Summary:
Finney gets some things off his chest.
Notes:
Trigger Warning: Implied sexual assault (does not actually happen, but the subject is alluded to) Finney's father is directly mentioned to be drinking and the topic of suicide is alluded to.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Finney felt a hand on his leg.
He couldn't bring himself to open his eyes though, they felt heavy. Almost to heavy. He couldn't move. His brain began to rationalise, there couldn't actually be a hand on his leg. After all it was just him in the house so obviously there wasn't someone in his room, let alone someone touching his leg. He shifted slightly and the weight on top of his thigh disappeared, it was nothing.
He heard rustling and figured it was just the blanket settling. Finney could feel himself letting himself go and before he did mentally reassures himself that there was no one in his room. A slight breeze brushed across his face, he pulled the blanket further up his face and went back to sleep.
When he woke up properly he rubbed his eyes and immediately noted that the window was open. Finney shuffled across the room and shut it, it made a soft click. Finney made a mental note to make sure it was shut before he went to bed tonight. He opened his closet and pulled out a pair of jeans, the hangers made a clicking sound as they knocked together most of the hangers were empty. Finney had about five shirts, and three pairs of pants. So it should of been pretty easy for him to find the shirt he was looking for, however it was nowhere to be seen.
Finney shrugged it off and pulled out a different shirt.
He got dressed, did his hair, brushed his teeth, packed his bag, and walked out the door. This time he checked the door was locked before he left.
It was Wednesday morning, November seventeenth. Ten days since Bruce was meant to be kidnapped, fourteen days until Robin was meant to be kidnapped and seventeen days until Finney's own kidnapping.
Robin was kidnapped on a Wednesday afternoon, he'd gone to the grocery store to grab snacks for a study session he and Finney were going to have. That's when The Grabber got him. That's when Finney lost him and any chance of ever telling Robin how he felt. But Finney was going to tell him.
He just had to figure out how.
Would it be best just to come out and say it? Or should he try and drop some more hints? Would Robin reject him harshly? Or would the boy pretend like Finney hadn't said anything. Maybe he would accept?
That was a crazy thought.
But god Finney hoped it would. It wasn't going to but he couldn't help the little spark that was in his heart. The cold morning air hit his wrists he pulled the sleeves of his jacket down. He walked past the school parking lot, Vance had just pulled in. Finney stopped walking and waited on the footpath, Vance shut the door of his car quite harshly and he heard the sound of locks clicking into place. The taller boy approached Finney and nodded in acknowledgement, Finney waved at him.
They walked into school together and Finney didn't say anything about the hand Vance had placed on his back. Billy and Griffin were waiting by the school gates, once they caught sight of the two they threw themselves at Finney. Vance grumbled about how they were clingy, but his hand was yet to leave Finney's back.
He leaned into the hold of his friends.
Robin came along shortly after that and he threw an arm around Finney's shoulders.
The five of them walked down the hallway, and he took that when they passed Max, Liam and Pete who had come back from wherever he had been, kept their heads down and avoided eye contact with any of them.
Today was going to be a good day.
The school day went quick and Finney was happily let himself be pulled along by Griffin to Vance's car at the end of the day. Vance drove them to the park, the older boy had started coming along on Wednesday afternoons and Bruce would meet them there. Vance didn't do very much studying but he also didn't distract the others while they were working.
Vance parked and Billy grabbed his arm and hauled him out of the car. Bruce was sitting on one of the park benches and he had his baseball bat in hand. Bruce's face lit up when he caught sight of them. They placed their bags and books on the table and quickly went about getting their work done, Vance was half heartedly throwing a baseball towards Bruce who kept saying.
"Give me an actual throw Vance."
Bruce said it for the forth time before Vance dropped the ball on the ground.
"Some one else come throw for him." He huffed out and pointed towards the table and Billy slammed his textbook shut and jumped at the chance to go do something else. Bruce had to explain how to throw the ball, but he was mainly a batter so he couldn't exactly demonstrate.
"Finney can you come show him?" Finney shut his own book and put it back in his bag.
He gently pulled Billy's shoulder and pulled the boy's arm back slightly.
"So what you want to do is lean back on your left leg." Finney demonstrated and Billy copied the actions. "Pull your arm back to here." Billy did as he was told.
"And then throw." The ball flew straight at Bruce who swung there was a loud crack when the ball collided with the bat, the ball came flying straight back towards them, he and Billy both dropped straight to the floor. Finney was lying on his back and Billy was on his side, he turned his head and he looked straight at Billy who was laughing.
"People do that for a living?" Finney laughed and Bruce was standing over the two of them with a massive grin on his face.
"Want to try batting instead Billy?" The boy offered an arm too each of them and pulled them up.
"Depends are my chances of getting hit less?" Bruce offered the bat to Billy.
"Depends on how good of a batter you are." Billy glanced at the bat in Bruce's hand.
"I reckon I'm a solid seven out of ten." Finney shook his head. Billy looked smug.
"That's being quite generous." Griffin had shoved himself between Billy and Finney, and was staring the other boy down.
"At least I could actually hit the ball." Billy leaned down to Griffin's height and he saw the shorter boy stand on his tip toes, the boy holding the bat took note of this leaned forward more forcing Griffin to lean back. However instead of leaning back like Billy had most likely expected, Griffin threw his arms around Billy's neck and since Billy was already leaning forward the added weight sent him towards the ground.
"You little-" The two boys were rolling around in the grass now and Finney feared that he was about to witness an actual fight, but the fear was put to rest when he heard the two boys laughing.
"Who's going to win?" Robin was leaning against Finney's shoulder.
"I think it'll be a draw."
"Nah, my moneys on Griffin." Vance had come back over to the group, and was leaning against Finney's other shoulder.
"It'll be Billy." Robin shot back and the two got into their own verbal argument on who would win. Then Bruce chimed in and bets were being made. Somewhere along the way Vance and Robin arguing outdid Billy and Griffin's scuffle on the ground. The two boys popped up, covered in grass and dirt and equally out of breath.
"Bruce can we use your bat?" Griffin huffed out and attempted to halfheartedly shove Billy off his shoulder.
"Are you going to use it on each other?" Billy and Griffin glanced at each other.
"No." They said in unison. Bruce shook his head but he had a fond smile painting his features.
"You get one hit each, ok?" He handed the bat to Billy, who excitedly took it.
"Finney has to pitch as well." Robin and Vance lifted their arms off of Finn's shoulder and Bruce yanked him forward by the wrist. Griffin excitedly shoved the ball into Finney's hand, and Bruce's hand was replaced by Griffin's who pulled back to where he was standing with Billy earlier.
"Finney let me win." Griffin said and he saw Billy make an exaggerated face of anger.
