Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter and commented! It really makes me happy that you like the story.

Here is a new chapter!

Simon Lewis moved his fingers across the cords of his guitar. He was sitting by the window in his dorm-room, staring absently at the people walking by. His room had a view towards the gardens of campus, which was a much better view to have than the parking lot. He shared a room with another guy his age, Jordan Kyle. They got along well enough, though they moved in different circles. They were polite towards each other, but were not really that close. Jordan was almost never in their dorm, so they saw each other only a few times during the week. Most of the time Simon had the dorm for himself, which was good when he needed to spend some time alone.

His melody was interrupted by the sound of his phone receiving a new text message. He stopped playing, his hand now resting on top of the cords. The silence stretched across the room for a long moment before Simon decided to reach for his phone.

: Here's your photo. I edited it a bit, hope you don't mind.

Attached to the message was a photo. Simon quickly downloaded the photo and stared at it. He could see what Raphael had done to the photo. Edited the colors a bit, maybe added a filter or something. Simon didn't know much about photography. He knew what Instagram had taught him, but that was about it. Raphael, however, seemed like someone who really knew about photography. If the fancy camera he had been carrying the other day wasn't proof enough, this photo clearly said it all.

Simon loved the photograph. He had loved it the second his eyes had seen it for the first time. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It showed Simon sitting in a bench in campus, his head down as he read the book in his lap. It wasn't exactly that which made Simon love the photo so much. It was all the other small things. How the light shun on his right side and brought a certain glow to his figure, how soft his hair looked in the wind and the small flowers in his hair. It was how the colors of his clothes looked and how it all seemed to be in place. It was just...the whole picture. Simon loved it.

He wasn't a big fan of photographs. He never liked when someone else took a photo of him. He barely took any photos of himself. He didn't like how he looked most of the time in the photographs. He always felt so out of place, so different. Though that came with everything in his life. He always felt like an outcast. If his clothes of choice were anything to go by. Since he was a little kid he liked wearing 'girl colors' as his mother liked to call them. He didn't see what was wrong with that, but his mother always had an issue with it so he avoided them. Also, kids at his school used to tease him and bully him because of that, so he didn't wear them through his years in school. Throughout high-school he always felt awkward using 'normal' clothes. It was almost as if his body craved for the soft colors. For the pastel pinks and soft yellows. When he moved to college he decided to stop hiding and be who he really was. So he renewed his whole wardrobe and started using the colors that made him happy. He started using pastel pins in his hair and made flower crowns and just anything that made him feel happy. He loved his soft colors. He loved the flowers in his hair. He loved them. It made him who he was and he had promised himself he would never hide himself again. If people didn't like the way he dressed, then they were not worth his attention.

His best friend since high-school had accepted him instantly and didn't even blink when he started using pastel clothes. The other people he hung out with, Isabelle, Jace and Alec Lightwood didn't seem to mind. Alec's boyfriend, Magnus, was always giving him new pins to wear and helped him make flower crowns. Sometimes Magnus wore some flowers as well, though his outfits were more shiny than Simon's. But it felt nice. Comfortable.

He still didn't like having pictures taken of him.

But Raphael Santiago had taken one. Without even knowing who he was. And Simon loved the photo. Simon couldn't really define why he liked the photo so much. There was just something about it that made him love it. Maybe Raphael was just that good of a photographer.

At first Simon wasn't really sure if Raphael would send him the photo. After Raphael had saved his number in Simon's phone, Simon had sent him a quick text so the photographer would have Simon's number as well. There had been no reply from Raphael until now, two days after the encounter. Simon had really thought Raphael had deleted the photo and ignored Simon's text. But it seemed he didn't. And he had only taken so long because he had to edit the photograph. Simon thought it was very nice that Raphael had taken the time to edit the photo. He could have just send it as he took it and Simon would know no better. Without thinking twice, Simon made it his profile picture in all of his social media apps.

Simon L: Thank you :)

"I already wasted two days!" Raphael groaned as he walked inside his favorite coffee shop with his best friend in tow.

"Relax Raph" Magnus rolled his eyes "Just put up an add, I bet anyone would be up to do some modeling"

"I don't want just some model" Raphael sighed moving to take a place in the line "I already have an idea of what I wanna do and I can't just choose some random person"

The line moved and then it was their turn to order. Magnus ordered a chai tea and Raphael just asked for chocolate chip cookie. He would be working in the coffee shop for some time, so he could order something to drink later on.

"Does your idea have anything to do with certain pastel cutie?" Magnus asked, raising an eyebrow as a small smirk danced in his lips.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" Raphael said quickly, taking a seat in one of the booths of the coffee shop. Magnus sat down across from him.

"Right" Magnus laughed "I saw you editing that photo you know"

"It's just a photograph" Raphael rolled his eyes "I have no idea who the guy is"

"His name is Simon Lewis" Magnus said "Fan of video games, loves wearing pink and yellow, knows how to sing. And he's single, if you wanted to know"

"Callate" Raphael said, his cheeks burning but thankfully his blush went unnoticed.

