Rowing the Rarepair Rowboat: Shawn Hunter x Topanga Lawrence (Boy Meets World)
Topanga blinks at Shawn as if he's making no sense, talking complete and utter nonsense. Maybe he is. Honestly, he's just flying on autopilot at this point, otherwise he'd start to overthink, and then he'd mess up, and then the whole thing would be a disaster.
"Are you..." She clears her throat, bringing a little bit of composure to the conversation, because his tapping fingers certainly aren't. "You're asking me out?"
Shawn takes a sharp breath in, because the words sound so strange coming out of Topanga's mouth. His mouth is too dry, so he tries to swallow but it doesn't help much.
Not when she's peering at him with those big, curious eyes that sorta feel like they're gazing into his mind, heart, and soul all at once. And the soft, though surprised, smile.
Cory, he reminds himself with a jolt, like he's zapped back to reality. This is for Cory. Stop getting distracted.
"Yeah," he says. "Is that -- I mean, you can say no, obviously, I just thought that I'd ask. Just in case."
"I'm just wondering why, I guess," Topanga confesses, her head tilting with that soft smile growing, encouraging as she shakes her head. "I mean, you've never exactly liked me."
Except that's not true at all. It's always seemed that way, because he's always acted that way. For Cory's sake. After all, if Cory had thought for even a second that Shawn had any more than friendly feelings for Topanga, he...
Well, he's going to find out how he'd react soon enough. If Topanga agrees. He just needs to be careful, that's all.
Laughing, Shawn says, "What? No! I do like you. Look, think of it as more of a friendly thing, if you like. Or just a first date. To see if we could work. It's just one movie."
Topanga continues to peer at him in that curious way, like she's trying to figure him out. For a moment, he worries that she will, because she's so incredibly smart that it makes his brain hurt, and she does know him a little too well.
But then the crease smoothes out and her eyebrows unfurrow. She gives a little shrug and nods.
"Okay," she says. "I like that idea. Let's do it."
Shawn fumbles, his heart slipping from his grasp with a bounce. He raises his eyebrows.
"R--really? You're -- you're saying yes?"
Topanga nods again. Then she pokes a warning finger at him. "But this is just one movie, okay? And we're not calling it a date. We're just going together and seeing how we feel."
Shawn puts his hands up, chuckling, and agrees. It's easier that way, less complicated. It doesn't stop his heart from thudding loudly and his stomach fluttering. For Cory.This is for Cory.
Except he can't quite stop himself from selfishly being happy that she actually said yes. So, maybe it's a little for him. But by the end of tomorrow night, no one else will need to know that. He can bury his own feelings to play matchmaker.