"This is a fair fight with no favouritism Griffin." He hissed out the boy's name ad the shorter looked sheepish.
"You know what you're right Billy." Bruce chimed in, Billy smiled proudly but the grin came crashing down when Bruce spoke again.
"Which is why Vance and Robin will judge you guys."
The two mentioned boys looked smug and he could see Griffin putting his face in his hands.
"There should be a prize." Vance added and Griffin's head shot back up again, the boy turned to Billy.
"Winner gets to pick the movie on Sunday!"
"You're on!" Billy pointed the bat towards Griffin.
Finney heard Robin snort "We're just going to fall asleep no matter what they put on."
He looked at Robin. His long black hair was being held back by his bandana, he was wearing a denim jacket and his eyes were shining. He had a massive smile on his face and was laughing at something Vance had said. The afternoon sunlight was shining down on him and he looked absolutely gorgeous.
Robin was like the sun in the way, when it was fully out it demanded your attention even if you knew you could get hurt by just looking at it you still looked and marvelled at the sight. It was fiery and could burn you but there were days like today where it could be just be warm. Where just enough of the fire was coming out to warm you up and make you feel like the light was kissing your skin.
"Finney you can stare at Robin later, throw the dam ball!" Billy's exclamation caused a blush to form over his cheeks and he tore his eyes away from the boy, he could hear Bruce laughing somewhere from beside Vance. Billy was holding the bat out and playfully winked at Finney.
He rolled his eyes and did as he was told.
Billy only managed to hit the ball about a metre to the right. Griffin was in hysterics and Billy was telling him that's better then you could do. Griffin pulled the bat from Billy's hands.
"I'll knock it out of the park." Billy rolled his eyes at the comment and gave Griffin a shove on the shoulder.
"I'll believe it when I see it."
Billy went to stand next to the other boy's and Griffin gave him a confident smile. Finney hoped he gave a reassuring one back.
He leaned back and threw threw ball.
Griffin swung, he had literally knocked it out of the park. The ball went flying and disappeared into the mass of tree's and bushes at the other end of the park.
"In your face Billy!" Griffin exclaimed and Billy had his head in his hands.
"You believe me now!"
Bruce was clapping and he was positive he saw Vance smiling and Robin was cheering. Finney looked at the boys, this is what the rest of their lives should be like. This is the life that they deserved to live.
He glanced towards the trees and bush that the ball had fallen into.
"I'm going to grab the ball!" He shouted towards the others and he saw Bruce give him a thumbs up. Finney walked towards the bush and tree's and noted that the ball had probably gone a bit beyond the tree line. He shot another glance back towards the boys and he could still hear them.
He turned back towards the tree line and stepped through. The ball must have gone further then he thought because he had to go further into the woods to find it. He went far enough in that he couldn't hear his friends anymore and if he turned around he wouldn't be able to see any of them. The ball was poking out from a bush.
Finney picked it up and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He whipped his head around but there was nothing there. Te afternoon rays of sunlight were disappearing, and the coverage of the tree's meant that it was even darker here in the woods. Finney took a deep breath and tried to ignore the chill running down his spine.
There was a loud crack. Finney turned towards the sound and came face to face with a person.
It was a man who looked disheveled he was soaked in sweat, he was wearing a black hoodie which was covered in dirt and the hood was pulled so far down that Finney wasn't able to see the top half of the man's face. In fact Finney couldn't see any of the man's face as he had on a black mask.
"Can I help you?" Finney saw the man readjusting his pants which like his hoodie were covered in dirt.
"No, just looking." The man muttered but his voice was distorted by the mask. Finney took a step backwards and despite the fact the man's eyes were covered, Finney knew that he was watching him.
"I don't bite." The guy had noted Finney's step backward and took a step closer to the boy. "You know pretty boy's like you shouldn't be out here alone." Finney should turn around and run, he should be doing everything he possibly should to get away from this man. A million warnings were going through his head, but for some reason he was rooted to the ground like all the trees around him.
The man got closer.
"You know, I've seen you before." The man lifted his hand and pointed towards Finney, who didn't say anything.
He took another step towards Finney. His fingertip was now grazing the fabric of Finney's jacket
"Somewhere, I've seen you somewhere. Perhaps in a dream?." In spite of their proximity the words were still muffled by the mask.
"I've been having a lot of dreams lately." The man brought his hand to Finney's shoulder, and pushed down slightly.
Finney had no clue how he knew the man was smiling under the mask, but he knew. Fingers pulled on the hair that was hanging in his face, Finney still couldn't move. The man twirled the hair he had in his fingers held it up slightly and seemingly admired it, then tucked the hair behind Finney's ear. He leaned closer to Finney.
"Do you want to hear about my dream?" He whispered. Finney looked down and noticed that there was some fabric peaking out from the man's hoodie pocket. It was the same colour as the shirt he had been looking for that morning, but Finney dismissed the thought immediately.
"Finney!" A voice cut through the woods. The man yanked his hands away from Finney and looked at the direction the voice was coming from.
The man muttered something that sounded like see you soon and then darted off in the other direction.
"Finney!" The voice was getting closer and the man was out of sight. Finney couldn't move.
He heard footsteps approaching and someone muttering thank god.
"There you are we were getting worrie-" Finney was finally able to move and turned around.
"You've gone white." Billy looked agape and Finney found he couldn't force words out of his throat.
"Are you cold?" Billy pulled off his own jacket and draped it over Finney's shoulders, but it did nothing to the ice that felt like it was running through Finney's veins. He didn't know why he was reacting like this, it wasn't like the man had done anything to him and he was never going to see that guy again. He didn't know the guy.
Hands cupped his cheeks which forced him to look Billy in the eyes.
"Are you ok?" Billy was looking at him and suddenly Finney wasn't able to recognise the emotion behind the boy's eyes.
"I'm ok." Finney managed to choke out. "I'm ok."
Billy inspected his face, scanning him for signs of injury or lies.
Billy took a deep breath. "Ok." He released Finney's face but grabbed onto Finney's hand.
"Come on, the other's are worried about you." Finney let himself be pulled along and they must have been even deeper into the woods then Finney had realised because it felt like an eternity before they emerged from the tree line. Billy did not let go of his hand and it felt like he would not be letting go anytime soon.
Bruce, Griffin, Vance and Robin were gathered around the picnic table. Their backs were turned away from the tree line, as he and Billy got closer he could make out bits and pieces of what they were saying.
"Not answering the phone."
"Should I go look?"
"No wait for Billy to get back and if he's not with him we'll all go together."
"What if we can't find him?"
All of these were said in hushed and frantic tones. Billy pulled him towards the picnic table and when they got close, Robin's head shot up and he jumped across the table. Arms wrapped around his shoulders, Robin pushed his head against Finney's neck. Finney didn't move.
