*Dedicated to Christina Grimmie and the Victims of the Orlando Pulse Nightclub Shooting
Chapter Twenty-One
(Clueless)
"Oh hey," Andy gawked shamelessly, "surprised?"
Looking back at how he approached the secluded apartment in the outskirts of Michigan without knowing whether his Google maps was actually showing the correct direction, Andy would have known to anticipate the worst scenario after twenty minutes of driving in his sister's Mini Cooper. Initially, Andy wanted to take a cab however due to his little incident with good old Chase, Andrea decided to cut his pay for the month and Andy really needed to fix his broken oven or worse, buy a new one.
Speaking of Chase's incident, that was pretty much the whole reason of why Andy was now standing in front apartment 89 with arms full of grocery bags. At first Andy thought his sister was joking about making amend with Finn since it was his ex-boyfriend who punched the man on the face, suddenly Andy was being interrogated down to every detail about the incident and told to do anything the man asked him to do from now on. No matter how many times Andy tried to convince Finn had already forgiven him at the police department, Andrea was pretty adamant about her opinion of the man, a corporate man who might have his personal lawyer to file a lawsuit against Andrea's precious bank account. Andy didn't have a chance to retort with the fact that she single-handedly took care of the man's only child before Andrea kicked him out from the center, with only a written address in a small piece of paper and her car key. Thankfully, Andy still had his wallet and cell because he was bombarded with the string of actions once he came back from his usual Friday lunch break.
Andy was down with skipping work anytime but spending the rest of his day with an attractive straight man wasn't something he had in mind, at least he wouldn't be entirely alone with Finn since the man could take care of his daughter himself, meaning Alex would be there to disperse awkwardness of his sudden intrusion.
"Fix it," Andy received Andrea's text as he stood outside Finn's apartment door, "I'm not losing a client over a petty brawl caused by my own brother."
"Great, Andrea." Andy muttered under his breath while knocking on the hard wood, "selling your brother out like a pimp."
Half an hour ago, Andy wasn't sure what to do or even what to say to Finn. The man probably had something planned with his daughter on this free day, Andrea mentioned that Finn even took a day off to stay back for Alex. Knowing the man, Finn might already be gone to Disneyland although Andy had a hard time imagining him riding on Dumbo with Alex by his side. Needless to say, Andy was screwed if the man was out and his sister didn't take 'no' very likely. It took a spin around a Target that he decided to fuck it, Andy also felt guilty whenever he saw the dark bruise on the corner of Finn's cheekbone in the baby-sitting center or the time Alex was proudly telling him that her father fought down a monster which left a boo-boo on his face. With a plan in mind, Andy began to pick up the ingredients for his mom's special recipe and didn't forget to buy two boxes of dino-nuggets in case Alex didn't like what he cooked, he doubted though.
The first knock was dismissed easily so he proceeded for a second knock, part of him already expecting no answer. If there was a window, Andy would already peek in to avoid standing in front of an empty apartment like a creep. One last knock and Andy would give up, he could ask Finn to lie when his sister checked with him the next time which he was sure the man would gladly do so Andy wouldn't be appearing in his life anymore. Carefully balancing the butt-load of grocery bags in his hands while trying to knock the third time, the front door suddenly swung opened and Andy nearly dropped everything right there in front of the door.
Finn was an office man, it was what Andy would say if people asked about Finn and three years of sharing the same workplace Andy wasn't aware that the man was capable of wearing other clothes, during the annual Christmas party or Halloween party he was always seen in his expensive Armani. All suits, black and more black. Of course, the time he worked in the center had proven his assumptions very wrong and his judgmental ass further.
This stunning man in front of him had stripped down to only a pair of pale gray sweatpants which threw Andy off guard. Okay, Andy had seen a lot of shirtless men whether in gay clubs or pride parades, like he spent most of his time fantasizing men without their clothes if they ever caught his eyes. Unlike those smooth go-go boy body normally most gay men had, Finn was, Andy gulped involuntarily, the kind of man who never seemed to bother with their natural excessive body hair but still trimmed and kept them nicely in shape. The casual subtle on his face should have been an obvious sign for Andy, maybe it was a preference of his or he just had too many guys who shaved regularly that Andy never would have guessed that man like Finn existed. His firm pecs were covered with a good amount of chest hair, his eyes couldn't help but to follow the trail down to the navel spot where it disappeared under the waistband of his sweatpants. Thinking about what laid below only made Andy's imagination roam into a forbidden territory.
