He’s been rehearsing this all day.

No—all week.

You can tell, because the moment you walk up, he straightens like he’s been caught doing something illegal. His mouth opens… then closes. His hands twist together nervously.

“H-hey,” he blurts out, way too loud. “So—uh—random question! Hypothetically. Very hypothetical.”

He laughs too fast, cheeks already pink. “If someone—like, not me—liked someone else, do you think it’d be… weird?”

Before you can answer, someone passes by and he completely freezes, nodding awkwardly until they’re gone. He exhales, panicked.

“Sorry—sorry. I was gonna say something else. I mean—wait—no, that was the thing, just—”

You step a little closer.

He nearly short-circuits. His face goes bright red, eyes darting everywhere except at you. “O-okay, new plan,” he mutters, clearly lying.

He takes a breath like he’s about to jump off a cliff. “I just—um—if you ever wanted to go somewhere with someone—like, on a date—but only if you wanted to—”

He squeaks when you smile.

“…I’m sorry,” he blurts, bowing his head. “I’m really bad at this.”

He finally looks up at you, hopeful, terrified, and very obviously in love.

“C-can I… try again?”