"Where were you?" He whispered against Finney's skin. Finney couldn't open his mouth though so he just stayed silent.
"Finn." Robin was holding his face now.
"What happened?" The ice still felt like it was running through his veins and his stomach felt like it was in a million knots, he couldn't move but he knew. He knew he couldn't say what happened. Because if they told them he knew he would be told he was causing a scene, that he was making a big deal out of nothing. If any of them said anything like that to him now he was going to cry.
If the man that lived in his house saw him like this, Finney could only imagine what would be screamed in his face.
Is this how his mom had felt?
Finney had seen her freeze like this on the really bad days. Those were the days that Finney kept Gwen in her room and did everything to stay out of the man's sight. It was the days that doors were slammed and there was broken glass everywhere. They were the days his mom would stand in the centre of all the broken glass, she would be unmoving and would stare ahead blankly holding in the tears. She didn't speak but Finney knew what she was thinking.
I'm trapped here.
"Finn." The sound of Robin's voice pulled him back to reality.
"What happened?" Robin demanded this time and Finney saw he spark in his eyes. Robin was like the sun and if you looked at him long enough he could burn you.
"Nothing." Finney mumbled and it felt like the first time he had used his voice in years. Robin held his face a little tighter.
"Finn." Robin sounded desperate. Finney shook his head.
"Nothing happened. Nothing." Finney saw the spark igniting in Robin's eyes and prepared himself to get burnt.
"Let's go home." Vance had picked up Finney's bag and had his keys in his hand. Bruce had put an arm around Finney's shoulders.
"Yeah, home sounds good."
Robin let go of his face but gripped his hand, and like with Billy he let himself be pulled along. He was in the middles seat. Griffin was sitting in Billy's lap and any sense of their playful arguing was gone. Robin shut the door of the car but his hand remained holding Finney's. The drive was silent.
However it felt like entire conversations were happening around Finney with the way everyone was looking at each other. Vance pulled into Griffin's driveway and Billy opened the door. Before Griffin got out of the car he tucked Finney's loose hair behind his ears.
"Call me Finney, if you need anything call me I don't care what time it is if you do, I promise I'll pick up." Finney leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Griffin's torso.
"I will, thank you." Griffin melted into Finney's touch and only pulled away when Billy tapped him on the shoulder. Griffin got out of the car but left the door open. Billy undid his seatbelt and cupped Finney's face and a light Kiss was placed against his forehead.
"He meant it Finney, call at any time." Billy pulled away and got out of the car, he shut the door softly. Robin still hadn't let go of his hand. Vance pulled out of the driveway, Bruce kept looking back at him.
He glanced out the window and saw the sky. It was dark now and he could see the stars shining through the darkness.
Vance turned and they were in Robin's driveway.
"Out you two get." Vance jerked his head around to face them, Finney went to let go of Robin's hand, but the boy tightened his grip.
'Thank's Vance." Robin muttered and began to pull Finney out of the car. Oh Finney was probably going to have to walk home from Robin's. That made sense his house was the opposite direction then Vance was travelling, he muttered out thanks for the lift. Before he fully got out of the car Bruce grabbed his free hand.
"Vance and I are only a call away ok?" Finney nodded and he felt Bruce squeeze his hand tighter before he let go.
Robin pulled him out of the car and shut the door behind him. Vance rolled down his window as they walked passed.
"Finney." His voice was firm, Finney turned and saw Vance gripping his steering wheel intently.
"If you need anything, you can call anyone of us." Finney gave the boy a small smile and he saw Vance's grip loosen. He saw Robin and Vance exchange a look, and the two nodded at each other before Vance began to roll up his window.
"See you tomorrow." Bruce waved as they drove off.
Robin was still holding his hand. Finney glanced up at the sky and could see the stars. They were nice, Finney had always loved the stars they had always felt grounding in a way. Because even though he couldn't see them they were always there.
"Come on, it's cold out here." Robin pulled on his hand and Finney went to let go.
"Goodbye, Robin." The boy yanked him into his side.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"To my house." Finney felt confused, and became even more so when Robin shook his head.
"No." He was pulled towards Robin's front door, "You are staying with me."
"Robin I can't." He attempted to pull away.
"Yes you can." The boy pushed his door open, pulled Finney into the entryway locked the door behind him. He did this all while he was still holding Finney's hand.
Finney sighed in relief. For some reason the ice in his veins felt like it was thawing, his stomach was no longer in knots and he felt like he could speak again without his voice feeling unused.
Robin was staring at him and he took in Finney's more relaxed form and smiled in relief.
Robin sighed and wrapped his arms around Finney's shoulders. The two of them stood in the entryway just holding each other. Finney was bending down slightly, his face was buried in the side of Robin's neck, Robin was running his fingers through Finney's hair. He would occasionally mutter out reassurances, it felt like forever that they were standing there just holding each other but eventually Robin pulled away.
"There's some left overs in the fridge." Robin grabbed his hand again and led Finney towards the kitchen. The boy sat Finney down at the counter and leaned into Finney's shoulder.
"It's just us tonight, Mom's working the night shift at the hospital." Robin explained and could feel Robin's hand, the one that was not holding his own rubbing his back.
"I'm sorry." Finney blurted the words out. He didn't know why he said it but it felt like the right thing to say. What was he sorry for? For taking up Robin's time? For ruining the afternoon? For making everyone worry over nothing? Overreacting?
Finney was sorry for all of that.
The hand that was rubbing his back stopped, the one holding his hand let go. Fingers brushed against his cheeks, his head was titled up slightly since he was sitting down Robin was above him and felt their foreheads brush together.
"You have nothing to be sorry for Finn." The words washed over Finney and engulfed him with warmth the ice was fully melted from his veins now.
"I do." Finney muttered the words out and lifted his arms so that they were resting on top of Robins shoulders.
"No, you don't." Robin pulled his face away so that their foreheads were no longer touching but his fingers were rubbing gentle circles on Finney's cheeks. Finney smiled lightly and he saw Robin's face light up.
"There's my Finn."
Robin pulled his hands away and Finney had to use all of his willpower not to grab them to keep them in place.
"Now let's eat." Robin grabbed two containers out of the fridge and shoved them in the microwave. A comfortable silence feel on them. Finney glanced over at Robin who was looking intently at the microwave timer as if he could telepathically speed up the process.
Robin deserved to be here.
Robin was beautiful. He was loud and passionate, he had some many things ahead of him in life. Robin had so many things he probably wanted to do and he had so many things that he could do, but those things could get cut short.
Robin could end up in that basement if Finney didn't do the right thing.
Finney was going to do the right thing. Robin was not going to end up in that place, Finney would make sure of it. He would rather spend the rest of his life down there if it meant that Robin didn't have to take a single step into that dreaded place.
