Hello, friends! Thank you so much for reading. This is a sort of a prequel one-shot for the Big Hero 6 Deaf AU that a friend and I are writing on tumblr. You can find everything about the AU on my blog (sobasicallyimafreak) under the header "My Collaborative BH6 AU", and feel free to ask me or my friend (balthazwhore) any questions you want about the AU :) This takes place a little under a year and a half before the movie, and it is before Tadashi has met the rest of the nerd herd. Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy!

This oneshot was inspired by a piece of artwork found here: milady666 dot deviantart dot com slash art slash Song-of-the-Heart-493961578

Tadashi wasn't about to lie to himself: he was nervous.

He sat in the chair that he had selected in the school library, twiddling his pencil and checking the clock for what must have been the twentieth time in the past couple of minutes. His study partner wasn't late, exactly - they had agreed to meet at 8:15, after all, and it was only one minute past then - but in the nearly eight weeks since he had met her, he had never known her to be anything but punctual.

It didn't help that this would be one of the first times that they would be completely alone together, and it would be the time that Tadashi planned on making his move on the gorgeous girl from his art history class.

Her name was Honey Lemon. Well, actually, her name was Elizabeth Paredes, as Tadashi had learned from the instructor's refusal to refer to any of his students by "ridiculous" nicknames, but every time he said it, she would get an odd look on her face. Tadashi had asked her about it once, and she simply replied that she liked Honey Lemon better. So to him, she was Honey Lemon.

They met on the first day of the semester, in the 9 AM art history class that they were both taking as a gen ed. Tadashi was a wide-eyed freshman, decked out from head to toe in SFIT gear, and Honey, a sophomore, was the only other person in class who seemed excited to be there (or even awake, for that matter). She had seen the open seat next to him and practically bounced over to take it, immediately giggling and complimenting his school spirit. They quickly got to chatting, everything from "what's your major" (chemistry for Honey Lemon, robotics design for Tadashi) to "why are you taking an art history class" (he wanted to become more cultured while in college; she had fond memories of visiting art museums as a child) to "what kind of music do you listen to" (Honey enjoyed Spanish pop and dance songs, and Tadashi pretended he couldn't pick a favorite genre).

Soon, they were seeking each other out before and after class, and their conversations grew to the point where a discussion over the morality of killing a zombie and whether or not they would feel guilty for doing so was a completely normal way to start the day. After a couple of weeks, Honey asked Tadashi when his next class was. Upon finding out that they both had a 90-minute break before their next classes and that those classes were in the same building, Honey squealed and insisted that they eat an early lunch together, since none of her friends had the same free time as she did this semester. This cemented their friendship and planted the seeds of Tadashi's quickly growing crush on the tall, slender girl. He did everything to show her how much he adored her: he'd bring her coffee (with the perfect amount of cream and sugar, of course), buy her little presents, give her flowers when she was having a rough day… He pulled out all of the stops, and she would always go on about it for days, laying her gratitude on thickly. This, of course, did nothing but encourage Tadashi.

He looked at the clock again - 8:17. Where was she? They were supposed to be studying for their midterm together. He peeked out of one of the large, circular windows that lined the library wall, hoping to catch a glimpse of her walking up to the building. No such luck. With a sigh, Tadashi pulled his phone out of his pocket and began scrolling through facebook. He figured he'd give her until about 8:20 before texting her.

He scrolled aimlessly through his newsfeed, half-wishing he could look through her profile to pass the time, but he knew that would be a little creepy. Besides, he had tried looking for her profile only to find nothing. He had tried every name he could think of: Honey Lemon Paredes, Elizabeth Paredes, Elizabeth "Honey Lemon" Paredes… Nothing. It was like she didn't exist.

Tadashi didn't even realize how distracted he was until he was suddenly enveloped in the smell of warm sugar cookies. Soon after, he noticed a pair of hands covering his face. A gruff voice came from behind him. "Well, well well, if it isn't Tadashi Hamada."

He broke out into a grin. "Honey Lemon. And to think I was about to give up on you."

"No!" The voice came again, but, having dropped the vocal disguise, it now bore a higher pitch and a giggle underscoring the words it spoke. "I was on my way. Smile." A phone with a pink, kitty cat case adorning it appeared in front of Tadashi's face, and he did as he was instructed while she took a selfie. She pulled the phone back to her face and squealed. "We look so cute! Okay, okay, come on. Let's get studying."

The bubbly Latina finally walked around so that she was in Tadashi's line of view. She looked cute, as always. There was just something slightly different today…

"Honey?" Tadashi asked, smirking slightly. "Why is there pink gunk all over your sweater?"

"What, this?" She laughed as she kicked her shoes off and settled down in the window next to the table that Tadashi was seated at. "Just a little chemical mishap in the lab. You should have seen it explode! It was beautiful!"

"As beautiful as you?" Tadashi asked with a grin. He had quickly settled into a pattern of flirting with her at every chance he got over the course of the semester. It was really easy, because she usually responded with something like…

"Oh my gosh, Tadashi, stop it!" Cue the giggle and Honey Lemon hiding her face behind her hands, pushing her glasses up her nose in the process. "You're such a charmer!" She called from behind her fingers.

"Well, what can I say," he shrugged in response. "I just like to let my friends know how awesome they are. So hey, what do you say we get into the romantic era, huh?"

