Fin shook me awake halfway through that night.
He was on top of me, hips tightly pressed against mine, but not for the usual reasons.
My hands were pinned beneath his on the pillow above my head.
"What?" I asked, eyes widening as I struggled to push him off me.
He reluctantly let go.
I could barely see him in the dark, only his slim figure and the worried lines on his forehead.
"You were trying to attack me," he hissed.
I was too shocked to respond right away. "I would never..."
He sighed, climbing off of me to settle down by my side. "I know."
I turned to him, trying my best to examine him in the dark. "Did I hurt you?"
He shook his head. "I managed to hold you off and you woke up before things got out of hand."
"Fin, I'm so sorry-"
"You have nothing to apologize for," he said.
I rubbed my eyes. "What happened?"
"I think you were dreaming again," he said, carefully articulating every syllable.
"Why now? It stopped. Why is it back?" I asked, fingers clenched.
"I have no idea. I was...holding you as usual. Even when you started moving. You don't remember anything?"
"Nothing, like it didn't even happen. I just feel the adrenaline rush like I usually do after w dream."
Fin rested his hand on my waist. "You okay?"
I swallowed. "Yeah, I think so. Just a bit shaken up."
"Do you want to try going back to bed?"
"I don't think that's going to work. What time is it?"
"1:23 AM. I'll stay up with you."
I shook my head. "No. You don't have to."
"Shut up," he said, "I have an idea."
He slid out of bed and I followed suit.
He flicked the lights on in his room.
Fin walked over to his closet and pulled out a few items of clothing before walking up to me. He thrust a few in my arms. "Change into these."
I glanced down at the clothes and began tugging my clothes off. Fin had found a pair of his old pajamas before bed.
I felt Fin's eyes rake over my body, making me smirk as I began taking my clothes off at a much slower pace.
"Tease," he muttered under his breath as he tugged his clothes over his boxers.
I smiled broadly.
After we were both fully dressed, Fin flicked the lights off again and turned the door knob to his door.
"Where are we going?" I asked, tugging at the sleeves of the hoodie I had on, grateful for its warmth as the halls in the house were almost freezing cold.
"Why do you always ask such questions? Wait and see."
"You do this all the time."
"It's more fun than just giving you the answer."
I shook my head and started to retort when his hand slipped into mine.
I shivered.
"Sorry," he said. "I'm not used to its warmth either."
"I like it," I said.
"You do?"
I nodded. "You can say I'm certainly warming up to them."
"You did not just say that."
"Hm, but I did."
He groaned. "Why?"
I grinned, tightening my grip on his hand. "You love it."
He turned to me and smiled. "Maybe a bit too much."
I quickly looked away, chest constricting while it filled with warmth.
"Kaiden."
I glanced up at him and he stopped walking. "Fin, let's just go."
He eyed me like I was fragile glass. "Fine."
I relaxed, not knowing from what, but feeling relieved anyway.
Fin wandered down the stairs and I followed by his side, almost stumbling in the dark.
Fin paused by a door near the general living room. He twisted the knob and pushed the door open.
"I don't know why I haven't showed you this already..."
I stepped through the doorway after him. "What is it?"
"My ancestors' old art room. My uncle left it untouched since neither of us are really good at drawing or anything artistic."
I snorted. "Yeah, I noticed."
"You don't have to be so mean."
I patted his back, a little too harshly. "All better?"
He winced, rubbing at his shoulder. "So much for the 'thank you' I was expecting."
I grinned, suddenly intrigued. "What kind of 'thank you' were you expecting?"
His tongue swept across his bottom lip.
"I'm sure you can imagine."
"I can definitely imagine," I said.
His eyes fell to my lips.
I quickly turned away from him, stifling another grin as I headed towards the nearest easel with an incompleted canvas propped against it.
Fin turned the lights on, but they were a lot dimmer than the ones in his room, barely shedding light onto anything.
"These are really good," I commented, tracing my fingers against the dried up paint against the rough material of the canvas.
A bunch of brushes were organized in an old tin can, all frayed and dried up on a nearby desk.
"You should see the others. A lot of them are hung up around the house. These are just the extras," Fin said, standing beside me.
I explored the large room, which I guessed looked a lot more mysterious during the night.
The dull glow of the lightbulbs in the room cast odd shadows against the art pieces, adding a grotesque element to some of the paintings.
"This is where they kept their sketchbooks," Fin said, and I only just noticed that he was across the room from where I was standing.
He stood behind a large, open cupboard, where his old family members stored many of their art supplies and dedicated an entire shelf for their sketchbooks.
I carefully pulled one out and took a seat on one of the nearby stools. Slowly, I turned over the cover page and began leafing through the pages.
"They're beautiful."
Fin was peering at them over my shoulder. "They are. I haven't been here in a long time, I forgot just how good."
Once I was done drooling over that sketchbook, I reached for another.
By then, Fin had settled comfortably against a wall and was looking through one of the other sketchbooks as well.
"Thanks for showing me this," I said.
"I just thought it would be a good distraction."
"You mean another good distraction."
He chuckled, setting the sketchbook aside. "We could do both, you know."
"You're sure you're that flexible?"
"Funny."
I sat beside him. "This isn't too boring for you?"
He shook his head, then ran his fingers through my hair. "I like seeing you like this."
"Good, 'cause I have a feeling I'm going to keep coming back here whenever I get the chance."
"I don't think I would mind that."
He tenderly brushed a thumb over my cheek.
"You're still waiting for that 'thank you', aren't you?" I asked.
"Yup."
I grinned, leaning in and pressing my lips against his as he met me halfway there.
