Hot Mess
Summary: Tina/Artie one-shot, spoilers for "Showmance;" Title is from the Cobra Starship song, but it's not really a songfic.
Pairings: Artie/Tina (I'm just now realizing that, if you initial the couple name they could be T&A… oops, let's forget about that for now.)
*One-shot
You're a hot mess and I'm falling for you,
And I'm like, "Hot damn!" Let me make you my boo,
'Cause you can shake it shake it shake it, yeah you know what to do.
You're a hot mess; I'm loving it, hell yes!
-Cobra Starship, "Hot Mess"
There were a lot of things Artie didn't know about Tina. He didn't know why she stuttered when she talked. He didn't know what her home life was like. He didn't know why the streaks in her hair were blue instead of, say, orange or pink, but what he did know was that he wanted to.
He knows it's not just some crush, or teenage hormones, or even the fact that he had overheard a fellow nerd in the hall saying that they would make a cute couple. When he's around Tina, something just clicks, and he gets the sort of flying feeling that he used to only get from his daydreams of dancing or running again. With her beside him, he's fearless.
"A-a-a-rt-tie?" At the sound of his name, Artie looks up and realizes the focus of his thoughts is standing right in front of him in the hallway, shifting her backpack as if she's waiting for an acknowledgement. It always amazes him how different she onstage, more outrageous, fearless just like him.
"Tina, hey!" Artie says, hoping he doesn't sound too sweet or too stupid or, really, just too much like how he feels. He notices, not for the first time, how pretty her dark hair is, and how her eyes sparkle slightly when someone says her name.
She looks down at the floor, then around the hall before laughing a little nervously. "C-C-Can I wheel you t-t-t-o c-class?" she stammers, surprising him by making the first move.
Unfortunately, Artie is so flattered that he forgets to think, and the first thing out of his mouth is, "Why?"
Tina blushes slightly and ducks her head. "I l-l-like you," she replies, with a level of honesty that floor him.
"'Cause I'm a player?" Artie asks innocently, hoping to make her laugh and hoping to hide his sudden speechlessness. She doesn't laugh, but she does smile, and Artie doesn't really want to push her any more than necessary, so he wheels up next to her and takes her hand. "Walk with me, talk with me."
She does giggle at this, but she lets go of his hand to adjust her backpack again, preoccupied with a few of her key chains that have become tangled.
"So," Artie asks, "how have your classes been so far?"
"Okay," Tina replies, and they both realize with wide eyes that she managed it without a stutter. Given, the word was only one syllable, but Artie figured it was a victory for her nonetheless.
She walks and he rolls, both caught in an awkward silence. Artie glances at her every now and then, admiring the way she just moves. Watching her dance made his jaw slack, and even now when she's doing something simple like walking down the hall, Artie wonders why most if not all of the male students haven't stopped to watch her. Even when she was less than confident, she was the dictionary definition of grace.
"Artie?" Tina says again.
"Hmm?" he replies, dragging her gaze away from her hips and up to her worried face.
"I a-a-ask-ked y-y-you w-w-hat c-c-lass you h-had," she clarified.
"Oh, that would be… um, lunch," he replies. He hasn't had to think about his class schedule since the first day, and here he was forgetting when he was supposed to eat. Tina continues to look at him oddly, so he turns around, and sure enough the cafeteria is three doors past where they stand.
"Oh," Artie says again. "Well, this is my stop, apparently." He smiles up at Tina. "So I guess I'll see you at practice tonight?" It was meant to be a statement but it comes out with a question mark attached to the end.
Instead of questioning or laughing at him, Tina simply smiles. "S-sure."
Artie steals one more glance at her gorgeous eyes, his eyes catching on the blue streaks in her hair, before wheeling himself around. It isn't until he's gone a few feet that he thinks of something, and he turns another half circle so he's back where he started. She hasn't moved.
"Why is your hair blue?" he asks, for once not caring how stupid he sounds around her.
"B-Blue is m-my f-f-favor-rite c-color," Tina replies, and just like that, it's her turn to leave.
Artie nods at her retreating figure as he heads back to the cafeteria, his blue eyes shining. Suddenly, he was that much closer to knowing Tina Cohen-Chang.