[h2][center][color=orange]Archie[/color][/center][/h2][hr]

[sup][i][color=00a99d]7:00 pm[/color][/i][/sup]
[code]Archie: Hey[/code]

He frowns at that. Stupid, he is. The absolute stupidest. He backspaces.

[sup][i][color=00a99d]7:01 pm[/color][/i][/sup]
[code]Archie: So, how are you?[/code]

Ugh, he thinks. It sounds so strained, like the small talk you make when you don't really want to be having the conversation. While he erases that message, too, he wonders if he should just call Natalie. That'd probably be selfish, though, because he wouldn't listen to a word she would say, but, rather, he'd listen to her voice and commit the sound to memory. That and she's probably working, she did say she had a shift earlier.

[sup][i][color=00a99d]7:11 pm[/color][/i][/sup]
[code]Archie: I missed you today.[/code] 

And that— in a perfect world, that's what he should really say. That's what he's thinking, after all, and Ellie used to complain about not being able to get inside his head. There's something that won't let him send it, though. Maybe it's the fact that it's almost too candid; too sincere. They knew each other intimately, as metas and as people, but at the end of the day she had only met him recently. She might take it the wrong way. He doesn't want her to.

All he knows is that they both has chemistry with one another that he hasn't felt in a long time, and he didn't want to lose that. He erases the 'I miss you' and types. 

[sup][i][color=00a99d]7:35 pm[/color][/i][/sup]
[code]Archie: Would you like to grab lunch sometime?[/code]

He hates that too, though, hates absolutely every word that's coming to his mind. He might even dislike himself a little (lot) at this point, and he's admittedly furious with himself for letting his inability to talk to her win out when it's the last thing he wanted. The text sounds so... loosey goosey? He wasn't sure. He hadn't done this in a long time. Although, he was certain that his father was rolling in his grave laughing at his self induced misfortune.

Dating is hard.
[hr]
[@Silver Carrot]