You were running late, almost shoving people to the side on the sidewalk, already panting. Your professor had kept you all longer than what he was supposed to, and now you were late for work. As you stopped in front of the coffee shop, you recognized the tall guy behind the counter.

Simon attended your same college, but he was in a different major. You were both hired on the same day, and found yourselves working shifts together, but that day, he wasn’t supposed to be there, he only worked in the morning. As you rushed inside, you shot him a skeptical look, but he simply gave you a small, reassuring smile.

Your friendship had bloomed with ease, despite his closed off behavior and intimidating appearance, with his wide shoulders and chiselled features. Who would’ve thought he could actually be sweet, in his own ways? He had decided to stay longer and cover your shift without being asked to, just because he saw you were late.

“Are you okay?” He asked, slipping into the back as you were tying your apron around your waist. “Yeah, yeah,” you reassured him. “Professor kept us in longer.” He hummed, then you saw him reaching into the pocket of his apron. He took something out of it, and something else fell onto the ground.

Simon hastily crouched down to grab it, but you recognized what it was. A couple months back you had left a note on his apron right before he came in for his shift, and the pink sticky note you had written it on was impossible to miss. You didn’t think he would keep it. “Here,” he handed you some cash. “It’s the tips I got while covering you…it’s not my money, it’s yours.” He said, neither of you addressing the note.

You tried to reject it, saying it was his money because he earned them by working overtime, but he wouldn’t listen; he never did when it came to you, since all his nice gestures were genuine. He always looked so broody, yet you were able to unlock a side of him he reserved to you only.

He liked you, of course he did, he had been head over heels for you the day you started working together, and he had noticed you around campus before, he just never had an excuse to talk to you. You were bubbly and extroverted, but you also never let anyone step on you or disrespect you– he admired that. And of course, he had kept that note. He wasn’t a nerd or the classic loser, he had friends, but none of them cared about him as genuinely as you.

A couple weeks later, you worked a closing shift together, and Simon was cleaning the seating area as you washed the mugs and dishes behind the counter. Soft music played on the speaker, since you monopolized the playlist every time, and when a song you particularly liked came on, you paused your duty to raise the volume.

You resumed your activity, humming along the words, and dancing, too. Simon was mesmerized, stopping mid-action as he was sweeping the floor. You looked over your shoulder, and grinned when you noticed him staring. He shyly looked away, a deep flush on his face, but you had caught him red-handed.

You quickly dried off your hands, and walked towards him. His eyes almost fell out of their sockets as you took the broom off his hands, interlocking your fingers with his. “I don’t know how to dance…” he murmured gruffly.