Chapter Text
Hange sat across from Pieck in her bedroom. They usually studied in her apartment because it was quieter than Hange’s house. Plus, Pieck lived with only her father, who worked the night shift and wasn’t around in the evenings. The two friends sat on the ground, Pieck under the window while Hange was across from her, leaning against her bed.
Hange looked up after a frustrated sigh echoed in the small room. Pieck threw her head back and closed the textbook over her handwritten notes. Hange paused and smiled, she was really cute.
“What’s wrong? You finally had enough of chem?”
Pieck moved the book off her lap and crossed her legs in front of her. She had on an oversized purple sweatshirt and black shorts. “Are you not tired?”
Hange held their chin in hand, pretending to look deep in thought. Pieck smirked and grabbed a soft stress ball from her desk. She used it when she felt anxious but right now, she had other plans for the small object. Pieck aimed it at their friend, who was now confused, and threw it softly. Hange caught it in their hand.
“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?” Hange held the ball up, squeezing it in their hands. “This is exactly what I needed! I was getting a little worked up over here.”
Pieck tilted her head, slightly mesmerized at Hange’s hand wrapped around the stress ball. “Worked up over those chem equations?”
Hange smirked. “What else would I be worked up over?” The arrogant look on their face soon disappeared as Pieck leaned forward, her hands now also planted on the floor. She slowly crawled on all fours in their direction.
Hange gulped, watching the devious look on her face. Pieck stopped in front of Hange’s stretched out legs. The stress ball popped out of Hange’s hand and plopped in front of Pieck’s right hand. “Shit.”
Pieck sat back again on her knees and picked up the ball. “Gosh, you must be really stressed. You were gripping it so hard.” She softly pushed the ball behind her and met their eyes.
Hange wasn’t one to back down when being challenged. “Actually, I think you’re the one that’s stressed. You sounded really frustrated earlier.”
“I am frustrated,” Pieck whispered. She gazed at their hands that were now gripping their thighs. She wanted to be the one doing that. Hange had on a black t-shirt and brown khakis. Their socks were mismatched and if Pieck moved any closer, those socks would be pushed up against her thighs.
Hange quickly pulled their legs back and sat up straighter, with a huge grin. “Then let me help you! What question are you on?”
Pieck’s eyebrows raised in confusion as she realized that they were withdrawing from her advances again. She rolled her eyes. She knew Hange liked her and she liked them.
She sighed and turned to grab her homework. She would prefer if they helped her with a different frustration, but she didn’t want to push them. “I was working on the fifth question.”
Hange grabbed their book and patted the spot next to them on the bed. When Pieck made her way over, they felt an odd vibe from her. She looked dejected.
Hange bit their lip. They were scared to take the next step with Pieck, even though they really wanted to take that leap. She was one of their closest friends and they couldn’t bear it if a romantic relationship didn’t work out. They needed her in their life.
“Here’s what I have so far,” Pieck pulled out the piece of paper and turned it in their direction.
Hange quickly gazed at the equation and saw what was wrong right away. They looked up to see that Pieck was staring sadly at her desk. She was faced away from them.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Just thinking about why the answer isn’t correct even though I followed all the necessary steps,” Pieck mumbled. She was lying and she knew Hange would pick up on it. Unexpectedly, Hange’s fingers reached out and tilted her chin in their direction.
Hange held Pieck’s face so that they could look into each other’s eyes. “Don’t think too much about it. You just copied one of the numbers wrong.”
They withdrew their fingers and pointed at the spot of the mistake. Sure enough, one of the threes had turned into a two half way through the problem. “You did everything correctly.” Hange nudged her shoulder.
They leaned back on the bedframe and slid further down so they were face to face with Pieck. They leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “You just got distracted is all. Don’t doubt yourself, you’re absolutely brilliant.”
Pieck sucked her bottom lip in as their whisper sent shivers down her spine. She turned to look at Hange, who leaned away again. But they didn’t take their eyes off of her. Their eyes were slightly glossed over and they had a stupid grin on their face. Pieck lost her breath for a second at the goofy yet intense gaze. The dejection she felt earlier melted away.
Suddenly an alarm went off from under one of Hange’s folders. They jumped up and grabbed their phone. It was the alarm for their curfew.
“Ah, well I have to get home before my parents flip. Thank you for inviting me to study with you!” Hange was pulling books and papers together to quickly stuff in their bookbag. They loved spending time with Pieck but lately, it’s been overwhelming. Hange was starting to feel things they’d never felt before for another person. And on top of that, the tension was really distracting.
Pieck watched as they stood up. Hange held a hand down to help her up, which she graciously accepted. They pulled her up and drew a breath in when Pieck briefly pressed herself against them to balance on her feet. Hange swiftly pulled away and walked to the bedroom door. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow!”
Pieck followed them out. “Text me when you get home?”
“Of course!” Hange leaned their back against her front door. They looked at her one last time. “By the way, you’re very cute when you’re frustrated. I don’t mind so much.” Hange winked as Pieck blushed and stuck out her tongue.
They reached to open the door but before they could leave, Pieck leaned a hand against the door and closed it. She pressed herself into Hange’s back. “Lucky for you, I seem to be more frustrated whenever you’re around these days.” She giggled as Hange gently tapped their forehead on the door.
Pieck pulled away and withdrew her hand from the door. She decided that was enough teasing for the day and they needed to get home. The door creaked open as Hange focused on the task at hand.
“Have a good night, Pieck.” The pair smiled at each other as Hange closed the door behind them. They nearly skipped to their bike locked at the front of the apartment building. The longer this dance went on, the more Hange became confident that what they felt for Pieck was real and that she reciprocated those feelings.
Pieck locked the door and ran into her room. She flopped back on the bed and grinned at the ceiling. The feeling that crept into her stomach was foreign and scary but Hange gave it to her. And she knew that they would never do anything to hurt her.