The Replay ✓

{16}

Charlie left the house to let both of them get ready and an ecstatic feeling traveled throughout Finn's entire body. It was never like that with Brett. Something about Charlie just seemed a lot different. So much better...

"Oh my god, what am I going to wear?" said Finn himself loudly. He laughed at himself, feeling like a sixth-grade girl getting ready for her first date. And at that moment, he was far from that.

He ran upstairs, looking throughout his entire closet and didn't find anything except for some pants that he genuinely liked. And that's when an idea shot through his head. It wasn't the best idea he got in his life, but he had a feeling that it could work.

Finn opened up some of the boxes in the basement. His mom was never strong enough to actually get rid of his late father's old clothes, most of which could fit Finn.

The boxes made everything seem so real and all of the memories were coming back to him. It seemed strange that something as simple as that could make him feel so many emotions.

He picked a few of his favorites and tried each one of them together with the pants.

When he finally got through all five of his favorites, he didn't feel like he could choose which one he felt like wearing the most. They all seemed extremely nice and appropriate to wear on his first date, but Finn wasn't exactly the most stylish person that walked the Earth. 

He knew exactly what he needed to do, but before that, he opened a few other boxes, the contents unlocking some memories that he didn't know he had.

There was that one time at the beach when he and his dad built sandcastles with the plastic bucket that Finn now held in his hands. It was scratched at the bottom, yet not destroyed.

There were all those family pictures that Finn's mom couldn't look at anymore. They were just too much for her to handle, and he understood that. In some part of his mind, he felt the same way, yet wanted to keep the memory of his dad alive.

He packed some of the boxes back up and smiled at himself in the mirror. He dressed up in each one of the shirts once again and took a picture every time. He tried sending a message to Audrey but he wasn't getting any reception in the basement.

Finn walked back upstairs and sent the pictures to Audrey, asking her which one he should wear to the date. He didn't explain what he needed them for but said it was a special occasion.

Right after the last picture was delivered, his phone started ringing. It was Charlie calling.

"Hey, Charlie! Are you already here?" asked Finn, finding it hard to hide the excitement in his voice. He couldn't be more excited to go on the date with Charlie and he realized that he finally saved everything.

Charlie was not dating the girl anymore, and even if Finn wasn't happy about it, he knew that it was for the best. They both passed away in the car accident and so it was better that both of them survived and never got together than if  they dated and then died.

There's a short silence on the other side of the phone and Finn couldn't lie that he was a bit confused.

"This isn't Charlie. This is Roman Morrison. You don't know me, but I called you because you were the last person that 'Charlie' dialed... I'm really sorry, but he got in a car accident on the intersection of 6th and 54th and it seems..."

Finn just hung up in shock.

No, this isn't happening...