Fin's hands dropped to my waist and he beckoned me over to sit on his lap as he spread his legs out.
I pulled back momentarily. "Now that we're boyfriends, shouldn't you be taking me out on dates?"
Fin grinned, eyes still glued on my lips. "Consider this our first."
I shrugged. "Deal."
"So, how was it for our first date?"
"Keep kissing me and I'll show you."
Fin made a pleased sound from his throat as he kissed me again.
I tangled my fingers in his hair as his hands climbed up my chest, thumbs brushing over my nipples briefly.
I pressed my hips harder against his as I felt myself growing hard.
Fin pulled away and looked down. "Nipples are a turn on, duly noted."
"You just ruined the moment."
"I think your boner did that, but sure."
"How does having a boner ruin any kind of sexual activity?"
"Maybe not, but calling it 'sexual activity' does."
I pressed my lips against his before he could say anything else, making sure to grind my hips harder against his so that I was no longer the only one sporting a hard on.
This time his thumbs did a little more than just brush against my nipples, and I soon found myself squirming between his legs.
"Fin," I panted.
We'd managed to move away from the wall so that I was lying on the floor on my back, and Fin was hovering over me.
"This isn't comfortable for you?"
"It's fine."
"What is it?" he asked, pulling away from my neck a leaving a hot, wet spot in his wake.
"Nothing. I just felt like saying your name."
"Shit, Kaiden," he said before diving down again and capturing my lips.
I moaned, arching my back as his teeth grazed my lips.
—
Fin and I spent the rest of the night exchanging kisses, touches, and childhood stories. I would occasionally pull out a sketchbook and carefully look through it while leaning against Fin, his fingers running through my hair soothingly or massaging my shoulders. Either or felt absolutely amazing.
We decided to leave the room only when sunlight flooded through the large windows.
"We should head back to my room," Fin said.
I hid a yawn as I nodded. "When do you usually have breakfast?"
Breakfast was served half an hour later.
Fin and I sat facing each other at the longest dinning table I'd ever seen in someone's home, almost bigger than the ones that ran across the dinning hall back at the school. His uncle sat between us at the head of the table.
We held a light conversation throughout the meal, treading on simple topics, avoiding any related to the main reason concerning our visit.
My mouth watered as several maids walked into the room holding platters of food. They set them upon the table before hurrying off, only to return with even more food.
I was sure I was drooling by the time someone scooped a good portion of scrambled eggs onto my plate. I spent most of the time trying every options set up in front of me, from all the different types of bread, to the endless variety of cheese.
Fin smirked knowingly through the whole affair, collectedly scooping a decent amount of food onto his own plate.
If the table wasn't so large, I was sure he would be rubbing his foot against my leg.
After breakfast, we casually walked to the living room where someone wheeled in a cart with a pot of tea and several tea cups with matching saucers.
I eyed the tea as it traveled from the teapot to my cup, then added two teaspoons of sugar in it.
Fin stared at me. "What are you doing?"
"What?"
He shook his head. "You just got rid of the flavor."
I shrugged. "It's still good."
His uncle chuckled. "Leave him be, Fin."
Fin sent me an adorable, quick smile.
I shifted on the squishy chair beneath me. "How old is the furniture in this place?"
"Older than the house itself."
I resisted the urge to whistle.
"Which is almost 500 years old," Fin added.
My eyes widened as I scanned my surroundings. "That's amazing.
"Of course it has been under severe renovation over the years," his uncle explained.
"Still pretty impressive," I said.
His uncle cleared his throat. "I think it's time we address the elephant in the room."
I stiffened, noticing Fin's similar reaction.
"What do you think we should do?" he asked his uncle.
"Figuring out who is behind all of this should not be your main priority," he said, causing me to frown. "Focus on understanding how it is happening and how to stop it, then move on from there."
"How can we do that without knowing who the boy is?" I asked.
His uncle's eyes met mine briefly before he focused on Fin. "You can do it any way you would like, that is just my suggestion."
Fin glanced at me before nodding at his uncle. "Sounds good. Where should we start?"
"The library," he said, "at the school. You mentioned the yearbook? Look through that. After you settle for an answer on how you are receiving those dreams or visions, look for more of Arnold's appearances. Many students show up on pages on extra curricular activities at the back of the yearbook."
"Okay," Fin said slowly. "If we do find out who he is, if it really is Arnold, what does that do?"
"Either you figure it out once you get there, or come visit me again," his uncle said. He turned his attention back to me, "You are welcome at any time, Kaiden."
"Thanks."
He nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Now, if you could return to the school anytime between now and noon would be very helpful. The headmaster would highly appreciate that."
Fin and I agreed solemnly and watched him retreat.
"Why didn't we bring up last night?" I asked.
Fin shrugged. "Didn't seem relevant."
I frowned but didn't have enough to say to retort.
"So, what now?" I asked.
Fin glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. "We still have a few hours to kill before noon. Do you want to hang around the town for a bit?"
I raised my eyebrows. "Can we?"
He nodded. "Or we can catch up on school work."
I bit my lip. "I really don't feel like it."
He shrugged with a smile, "Then we won't. Come on, there are a few stores that are on sale, I think. We can look for Halloween costumes."
I groaned. "That's not for another month."
"Which isn't much time. I was thinking we could go as Caper the Friendly Ghost. You can be the girl."
"Prick."
It's two in the morning and I hear weird noises from outside. Fun.
Also, I've stolen my sister's fuzzy blanket and it's the best.
Thanks for reading! I updated early 'cause you guys are awesome and I can't think of a better way of saying so XD