"Andy?" Finn muttered in a tired, sleep-rough hum that had Andy letting out a strangled choking noise and held the bags close to his crotch area to part his legs into a more comfortable position. Finn was rubbing his eyes and gave a low grumbling noise before arching his back to stretch his muscles out from the nap he was obviously taking before Andy had rudely interrupted. There was a long beat of silence, only filled by the clanking noise across the hallway.
"Oh hey," Andy gawked shamelessly, "surprised?"
"What are you doing here? How did you find my apartment?" Finn asked through a scowl and slowly noticed the bags hanging on Andy's arms, "what are those?"
Andy blinked a few times and blushed heavily, "sorry! no, oh I mean- yeah sorry, uh, I came here to apologize. About the incident, you know," Andy rambled on, holding the bags up, "I know you kinda forgave me but I still feel bad about the whole thing so I hope you are here so we- I mean, I can cook an apology meal for you and Alex?"
"It wasn't you who punched me, Andy." Finn sighed inwardly.
"Still, he punched you because he thought we are uh," Andy probably needed to shut his mouth as he began to back away from the door, "okay I get you, sorry for appearing out of nowhere and bothering your nap."
"What you have in mind?" Andy spun around in surprised and the grocery bags nearly swung out from his arms. "What?"
"You came here to cook, right?" Finn sighed in defeat, "what are you planning to make?"
"My mom's famous feijoada and probably some white rice and potato mash to go with it." Andy held the heavy bags up to show him that he wasn't lying, "are you sure I'm not bothering you? I mean I can go-"
"It's okay, you're here anyway." Finn replied and turned to head back into the apartment, leaving the door ajar and Andy took it as an invitation to step in. Without missing a beat, Andy managed to ogle the way Finn's back muscles flexed and that he had one of those super difficult-to-get sexy set of dimples at the base of his spine. Finn was barefoot, and Andy would seriously take his shoes off but he was carrying too much and it was probably for the best to not put the ingredients on the ground which Finn wouldn't appreciate that very much.
"Kitchen's this way," Finn led him past the spacious living room that Andy had not expected and through the dining room to a small, yet clean kitchen that has clearly never been used. It was a good spot since the whole apartment was facing at the street and the medium-sized window on the top of the kitchen stove was able to let some air in, next to the window was a sink and some basic appliances, and cupboards covering rest of the available wall space. Andy settled down the grocery bags on one of the counter tops, he made a quick look inside the cabinets and was relief to see Finn had most of the cooking equipment he needed to make their dinner, even more surprised to see a Dutch oven sitting there among other cooking pots.
"What are you cooking again? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Finn came back to the kitchen dressed in a soft-looking white henley, Andy tried not to show too much disappointment on his face.
"Beef feijoada with pasta carbonara and potato mash on the side. I bought some dino-nuggets if Alex felt the food a bit weird, is she taking a nap as well?" Andy took out everything out from the bags and already prepared himself by rummaging through all the cabinets to look for the things he needed.
"Alex's not here," Finn spoke up after a pause, "she's at her grandfather's house today and probably won't be back till tomorrow knowing my father."
"Oh." Andy stopped his action mid-track, the gear in his brain was trying to process what Finn had just said to him. If Alex wasn't here, it meant it would be just Finn and him in the apartment alone.
Alone.
Oh, the gripping realization finally dawned on him and Andy cursed himself mentally. Now the thought of buying a new tie to Finn wasn't too bad, clearly better than eating with a man that Andy had never shared a single decent conversation with, last time he was telling Finn he was a bad father and later the week his ex-boyfriend gave him a black bruise for no reason. They were particularly strangers to each other without Alex around to distract them from the horror of adult conversation.
"I guess these dino-nuggets are lucky they didn't get eaten today, huh?" Andy joked lightly however Finn was looking at him like he had grown two heads. It was a dumb idea, Andy regretted talking himself out from the tie idea and now look at him, coming into a stranger's home uninvited just to cook an apology meal because his paycheck couldn't withstand another cut. It was too late anyway so instead of running away out of fear and anxiety, Andy might as well immersed himself into the preparation of the dinner.
