When I was in college, I was pretty into a girl, but was too nervous to ask her out. I’m also famously oblivious.

A few months into this, she texts me saying she needs someone to peer review a paper, and wants me to come over to her place the next night around 10. She also specifically says her roommate will he out and she knows neither of us are seeing anyone, so we’ll both be free to meet up.

So I go over there, and she comes out wearing yoga pants and a sports bra. I figure she’s wanting to go to bed pretty soon.

She asks if I want a drink, and I ask for some water…She grabs it for me and sits next to me on the couch, and I lean in and… ask for the paper.

She’s like, “Oh, yeah.” And she goes and prints it out and brings it to me.

It was pretty rough, and I peer-reviewed the shit out of it. I showed her a bunch of mistakes and stuff, tell her she has some work to do, and leave.

I didn’t realize how much of a seemingly-cruel dumbass I was for like a year.

Not cruel, not a dumbass. She got what she asked for. If she wanted intimacy she should have communicated better.
So go text your crush right now that you want to go on a date with her this weekend. Putting yourself out there is scary. OPhad a crush on the girl but was too afraid to saw anything. The girl clearly had a crush on him to, and did her best and (from her perspective) got rejected. OP also wanted intimacy and didn’t communicate that
He listened to the words she said and met her on that level. He went over to help a friend with homework, with no ulterior motive. That puts him ahead of more than 90% of guys in decency.
Nah she didn’t get rejected. She got what she asked for. Courting is a long game.