"Are you going to send your compliments to the chef?" Robin placed the container down in front of him.
"I'll thank Lola next time I see her." Robin's smirk fell and he huffed in mock annoyance.
The two ate quietly. When he was done Robin took the container Finney was using and his own, placed them in the sink. Robin stretched,
"I'm beat, let's go to bed." The boy said through a yawn. Finney stood up and tucked the chair in, and followed after Robin to his room. Robin held the door open for him, Finney took his shoes off as he entered and placed them by the door.
Robin kicked his own shoes off and they ended up somewhere on the others side of the room. Robin peeled of his denim jacket, draped it over a chair. Finney had to look in the other direction so he wouldn't be tempted to stare at Robin's toned arms.
He himself pulled off Billy's jacket, his own one and the shirt he was wearing. He folded the material and placed them by his shoes. When he turned around fabric collided with his face.
"Put those on."
Finney held the shirt and pants against his chest for a second before he pulled the shirt over his arms, and he pulled his pants down he glanced towards Robin who was pointedly looking at the wall. He had gotten the pant's halfway up his legs before Robin turned around. He looked Finney up and down, his eyes shot open and zeroed in on his thigh.
"What happened?" Robin's gaze was stuck to his thigh.
Finney glanced down, took note of the bruise that was standing out against his pale skin, the bruise was dark purple and looked like a handprint.
"I don't know." He replied honestly pulling the pants fully up. Robin was still looking at him.
Maybe Robin wasn't actually staring at him, because Finney began to walk across the room and Robin had no reaction to that.
"Robin."
Robin's head shot up, before Finney could even react his friend had his arms wrapped around his torso and was pushing his face into the side of Finney's neck. Finney who had not expected this impact went toppling backwards onto the bed. Robin was still holding onto him even as they fell towards the mattress.
"What's wrong?" Robin did not say anything but his grip tightened on Finney.
"Robin." Finney shifted his hands into the boys hair, and began running his fingers through the long black locks.
"What happened?" He whispered into his friend's ear. Robin's grip loosened and he pulled away, he was however still incredibly close to Finney.
"Can we lie down?" Robin tugged Finney's hand, Finney smiled at him and let himself be pulled down so they their heads were resting on the pillow. Robin shuffled around, but finally came to halt and turned his head towards Finney.
"If you tell me what happened with you today, I'll tell you what's up." Finney squeezed Robin's hand.
"It's not about me Robin, right now it's about you." Finney gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile and brought his free hand up to run his fingers through Robin's hair again. The boy leaned into the touch, tightened his grip on Finney's hand and sighed.
Robin mumbled something incomprehensible.
"Can you say that again?" Robin lifted his head up slightly.
"Make it about you." The words were clear yet Finney couldn't understand them. Finney continued to run his fingers through Robin's hair.
"Robin you can tell me anything." The boy let out a huff as his head flopped back on the pillow.
"You can do the same thing, you know?" Robin brought his free hand to cup Finney's cheek, Finney leaned into the touch.
"I know." He muttered out, Robin stroked his cheek.
"I don't think you do."
Finney shook his head, his curls fell over his eyes and Robin shifted his hand so that Finney's hair didn't cover his eyes.
"I had another one of those nightmares last night." Finney kept running his fingers through Robin's hair.
"You were trapped again." Finney tilted his head so that he and Robin's foreheads were brushing together.
"But it wasn't like the other dreams." Robin shifted so that their foreheads remained together.
"There was a man, who was holding your hand." Robin's squeezed Finney's hand, and the boy whispered that it was ok.
"You were pale, really pale." His fingers tucked Finney's loose curl behind his ear.
"And you weren't moving or saying anything." Finney let go of Robin's hand, the boy looked as he was about to object but it died out when Finney cupped Robin's face with both of his hands, he started stroking Robin's cheeks similarly to how the boy was doing.
"You looked like you had walked right out of my dream when Billy pulled you out of the woods." Robin whispered the last part, his eyes were squeezed shut, his hand was still resting on Finney's cheek but his fingers weren't moving against Finney's skin anymore.
"You're ok." Finney whispered, "You're ok." Robin shook his head.
"I know I'm ok, but what about you?" Robin had returned to stroking Finney's cheek again.
"I'm right here silly." He shifted his hands so that they were resting on Robins shoulders, the boy gave him a soft smile.
"Yeah you are." Robin lifted his own hands so that they were both holding Finney's face. "But are you ok?"
Finney just hummed, Robin pushed himself up by his elbows and lifted his forehead away from Finney's own but his hands remained cupping Finney's face, and Finney's arm remained wrapped around Robins shoulders.
"Finn." Robin sounded like he was saying a prayer. Which was a ridiculous thought for Finney to have because prayers were meant to be something sacred, something special. He knew when Gwen was saying a prayer it was for something special. So why would Robin ever say his name like that? Finney wasn't special. His name shouldn't be said like that. Robin shouldn't be saying it like that because Finney wasn't something sacred.
His name didn't deserve to be said like that.
"Finn." Robin's thumb ran over his lip. "Are you ok?"
It felt like there were a million things behind that question. But Finney was ok wasn't he? He was still breathing he was doing everything he could to make sure the Grabber didn't get to any of them, he was here with Robin.
So he should be ok.
But he didn't feel like it. He didn't feel ok. He felt very far from it, even though he shouldn't be. He needed to shake the feeling off though, Robin needed him right now.
"I am." He slid his hands back into Robin's hair. "I am."
Robin let his face go and dropped his head onto Finney's chest. Finney brought his hands back to Robin's head and began running his hands through Robin's hair once again.
"You would tell me if you weren't though?"
"Of course, of course I would Robin." The boy shuffled against Finney's chest and pulled the blanket over the two of them. Robin's eyes were shut and his breathing was evening out, Finney smiled down at the boy and kept running his fingers through Robin's hair even as he himself began drifting off.
He had told Robin the truth. Finney would tell Robin if he wasn't ok. But he should be ok, which is why he didn't need to tell Robin anything. As long as he could keep everyone else safe that should be enough for him to be okay, if he could just keep Robin here it would be enough for him to okay.
He paused his hands for a moment.
"I love you."
He whispered into the night, Robin shifted against his chest and stirred slightly but Finney just returned to running his fingers through Robin's hair. The boy stilled.
He had said it. Finney had put the words out into the world, no one had heard him say it but he had done it.
It should be enough for Finney.
So why wasn't it?
_________________________________
When he got to school on Thursday morning with Robin, he noticed immediately that Billy and Griffin were glued to his side. Either one of them always had an arm around Finney's shoulders, were holding his arms or were just being generally close to him. Griffin had even crossed their ankles together in English.
