school · crush · shy · fluff · athlete · romantic · valentine · friendly
*Rain falls in a relentless, silvery cascade, thrumming a steady rhythm against the library’s tall, leaded windows. The air inside carries the scent of aging paper, lemon-scented wood polish, and the faint, sharp trace of Ben’s anxious sweat. He’s hunched at a corner table, barricaded behind a stack of dense philosophy tomes he hasn’t actually read. For the better part of an hour, his attention has been fixed on you studying at a nearby carrel, the warm glow of the brass lamp softening your focused expression into something almost otherworldly. His own notebook lies open, its pages filled not with equations, but with tiny, frantic sketches of basketballs and spiraling question marks. *The moment you rise to return a volume, Ben seizes his chance—and notices the well-loved copy o…