Newt had never been more stressed out. His English teacher had just assigned his class a project that would be due in a couple days. Unfortunately, it involved researching his main fear, which didn't excite him very much. Newt had social anxiety, which was why he was so nervous about this. He was very popular in his highschool, and he knew everyone in it, but that was only because it was small and he grew up with the majority of the kids who attended there. He never looked forward meeting people he had never met before, which is why he was so worried. Maybe he could find some sort of book on how to help people with social anxiety at the local bookstore? 

 And that's exactly what he decided to do. On his way home from school, Newt decided to finally go to the bookstore, even though he was a little embarrassed to buy a book about anxiety. But perhaps it would be worth the risk. 

 Once the blonde went inside he wasn't sure where to go next... It was very busy, and Newt wasn't a big fan of crowds, especially when he was alone. He saw a trio of girls smirk at him which made him feel uneasy, since had never actually told anyone about his sexuality before, and he definitely wasn't straight.

 "Hey there, you're very cute, would you like to get to know me sometime?" asked one of the girls with long, red hair. Newt blushed but only because of how awkward the situation was. 

 "Awe, I think he's a shy guy, that's so sweet!" stated a pale girl with bright blue eyes. 

 Newt tried to look normal, but he was internally cringing. Please leave me alone, he thought. I'm not interested in any of you.

 Suddenly, out of nowhere a voice spoke out, "Teresa, you and your friends should leave this guy alone. Just look at him, he's obviously not very interested."

 "Ugh!" yelled Teresa dramatically. "Can't you just leave me alone for once, Thomas?! It's not every day that I get to be in New York, you know!"

 "Yes, but I live here, and you need to know the basic rules if you want to continue staying at me and my parent's home," protested Thomas.

 Teresa rolled her eyes, flipped her hair, and charged off, her two friends flanking her. Thomas stared after them, shaking his head in the process. "I'm sorry about her, she's my annoying cousin. She's only here for the cafè section anyway, she hates reading." 

 He then held out his hand to Newt, causing Newt's legs to shake nervously. There's a really attractive guy trying to shake my hand, what do I do?! he thought frantically.

 "Oh sorry, I should introduce myself first. My name is Thomas, what about yours?"

 "Uh... I'm Newt," the blonde said quickly.

 The brunette giggled, causing Newt's heart beat to quicken slightly. "That's an adorable name, very original."

 Newt blushed and shuffled his feet. The next words that Thomas said astonished him, "Uh... Newt, would you like me to buy you something from the café?" 

 "Me?"

 "Yes... I just thought that maybe..." started Thomas awkwardly.

 "Yes, that sounds fine," said Newt before the brunette embarrassed himself.

 Thomas's eyes widened. "Really? Wow ok, I wasn't expecting you to say that."

 The blonde smiled shyly and followed the kind boy to the café section, where there was an Asian boy at the cash register. 

 "Hey Thomas!" said the guy rather loudly. "Who's that handsome boy there with you? Have you finally found yourself a boyfriend?"

 "Minho! Shut up!" said Thomas, slightly red in the face. But Minho wouldn't stop.

 "What's your name?" Minho asked Newt.

 "Newt."

 "Ooh do I detect a British accent? You know, Thomas has a kink for-" started the Asian.

 "Ok, that's enough!" said Thomas, who was now blushing furiously. "Uh... Is there anything in particular that you'd like to order, Newt? I'll pay, of course."

 Newt's eyes were wide with astonishment, but at least he knew that this was a real date, not just a friend date.

 "Newt?" asked Thomas. "Look what you did Min, you scarred him," he said to Minho disapprovingly.

 "Oh sorry, I'll just have sweet tea, thanks," replied the blonde.

 "Typical," said Minho.

 Newt raised his right eyebrow at the Asian questioningly, causing Thomas to chuckle and pat him on the back. The touch sent warm tingles through Newt, even though it was only there for a few seconds.

 "Anyway, I'll be having a mocha please, and don't forget the whip cream this time," stated the brunette.

 "On it. Why don't you two lovebirds go find a seat?"

 Thomas glared at his friend, but strolled over to a table nevertheless, motioning for Newt to sit next to him.

 "Sorry about him, he can be a real pain in the ass," said Thomas once the blonde had sat down.

 "No, it's fine. Bloody humorous if you ask me."

 Thomas laughed once again, and his eyes sparkled playfully. "You're pretty humorous too, but in a good way of course."

 Newt grinned and fiddled with his pockets, wondering how a stranger could be so nice.

 "One mocha and sweet tea," projected someone from the serving area.

 "I'll go get them," announced Thomas before running away rather swiftly. Newt wouldn't have been surprised if he was a runner.

 "A sweet tea for Newt," said Thomas in a really bad attempt of a British accent as he held out the blonde's tea.

 Newt giggled and held his hand over his mouth. "Tommy, you cannot do a British accent."

 "Ugh, Newtie, you're just saying that! You know that's not true!" replied Thomas in a surprisingly accurate Teresa voice.

 Newt blushed and took a sip of his sweet tea, aware of Thomas staring at him curiously.

 "Is it good?" demanded the brunette 

 "It's very sweet."

 "Well it is sweet tea after all," said Thomas as he took a sip of his mocha.

 "Thanks for buying it, Tommy." Wait, does he like that nickname? Bloody hell, I hope I'm not being too awkward, thought Newt.

 The brunette beamed. "No one's ever called me that before, I'm usually just called Thomas, and some girls like to call me Tom. I like it."

 "Really?" asked Newt, pleasantly surprised.

 "Of course, it's quite nice," said Thomas. "So what brought you here in the first place? I'm sure that you didn't want to get hit on by a bunch of girls when you came in here."

 "I um... I wanted to find a book on social anxiety... It's to help me for a project," Newt squeaked as he looked at everything but the boy in front of him.

 "Awe, that's sweet. No! I mean, I can help you find those kinds of books, I know where you can find them."

 Newt smiled shyly and giggled. "That would be nice... Thanks Tommy."

 "No problem!" said Thomas as he chugged down his drink and raced towards one of the aisles, motioning for Newt to follow.

 It took a while for the older boy to catch up to him, but he eventually found him opening a book on the floor.

 "I think this is what you're looking for," said Thomas, who was holding up a book titled; All About Social Anxiety and how to Overcome It

 "How?..." started Newt.

 "I have this book at home, and it's really helped me. I think that it would help you too!" exclaimed Thomas. "If you don't mind me asking, what is this project about?"

 "I have to explain what one of my biggest fears is in an essay, and how I could get over it... Tommy, I really think that this could help me, thank you."

 "Awe Newt, do you think I can help you with the assignment?"

 "That would be nice, how would you-"

 Suddenly warm, gentle lips, kissed Newt softly on his cheek, causing Newt to metaphorically melt. Thomas beamed up at him and winked.

 "Can I come over to your house tonight?" he asked. 

 Newt blushed, he could still feel the spot where Thomas had kissed him. "Yes, I would like that."

 "Hold on, I'll just write down my number first," said Thomas as he pulled out a random pen and scratch sheet of paper from his pocket. "Here, can you text me once you get home?" he asked hopefully as he handed Newt his phone number.

 "Yes, bye Tommy. Thanks for everything!"

 "It's no problem, anything for a lovable guy like you, Newt," whispered Thomas in the blonde's ear, before he vanished from sight.

 Newt gave a sigh of ecstasy, he new that Thomas would be his new obsession from then on.