Magnus laughed out loud but commented no further. He took a drink of his chai and smirked towards his friend's direction, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Raphael scowled at his friend and gave a small bite to his cookie.

The sound of the door opening caught their attention, as a gush of wind blew past them blowing some of their napkins away. Both of them turned towards the front door. To Magnus's delight and Raphael's surprise, Simon Lewis walked inside the coffee shop.

Today, Simon was wearing a long cotton sweater in what seemed like pink and blue water-color. Underneath he wore a white button-up shirt. He wore black skinny jeans and soft pink high tops. On top of his head he wore a flower crown with white and soft pink flowers. Raphael thought he looked completely endearing.

"SEAMUS"

Magnus's voice startled Raphael, since he was not expecting his best friend to call towards the other guy. Even though he clearly said his name incorrectly. Simon, it seemed, also was not expecting that and he jumped in fright. His eyes looked around the store until he found Magnus waving at him from the booth. With a nervous smile when he noticed Raphael was also sitting there, he started to walk towards them. Raphael groaned and glared towards Magnus, but didn't say anything.

"Sean! So nice to see you around here" Magnus grinned

"You know my name is Simon" Simon frowned crossing his arms against his chest.

"That's what I said" Magnus waved his arm "What brings you here?"

"Uh...I just wanted some coffee" Simon shrugged

"Funny! Raphael here too" Magnus grinned, pointing at his best friend.

"¿Qué estas haciendo?" Raphael hissed in Spanish

"But I was just on my way out" Magnus continued.

"Oh...okay?" Simon said confused

"Yeah" Magnus grinned "So I'll leave you two...go get some coffee! See you later"

"Bane!" Raphael snarled but his friend was already walking out of the shop.

The two were left in an uncomfortable silence. Raphael fuming after his best friend and Simon just moving his weight from one feet to the other. He started playing with the sleeves of his shirt, not really knowing what to do. Eventually, the silence became too much for both of them. Too tense. Too awkward.

"Uum..." Simon trailed off, coughing against his sleeve "Would you...would you like to get some coffee?"

"Sure...why not" Raphael sighed, but stood up nonetheless.

Simon smiled nervously at him and Raphael returned the smile, though a bit smaller. Together they moved towards the counter. Raphael left his jacket and the half-eaten cookie in the booth so no one else would sit in there.

"I'll get a caramel latte with whipped cream" Raphael told the girl behind the counter.

"Wait...you're a sweet-coffee kinda guy?" Simon asked with wide eyes "I thought you would be a black-as-my-soul coffee kinda guy"

"What?" Raphael laughed "My soul is not black, thank you very much. And I do have a sweet tooth, though I rarely admit it"

"Wow" Simon seemed honestly surprised. It then was his turn to order, and he ordered a simple black coffee.

"Are you kidding me?" Raphael said "You seem like the guy who would ask for something with sprinkles on top"

"Not everything about me is sweet-colored" Simon protested and giggled afterwards. "Looks like we have a lot going on other than our looks"

"Seems like it" Raphael mused.

Simon had spent almost all of his afternoon in the coffee shop with Raphael. They didn't feel time passing by until Simon's phone started blaring the Legend of Zelda theme song. He had blushed when Raphael turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. Clary had been calling him asking about their movie night. He and Clary had movie nights at least once a week. Usually it was just the two of them, though lately Clary had started inviting her boyfriend Jace and Isabelle tagged along. Sometimes even Magnus and Alec went, though it wasn't that ofter. Alec went if his siblings dragged him along and whenever he went, Magnus went as well. Simon wondered if Raphael would join them one day, since he seemed to be a friend of Magnus'. He quickly dismissed the idea. Raphael didn't seem like the kind of person who would go to movie nights.

Simon quickly excused himself, explaining he had to get home before Clary arrived or she would kill him. Though his explanation was more a fumble of words that probably made no sense. Raphael nodded, though, and wished him a good night. Simon smiled shyly at him, standing a bit awkwardly next to the table where Raphael was still sitting down. He wanted to say something else, but instead he blushed, mumbled a quick goodbye and rushed out of the coffeeshop. He didn't see Raphael smiling fondly after him.

"I didn't know you were friends" Clary frowned when Simon gushed to her about his afternoon.

"Well...me neither" Simon laughed nervously "It's all just really weird. But in a good way, you know?"

"I don't know Simon" Clary said "He always looked a bit creepy to me"

"He's not creepy" Simon frowned "He's friends with Magnus! And he's really nice...when you don't take personally his sarcasm or irritated attitude"

"Simon" Clary rolled her eyes "Just stay away from him, alright?"

"But why?" Simon actually pouted "He looks like a great guy"

"I don't trust him" Clary shrugged "Plus, you barely know him...I just don't want you to get hurt"

Simon nodded, but commented no further. He curled up in the blanket he had and turned his attention to the TV that was playing second movie of The Hobbit. It was only him and Clary that night and they had decided to marathon on the three movies. None of them said anything else afterwards and mid-way through the third movie Clary fell asleep, her head on his shoulder.