Simon adjusted the book at the top of the pile and, mentally crossing his fingers, shifted the entire stack into his arms. He held the top with his chin, tottering toward the library checkout area.
"That's a lot of books."
Momentarily distracted, Simon tripped over nothing and the books went everywhere. He didn't want to know who it was that had seen him make an utter fool of himself, so he just muttered an affirmative and began cleaning everything up. The person who had called out to him knelt next to him.
It was Ralph.
Handsome Ralph, with his blond hair and sea-green eyes and skin that tanned easily but was fair in the winter. Ralph with his broad shoulders and his easy smile and oh no Simon don't look at him that long your head is going to burst into flames.
"You're… Simon, right?"
"Uh," Simon said. His tongue wouldn't quite work right. "Yeah."
Ralph smiled that brilliant smile and Simon had to look away very quickly, lest he faint.
"I'm Ralph."
"I know." Oh, great Simon, you know. Great job.
Ralph looked confused for a moment, but didn't press it. "I made you drop these, didn't I?"
"N-no, they were just-"
"I'll help you pick them up," Ralph said. "And I'll carry half of them – why are you checking out so many at once, anyway?"
He thinks I'm weird! "We're. Going to the lake as a family and," Simon searched for words to supplement his lie. "I can't really be outside much."
Truth was, he didn't have many – or, really, any – friends and a lot of free time.
"Oh," Ralph said, nodding. "I get it. Say, are you okay? You took a pretty hard spill."
"Fine," Simon said. His face was bright red, he was absolutely sure of it.
"I guess you have to get that load of books home then, huh," Ralph said. Simon swallowed.
"Uh," he said. "Not necessarily. I mean. I know the librarian, and she can hold onto them for me-"
"Then we can go get ice cream! I was going to go with Sam and Eric, but something came up and now I have absolutely nothing to do."
He'd grabbed onto Simon's hands and Simon was fairly certain that he was going to faint. He swallowed. Why was his mouth so dry? Was his mouth always this dry? He didn't have any money.
"I uh," Simon said. "Don't have any money."
"Oh, that's not a problem," Ralph said, waving his hand dismissively. "I got my paycheck yesterday. Come on."
They got Simon's books checked out and left at the front desk – the librarian said that, yes, of course, she'd definitely hold onto them for him. Simon thanked her and followed Ralph out of the library into the hot summer sun.
"So, school's starting up again in a few weeks," Ralph said. "You're a year below me, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Simon said.
"Gotta suck," Ralph said, nodding. "I mean, because the only people in your grade are, like, Maurice. And that kid's annoying."
"He mostly sticks to irritating Roger."
"Point," Ralph said, nodding. The Dairy Queen was just a block away from the library, and Simon took in a deep breath of cold air as they entered. "What do you want? I'm thinking a Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard. Medium, probably."
"I'll just have a cookie dough blizzard," Simon said. Ralph nodded.
"Hey, I'll order, alright? You go find us a place to sit."
Simon nodded and weaved through the tables, tripping over someone's foot and apologizing and overall making a total fool over himself before sinking into a booth at the back. He took another deep breath. He felt a little light-headed, but he figured that was from the heat. He couldn't faint now. Not while he was hanging out with Ralph.
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling, even as Ralph came back with a blizzard in each hand. He propped a hand up on the table and put his forehead on it, licking his lips. He would be fine. He would be fine.
He blacked out for a few seconds and when he came to his head was resting on Ralph's lap. Ralph looked absolutely worried.
"Are you okay?"
"O-oh, sorry," Simon said, sitting up too fast and feeling lightheaded again. He shook it off this time, wiping at his nose to make sure that it hadn't started bleeding. It hadn't, thank God. "That just. Happens sometimes."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," Simon said, feeling a weird sort of elation at Ralph caring about him. His vision zeroed in on the cookie dough blizzard. Ralph saw him looking and passed it over to him. "Sorry for that."
"No, man, it's fine," Ralph said. "If you want, you can lean on me until you feel better."
"Thanks," Simon said, scooting closer to Ralph and, face practically on fire, rested his head on Ralph's shoulder. He tried to distract himself with the ice cream, but it was near impossible. "I… thanks. For the ice cream."
"No problem," Ralph said. "After all, you're nice. And I did cause you to drop a dozen books."
Simon didn't really say anything else the rest of the time, just enjoying his time with Ralph. He was thinking about it so much that, on his way home, he forgot his books until he was nearly in his driveway.
This was written for an anon, who wanted a fluffy Ralmon! Again with the Lord of the Flies, it's making me want to reread the book.