was single still, so they could commiserate.

Mathias moved over behind her, his hands naturally moving to her shoulders to work the knots out of her neck that he knew were there. He could see the stress in her face, ear it in her voice. The poor girl needed time to breath - something that wasn't related to school and working. He decided to answer her question as he massaged her neck and shoulders.

"Mom's doing well, the chemo is working and they have the cancer under control. Dad is doing his usual thing - kissing as much a** as he can to try to get a sweet gig, so that hasn't changed." He smirked and kissed the top of her head as he worked her sore and tired muscles.

"That sucks, you're a good catch Cora, you deserve a good romp every now and then - if only to get rid of your stress."