- Chapter 113 - Part 2 lol (I don't have a creative title) -
Warnings: Problems sleeping, mentions of abuse and dying, fear
Modern/Soulmate AU
Third Person POV
A/N, part 2. Thank you to berrythenewsie , fructose_fan , and _annanymous_ for answering me when I asked if it was too much to make a part 2 or not lol. I appreciate all of youuu (and everyone else who reads my stuff)
Race was stretching when he noticed something. He groaned out loud. "Mama Mia," he grumbled.
"Oh, he's angry in Italian," one of his teammates, Matthew, commented.
"What's happening, Toni?" His friend Declan asked him as he stretched.
Race looked over at the bleachers. "They don't even go here," he grumbled.
Catching his eye, Finch waved at Race, a smirk on his face.
Race rolled his eyes.
Race's teammate Kaiden giggled. "His Soulmates are here," he informed the other boys.
Race rolled his eyes as a wave of 'ooohs' flew around the group. "Would you all shut your traps?" he asked them. "They don't even go to this school. I'm not sure how they found out there was a meet today," he said.
"I mean, you are in quite a large friend group," Declan commented.
"Yeah," Seamus nodded in agreement, "they probably found out through Jack or someone," he said.
Race rolled his eyes. "I'll kill him if he told them," he grumbled, sitting in a front split to relax.
"What's your problem anyway?" Liam asked. "They've literally come to support you. That's nice," he told him.
Race looked over at him. "Because this'll turn into a whole thing where they'll drag me back to their house because they want cuddles," he explained.
Liam laughed. "I love getting cuddles from my girlfriend," he responded.
"And the token straight of our group has spoken," Matthew said in an announcer voice.
Race laughed with the rest of the group.
Liam rolled his eyes. "You're all annoying," he grumbled.
"I, for one, am just glad that Toni's stopped running from the Soulmate thing now," Kaiden commented.
Multiple others nodded in agreement.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Race asked. "I was not that bad, was I?" he wondered out loud.
His teammates laughed.
Race rolled his eyes.
"And per usual, Toni's just sitting in a split," Matthew continued with the announcer voice. "Have you even told your boyfriends that you dance?" he asked him.
Race blushed. "Not my boyfriends," he grumbled, doing a front roll to stand up. He does a side aerial for good measure. "And no, but they may be able to tell."
Seamus looked Race up and down. "No, totally not," he responded sarcastically.
Race rolled his eyes and pretended to yawn to cover up him flipping Seamus off.
Seamus and a few other members of the group laugh.
"Don't do anything your Nonna wouldn't like," their couch commented as he walked over to them, staring at the clipboard.
Race rolled his eyes. "Sorry, Coach, but Seamus deserved it," he responded.
Seamus stuck his tongue out at Race.
Their coach chuckled. "I'm sure he did," he responded, brushing it off.
A few of their teammates snickered.
Seamus gasped, offended.
"Alright, for today's meet, here's what happening," their coach started. "First is the 4x800 meter relay," he informed them. "Kaiden, Seamus, Declan, and Jeremiah are doing that."
The four boys nodded, exchanging smiles and high-fives.
The coach continued for a minute.
Race zoned out until he heard his name.
"Antonio, you are doing the 1600 meter run," his coach informed them.
Race nodded.
It took a few more minutes for his coach to address him again. "And Antonio," he started, looking up from his clipboard, "Cameron is out with the flu, so we're putting you into the 4x400 meter relay as well," he informed him.
Race nodded.
Matthew high-fived him. "We're doing this together, bud!" he exclaimed.
"Oh boy." Race chuckled as he looked into his eyes. "Just don't trip over your own two feet this time and lose it for us," he told him.
Matthew groaned as the other boys laughed. "I saw the mischievous glint in your eyes and ignored it," he said. "I should've walked away," he scolded himself.
Time skip
(We're just skipping most of the meet because I don't know what happens or how they work haha)
Race heard cheering as he crossed the finish line. He ran over to his teammates, who were all hugging.
"That's second place," their coach told them with a smile on his face. "That gives us eight points and puts us in first by one!" he informed them.
Race and his team cheered.
"We did it!" Matthew exclaimed.
"The third meet where we placed first in a row!" Race added excitedly, high-fiving his track best friend.