Vance was waiting outside of the classroom door, and would walk slightly behind Finney until he and whoever he was with got to their destination. Robin walked him to his house in the afternoon when he went to go change into his work clothes.
"You can just go with the rest of them." Finney told him, but the boy shook his head and grabbed his hand.
"I want to go with you."
Finney didn't argue. Once they got to his house he told Robin to wait outside, if the man was home he did not want Robin to see him. If he wasn't home he didn't want Robin to see all the bottles that could be littered across the floor. Robin did not protest but told him to shout out if he needed anything.
The door was already unlocked, the man must be home.
Finney crept down the hallway, he could hear the muffled sounds of the tv and glass knocking against the coffee table. He let his shoulders drop in relief once he entered his room, and it felt like he could breath for a moment. But that moment didn't last for long.
Something inside him said to check the box under his bed. He glanced over his shoulder before he kneeled down by his bedside, he slid the two boxes out. The first one, the one that should hold a key and ballet shoes. Held only one of those items.
The key was alone in the box.
His head immediately turned towards the door fearing that at any moment the man would burst through the door with the shoes in his hand screaming at Finney that he'd told him to burn them at that it was all Finney's fault that he needed another drink to handle all the stress that Finney put on him.
He turned his attention back towards the key, and with shaky he hands he unlocked the money box.
By some miracle all the money was there. Not a single cent was missing. Finney could've cried from relief. But he locked the box again and instead of putting it back under the bed he hid it under a backpack in his closet. He stood up straight and got dressed for work.
He slipped back into the hallway and attempted to quietly creep out of the house. But the man was standing in the kitchen, he caught sight of Finney and whipped his head around.
"Finnely, is that you?" He slurred the words out, stumbling forward slightly. Finney stood as still as he could, the man looked him up and down and Finney saw the disappointment in his eyes when he made the realisation.
"Oh, it's just you." The man grumbled out, and took a swing from the bottle in his hand.
"Haven't you left yet?" He opened another bottle, Finney remained silent.
"Just like Finnely aren't you, can't shut her mouth when you want her to and then she won't talk to you when you try and.." The man trailed off and took another sip of his beer.
"I loved her you know, in spite of all of her problems." The man sneered out the last word.
"Do you love me to?" Finney could feel the man's gaze rip away from his beer, scanning Finney up and down, he scoffed and took another sip, a long one this time.
"Who'd ever love you." The man shook his head, took another sip of his beer, returned to the living room. Finney stood in the hallway, just watching. Finney felt like a statue, he could see the man opening another bottle.
Finney had hoped for one moment that the man would say yes. He didn't even need to say the words he just had to say yes. It could've been a lie, it would've been a lie. But Finney didn't want to think of it, he didn't want to face the question.
'Who would ever love you?'
And really who would love Finney Blake?
Finney Blake was not born for love. He was fully capable of loving, that wasn't the problem he could and did love other people, the problem was other people couldn't love Finney.
He shut the door quietly and Robin immediately grabbed his hand.
"Are you ok?" The boy asked as they walked down the street, Finney just smiled at the boy.
"Yeah, I'm ok."
The universe had decided Finney Blake was not destined to be loved, it had determined that Finney would love so many different people but none of those people would ever fathom the idea of loving Finney Blake.
___________________________________________
Saturday night was loud. Billy and Griffin had gotten into a karaoke match which had somehow turned into a screaming match. Vance had won, he didn't know the boy was playing but he had won.
Bruce and Robin were playing go fish. He thought it was go fish but he heard the shout of uno and Bruce huffed out a quiet 'That's not how you play.'
Robin burst into a fit of laughter after that. Finney was a witness to all of this, he felt grateful that he got to see this. That the boy's were all here together, they were all alive and happy. Finney wanted them to be like this forever.
He wanted Billy and Griffin to keep having their petty arguments.
He wanted Vance to keep hauling the rest of them around and make snarky comments about Bruce's rom com movies.
He wanted Bruce to keep watching those stupid rom com movies with that dopey grin when the movie had a happy ending.
He wanted Robin. He wanted Robin to know how much he loved him.
Finney wanted all of them to live. They all deserved to live.
Games came to an end, and blankets were pulled over themselves. Robin leaned against his chest again, his ear was resting right where Finney's heart was.
Bruce looked at the two of them and shook his head, but he was smiling. Griffin pressed into Finney's right side and Billy pressed into his left. Vance was sitting up with Bruce, but he noted that the other boy was resting on the blonde's shoulder now.
It was ok. For now everything was ok.
______________________________________
Sunday morning flew by, it seems that someone was coming into the cafe every ten seconds. Finney was running back and forth between the tables, that were not empty for a single moment.
Needless to say they were all grateful when the last customer tucked their chair in and walked out the door. Griffin and Billy were leaning against each other in the booth, and Griffin was quietly explaining the plot of the book he had in his hand. Billy was listening intently. Robin was leaning back, he could've been listening to what Griffin was saying, but he wasn't really looking at the boy so Finney doubted it.
As he walked through the kitchen door he sent a glance in Robin's direction, as the door began to shut he could've sworn he saw Robin looking back at him.
Bruce chucked a cloth at him and Finney began drying the dishes Vance passed him. They were silent. It was the nice silence though the silence that meant they could just be for a moment. They could've stayed like that if it hadn't been for the fact that Finney dropped a plate that shattered on the floor.
"I'm sorry."
"Are you ok?" Bruce had dropped his own plate, this one landed in the sink. Finney stood as still as he could.
'I'm sorry." He said again. "I'll buy a new one."
"Finney are you ok?" Bruce was glancing at Finney's hands scanning for any cuts.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Finney held his hands up to show they were alright. "I'll buy a new one, I'm sorry."
Bruce shook his head. "You don't need to Finney, it's just a plate."
"But I broke it." Finney was confused, why wasn't Bruce upset? Finney had broken something, something that cost money.
"Well are you ok?" Vance chimed in as he grabbed the broom hanging by the wall.
"Why are you asking that? I broke something that cost money, shouldn't you be upset?" Vance slammed the broom against the ground, Finney jumped back slightly. Vance was upset now, Finney had expected this he should've just kept his mouth shut. Vance was going to yell at him, and tell him that he shouldn't of dropped it in the first place, that it was his fault he was yelling and if he didn't want to get yelled at he should've done better.
"It is a plate." Vance spat out, Finney nodded and expected Vance to keep going.
"It's just a plate Finney we have a lot of plates." Bruce picked up the broom from where Vance had slammed it into the ground.
"But we only have one Finney Blake." Bruce ruffled his hair, against his own expectations he wrapped his arms around Bruce.
"Thank you." He muttered against Bruce's shoulder. "Thank you." Bruce brought his own arms to wrap around Finney.
