"Why do you think I hid in the library? No one was going to tease me in there."
He sighed and pulled her close. "I'm sorry for all those people who were mean to you. I hate that I was one of them. I just went with the others."
"It's okay."
"It's not. But, it's too late to change that now." He looked at her intently, feeling hot tears pressing against his eyes. He forced them back before she saw them. "So anyway, I was going to introduce myself to you after math class. But them someone else got to me first, and you disappeared."
"Why did you just wait until next class?"
"I thought about it. But, when I just looked at you, you panicked. I knew I couldn't just point blank, 'Hey, I like you. Let's hang out.' There had to be an angle. So, I had a dentist appointment coming up or something. I had that plan."
"So, you lied to me."
"You knew shortly into things that I wasn't dumb."
She grinned at him, tears in her eyes. "I can't believe I thought for a minute you were stupid."
He winked. "I'm crafty." He put his hands on her face, brushing the tears away from her eyes. "Honestly, I didn't think I'd fall for you. I thought I'd get to know you a little, try to explain your passion and then we'd go our separate ways. Try to find that passion in myself."
"I remember being in utter shock that you even knew that I was in your math class. You were so self-assured, walking around school like you owned it."
"I was just as freaked out about life as you were. I just, I knew how to hide it. I had to hide it. In my house weakness was punished."
She ran a hand through his hair. "The fact that you were a total hottie was in your favour."
He nuzzled her. "That helped. Would you be with me if I weren't a total hottie?" He raised an eyebrow with a quirk.
"If you were," she glanced down, "like me." She chose her words carefully, "Unatheletic, glasses, shy. But, just like you, smart, funny, yeah I'd love you anyway. It might make it easier to explain to myself."
"See, you can love me despite my shortcomings."
"Most people wouldn't take the time to take a second look at me. You did, I love you for that alone." She blushed again and pressed herself against him. She kissed him deeply, her fingers travelling over his skin. This conversation was obviously over.