I hope you keep enjoying my grumpy Lil man Finn. <3
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That weekend, Finnley returned to the gym despite the slight soreness in his muscles. It was Saturday now and he planned to go Sunday as well. The rest of the group wasn't going to meet until later in the days during the week and with a bouldering trip approaching, Finn didn't want to take any time off. Others in the group were better than him and he could guarantee that at least half of the group would be going on the trip with confidence. The rest would either be training hard or just not going.
One person he knew would be training a lot irked him to his core. He recalled that yesterday after practice, he got a text from a random number. It turned out to be none other than Griffin. Finn gladly let him know that he was a creep for getting his number from Sarah, but he was shot down when he was told that Sarah actually did it of her own accord. This event left Finn grumpy for the rest of the day, mostly because Griffin made sure he knew how glad he was for his help. Being praised or thanked like that felt unnatural and Finnley's only coping mechanism was anger. However, today was a new day. No Griffin to bring him down, only fun rock climbing and maybe a trip to a local flower garden.
With a puff of his chest, Finn felt ready to climb the same wall as before without slipping. He was in the zone, nearly to the top when an all too annoying voice called to him.
"Finnley, hey! Lookin' good!" It caused Finn to nearly lose his concentrated balance on the wall. He never got the chance to just climb anymore without the boy catching him.
"Shut up." His teeth were clamped together and he panted a little as he made his way to the top. When he finally made it, he turned to shoot an icy glare in Griffin's direction. It appeared he was gearing up to practice, but decided to watch Finnley while he was at it.
"What do you want?" Finn let out an exasperated sigh. There's no way he was helping again, not when he had to deal with it all day yesterday.
"I just wanted to say hi. It would've been rude to just ignore you," Griffin explained honestly, his deep voice showing no sign of mischief. It made absolutely no sense to Finn. Why say hi or socialize at all with a kid your friends bullied? If it were Finn, he'd be too ashamed to even look his way.
"Well, I wish you would've." Finnley climbed down the wall and removed the clip on the harness so he could continue onto the next wall. "See ya." He added once he was free, turning on his heel. Griffin was left baffled by the attitude and Finn was glad. He'd never let him break down any of his walls, no matter how nice. He almost felt like if he did, he'd be betraying part of himself.
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After a couple of hours of climbing and occasionally watching Griffin whenever he could see him, Finn decided he was ready to go get lunch and then go visit the flower garden. Although the gym showers were cleaned frequently, Finn took every precaution as he washed away the sweat from climbing. When he was all fresh, he got dressed in blue jean overalls and a white t-shirt with light blue stripes. His shoes were plain white converse, a staple of many of his outfits. His hair was still slightly damp when he was exiting the bathroom. Unfortunately, Griffin had just finished a climb and was taking a drink. He was sure that Griffin would try to bug him so he began to speed walk toward the exit, gripping his duffle bag tightly.
Almost like a moth drawn to a lamp, Griffin stopped what he was doing to irritate Finn. "Awh, you won't tell me bye even when you look that cute?" He faked a pout but it was so easy to see right through him with how his eyes twinkled in amusement.
"Nope!" Finn hated the flirtatious idiot with everything in him. Screw him. It was difficult to read Griffin. There were two options, he was genuinely attracted to Finn or he was making fun of him. Finnley highly doubted that there was any attraction there, however, and honestly hoped there never would be. Teasing like that made it difficult to ignore him, however.
Once he was out the door, he slowed his pace and trudged to his car where he eventually slumped against his steering wheel and groaned.
BEEP!
"Shit, what the hell?" he yelped, realizing he just honked his own horn. Finn dragged a hand through his hair before placing his fingers on the bridge of his nose. Once he finished his moment of drama, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the road to the flower garden. He planned to buy some flowers so that he could practice arranging them. The last time he did that, the owner of the place actually paid him for one of his bouquets. Honestly, he was hoping he'd have the same outcome this time because it meant he was good enough to start selling them himself.
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Finnley finally arrived and hopped out of his car in a rush. The flowers were fragrant enough to reach him, even though many of them were sheltered within a greenhouse. He inhaled and closed his eyes, enjoying his moment of peace. Now he'd officially have no Griffin to bother him.