"Nothing to thank me for." Vane pried the broom for Bruce's hand, the pieces were swept away. Finney attempted to pull away from Bruce to help clean up, but the other boy wasn't letting him go.
Vance hung the broom back up, placed a hand onto both of their backs.
"Come on, I think Griffin picked one of those sappy romcoms you're obsessed with."
Bruce gave Finney another tight squeeze before letting go.
"I know you secretly like them." Bruce leaned into Vance who playfully shoved him away.
"No I don't." Vance huffed, but he had a small smile on his face that remained even as they all got in the car.
Griffin shouted shotgun and jumped into the passengers seat. Finney slipped into the window seat, Robin sat in the middle and Bruce ended up with Billy in his lap.
"Can we stop by the store?" Griffin asked, tapping away at his phone.
"This isn't a taxi service." Vance mumbled but turned the car to the direction of the store.
"Mom's out so she said we could just grab some snacks from the store." Griffin explained, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
Billy and Bruce went back to talking, Griffin attempted to have a conversation with Vance who was at the very least was grunting out a response here or there. Finney was sitting quietly, Robin had wrapped his arm around Finney, his head was resting on his shoulder. They didn't say anything, but they didn't need to.
Vance pulled into the parking lot, Griffin undid his seatbelt and turned around.
"Finney will you come give me a hand?" Robin lifted his arm from Finney's shoulder and he unbuckled his seat belt. Griffin had gotten out of the car and open the door for him. Finney slipped out, Griffin shut the door. They were about to walk off, when Vance rolled down his window.
"You two." They both turned around. "Stay together and no wandering off."
Griffin grabbed Finney's hand, lifted it up to show that they were linked.
"We'll be back in five minutes!" Griffin shouted out as he began to lead Finney into the store. From the corner of his eye he could see Vance laughing and shaking his head at something. The automatic door opened, once they were inside he expected Griffin to let go of his hand. But the boy remained gripping his hand as they walked down the aisles.
"Salty or sweet and salty?" Griffin was looking at the bags intently, as if this was a decision that could have lasting effects.
"Why not both?" Finney shrugged, Griffin looked up at him with a massive smile on his face.
"Finney you're a genius." Finney blushed and muttered out a halfhearted protest, but Griffin just gripped his hand tighter. They went up and down the aisle, by the end of it they had three bags of popcorn and four bars of chocolate.
"Do you think we should get anymore?" Finney glanced at their arms barely managing to hold everything, although it probably made the job a lot more difficult Griffin was still holding his hand. He shook his head.
"We've got more then enough."
"You're right." Finney took the lead to the check out, Griffin excitedly chattered about the plot of the movie he had picked out, it was some version of rapunzel. Finney knew the main details of rapunzel, he used to read a storybook version of it to Gwen. Griffin stuffed all the food into one bag, Finney was impressed he had managed to do this while not letting go of Finney's hand.
"Seriously though, most beautiful love story of all time." Griffin picked the bag up and pulled Finney along and through the door. He continued to excitedly chat but it came to a stop when Finney collided with another person.
"Sorry." Finney said, as he glanced up. When he did he immediately froze. It was the man from the woods.
He was dressed exactly the same as he'd been when Finney first saw him, his hood was once again pulled down over his eyes and he was wearing the exact same mask. Finney couldn't see the man's eyes but he knew he was looking down on him.
"A pretty boy like you shouldn't be out alone." Griffin's grip tightened on his hand.
"Well it's a good thing he's not." The man turned his head towards Griffin, seemingly only just now taking notice of the other boy's presence. Even though his eyes were covered it was clear as day that he was glaring at Griffin, Griffin was glaring right back.
"Watch were you're going next time." The man grumbled out through the mask, as he pushed passed the two of them.
"What a creep." Griffin huffed out, anger was practically rolling off of him. Finney nodded.
"At least it wasn't as weird as last time." Griffin's gaze shot to Finney immediately.
"What do you mean 'last time'?" Finney had the urge to shrink against the wall at the intense look Griffin was giving him. Finney mumbled something that was unintelligible even to himself. Why couldn't he keep his mouth shut? Griffin was still looking at him intently.
"I just mean the last time I saw him he was a bit peculiar." This did not seem to calm Griffin down at all.
"When was the last time you saw him?" Griffin was pulling him towards Vance's car and kept looking back over his shoulder. Finney was surprised at the reaction, it wasn't like it was a big deal.
"At the park." Finney tried to keep his voice nonchalant, Griffin stopped and let a car go past them.
"On Wednesday?" They waited for a few more cars to pass.
"Yeah. On Wednesday." Finney nodded, noting that another line of cars were coming past them. Griffin squeezed his hand.
"Did you see him the parking lot or something?" Griffin sounded a little hopeful for some reason, Finney shook his head. Might as well say what happened, after all it wasn't like it was a big deal or anything.
"I saw him when I went to get the ball." Finney saw the gears turning in Griffin's head, another car sped passed them. Griffin audibly swallowed ad he seemed tense.
"You ok?" Finney turned his head towards the boy and attempted to take the grocery bag from his hand. "I can carry that if you want." Griffin's grip tightened on the handles of the bag, he shook his head.
"Did he say anything to you?" Griffin was looking Finney dead in the eyes now, similarly to how Billy had looked at him when he found Finney in the woods. Finney hummed, pulled the bag from Griffin's tight grip. His knuckles were going white, similarly to when Vance was gripping his steering wheel.
"Nothing important." Finney hummed out, he noticed a gap between cars and pulled Griffin across the street. Vance had parked on the farthest side of the parking lot, it was the side closet to the exit. Griffin took a sharp breath. Finney stopped for a moment.
"Are you ok? Do you need anything?" He had no clue why Griffin was acting like this but his behaviour put Finney on edge.
"What did he say to you?" Griffin sounded scared. Finney was getting more anxious.
"Why does it matter? Are you alright?" He asked trying to figure out what had Griffin so on edge.
"I'm fine." Griffin was trying to sound reassuring, "What did he say to you?" Griffin asked again, he was really pressing it.
"Finney, what did he say?" The use of his name is what made Finney start talking.
"Just that pretty boy's shouldn't be out alone." Finney could feel Griffin's grip tightening on his hand.
"Anything else?" Griffin encouraged, Finney loosened his grip on the other boy's hand fearing that Griffin would cut off the blood flow in his fingers.
"I asked if he needed help, but he said he was just looking." Griffin tightened his grip once again, and left Finney no room to pull away. Finney did not know why he said what he said next,
"He touched." Griffin was shaking "My hair a bit." The boy opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sound of a horn honking.
"What the hell are you two doing?" Vance slammed his hand against the wheel, as he pulled up beside the two of them.
