It was around 5pm when Armin and Hitch sat down at a coffee shop to talk, with Hitch steering the conversations and barely letting Armin get a word in edgewise.
The blonde propped his right arm up onto the table and pressed his cheek against his hand's knuckles. He took a sip of his hot chocolate and felt as if he were going to soon die of boredom, which he kept telling himself was rude to think about.
He spaced out for a second before Hitch waved a hand at him. The girl had asked him something quietly, and the blonde sat up straight and looked at Hitch with wide eyes, now attentive.
"Sorry, Hitch. What did you say?"
Hitch sighed slightly before smiling, reaching over to rest her hand delicately on top of Armin's. The blonde tensed and his pulse quickened.
"I asked if you would ever go out with me?" the girl said with a giggle as she batted her eyes at the confused boy.
"Go out where?" Armin asked innocently.
Hitch frowned for a split second before rephrasing.
"Like on a date!" she chirped.
"Oh..."
NO
Armin quickly pulled his hand away from the girl as if she were a scalding kettle. He began to fiddle with his fingers, and all the plans and things he had rehearsed to say to Hitch flew right out of the door in his mind. He gulped as he looked at Hitch nervously.
"Uhh...Hitch, I-I need to tell you something."
The girl raised a brow at the sudden change.
"What's wrong?"
She waited expectantly, looking straight at Armin and wondering why he had pulled away.
Armin sucked in a breath and spoke.
"I lied to you about Y/n..."
The boy looked everywhere first, and then to Hitch.
The girl was genuinely lost.
"Um, who's Y/n?"
"Heh," Armin laughed nervously. "Becky?"
"Oh." Hitch said unenthusiastically. "What about her?"
Armin inhaled deeply, and he pushed himself to come clean.
Let it out, man.
"I do like her. A lot," he confessed. "I just-I didn't want to tell you back then on Valentine's Day because we weren't--ah, friends... But now we are! And I feel as though I can trust you with this secret..." he finished, near close to whispering.
Hopefully? He thought to himself. He prayed.
Hitch's eyes narrowed, and then she huffed and crossed her arms.
Pouting, she looked away.
"You know, you suck at rejecting girls," she stated haughtily. "That was the worst rejection I've ever heard!"
She frowned deeply towards the window, and Armin panicked, stammering.
"I'm-I'm sorry!" he exclaimed genuinely. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings! I just wanted to be honest!"
Hitch pursed her lips before glancing at the boy. Upon seeing his worried, blue eyes, she sighed, chuckling weakly.
"So, I was right back then," she muttered.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, Hitch. I didn't want to lead you on," the blonde reassured her. "But you can't tell anyone about this!" he added. "Can you promise me that?"
Blue eyes pleaded with Hitch's own, and the girl softened her demeanor. Rolling her eyes, she gave in.
"Fine," she gave in and Armin smiled brightly.
"Thank you!"
"But what about Marlowe? Can I tell him?"
The blonde frowned and scrambled to deny her request.
"What? No! Nobody!"
Groaning, Hitch slumped over the table and looked at Armin in distress.
"Well, what am I supposed to do with this information! I have to tell someone!" she complained.
"Ok fine!" Armin relented. "Tell Marlowe, but that's it!" The blonde sighed and closed his eyes as he careened forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table and holding his cup in his hands. "You're lucky I trust him," he said quietly. And curiously, he questioned Hitch. "Why Marlowe?"
Hitch brightened on the topic of Marlowe.
"Because he's my go to!" she smiled. "He's a cool guy and I've pretty much known him since middle school. He has a horrible haircut, though. I begged him to get rid of it," she mused to herself as she shook around the ice cubes in her iced coffee.
Armin was pleasantly surprised.
"Oh, I didn't know you two were friends outside of German class."
Hitch got a dreamy look on her face, and Armin saw a blankness sweep across the girl's eyes.
"He's the kind of guy that lends girls his erasers. It's really sweet," Hitch noted as she spaced out and thought about Marlowe's haircut.
A girl can probably make soup out of that bowl cut. But it's a cute bowl...
"Uh...Hitch?" Armin waved at the girl and she snapped out of it.
"So, are we good?" Armin asked meekly.
Hitch sat in her seat and mulled it over. She smiled.
"Just friends sounds good!"
Armin breathed out in relief.
"Friends with benefits?" Hitch asked, pushing her luck.
Armin blushed and shook his head.
"Wh-NO!"
She laughed and shrugged off the rejection, finding the boy in front of her to be amusing.
"It was worth a shot."
She finished her drink and the two left, walking along the sidewalk on a particularly nippy, August day.
"So you and Becky, huh?" she asked rhetorically, and Armin only nodded. "Pretty sure she's down bad for you," she smirked over at Armin, who only shook his head.
"That's what everyone says. But I'm starting to doubt that," he said morosely.