The whole time he was cooking, it was relatively comfortable since Finn was too busy typing away on his laptop to acknowledge his presence and Andy was fine with that. Small talks were the stuffs of nightmare, especially with someone whose ex-boyfriend couldn't keep his own shit together and lash out on the innocent man. Andy shook off the distracting thought and took out the two containers from the grocery bags, one contained soaked black beans and the other was he had always prepared every week in his fridge, it was his sister's favorite dish when they were young so he normally had them in advance if she felt like having feijoada as lunch or dinner. Andy enjoyed cooking the feijoada out of all his mother's other recipes, Kathryn learnt it back in Brazil while visiting her boyfriend's family for the first time, they only started dating for five months and Kathryn was nervous to say the least. It was a special dish for her because Andy's grandmother believed that the recipe was meant for family only, the fact that she taught his mother the first time she was there meant the whole world for Kathryn. She never got to teach Andy how to make the feijoada, he was too young to hold a saucepan or light a fire. There was a bunch of recipes he never got to learn first-hand from his mother, after she got sick she had to write down every recipes from both families in a small notebook and traditionally, the daughter supposed to get it but Andy had it instead.
"I think you should have it since we know how Andrea is in the kitchen," Kathryn held four year-old Andy's hands in hers, "I wish I had the time to show you how to cook and help you to cook for that someone special in your life and maybe even get to teach her like how grandma taught me. Cook for someone you love, that's the best way to put a smile on the person's face."
Andy was four, he wasn't sure what was going on but he remembered everything she said, the notebook might have misplaced somewhere back at his house's attic but Andy remembered all recipes by heart by the time he was eleven.
Just like he found out Kathryn improvised the feijoada by replacing the beef with Carne Seca, that was what Andy was doing right now as he placed all of the different meats into the Dutch oven. After finishing adding the most important ingredient, pork's foot, along with the back beans into the Dutch oven, Andy poured the ready made broth and put it down to simmer. In between the preparation, Andy quickly took out a saucepan and heat it up on the other stove to make the white rice and potato mash. Cooking came easy to Andy, his mother always had a smile on her face whenever he volunteered to cook for their dinners with Andrea helping them. As he checked on the feijoada, Andy sneaked a peek at the man at the dining table and noticed Finn had fallen asleep on top of his laptop. For once Finn's eyebrows weren't pinched in the center in that irritated, furious way they got most of the times, Andy would say he was actually looking a bit peaceful with the screen light illuminating half of his face.
The breath of relief let out from his lungs without him knowing, Andy imagined the pair of eyes judging as he was cooking in the kitchen and now he knew he wasn't looking, Andy could feel the tension slowly slid off from his shoulders.
Once 30 minutes were up, Andy quickly removed the meat from the Dutch oven and cut it into medium dice before removing the rind from the bacon and cut them into medium dices too. At the same time, Andy gently stirred the beans in the broth while adding back the diced meats back into the Dutch oven so they'll absorb some of the juices left behind. The light steam arising from the pot smelled heavenly, and he wasn't only half way there. Slicing the rest of the meats up, he added all of them back into pot to make sure the feijoada soaked in all the flavor.
On the other counter top, Andy had to mash the boiled potatoes up and dumped a bar of unsalted butter and one carton of low fat milk into the bowl, Andy opened the saucepan's lide and the steamy white rice's smell instantly filled up the kitchen and all the little spaces. Andy let the feijoada to simmer for fifteen minutes while he continued working on the mashed potatoes. Compared to his feijoada, the boiling of the potatoes was merely nothing and Andy was glad he decided to make potato mash instead of waiting around for the feijoada to be done, the initial plan to not have time to talk to Finn.
By eight, everything was done. Andy was thinking if he should just leave or stay to have dinner.
Finn probably wouldn't mind, right? Probably.
Despite the protest in his head, Andy decided to scoop up two servings of the feijoada with steamed rice, braised greens, and potato mash on the side onto two plates and served them in the dining room where Finn was already awake. Andy had to suppress the laugh that was coming up when he saw the keyboard imprint on Finn's cheek, thankfully he didn't because Finn was staring at his every movement as he placed the plates onto the dining table.