Griffin looked like he was about to be sick, Finney immediately released his hand and began rubbing circles on his back. Billy looked like he was about to jump out of the car, Robin had his hand on the door handle, and was about halfway through opening the door, when Griffin stood up straight again.
"Tell them. Tell them what happened Finney." Griffin whispered to him. Finney shook his head.
"After the movie." He whispered to the shorter boy. Griffin looked him up and down and took a steadying breath.
"Okay, alright." Robin opened the car door fully now and Finney hesitantly pulled his hand away from Griffin's back, the shorter boy moved to the other side of the car, Billy had leaned over from where he was sitting on Bruce's lap and opened the car door. As soon as Griffin sat down, Billy had his hands on the boy's shoulder and was soothingly rubbing them, Finney couldn't hear what was being said but he noted that Billy and Griffin were whispering things to each other.
"We good to go?" Vance turned around to face Finney, who was just buckling up his seatbelt. He nodded, Vance sent a concerned glance over to Griffin, but relaxed when he took note of Billy's hands on the boys shoulders. Robin leaned into Finney.
"What happened?" Robin whispered to him, similarly to Vance he was sending a concerned glance over to Griffin. Robin's head was in Finney's lap so he looked down and mouthed the words.
'Later'
Robin took the hint, the boy lifted one of his hands to run his fingers through Finney's hair. Finney saw the look Griffin was giving him over his shoulder, and did his best to smile reassuringly to the boy. He wasn't sure why Griffin had gotten so upset, but he hoped the boy would feel better soon.
The car ride was filled with the hushed voices of Billy and Griffin, but no one beside themselves could figure out what they were saying. However when they pulled into the driveway, Griffin looked noticeably better, this seemed to fill everyone with great relief. When they got out of the car Billy immediately wrapped his arm around Griffin's shoulders.
Griffin looked up at his friend who brushed the loose strands of hair off of his forehead, and pressed a light kiss against the shorter boys temple. Griffin leaned into the touch for a second, and let Billy pull him along to the front door. Griffin pulled away from Billy to unlock the door but went right back to leaning against his friend when they went through the doorway.
They all shuffled into the theatre room, Finney noticed that Griffin kept looking back at him, even as he was putting the movie on. Finney passed the bags of popcorn and chocolate to the others, he didn't feel like eating much. He expected the movie to run like last time, with Billy and Griffin staying close to each other and Vance and Bruce being in their own little bubble. Billy might lean up against him again, so could Robin.
But Griffin came and sat right up against him. Finney let the boy lean into him, he shuffled a little bit he pulled a blanket over the two of them.
"You alright?" Griffin leaned further into his shoulder.
"I am now." That was enough for Finney. Robin leaned against Finney's other side. Billy laid his head down in Finney's lap, he started running his fingers through Billy's hair, Billy tilted his head slightly and smiled softly up at Finney. Finney could see that Vance and Bruce were lying down by Billy's legs.
He leaned against Robin, and allowed himself to be lost in the movie for the next few hours.
________________________________________
No one was fully awake, everyone was on the verge of falling asleep, but they were all holding onto their threads of consciousness.
"Dancing's hard." Vance mumbled sleepily gesturing towards the characters on the screen. Bruce hummed, and through a yawn Finney spoke.
"Yeah it is." Finney mumbled out, Billy shifted in his lap slightly.
"How do you know silly." Billy looked at him with his half open eyes, Finney ran his hand through Billy's hair.
"Cause I used to do it silly." If Finney was awake enough he would be mortified that he had just revealed something he had been planning to keep to himself, and hopefully Bruce was going to keep quiet about it as well. But Finney was not awake enough to think about all of that.
"Wow, really?" Griffin sounded starstruck, and he felt Robin's hand beginning to go up and down his back. Robin had known about the dancing as well, but Finney assumed he had just entirely forgot about it as the boy never brought it up after Finney told him he wasn't going to dance anymore.
"Yeah, ballet." He mumbled leaning into Robin's touch. He heard shuffling, and Bruce's head popped up from under a blanket that was next to Vance.
"That makes sense." Griffin muttered out. "I always thought ballerinas looked like angles." He sounded like he was having some kind of revelation, and for a moment Finney could feel the necklace resting against his chest.
"Were you good?" Bruce mumbled out his head leaning towards Vance.
"He was." Robin replied firmly, sounding the most awake out of all of them, the boys hand continued to run up and down Finney's back.
"Why'd you stop?" Vance mumbled lifting his arm slightly so Bruce could lean against him comfortably. Finney hummed and leaned further against Robin.
"Mom left." Robin's hand paused for a moment and everyone in the rom digested the information. Finney felt his eye's dropping, he yawned.
"He told me I had to get rid of my shoes." He said through a yawn, he didn't have to say who 'he' was. Finney smiled and sleepily mumbled.
"But I kept them." Robin went back to rubbing his back, but then his murky mind pulled a memory to the forefront. "There gone now though."
Billy shifted in his lap, he felt fingers lacing into the ones that had been running through Billy's hair. He smiled down at the boy with, ad Finney figured he was smiling back up at him because the grip tighten on his hand. Griffin slipped his arm around Finney's shoulders. He swore he felt someone grabbing onto his ankle. It could've been Bruce or Vance, but based on the tight grip it was probably Vance.
"I think he burned them." He whispered out. He could feel another hand grabbing his other ankle, it was most likely Bruce's hand.
"I'll buy you new ones." Robin's voice cut through Finney's drowsiness, bringing him fully back to reality.
He shook his head. "No you don't need to." Robin's hand shifted from rubbing his back to wrapping around his waist.
"I will." Robin turned his head to face Finney. "I'll buy you a new pair of shoes, and as soon as you leave, you can go back to dancing." Finney smiled at Robin and shook his head.
"I mean it Finn, I'll buy you a new pair of shoes and you can go on to be a world famous dancer." Robin was looking at him with the most beautiful smile Finney had ever seen. Robin pulled his hand away from Billy, who immediately let go when he felt Robin brushing against Finney's hand. Robin gently lifted his hand so that it was resting on Robin's cheek.
"We'll have a nice house with a dance studio for you, it'll have a spare room that Gwen can stay in whenever she feels like, there'll be a big backyard filled with lots of flowers, and I'll bring flowers to every show for you." Finney stroked Robin's cheek, and he heard Billy whispering something to Griffin, but that didn't matter right now.
"What's going to be in the house for you?" Finney leaned forward so that their faces were closer. He noticed a light shade of pink was dusting Robin's cheeks.
"You." Robin let go off Finney's hand, and brought it up cup Finney's cheek just as Finney's own hand was doing to Robin.
"If you're there that's enough for me."
