Oh yes. They are facing each other. That or side by side. All the same so very close. Matt can't see her, but he can feel her. It reverses the metaphor and keeps her so, so dear.

Sneaky compliments with real compliments wherever he can slip them. Even as ridiculous as admiring how she accessorizes. No room to argue there. Victory! Matt beams so much his eyes shut. "Thank you," for calling him a weirdo. He is who he is. And that is part of it.

Two decades of blindness have had people try to describe sights, movies and other things to him. And they have always done it with pity or anxiousness. There is none of that in Verity's heartbeat. That is what Matt likes. It's helpful and supplements what he knows, enhancing it. "The weather happened to agree."

Matt's hands move. He fully intended to help her. "Heyy---" The fall causes a splash and he turns in order to face her when she reemerges.