Missing Moments

Piper and Finn Go to the Movies

Between 7x01 and 7x02

24 minutes. Finn was 24 minutes late. And counting.

When Piper had called him to ask where he was, he had assured her that he was on his way and would be at the movie theater by 7:30.

He'd better hope, for his sake, that he didn't hit any traffic.

Having initially anticipated Finn being a few minutes late, Piper had already bought his ticket, their popcorn, and their drinks so they could find their seats as soon as he arrived. At the time, she had felt like doing something out of the kindness of her heart, but around the sixteen-minute mark, she had decided that $36 was actually very expensive and that Finn would definitely be paying her back instead. Good thing he had just gotten paid last weekend for dog-sitting his older sister's puppy while she was out of town with her boyfriend.

Piper's foot tapped slowly against the floor as her phone vibrated with a new text from her sister Julia, who she had been ranting to over the last ten minutes.

P: Finn's late
P: Again 😒
J: Did you text him to see where he is??
P: I told him to be here at 7 and when I called at 7:10, he had just left his house
P: We're going to miss the previews at this point
P: And you know how much I love the previews 😠
J: Oof he's really digging his grave tonight
J: RIP Finn
P: It's been 20 mins and HE'S STILL NOT HERE
J: Make sure he buys the snacks then
P: I would but I already bought them for us ugh
P: He's totally paying me back for this
J: Eat it all and tell him to buy more
P: I can't eat an entire bucket of popcorn, I got the really big one
J: Not with that attitude you can't

Piper rolled her eyes at the latest text. She wasn't going to eat an entire bucket of popcorn by herself. She refused. The only reason she had even bought the largest popcorn was because Finn's stomach was an endless pit, and he was liable to complain if she didn't get a big enough size.

Of course, Finn couldn't exactly eat it all if he never showed up.

As she responded to Julia's text, two girls walked by, glancing her way and muttering amongst themselves. One of them was speaking loudly enough that Piper could just barely hear her. "... must have been stood up. Look, she even got snacks and everything, and they never even showed. How sad."

Piper grit her teeth, nostrils flaring as she let out a long breath through her nose. She had half a mind to call back to them: "I didn't get stood up! This isn't even a date!" She refrained from doing so, however, because the last thing she wanted was everyone in the theater lobby turning to look at her.

And yes, for the record, as she had assured both of her parents, Julia, and James, this was not a date. Finn had really wanted to see the new spy movie, and Piper was interested in it too, so they'd agreed to go together. It was a friendly outing, not a date, even if her family was convinced otherwise. Her mother had been very adamant about making sure Finn kept his hands to himself when she dropped her off, and Piper had been so horrified that she'd simply slammed the car door behind her and stalked away to the ticket booth.

Really, she supposed, it was her family who had set off her bad mood tonight, but Finn really wasn't helping his case.

At exactly 7:29, Finn finally strolled into the movie theater, an easy grin on his face. Piper stood as he approached at a leisurely pace, completely unconcerned about the fact that they had for sure missed all the previews and probably the first ten minutes of the movie.

"Hey Pipes!"

"Nice of you to finally show up," she snapped. She shoved the giant bucket of popcorn into his arms and grabbed their drinks and tickets before making a beeline for the ticket usher, but of course, there was a line.