Honey nodded and stretched out on the windowsill, her long, blonde hair practically brushing the floor. Seeing this, she giggled and sat up to throw it into a messy bun. Upon completing the hairstyle, she resumed her position and opened her book. The study buddies began quizzing each other. Tadashi got most of the answers on his first try, but Honey was having a much harder time with it. As the questions went on, he could see her face screwing up further and further. She chewed her lip until almost all of the lip gloss that had been there was rubbed away, and she seemed downright frustrated. It was Tadashi's turn to ask a question, but it died on his lips when he looked up and saw her staring at her book and furiously scratching underneath the sleeves of her sweater.

"Woah, Honey, are you okay?" Tadashi asked.

She raised her eyebrows and peeked up to meet Tadashi's eyes. "I'm fine, why?"

"Are you, you know, allergic to that chemical stuff or something?" Tadashi put down his book. "You're scratching your arms so hard, you're going to start bleeding."

Honey looked down at her arm and froze. She slowly inched her hand out from underneath her sleeve. "It's okay." She insisted, swallowing quickly. "It's just that… I mean, this is a wool sweater. It's kind of itchy and… Hot. It's nothing, really." She smiled again and turned her attention to her book. "Hey, let's get back to studying! It was your turn to ask a question, right?"

"Why don't you take it off then?" Tadashi asked, completely ignoring her suggestion.

"What?"

"I said, why don't you take your sweater off? If it's so hot and itchy, you're just going to be distracted." Tadashi stood up and walked over to the window to kneel down and meet her eyes. "Whatever will help you study, right?"

"Um… Right." Honey cleared her throat and slowly slid the oversized cardigan down around her shoulders. She got it down to about her elbows before it became uncomfortable to have him staring at her like that. "Why don't we, um… I study better when I listen to music. Come on, join me up here."

"Really?" Tadashi's face perked up like a puppy's.

"Yeah, come on. We'll share headphones."

To Honey's relief, Tadashi joined her on the window seat. She slid the sweater the rest of the way off and tossed it onto the floor, just far enough behind her that it was out of the way, but not enough that she couldn't reach it if need be. "What do you want to listen to?" She asked, holding up her phone and propping her feet up on his lap.

"Oh, I don't care." Tadashi shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever helps you concentrate, I mean…"

Honey smiled at her friend. "Let me just put on a playlist." She flicked through her music app until she found one that she deemed suitable and slid closer, her lower legs effectively enveloping Tadashi's hips as she offered him one ear bud. He grinned and accepted it. The two students continued to quiz each other on the different eras of art history, but it wasn't helping Honey Lemon much.

"Need a break?" Tadashi asked, smiling reassuringly at her.

"No, no, I'm just… Getting really confused about these paintings." She admitted, pointing down to a Dürer portrait in her book. "I mean… Why? How am I supposed to keep all of the eras straight?"

"Well…" Tadashi pushed a hand through his hair. "Think of it as like… Renaissance selfies."

"Selfies?" Honey questioned, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, selfies!" Tadashi was getting excited now. "Dürer was really into selfies! I mean, so were other painters, but he was like… The king of selfies. But then other painters liked other styles. It's like… Like how some people like to take pictures based on movies and TV shows, some of these painters liked to paint from mythology and the Bible."

"Oh, Like the Wedding at Cana!" Honey exclaimed, pointing excitedly down at the Veronese painting in the book.

"And then the baroque painters used a lot of contrast and lighting -"

"Like using a filter!"

"And the rococo painters?"

Honey flipped through her book quickly to get to the right chapter. "Soft colors… Love… Naughtiness…" she read softly to herself before sitting up and squealing. "Like those cute pictures that couples take of themselves cuddling in bed!"

"And neoclassicism had -"

"Historical accuracy and linear designs!" Honey cut him off, barely able to get the words out fast enough. "Like fashion blogs!"

By now, Tadashi was getting just as excited as his study partner was. "And romanticism?"

"Nature pictures!" She could hardly contain herself at this point. "Like… Like those people who take pictures of sunsets and cityscapes, right?"

"That's it; you got it!" Tadashi laughed. "See, I told you it was easy!"

It was then that Tadashi noticed how close they had gotten. They had already been in close proximity due to the limited reach of the headphones, but they had slowly been moving closer as they both got more excited about the art. Their faces were now mere inches apart, and his arms were crossed over her knees. Tadashi found himself lost in Honey's eyes as she smiled sweetly to express her gratitude. He could smell that warm scent of her perfume again, and he could barely think of anything else but the two of them.

"Thank you so much, Tadashi," she blinked slowly and pursed her lips, spreading around what was left of her lip gloss.

Tadashi gulped. It was now or never. "Hey, Honey?" He cleared his throat, trying to calm his jitters. "I was wondering…"

"Yeah?" She asked, confusion and concern coloring her face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just… Would you, um… I mean, if you want to, could we…" Tadashi shook his head and relaxed his clenched fists. "Why are we not friends on facebook?"

Honey raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Tadashi, I thought you knew."

"What? Knew… What, exactly?" He asked, his voice starting to rise in pitch.

"I don't have a facebook, silly!" She let out a soft peal of laughter as she turned her head to look at the clock. She jumped suddenly. "Oh no, it's getting really late. I have to get home; my parents will kill me." She quickly gathered her things and hopped on one foot as she slid her shoes back on. "Bye, Tadashi! Thank you for the help!"

"See you tomorrow, Honey Lemon," Tadashi called back in a daze, watching her leave. He sighed and threw his head back against the window's edge.

And then, Tadashi Hamada broke out into the biggest smile he could muster.

He had finally made his first move.