Mason had heard the saying before (he had been on the receiving end of too many pick up lines not to) and had even probably said it himself at one time or another.

But it was different this time because he actually did want to kiss her.

Mason had always been the type of person who didn't necessarily care for kissing his partners to show his affection. Even whilst in past relationships he hadn't really been able to see the appeal in pressing his lips on someone else's. Sure he had done it - and often found enjoyment in it - but he couldn't ever remember wanting to kiss someone as much as he currently wanted to kiss Paris.

He had opened the email calmly, expecting a response similar to the ones he had received earlier, and practically froze after reading the flirtatious message.

He choked on the ramen he was currently eating, coughing as he tried to regain his breath. "The hell," he muttered to himself as he focused solely on his phone.

He wondered briefly if he was hallucinating, having finally gone insane from the lack of sleep he had been getting recently. But, after reloading the app multiple times and resetting his phone twice, he accepted the fact Paris really had sent such an obscure email.

He wasn't sure how to respond at first, typing out three different messages (all equally as flirty as her own) before deciding on a simple emoticon.

Mason had been rereading the message Paris had sent with a stupidly boyish grin on his face when his mom walked into the kitchen. She set the bags of groceries on the kitchen table and Mason glanced up at her just as she raised an eyebrow down at him. "Didn't Paris get on a flight this morning?"

He too had gone home for thanksgiving, although it was only an hour drive away from UPenn so he didn't have to travel nearly as long as Paris did. When he had gotten there, his mom had pulled him into a crushing hug and they had talked for a while before she left to go to the store.

And he had casually mentioned earlier - after first arriving - how disappointed he was by Paris leaving (as she hadn't even actually said goodbye and just sent everyone a text instead).

His mom had apparently remembered his embarrassingly whiny ass statement.

His eyebrows furrowed at her words, "Yeah why?"

"I'm just wondering how you're texting her when she's on a plane," she smirked at him.

Mason rolled his eyes before setting his phone down. "I'm not texting her," he mumbled through a bite of food as he finished his ramen.

"Really?" She seemed genuinely shocked at his response, pausing her movements in pulling the food items of the bags. "Who were you just texting then?"

"I'm not texting her," he repeated, "because I'm emailing her." He watched as his mom rolled her eyes with a slight shake of her head. "You aren't allowed to text people on most planes, but if you get the wifi then you can email people. So I emailed her."

Sha laughed at the explanation, "Of course you did." She finished pulling the groceries out of bags, crumpling all the plastic into a ball and placing it in the dedicated container to reuse later. "Help me put these away," she gestured to the food now on the table.

"Yes Ma'am," he jokingly saluted and she glared at him in return. "Let me put this in the dishwasher first though." He stood from his seat, pecking his mom's cheek (like he had been doing since he was a little boy) before moving to the sink.

After rinsing off the bowl to the point of it practically being clean, he situated it into the previously empty dishwasher. "So what does Paris look like," his mom suddenly asked.

Mason started organizing the frozen products into the freezer, debating his response as he glanced at his phone still on the table. "I have a photo," he finally admitted.

He had more than a photo actually. He had taken so many candid photos of her over the past few weeks that his gallery had created an entire new album dedicated to her face. But no one needed to fucking know that.

His mother squealed at the information before picking up Mason's phone and handing it to him. "Yes, please!"

He gave her a look as he unlocked the device (she seemed awfully excited to see a random girl's face) before opening his photos. He scrolled for only a moment before finding one of his favorites. Paris was snuggled up on the dorm's couch, face buried slightly into a blanket she was using. She had been grinning up at him, as this was one of the few photos she actually knew about.

They had spent most of that night binge watching a TV series, mocking and making fun of the main characters. And she'd looked so fucking pretty and comfortable sitting there that he had decided to take a picture of the moment.

She had laughed as he pulled out his phone, giving her a wink when she lifted her face slightly so the camera could pick up her face better.

It was one of Mason's most cherished memories of her.

Mason handed the phone to his mom, hearing her gasp as he turned back around to finish putting away the food. "She's gorgeous," she gushed. "No wonder you like her so much."

"Mom," he groaned.

"What? You never talk to me about girls," she complained with a huff of annoyance.

Mason sighed, "For exactly this reason," he pointed out.

"You're no fun." He could practically hear the pout in her voice.

"I'm not supposed to be fun, mom. I'm supposed to be your son."

~~~

It was later that night - almost midnight - when Mason noticed it had been a few hours since Paris had responded. It wasn't very unusual considering they were now in different time zones and she was probably asleep. But seeing the Delivered underneath his most recent text to her (four hours ago now) made him slightly upset.

He knew it was ridiculous of him to be so fucking sad over one person not responding to him but he couldn't help it.

The idea of calling her ran through his mind, but he shook his head at the thought. She was most definitely sleeping he concluded (after a quick google search to see it only being six in the morning over there), and he would have to be the biggest fucking asshole to wake her up just because he missed her.

But, then again, she was an early riser; she could have been awake by now. Or maybe not because of jet lag and all that shit.

"Shit," he sighed after a moment of deliberation.

Fuck it, he decided. So what if Mason calling her not even a day after she left made him seem clingy? He needed to at least hear her voice before going to sleep and if that made him an attention whore then so be it.

He only had to wait a few seconds before the call was answered, a tired greeting reaching his ears.

"Hi Paris," his voice was lower than he intended it to be. He cleared his throat.

"Hey," she giggled drowsily. "Why did you call?"

"Just, you know," he shrugged even though she clearly couldn't see him.

It was silent for a moment and Mason let his thoughts wander slightly. He was curious to know what she was doing; was she also laying in bed? On a similar note, did she prefer the right or left side? And - more importantly - did she like cuddling? Mason fucking loved cuddling.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Paris's voice and he smiled unconsciously at the noise. "You're so strange," she laughed.

"Oh piss off," he chuckled in return. "Did I wake you up?"

"No." But her voice was so sleepy - so soft - that he wondered if that was really true. "My parents insist that we should be early risers." She suddenly yawned and he imagined the blush that would accompany the sudden noise.

She hated yawning in front of people; it always made her feel embarrassed, hence making her blush every time she did.

Mason thought it was fucking adorable of course, but he'd never admit that out loud.

He heard himself sigh, "You sound tired as fuck," he noted.

"It's the jetlag," Paris agreed. She yawned again then and Mason laughed as she apologized with a frustrated groan.

"Aww, you sound so cute when you're sleepy," he teased.

He could envision her eye roll as she said, "You're such a flirt."

"Says the girl who said she wanted to kiss me," he fired back.

"No," she disagreed. "I clearly remember saying you wanted to kiss me."

"So what if I do?"

He hadn't even realized what he was saying until it was too late.

"You - ah - what?"

Mason briefly heard Paris saying something more on the call but was too busy panicking to process anything besides what the hell he had just admitted to her.

He pulled his phone away from his ear to look at the screen before deciding to leave his fate in the universe's hands.

He hung up.

~~~