"Get a room." Vance grunted out, Finney and Robin pulled their hands away from each other and he could hear the sounds of the others laughing. Finney himself let out an embarrassed chuckle, Robin gave a little huff, but when Finney glanced at him he could see the other boy was still smiling.
The light atmosphere was suddenly broken by Griffin jolting up. He sat up so fast that it startled everyone into being fully awake. If they weren't already fully awake, what Griffin said next had everyone up.
"Finney you got to tell them about the guy." Griffin's words were still slightly slurred by sleep, but everyone's eyes shoot towards the boy.
"What guy?" Bruce lifted his head from Vance's shoulder, but Griffin kept his gaze on Finney as if he was the one who had asked.
"You know the guy from the park." Finney could feel the eyes in the room shifting towards him, Griffin rubbed his eyes, blinked a few times. He looked fully awake now. Finney tried to wave it off.
"It's not a big deal." He shrugged his shoulders, leant back and hoped it would be left at that, Griffin shook his head though.
"Finney, just tell them."
Robin's hand's grabbed Finney's cheeks, and turned his face towards the other boy. Any traces of his smile were gone, his eyes were holding in that spark that meant someone could get burnt.
"Finn, what happened?" Robin's gaze was burning him, Finney attempted to look away but Robin's hands kept him in place.
"Finn." Robin was saying his name like a prayer again. "Talk to me." Robin whispered out the last words. Finney bit his lip in an attempt to hold back the words threatening to spill from his mouth, but in the end Robin got what he wanted. Because Robin had won every fight he had ever been in, and he wasn't going to lose this one.
"There was a guy hanging around the woods on Wednesday." Vance and Bruce were sitting up properly now, Billy had removed himself from Finney's lap, and had pressed himself against Griffin. His eyes shot around the room, but Robin pressed his thumb into his cheeks.
"Finn, keep you're eyes on me."
Finney did as he was told.
"What happened?" Finney took a breath, and mumbled under his breath that it wasn't a big deal but he none the less carried on.
"I saw him when I went to get the ball." The room remained silent. "I asked if he needed any help, but he said he was just looking." Someone had moved, he knew because he heard the blanket rustling.
"He told me pretty boys shouldn't be out there alone." Robin took a sharp breath and Finney wanted to stop and check on the other boy.
"Robin are you ok?" The boy shook his head.
"Keep going Finn." Finney swallowed around the lump building in his throat, he'd leave out the part about the dreams.
"He touched my-" Robin's eyes snapped towards his thigh, the one with the mysterious bruise on it. "My hair." Robin's eyes went back to his face, the spark was still there but it burnt less when Finney looked at it this time.
"Finney, did he do anything else?" Bruce sounded fearful, Finney didn't know why though, it wasn't like the guy had hurt him.
"No, Billy shouted my name and the guy ran off." There was a collective sigh of relief in the room. Robin rested his head against Finney's shoulder let his hands drop from Finney's face.
"We saw him at the grocery store." Robin sat right back up at the words, those words seemed to spark the flame behind Robin's eyes fully this time.
"We bumped into him." Griffin continued, "He told Finney 'a pretty boy like you shouldn't be out alone.'"
The room feel silent. No one knew what to say. Finney could see Billy shaking from the corner of his eye. Vance stood up, he dragged Bruce up by his arm as well.
"We're going now." He let go off Bruce, grabbed Finney's hand and lifted the boy off the floor. Vance dragged him by the arm to the car, Bruce following closely behind. Bruce slipped into the backseat, Vance waited until the other boy was fully seated before he put Finney into the backseat.
The other three boy's were standing beside the car, Finney rolled down the window he saw Vance saying something to the rest of them before he stalked around to the drivers side of the car.
"Robin." The boy came by the open window, "How are you getting home?"
Finney didn't want Robin walking home, it was getting dark and anything could happen. Robin pointed in the direction of Griffin and Billy.
"I'm spending the night here with them." That was good, it meant that the three of them were going to have fun, they were going to be safe. They would be ok.
That's all that mattered to Finney.
"Good." Robin looked at Finney, he couldn't place the face the boy was making but it concerned him.
"Robin are you ok?" The boy looked slight angry now, the spark in his eyes was back.
"Finn, stop worrying about everyone else." Robin leant down and rested his arm against the window, Finney leaned forward slightly,
"But what if-" Robin cut him off by pressing a hand against his mouth.
"Stop it, Finn." He didn't pull his hand away. "You need to think of yourself more ok?" He pulled his hand away and pushed his forehead against Finney's own.
"You're my Finn, and if anything happened to you I wouldn't be able-" Robin couldn't finish whatever he was going to say, because Finney cut him off by pressing his own hand against Robin's mouth, the boy titled his head back their foreheads were no longer touching.
"Robin, you're going to be fine, I promise." The boy pulled Finney's hand away from his mouth.
"What about you?" Robin laced his fingers through Finney's "What about you?"
He lifted Finney's hand and delicately placed a kiss against his knuckles, before Finney could even react Robin lifted his head and grabbed Finney's face.
"Promise me you're going to be ok." Finney looked at Robin's eyes, he was once again thinking of the sun.
"Finn, promise me." Finney reached for Robin's hand, he slowly pulled it down from his cheek. Just as Robin had done earlier he placed a soft kiss on top of the knuckles.
"I promise." He pressed another kiss against the skin "I promise Robin."
The boy was forced to pull his hand away when Vance started backing out of the driveway, Finney started rolling up the window but even as they were driving down the street he knew Robin hadn't taken his eyes off of him.
_______________________________
That night Bruce and Vance pretty much slept on top of him, as they were laying with each other Bruce ran his hands through Finney's hair.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Vance avoided eye contact with him as he pulled a blanket up around them. Finney shrugged his shoulders.
"It wasn't a big deal, he didn't hurt me or anything." Bruce hummed, and he could feel the fingers twisting in his hair.
"But he could've." Bruce moved his hands from Finney's hair to his shoulders. "He could've hurt you Finney." Vance shuffled against Finney's side, Bruce kept talking.
"We got upset because something could've happened, and none of us would've known." He heard Vance humming in agreement, Bruce began rubbing circles into his back and leaned into his other side.
"People like to know when someone they love could get hurt." Bruce's hands were slowing down. "That way they can help make sure the person doesn't get hurt." He stopped rubbing Finney's back but his arms stayed wrapped around Finney.
"We don't want you to get hurt Finney." Vance rolled over so that he was looking at both Finney and Bruce. Bruce nodded against Finney's chest.
"We love you Finney, and we just want you to be safe." Bruce whispered the words out, "We love you Finney."
Finney leaned into Bruce's hold and did his best to hold in the tears. Bruce just held him tighter and he felt Vance's arm wrap around both of them. They were ok.
They were ok.