Hitch prodded. "Why?"
"Well, for starters, we don't talk as much as we used to anymore," he revealed. "She would come over to my house all the time, and I would visit her often. But lately she's been turning down plans with me because she's busy hanging out with Jean," the blonde said, souring at the thought.
Hitch's interest peaked.
"Oooh, the one who went to the diner with us? The hot football player?"
Armin rolled his eyes and gave a lackluster response.
"Sure, I guess."
Hitch grinned slightly, bumping Armin's shoulder with her own.
"Aww, you're jealous of him," she cooed.
The blonde sighed and said nothing, only giving Hitch a side glance before moving his hands into his pockets.
"Who knew nerds had drama?" Hitch mused. "But, I dunno, blondie," she said as she combed her fingers through her hair. "I think even Becky got jealous at the diner. It was pretty funny," the girl snickered wickedly before turning to Armin. "When I asked her if I could sit next to you, I got the vibe that she didn't want me to. Her smiles looked like they were fake," Hitch had observed. She then hummed and stated with more confidence, "No, they definitely were. She's got the hots for you."
"But at the diner yesterday, she said we were strictly friends," Armin brought up.
"She did, but it sounded like she felt that you wanted to be friends. She doesn't realize that you like her! Give her hints!" Hitch suggested. "'Cause that girl's blind as hell. And you're pretty clueless, too," Hitch said with a chuckle.
The blonde stiffened up and looked at the girl next to him.
"What kind of hints?"
Hitch laughed at Armin's innocence.
"Like flirting, duh!"
"Oh..."
The boy went quiet under the sudden pressure he felt in his chest. Simply even thinking about flirting was enough to throw him off. He knew it seemed silly, since he always gave Y/n compliments, but flirting, he felt, was a whole other social tone.
"I-I don't know how to flirt..." he admitted shyly with a pink face.
The carefree girl waved him off and reassured him.
"Pfft, it's easy," she said. "Here, I'll teach you."
The girl stopped on the sidewalk and then cleared her throat, quickly fixing her hair. She then smiled at Armin and the boy shuffled around out of nervousness, not fully making eye contact with the girl.
Hitch moved in closer to Armin, closing the gap between the two. Running her fingers through her hair, she eased into a lax smile and then gazed into the boy's blue eyes with confidence. She spoke with a casual lilt to her tone.
"Hey, Armin, how's it going?" Her eyes fluttered subtly and the blonde pressed his lips together into an awkward smile. He didn't know what to expect.
"Good, thanks," he said a bit cautiously as he began to over-analyze his speech. "How-How are you?" he stumbled.
"Real good, after seeing you again." Hitch said with a giggle.
Armin was at his wits end trying to keep it together. He didn't know how to respond to that.
He only laughed nervously, until Hitch whispered to him to respond back.
"Th-Thanks?"
Hitch face-palmed.
"No! Boy, you need to change your body language," she said as she moved closer to prod at Armin. "You look like you're in the middle of health class getting a lecture on periods," Hitch huffed as she impatiently moved to adjust how Armin presented himself. "Get loose."
The girl placed her hands on Armin's shoulders and pushed down on them, telling him to relax. She reached up to squish the boy's face without any regard to his personal space.
"Your smiles look so awkward! Smile like you're looking at puppies! Or a math book, if that's what makes you happy."
She then moved on and pried Armin's hands apart, telling him to not fiddle around.
Hitch stepped away from the blonde. She set her hands on her hips and looked at him expectantly. "Ok, how are we feeling?" She raised a brow at Armin, with the boy's hands now in his pockets.
Slouching, Armin sighed.
"Better? I don't know," he mumbled cluelessly.
"Alright, whatever. But maybe we should have you be the one who's flirting," she suggested. "Pretend I'm Becky."
At that, Armin loosened up. He snickered slightly and stopped as soon as Hitch threw him a look.
"Is there a problem, Blondie?"
Armin, smiling, shook his head.
"No, sorry, sorry. It's just that the two of you are so fundamentally different," he said with a laugh. "I can't imagine you being her."
"Well, that's because I haven't gotten into character!" Hitch assured the boy. She cleared her throat and spoke words that seemed unnatural.
"Hey, Min— she calls you Min, right?" Hitch asked. Armin blushed and nodded. The girl continued.
"Hey, Min. Are you excited about the new Star Wars movie? I can't wait to go see it and then take detailed notes on it-"
"Oh my God." Armin burst out laughing and he covered his mouth. "I can't do this. She would never do or say that!" He turned away from the girl and walked ahead, stifling some more laughs. "C'mon, Hitch. Let's just go." He followed the path home and the girl gaped. She scurried to catch up to the boy.
"Who's Hitch? I'm Becky!" she called out.
"Just stop."
"Quitter!"
"No, I just can't handle this."
"Exactly, that's quitter talk!"
