The lovely AnnaLovesJaspar requested a Nerdy Harry/Popular Simon One Shot a while ago and I came up with this idea! Sorry for taking so long, I hope you like it! ♥
Harry has a crush on Simon Minter, the most popular guy in school. He's too shy to tell Simon how he feels, so resorts to leaving notes in his locker.
Word Count: 1658 Words
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Harry Lewis took one last scanning look around the deserted corridor he was standing in, before slipping a folded note out of his pocket and into a very familiar locker.
It wasn't the first time he'd performed this particular trick, but he was always afraid of someone coming around the corner and seeing what he was doing. Leaving a note in someone's locker wasn't a crime, of course, but he wasn't exactly leaving a message for one of his best friends.
No, Harry was doing something that was either very brave or very stupid - leaving 'secret admirer' messages for someone. Not just any someone, either, he had to fall for Simon Minter, the football team captain and the most popular guy in school.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Harry jogged back to his maths class, grateful that Mr. Newton had given up on monitoring his whereabouts after he'd started turning in all of the upcoming week's homework on Monday. He made it back just in time for the bell to signal the end of the lesson.
Harry bit his lip nervously as he walked to his music class, taking his assigned seat in the back of the room. Unlike his more confident classmates, he preferred to keep his head down and work quietly, having learned the hard way that drawing attention to himself only got him abused more. His seat in the back also allowed him to stare at Simon for most of the period, since Simon sat across the room and one row forward from him.
"He said that seeing me smile makes his day!" Simon was gushing as he and Josh Bradley entered the room, a wrinkled piece of notebook paper in his hands. "and how my laugh is like music to his ears and he want to hear it more often."
Josh raised an eyebrow. "So this guy just leaves you anonymous love letters? That doesn't explain how head over heels you are for him. You don't even know who it is." Josh said as they took their seats, semi-confused as usual.
"I kind of like the mystery," Simon said, twisting around in his seat to look at Josh, who was in the same row as Harry. "Instead of love at first sight, it's love at first..." he pondered for a second before his eyes lit up, "Love at first write." Josh rolled his eyes at Simon's lame pun, while Harry had to physically bite his lip to hold back his laughter.
"You ever gonna try and figure out who he is?" JJ Olatunji, the guy sat next to Simon, asked, curiosity lacing his voice.
Oh God.
"I've been thinking about it," Simon said, making Harry's heart stop. "I'm just not sure where to begin, though, you know? My secret admirer has done a good job at staying secret."
"You could put out a missing person's report!" JJ said enthusiastically, causing Simon to shake his head.
Josh snorted. "Yeah, offer a reward, like -"
"A cheeky blowjob!" JJ cut in.
"I was gonna say money or something," he trailed off. "Jide, you sure you're not the gay one, mate?" Josh asked, a serious expression upon his face.
"Nah Josh, that's you," JJ shot back.
Simon rolled his eyes at the two boys' friendly banter and turned around in his seat as Mr Newton started to call names and fill in the register. Harry tried not to panic.
Oh my God, Simon wants to find me, he thought, frozen.
He liked Harry's notes that much. But it'll ruin everything if Simon learns who he is - at best he'll give Harry a pity date, and at worst he'll laugh in Harry's face once he realises that his secret admirer is actually Harry Lewis, resident nerd and the bottom of the social ladder. He could never let Simon find out that it's him.
"Lewis!" Mr. Newton's voice finally broke through Harry's thoughts, as did the snickers of his fellow classmates. Apparently this wasn't the first time he'd called Harry's name. Harry gave a meek "Here, Sir," and looked down, feeling his cheeks burn scarlet.
When he managed to look up again, he noticed Simon was turned partway in his seat, giving him a sympathetic-looking smile.
Harry was pretty sure he blushed for the rest of the lesson.
Two weeks later and Harry was pretty sure he'd just developed a permanent blush. Mr. Newton had assigned them partners for a research project, and Harry had ended up being paired with Simon. Of course.
They'd decided to meet up every other day in the library after school to get the work done, giving Harry more time around Simon than he'd ever gotten to experience before. It had only intensified his crush.
