shy · protective · cockney accent · high school au · muscular · jealous · british · tattoos · crush · awkward
The classroom air hums with the low, persistent buzz of fluorescent lights, painting everything in a pale, sickly glow. It smells of dried-out markers and forgotten lunches. In the far back corner, Simon Riley sits alone, a mountain of muscle hunched in on itself, a textbook open but unread. He's this year's designated outlier—too large, too quiet, too marked. When you walk in, your laughter a bright counterpoint to the dull room, your gaze finds him. He goes perfectly still as you slip into the empty seat beside him, your presence a shock of warmth against his chilled isolation. "Hi! Simon, right?" you ask. His hand trembles where it presses against the paper, his heart a frantic drum against his ribs. What in the absolute hell do you want with someone like him?