"If Matthew hadn't tripped in the last event a few weeks ago, it would be six in a row," Declan commented, smirking.
Matthew groaned. "Will you all let that go?!" he exclaimed.
His teammates laughed.
"Alright," their coach's wife started, "I want a picture," she told them.
"Mrs. Coach," Brady started with a laugh, "you get a picture of us every time we get first," he reminded her.
"Yes, and I would like to keep that tradition alive," she responded. "Picture, get together," she told them.
The boys on the team laughed as they all huddled together.
Race was in the middle of the front row with his arms around Matthew and Declan. They were both sophomores like him and he was pretty close to them both.
"Cheers to being New York City's best Borough!" Liam exclaimed.
"For everything other than football," Race added with a laugh.
The rest of his teammates laughed and cheered as Mrs. Ramsey took a picture, smiling.
"Alright, we have practice bright and early tomorrow!" Their coach exclaimed.
"Aww!" All of them groaned in unison.
Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey chuckled.
"Nah, I'm just kidding," Mr. Ramsey told them. "You get a day off tomorrow, but I still want you all running!" he exclaimed. "We meet back again after school on Monday!" he informed them. "Great meet today!"
The group started disbursing.
"You coming with us to get victory ice cream?" Matthew asked Race as they grabbed their bags.
Race shook his head. "I gotta deal with Soulmate stuff," he reminded him.
Declan rolled his eyes. "They can come, too!" he told Race, nudging him with his elbow. "My Soulmate is coming!"
"And mine!" Matthew added excitedly.
Race chuckled as he shook his head. "I think Al will want cuddles and I'm in a baking mood," he informed them as they started walking towards the bleachers. "Or dancing, whichever happens first. Speaking of which, hold this," Race handed his bag to Declan.
Declan rolled his eyes, smiling as he took the bag.
Race ran forward and did a front handspring. He bowed as Matthew and Declan cheered for him, grabbing his bag back from Declan.
"You'll join us next week though, right?" Declan asked him.
Race grinned, getting an idea. "I'll join you if Matthew has another week of not tripping over his own two feet," he told Declan, snickering.
Declan snickered.
Matthew groaned. "Would you all let that go?!" he exclaimed. "I did that once!"
"You do it all the time during practice," Liam popped in from behind them.
Matthew rolled his eyes. "Shut up, straight boy," he responded.
"Don't insult our favorite straight boy," Declan told him, wrapping his arms around Liam.
Liam pouted, pretending to be hurt by what Matthew said.
Matthew rolled his eyes again. "I'll meet you two at the ice cream place," he told Declan and Liam, starting to walk away. "See ya, Toni."
"Bye, Matt!" The other three boys chorused, before looking at each other and laughing.
"That's my cue as well, boys." Race pretended to tip his nonexistent hat. "See you on Monday."
"Speaking of, is that a morning or afternoon practice?" Liam asked.
"Afternoon," Declan answered.
Liam pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! He's not cruel!" he exclaimed triumphantly.
Race chuckled, his hands on the straps of his track backpack. "He's not cruel this week because we got first," he responded. "He'll have us do morning practices again if we lose."
Liam shuddered.
Race turned around, almost immediately bumping into someone.
Race cringed as he stepped back. He opened his eyes. "Speaking of," he glared at the boy in front of him, "which one of my friends told you I had a meet today?" he asked him.
Finch chuckled as he looked down at Race. "We asked them why you couldn't hang with us today," he informed him.
Race narrowed his eyes at him. "You didn't answer my question."
Finch chuckled as he pressed a soft kiss to Race's forehead. "Because I'm not going to," he mumbled, letting his lips linger on Race's forehead.
Race rolled his eyes. "Alright, well I'm sweaty and gross, so I'm going to take a step back," he informed Finch as he stepped away from him.
Finch chuckled.
"Nice job!" Albert exclaimed, holding his hand up.
Race high-fived him, beaming. "Thank you! I think we did really well today!" he responded.
Spot nodded, his arms crossed. "That was impressive," he told him. "And you did really well."
Race shrugged. "I did fine," he responded. "I could've gone faster on the relay, but that was unexpected and I'm not usually just thrown into that," he rambled. "I always do the 1600 meter run, that's my specialty." Race grinned to himself.