Simon was just so genuinely kind and enthusiastic about their topic, and he didn't make fun of Harry for his rusty social skills and tendency to ramble on about nothing like so many other people in the school did. Instead, Simon would sit there patiently and even respond to some of Harry's points, allowing for actual conversation to spring up. Simon was slowly becoming the first actual friend Harry had had in a while.
As Harry and Simon spent more time together, it influenced his note writing. Now he could tell Simon just how stunning his authentic smiles were and not feel like he was lying. Unfortunately, Simon had also acted on his desire to find out who the note writer was after all, leaving Harry caught in a web of indecision.
Harry probably would've continued keeping mum on the notes had it not been for the conversation he'd overheard Tobi Brown and Jessica Fangs having one day in the corridor.
"I think I'm gonna tell Simon that I'm the one writing those love notes," Jess said, prompting Harry to choke a little on his own spit.
Tobi rolled his eyes. "We've been over this. He's gay," he stated.
"He'd still make a great date," she replied, beaming from ear to ear. "Just think about how popular I'd get if I started dating the football captain."
Harry fixated on that conversation all afternoon. He was still terrified of telling Simon the truth, but he also got disgruntled just thinking about Jessica trying to take credit for his work. She didn't care about Simon, just his social status. Just like he was worried about in class a couple weeks ago, Harry realised. He could tell the note writer cared about him, not his popularity.
Mind made up, Harry headed for the library, hoping Jessica wasn't planning on ambushing Simon the second classes let out. He took a seat at their usual table, trying to focus on his breathing and center himself.
"Hey, Harry," Simon greeted cheerfully, snapping him out of the daze he'd been settling into. "You okay? You look a little apprehensive."
"I, uh, I need to tell you something, Simon," Harry said, closing his eyes tightly. He could definitely get through this if he didn't have to look at Simon. "I know who your mysterious note writer is."
"You do? Oh shit, that's amazing, Harry! I was giving up hope about ever finding out, since it's been so long. Who is it?" Simon's voice sounded overjoyed. Harry hoped he wasn't about to ruin everything.
"Simon. You're perfect. No other words can be used to describe you. Your smile brightens up a room and when you talk to me, I don't want you to stop. You mean so much to me and I hope that I am soon able to tell you that to your face instead of hiding behind these notes. - Your Secret Admirer," Harry recited, flinching away instinctively. He'd burned the text of his first note to Simon into his mind forever, the way he'd agonized over it.
There was a long pause. Harry tentatively opened his eyes and chanced a look at Simon, who looked like he'd been hit over the head with a rock.
"You?" Simon whispered, sound just barely coming out of his mouth.
Harry nodded, still too shy to speak.
Simon surged forward and kissed him, shocking Harry into total paralysis for a moment. Before he could work up the wherewithal to kiss back, Simon pulled away.
"I can't believe it. How lucky am I?" Simon said, eyes tender.
"What?" Harry asked, thinking his brain might have just melted out his ears. Simon thought he was lucky?
"Harry, you have to know I've been flirting with you since we got paired up for this, right?" Simon said, looking serious.
"You... I - flirting?" Harry sputtered.
"Oh my God, you really had no idea," Simon said, stunned. "Harry, you're gorgeous and intelligent and so quietly snarky that I have to spend half of these meetings keeping myself from laughing too loud and getting us kicked out of here. I always thought you were so out of my league."
"You thought you were out of my league?" Harry said. "Simon, you're football captain and friends with practically everyone at this school, while I'm lucky if I go a week without getting beaten up. I thought you'd laugh in my face if I told you I was your secret admirer."
"Never, Harry. Even if I wasn't attracted to you - which I really, really am, don't get me wrong - I'd never laugh at you for having a crush," Simon said sincerely, eyes smoldering.
Harry felt his face flush.
"God, you're stunning," Simon said.
"I could say the same," Harry said breathlessly.
Simon leaned in and kissed Harry again. This time, Harry kissed back, soaking up Simon's affection and trying to convey his own infatuation.
"Harry. Will you be mine?" Simon said once they broke apart, pressing their foreheads together.
"I'd love to," Harry replied, chest heaving.
And as their lips met again in a mesh of hard lines and carelessness, Harry was so thankful that he had plucked up the courage to reveal he was Simon Minter's secret admirer.