Into You •Finnpoe Stormpilot•

Chapter V

Poe yawned with the corners of his mouth curved upwards. He tucked his arms beneath his pillow and recalled the events from the day before. He couldn't believe that Finn would have enough of an influence on him to make him wake up with a smile. He couldn't remember the last time he did that.

Throwing on his clothes for work, Poe grabbed his keys and made his way down to his car. He had made sure to gas it up before work- he wasn't going to make that mistake again- and drove down town with his fingers drumming on the steering wheel still holding a smile.

He clocked in and said a warm good morning to everyone he passed, which left people slightly confused at the rare tone. Maybe he had gotten laid last night.

It confused Richard most of all, who had thought he would've shown up in a worse mood. Anger started to rise in him but he decided to let the day go on and see if it was just Poe being absolutely weird or if he was actually messing with him.

Nicholas, a waiter, nudged Poe's shoulder with his own. "What's with the mood, dude?"

Poe shrugged, "Just had a good day yesterday."

"Yuh huh, alright. I'm like ninety percent sure you got some last night. You look like you slept with a hanger in your mouth."

"Nope."

"Alright."

"Uh huh."

Poe turned on his heel with a small bag of trash at his side and whistled while he went back outside.

Nicholas shook his head at him. "That guy's full of surprises," he said to himself.

The rest of his day was normal until the manager told him to throw on a shirt so he could wait a few tables since it was getting busier and busier.

Poe tucked in the shirt into a pair of slacks he had in the trunk of his car. He grabbed a few menus as the next group walked in and took a seat at a large booth. It was Richard and some of his business friends.

He was nervous walking up to them, especially after yesterday's fiasco but he put on a shiny smile and welcomed them. "Hello, welcome to Downtown Diner, can I get some drinks for you guys?"

One of the men in the booth elbowed Richard. "You let your employees show their faces like that in public?" he said condemning him after glancing at the faded blue purple bruise and scab on Poe's face.

Poe reached up and gingerly touched his still tender face. He wasn't sure whether to feel ashamed of himself or upset the men for calling him out.

He caught Richards fiery gaze that would've burned two holes in his heads if looks could kill.

He was in for it, bad.

•••

Almost Poe's entire face had a dark shadow of bruises. Richard wasn't necessarily strong, it was just that Poe didn't fight back. He held his ground and took it. He knew there wasn't much he could do. He needed this job though. It was all he had.

Poe spit the blood that had been collecting inside of his mouth on the concrete next to him. "I didn't realize."

"Of course you didn't, you can't even take out the trash without messing something up. You're a no good rotten scoundrel and I never want to see your face around here again."

Poe flung his arm around a nearby crate to help keep his balance. His stomach churned and twisted ready to bring up anything inside. He could barely speak without gagging or choking. "I need this job."

Richard kicked the crate from under Poe's arm letting him collapse in a heap of blood and bones.

"Not my problem."

Everything was blurry. His vision was shaken and weak. He couldn't even keep his eyes open. So he let them fall.

•••

"Poe!"

Finn ran to the limp body with its limbs spread on the floor. He slid to his knees, gently cradling Poe's head while he desperately tried to find a pulse.

Please. Don't be gone.

There it was, slow and steady. He choked back a sob; he had never seen anyone like this and it was so overwhelming. How could one person go through all this and still have the strength to pull them self together again?

"Poe?"

He didn't move but he was breathing and Finn counted it as a blessing. He slipped his arms underneath him and thanked the stars that he had remembered where Poe worked. He wanted so bad to find the person who did this to him. Poe in this state seemed to be normal, he figured, and hate boiled up inside of him, an emotion he'd never felt this strongly. How could someone do this?

Pulling his body close to him, Finn took Poe to his old red truck and placed him carefully in the passenger seat buckling him up.

He took one last look at the diner. It was dark and closed already. No one noticed that Poe was back there. No one cared and it made his heart hurt physically.

Finn was used to having people that cared, even if they weren't directly related to him, he had people he could've relied on. But Poe... he actually had no one. And it hurt him so much because he seemed so wonderful.

Gently resting a warm hand against Poe's cheek, Finn swore to himself that he would never let someone be so alone, that he help people when they were hurt. And he'd never let anyone hurt Poe as long as he was around.

•••

It might have been easier to carry a man into his room but taking one up stairs was a lot more difficult. Finn took five minutes to walk up two flights of stairs because he didn't want to press on any of his bruises and had to continue shifting the unconscious body.

He stood in front of the door realizing he'd actually need keys to get in this time. Glancing at the door, then Poe's pocket, he held his breath and slipped his hand inside his pocket to get the keys.

After unlocking the door and getting inside, he laid Poe gently on the bed. He went to grab some cloths and ice to help the swelling when he heard movement behind him.

"Finn?"

Poe was doubled over and had a hand on his side. His eyes were barely open from being swollen and his lip was busted and bruised. Still, he looked pretty.

"Do I look as good as I feel?"

Finn gave him a small smile, "It's pretty bad. You need to lay down so you don't hurt yourself even more. I'm gonna try to help with some of the wounds."

Poe groaned as he leaned back against a pile of pillows that were propped up. "You make it sound so bad. I've never been better."

Grabbing the towels filled with ice, Finn tried his best to put them on his body without hurting Poe. He still winced and grunted at the touch but kept the complaining to a minimum.

"Do you have any rubbing alcohol?"

Poe shook his head and teased, "No I usually just take it like man."

Finn rolled his eyes, "That's not a good excuse at all. I have some in my cabinet just wait a second and don't do anything stupid."

"I can't promise that!" Poe called out watching Finn shoot him a glare as he walked into the hall.

Poe grimaced when he looked at the time on the clock: 12:26 AM. He didn't want to Finn to have to go out of his way to help him, especially since this was the second time, not even the first. Reliability wasn't something he saw as a strong trait in many people and when they had it he didn't want to be a burden since he knew they would help.

"Y'know you don't have to do all of this," Poe explained when Finn came back in, "You barely met me anyway."

"I going to help you, whether you take it or not."

Poe sighed knowing he wouldn't be able to change his mind, "Thank you, you're a good man, Finn."

Finn smiled for a second then raised the bottle in his hand, "You might want to take a deep breath, this might hurt."