Spot chuckled. He ruffled his hair. "I don't understand half of what you're talking about, but I think you did really well either way," he told Race.
Race rolled his eyes. "Thanks." He pushed Spot's hands away from his hair.
"Also, you dance?" Spot asked Race.
"You don't?" Race responded, trying to be annoying.
Spot chuckled. "I don't, but Al does." He pointed to said redheaded boy.
Albert's cheeks reddened.
Surprised, Race looked over at him. "You dance?" he asked curiously.
Albert glared slightly at Spot as he nodded, taking deep breaths.
Race's eyes lit up. "What's your favorite type?" he asked excitedly. "Not many people I know dance, with the exception of like half of my friend group, so maybe I'm wrong, or maybe I'm just used to being around them," he rambled.
Spot, Albert, and Finch chuckled.
"My favorite type is probably tumbling or jazz," Albert answered.
"Ooh, I love tumbling," Race responded, his hands still tugging on the straps of his backpack. "I also really like tap. Like really like tap," he informed him.
Albert chuckled.
"So, our plan is that we're heading to our apartment," Spot informed Race.
"Alright, have fun," Race told them.
Spot chuckled at his obliviousness. "With you," he added so Race would get it.
Race stopped. He looked up at Spot. "I smell gross and feel gross and am going to go home and shower and then collapse," he informed Spot.
"Oh look, we have a shower at our apartment," Spot responded with a chuckle.
Race rolled his eyes.
"Oooh! And a bed!" Finch added as he chuckled.
Race rolled his eyes again. "I'd argue more but I'm tired because I was literally thrown into competing in something I don't usually do and so I'm tired," he mumbled.
Albert intwined their fingers.
Race blushed the slightest bit, but he couldn't help but smile.
After the car ride
Spot looked into the back seat through his mirror. He smiled when he saw his boyfriends.
Albert was just staring out of the window as he talked to Finch (who was sat in the passenger seat) and Race was asleep, his track bag at his feet.
Finch looked at the back to see what Spot was chuckling at. He smiled. "Our sleeping baby." He chuckled.
Albert turned his head around to see what they were looking at because he definitely wasn't the one asleep. "Oh, yeah," he chuckled, "he's out cold."
Spot chuckled as he turned the car off. "Why don't you wake him, Finch, and we'll let him shower first?" he suggested. "Al and I will make dinner while he showers and if he falls asleep before dinner, that's okay."
Finch nodded.
Albert and Spot climbed out of the car, and Finch climbed into the backseat.
Race's head was leaning against the other door, so Finch wasn't going to open it. His head would've fallen and he could've gotten hurt.
Finch gently shook Race awake. "Toni, baby," he whispers. "Why don't you shower first?" he suggests.
Race flinched awake. His tired eyes looked up at Finch. "What?" he whispered as he stretched.
Finch chuckled. "We were thinking you could take the first shower," he informed him.
Race nodded.
Slowly, they got out of the car and walked into the apartment.
Race went to the bathroom to shower and Albert left clothes for him in the bathroom.
Finch walked in to find Albert and Spot kissing each other. He chuckled. "I'm sure that's great and all, but you're going to mess up the pasta," he commented.
The two boys pulled away, Albert's cheeks bright red and Spot unfazed, per usual.
Spot smirked at Finch. "You're just jealous that you didn't get a kiss," he responded.
Finch chuckled as he crossed his arms. "No, I want actual food and for you not to screw up the pasta," he responded.
Spot pouted. "You have no faith in me," he said. "How do you even screw up pasta?" he asked.
"I don't know, Spot," Albert mumbled as he rubbed his left eye tiredly. "How do you screw up pasta?" he asked knowingly.
Spot rolled his eyes.
"Don't make Toni mad," Albert told him. "He's Italian." He nodded.
Finch chuckled. "And you're tired."
Albert nodded, yawned, and walked over to the couch to sit down.
Finch and Spot chuckled.
A few minutes later, Race walked out of the bedroom (which was connected to the bathroom) and over to the couch. He flopped down on top of Albert.
Albert just did nice to his back as he fell asleep.
"I think Toni's out for the night," Finch informed Spot.
Spot chuckled as he stirred the pasta. "I guess we'll make him eat in the morning," he said.
