Zero O'Clock

Chapter 6

Finn did come back quickly, in nothing but a simple tee-shirt and worn out shorts. He looked at me for a moment and I suddenly felt the need to run a hand through my hair and another one down my face.

Finn must have realized the awkwardness his stare was concocting because he quickly looked away and cleared his throat.

"You can, um, take a shower if you want." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and I looked at him debating whether or not to accept his offer or not. But the thought of him staring at me for another moment was enough to make accept his offer.

I mumbled a silent, "Thanks." before quietly getting up from his bed and picking up the pile of clothes I had folded neatly before sleeping. I could feel Finn's eyes on me as I quickly opened his bedroom door.

Taking a shower in Finn's house, was uncomfortable, to say the least. The realization that all there was for me to use to clean was my hand as a sponge and his soap caused me to blush for the second time, as I turned the shower head. But despite this I still showered, but how I managed to step out of the shower without slipping was absolutely beyond me.

Finn was still in his room when I had walked back in. In a way I felt naked without my usual wave of exhaustion, and I wondered what my face looked like without it.

"That was a short shower.' Finn laughed a little as I looked down awkwardly before desperately running a hand through my damp hair. I didn't like the feeling of the water drizzling down my shirt.

"I've never been one to shower for long." Finn looked at me for a moment, his eyes bright and intense before he laughed and stood up, his keys dangling on his pointer finger.

"Well that's refreshing, a girl who doesn't shower for a year." Finn laughed as he passed me and walked towards the door before looking at me, " Come on, I'll buy you breakfast before driving you home."

I blushed, the heat rising to my cheeks and staying there.

"You don't have to do that." I attempted to reason with him, which only caused him to smile brightly before pulling me out of his room and saying;

"I want to."

-+-

The drive to Sally's Diner was the kind of drive you see in the movies. You know, the kind where the window is rolled down and some happy song is playing on the radio and the characters are smiling like a bunch of idiots.

That's how the drive was. There was no talking, but to replace the silence was a song that kept repeating how it was a love kind of summer, whatever that means. Finn seemed to like the song though, and I decided that, though the lyrics were absolutely dreadful the beat was okay.

"You ever been to this place?" Finn asked as he shut the door causing the car to make a clicking noise and the headlights to blink twice.

"No, my dad is big on eating as a family since my mother died." Finn nodded as if he completely understood before grabbing my hand.

I tried to ignore the way my hand was tangled with his as we walked through the diner door. Sally's Diner was set up like an 80's diner, and though completely empty it seemed oddly inviting.

"Are you sure we shouldn't have just waited for the guy at the desk?" I anxiously tapped my finger on the booth table. Finn and I had waited at the desk in the front of the diner for a solid fifteen minutes, but when no one came Finn decided it would be fine to just sit in one of the booths and wait.

"Don't you trust me, I mean we did after all sleep together." I groaned in embarrassment before crossing my arms and placing my head between them.

"Please be quiet." Though my comment only seemed to cause Finn to laugh.

"Where's your mom?" The new voice caused me to look up as I saw a girl, no older than me, standing at our table. She was dangerously beautiful.

"She's Sleeping." Finn looked at me before back at the girl. "Lucy this is Edith."

Finn gave me a reassuring smile as Lucy looked at me. Her eyes were extremely bright.

Lucy smiled before looking at Finn and making a face, I pretended I didn't notice.

"So," Lucy dragged on as she took a notepad out of her apron pocket, "What can I get you?"

Finn looked at me before snatching my menu out of my hands and handing to Lucy and saying, "The regular."

It was when Lucy walked away that I leaned over the table a smacked him on the head.

"Excuse me, but I was really looking forward to my belgian waffles." Finn laughed before looking at me.

"Trust me, 'the regular' is better than belgium waffles."

And it was. You see the regular consisted of 6 waffles, that Finn told me were called "Liege Waffles," stacked upon one another, while being surrounded by at least a dozen linked sausages, and topped off with a perfect whip cream and strawberries.

"There is no way we can both eat all of this." I said looking across the table at Finn who had already stuck his spoon in the whip cream and shoved it in his mouth.

"We can always pack some to go but this is nothing, wait until my birthday." I felt butterflies fill my stomach once again at the mention of "waiting" with Finn. "I always get my cake from here, and the chef goes all out."

I laughed before sticking my fork into the top waffle and replying "can't wait."

The ride home after breakfast was comfortable, due not only to the fact that the sun was shining in a very beautiful way but also due to the fact that I was deliciously full.

Finn took the long route to my house and to this day I'm unsure if he had done it on purpose or not. All I know is that I enjoyed watching him drive and the way he would smile at me anytime we reached a stop light.

And even when he dropped me off, the picture of him smiling stayed with me as I entered the door and walked up to my room. I had slept, I had really slept, and not by myself but with a boy who seemed almost as tragic as I did. And I loved the thought of it.