Armin chuckled dryly and stopped on the sidewalk once again. He turned to Hitch and sighed.
"Fine, but I'm not doing that again. It felt weird. Can't you just teach me phrases?"
Hitch looked at the boy in disbelief.
"You can't just memorize things!" she exclaimed fervently. "You have to improvise. Flirting is an art, you know." She looked wistful saying this, which made Armin think that she wasn't joking.
The boy drummed his fingers nervously against the denim fabric of his pants, and he nodded. He knew Hitch was only trying to help, but he found this whole situation to be overwhelming. He wondered to himself how exactly the girl could whip him into shape in regards to having prowess in the field of flirting.
"I'm scared," he admitted.
"Just don't be," Hitch said in a flat tone, as if it were that simple.
Armin frowned and heaved a sigh of annoyance.
"Well, we can't all be as confident as you!" he took on a slight tone with Hitch, and the girl only smirked at him, getting closer and looking him in the eyes.
"You're hot when you're mad."
Armin shut his mouth and blushed. His lips went taut as he huffed and quickly turned away from Hitch. He walked ahead of the girl, not looking back at the grin he knew the girl was throwing at him.
"Has anyone ever called you out on your blunt attitude?" He asked indignantly.
Hitch only chuckled and glided over to Armin, coming to a halt right in front of him and stopping him in his tracks.
"Marlowe has," she said lightly. "Right after I called him cute at swim practice."
The girl's smile was smug, and Armin only frowned, walking past her. He ignored how Hitch had her eyes on him, as if the boy were a new project for her to tinker with. The only thing he wanted from her was advice, and advice only. He wasn't looking for anything else. Definitely not her flirting.
"Hitch, you can flirt all you want with Marlowe, but just don't do that with me, ok?"
The girl pouted.
"You're such a grouch! What happened to the sweet, shy boy from, like, 20 minutes ago?"
"I'm not trying to be a grouch, I just feel weird having you say stuff like that to me so casually," he admitted. "It's...disingenuous. At least that's how I see it," Armin said simply.
"How so?" Hitch tested.
"Because, it sort of seems like you like Marlowe and no one else." Armin said with directness as he gave the girl a side glance.
Hitch gasped, stunned, and began to deny what she viewed as being a baseless accusation.
"I do not!" she said as she stuck her nose up and looked away from Armin. "He may be cute, but I hate his stupid hair and his stupid abs and his stupid up-the-butt attitude!"
Armin grinned to himself, and for the first time ever, teased Hitch.
"That's weird, because earlier, weren't you saying nice things about him? Like how he's a cool guy and how sweet he is?" Armin asked slyly and Hitch got riled up.
"Ugh, I meant that in a friendly way!" the girl very subtly flushed and glared at Armin, who chuckled.
"You also got a dreamy look on your face when you were talking about him-"
"Armin, keep talking, and I'll tell Becky that you're actually an asshole," the girl threatened.
"Joke's on you, 'cause she already knows I am one." Armin laughed and Hitch rolled her eyes.
"Just shut up and learn how to flirt, ya loser."
"Hey! That's uncalled for!"
The two bantered the rest of the way home, and Armin loosened up upon figuring out that Hitch might have (or definitely has) a crush on Marlowe.
The girl tried her best to prepare the boy, and within the next few weeks, Armin felt a bit better about approaching Y/n in a different manner.
His gradual attempts at flirting were amateur, pedestrian. He would often find himself covering up his intentions and playing it off.
"Hey, Y/n, you look p-pretty today," he had told the girl one day with a blush on his face.
The girl, in paint-riddled blue overalls and a baseball cap on her head stammered in surprise.
"I-I do?" she asked skeptically.
"Y-Yeah."
"Armin, how are you gonna tell me that after I walked out of art class with paint all over my hands, and somehow, my face?" Y/n asked with a nervous chuckle.
"I think it's... it's c-cute," Armin had responded meekly.
Y/n steadily went even redder. In a wavering voice, she clutched the binder in her arms and looked sheepishly at the ground. She questioned Armin and his sudden comments.
"Wh-What's gotten into you today?"
"I just wanted to be nice," he had offered in response.
Y/n covered her warm face and slightly smiled.
"If you keep saying that kind of stuff, I'll start to think that you're flirting with me," she mumbled shyly, echoing what Armin had said to her weeks ago in his bedroom.
Armin's heart raced as he felt a surge of anxiousness spring up into his chest. He retreated.
"Th-They're just compliments!" He clarified.
Y/n laughed skittishly.
"I-I know, dummy. I'm just teasing you like you did to me last time."
The two would have exchanges like this for weeks on end, with the both of them walking on eggshells as they danced around their true intentions behind the compliments and the praise.
They were at a stalemate, it seemed, and unfortunately for them, they were both just as thick-skulled as the other,
with their lack of awareness lasting them for months.