~~~~~
The tall boy who stood in front of me laughed. "I'm sorry, my random staring probably did freak you out a bit."
I shake my head. "Not at all," I respond. "You caught me off-guard with the camera, though." I nod at the camera that he had slung on his shoulder. "What's that about?"
"My major is photography here," he says. "I'm Thomas."
I smile, shaking his hand. "(y/n). Nice to meet you. So you go here, no wonder I felt like I'd seen you before!" He was handsome, brown eyes more honey-like than I'd seen before. His swoopy hair let a loose strand fall in front of his eyes, which he pushes back hurriedly. I had, in fact, seen him on campus before, and my friends described him as quiet and shy more than anything else. But all I wanted to do was keep up a conversation with him.
"Yeah," he nods, leading us back over to the table where I was sitting previously, leaning against the window of the small coffee shop that was next to us as we sat. "We got an assignment today - we had to choose someone, and create a photo portfolio of them. You know, different poses, settings, all that. It's a folder we have to maintain over the course of the semester."
"Do you have a model yet?" I ask curiously.
"Uh...no, now that I think about it. Why?" He responds.
"I'd love to help, if you'd let me."
"Well..." He starts, and I pause for a moment, heart beating wildly in my chest. What if I was too forward? "Your help would be much appreciated," he says and I can't help but let out a sigh of relief. Thomas chuckles. "What is it?"
"Nothing, I thought you'd say no," I laugh shakily as well - unsure why I was so nervous to start with.
He shakes his head. "No, of course not. What's your number, I'll text you."
As I he passes me his phone, I catch his lingering gaze as I type my number in. Handing it back, he smiles. "I'll be seeing you soon, then?"
"Absolutely." I nod, smiling at him as he stood up.
"I've got to go grab some more film, I'll text you tomorrow, (y/n)," He smiles back, and I nod again.
"Yeah, of course. See you later," I wave, and he nods, heading off towards the door. I exhale a shaky breath again, and can't keep the wide grin off my face.
***
"And tilt your head just a bit...there, that's perfect, love."
Here we were, five weeks later, with my face tilted just right in the sunlight, my hair over my shoulder in just the right way, and Thomas taking the photo in just the right angle. I hear the shutter click, and I turn to look over at him. He grins, looking down at the screen of the new camera as I walk on my knees across the sofa, waiting for him to sit down on it.
He plops down onto the end, lifting an arm so that I could sit against him with the camera in the other hand. I shift, sitting next to him as he brings his arm over my back, and I smile, looking up at him before down at the screen of the camera. I smile again - that seemed to be all I could do around him since we'd met - and look back to him. "This is really good," I say.
He grins. "I've got a great model. It helps."
I laugh, shaking my head. "Thanks." Stepping off of the sofa, I glance at him. "You want anything to eat?"
He shakes his head. "No, actually, I wanted - needed to ask you something."
I place a hand on my hip. "Yeah, whats up?"