Finch nodded. "And Al is somewhere close," he added. "I think he's awake enough to eat and shower, but then he'll fall asleep."
Spot nodded.
A bit later
Spot walked out of the bathroom and into the living room.
Finch was sat on the chair next to the couch.
Both Albert and Race were asleep on the couch now and all of them had showered at this point.
Spot looked over at Finch. "I get Toni, you get Al?" he asked.
Finch nodded.
Spot carefully slipped a hand under Race's legs and his other hand behind Race's back, carefully picking him up. He carried him to their room and laid him down on the bed.
Finch was only a few steps behind with Albert, who he laid next to Race.
Still asleep, Race almost immediately clung to Albert.
Finch and Spot chuckled, climbing into the bed. It didn't take long for them to get comfortable and fall asleep as well.
Later in the night
Race was sat on a counter in the kitchen. He was really tired and could barely see straight, but his mind felt wide awake.
Race groaned, throwing his head back as he rubbed his eyes. He hated ADHD, he hated nightmares, he hated all of this.
Race heard a noise from the bedroom.
"Antonio," he heard Finch's groggy voice, "why are you awake and in here, all alone?" he asked, standing in the doorway..
Finch was obviously tired; he looked it. He also seemed worried.
Race frowned. He rubbed his right eye with his right hand. "I... woke up," he mumbled, not feeling like explaining.
Finch sighed as he walked over to him. "Come on," he tried to pick him up, "why don't we go back to sleep?"
Race shook his head, not letting Finch pick him up.
Finch pulled away, looking confused.
"I..." Race wasn't exactly sure how to explain. "I can't sleep," he mutters. "You go to sleep, I'll try to be in soon," he told him.
Finch's eyes softened. "It's 3am, baby," he reminded him.
Race nodded. He knew that.
Finch frowned. "Can you talk to me?" he asked. "What's up? How can I help?"
Race looked around. "I'd usually cook to calm myself down, but you guys don't have the ingredients," he mumbled.
Finch chuckled lightly. "Sorry, love," he whispered. "I'll be sure to get some for next time," he assured him.
Race nodded. He looked back into Finch's light brown eyes, though he couldn't really see the color because of the darkness. "I..." he wasn't exactly sure where to start. "My childhood was kinda rough," Race started. "My mama died when I was six- well, when I was a few weeks away from turning six, so I usually just say that I was six," he explained.
Finch nodded.
"Once she died, my father started abusing me." Race cringed at the memories. "That's why I have constant nightmares," he informed Finch. "Nonna tells me that I shouldn't be scared of Soulmates because when she was alive, they were good for each other, but I can't help it," he explained. "I can't help but worry that if I died, a Soulmate would hurt my kid, or if one of my Soulmates died, the other would hurt me and my kid," Race admitted.
Finch frowned.
"And it's not you three," Race quickly assured Finch. "I trust you three... it just worries me still, and scares me," he added.
Finch hugged Race. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.
"It's fine," Race mumbled, "I'm used to the memories now."
Finch pulled away and stared into Race's eyes. "I promise you, you're not going to lose one of us," he assured him. "And either way, we'd never hurt you or a child," he added.
Race nodded.
"Is there any way I can help you fall back asleep?" Finch asked his boyfriend, chuckling softly at the fact that he had decided to sit himself on the counter instead of at the table or something.
Race shrugged, not making eye contact with Finch. "I don't know how well I'll be able to sleep," he responded. "That's never something I can really tell."
Finch nodded understandingly. "Come on," he whispered as he picked Race up. "Let's at least try to get you back to sleep," he said.
Race nodded and just let Finch carry him back to bed.
Finch gently placed Race down in between him and Albert when they got back to bed. Then, he crawled under the covers and hugged Race close.
Finch felt that Race was a bit uptight and tense, so he just played with his hair for a few minutes and hummed a song for him.
Yes, the song was definitely not a lullaby and was from a musical, but it worked anyway.
It took about ten minutes for Finch to lull Race to sleep.
Finch smiled. I love you, baby, he thought to himself as he pressed a soft kiss to Race's forehead. He closed his eyes and fell asleep after.
3232 Words
That was okay lol. It could've been better.
Weird question: which of my one-shots hurt you the most? Like, it was soul-crushing?