"Hey Finn! A lot of our tropical flowers are finally blooming, if you want to check those out!" A sweet old man named Harvey approached him from a greenhouse. His skin was dark and had little spots from being out in the sun for most of his life. His little beard was whiter than Finn remembered.
"I'll be sure to check them out, thanks Harvey!" Finnley flashed a smile his way. It was hard to think that Finn barely smiled. He made the sun jealous with his positivity when flowers surrounded his environment.
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For the next few hours, Finn spent his time picking all of the flowers he wanted to try arranging. The tropical flowers would be new and delightful to bundle together, especially because of how bright most of them were. He subconsciously arranged them as he picked them out and in the end, had three bouquets. One with the tropical flowers, one with some strange flowers, and one with classic yet cute flowers. When he brought them to Harvey to pay the ridiculous amount for each of them, Harvey let out a light chuckle.
"Well I'll be! You just whipped those up like it was nobody's business! I tell you what, you don't have to pay for those if you let me sell them. I'll even give you half of the profits," Harvey said, a warm, welcoming grin upon his lips. For such a hard worker, he was always so happy.
"Oh, I don't know, I don't think they're that good. I don't want them to not sell or anything..." he grasped the strap of his overalls awkwardly, unsure of himself. Although Harvey had willingly sold his creations in the past, he couldn't believe he was good enough to sell them. His grandmother's legacy rested on his shoulders, after all.
"Trust me kid, I know what sells. They will sell. Your grandma used to buy flowers from me all the time so she could sell her bouquets at her shop, it's the least I can do." He assured, patting Finn on the shoulder softly. The mention of his grandma made Finnley tear up and he nodded, smiling gently.
"Okay...thank you Harvey. And don't you worry, my grandma's shop will return to the family once I get good at this whole flower arranging thing." He began helping Harvey set up the table for the bouquets, recalling how it was organized the last time he'd gotten his arrangements sold.
"I'll bet you could get the store back within the year." Harvey chuckled, wrapping an arm around Finn's shoulders before joining him in setting up the table. Their bond was special, almost like Finn had another grandpa. He truly didn't know what he'd do without him.
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As soon as Finn left, he realized he completely forgot about lunch. It was nearly five o'clock now. He'd spent way longer at the flower garden than he'd intended to and he was paying for it. His stomach was twisting into a million bundles of hunger, making him slightly lightheaded as he drove to the nearest restaurant. They served the best miso soup and sushi, even according to Ren whose parents are Japanese. Her dad was born in the states, but her mother moved here as a pre-teen and often prepared amazing dishes for the family. Finn was jealous, as he loved the food she made the few times he was able to visit.
Finn ordered his favorite sushi and soup combo and then checked his phone. Although he thought he'd gotten away from him, Griffin had texted him a simple hello.
F: Need something?
G: Are you going to the gym tomorrow too?
F: Why?
G: Because I was wondering if you could please help me out. I want to go on that trip and you're amazing at climbing.
F: Hmmm...I'll consider it if you keep telling me how much better I am at it than you.
G: Sure, your highness, anything to get the help from such a cute guy.
F: You're pushing it.
G: Fine, sorry. Just pleeeeaaase help me. :(
Finnley felt his lips upturning in a small smirk and immediately forced himself to stop. There was no way he enjoyed that conversation, not one bit. He just loved having the idiot ass begging him for help is all. Who knew he'd have the upper hand over him once they graduated? It felt good.
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Finn came home that night feeling full and happy. Today was a decent day, he thought, even with an annoying brat not leaving him alone. He wondered how he'd put up with him tomorrow. He sure hoped Griffin didn't get too confident, just so Finn could have the power over him a little while longer. Now that he actually had the thought, however, he cringed at himself. What kind of power hungry baby am I? If anything, it would be better to help him out enough that he won't talk to me anymore, he thought. Griffin was an annoyance and made him feel terrible because his presence just made him think of those bullies. Forgiving him wasn't worth it.
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I love these boys, they're just...so fricken cute. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to vote if you did. It would make me happy :)
~Mey