"Is that the feijoada you said? Looks good," Finn's stomach growled the moment he asked and his cheeks flushed lightly under the stubble. "There are beers in the fridge, if you can take it if you want."
"Sure," Andy wiped his hands on the dish rag and opened the fridge, "you want one?"
Finn nodded politely and waited for Andy to sit down before dipping his fork in to get some of everything for the first bite. It was weird to see someone other than his family tasting what he'd cooked, especially someone like Finn who appeared to be a neat and delicate eater. His hunger didn't overcome his manner as Finn carefully took small spoonful of the feijoada together with the rice and wrapped his lips around the spoon. Finn's tongue tipped out to clean the sauce at the edge of his lips, making a soft groan of satisfaction. It was, Andy admitted, distractedly mesmerizing.
Andy was openly staring. His food was left untouched, Andy was aware that he was staring and normally he only did that in parties or clubs, eyes held with confident and pride for the men around to catch them and challenge back. The thrill had always been wonderful, however when Finn glanced up and there was almost a smile on his face, Andy had to looked away and he could feel his face heating up as he cleared his throat. "How was it?"
"It's delicious," Finn replied seriously, "I never try anything like this before, what kind of meat is this?"
"It's Carne Seca, a type of Brazilian dried meat among the others. Mostly just pork and beef, you like it?" It was his first time cooking the dish for someone else outside his family, he wished he had more time to thoroughly sear the meat to make them more chewy.
Finn nodded as he took another bite, "I love it, did you make the rice differently or was it just the brand of grain you chose?"
"Oh," Andy pulled himself out from the zone on the beauty that was Finn Trevon's mouth, "I cooked it differently. I normally don't use a rice cooker, it's hard to predict how much water I need to put in so I used a saucepan instead. I fried it with some oil and minced onion before adding water, it's kinda my family's recipe. It makes the rice come out loose and not sticky."
"Ah," Finn took another bite and for the next fifteen minutes, both of them were quite content with the silence and Andy managed to finish his food without falling into the deep trace of Finn's mouth. If the smile on Finn's face was any indication, Andy could call the dinner a success. After they finished, Finn volunteered to wash the dishes as Andy was clearing the table, "it's the least I could do after you cooked so much for me even though you shouldn't have."
Andy leaned against the island and found his eyes staring again, this time was on Finn's back or maybe his forearms. He had his sleeves of his very soft looking henley rolled up, exposing two thickly muscled arms that could have easily crushed a watermelon bare-handed however his fine-boned hands were carefully soaping the dirty plates and washing them in swift movement one by one. Andy had seen those arms hiding behind many shirts and what they could do to a person's face, but he'd also seen how those two arms protected Alex from harm and gave her comfort when she was scared.
Just as Andy was thinking what now, he noticed a lone container sitting on the island and Andy remembered he brought a batch of his Oreo cheesecake cookies and caramel stuffed hazelnut shortbread for dessert. Finn finally finished with the dishes and he turned around just in time to see Andy opening the container, immediately the smell of baked-goods had Finn moving toward them and he didn't even realize he was leaning over Andy to take a look at them.
"Are those caramel stuffed hazelnut shortbread?"
"Ugh," Andy's brain went hay-wired for a second there before forcing out a few croaked words, "yeah, are you allergic to nuts?"
"Oh no," Finn's heat had somehow gotten closer to Andy's back and he couldn't possibly be imagining this, "I remembered them from the company's Christmas party last year, I know you made them because I saw you putting down the container before returning to the meeting. Everyone always looks forward for them every year, why didn't you tell you made them? They are really good, you know."
"Really?" Andy wasn't even paying attention what Finn had said, very quickly he could feel his ears heating up. His face must be burning red right now, the past weeks had been really shitty for him to find someone to relieve some stress and having a strong man pressing against him on the back wasn't doing any good to his mind and body.
Definitely not his body.
"Yeah, they would be disappointed this year."
"Hm," his throat was dry and a burning sensation was nestling in his dangerous territory. Andy had to move, surprisingly he didn't need to make an excuse because Finn already moving away, "I'll bring some plates and beers over, we can have them in the living room."
Like a huge stone had been lifted from his shoulders, Andy rushed to the living room while holding the container.
That was fucking close, Andy thought, get it together man, he's just another man. A fucking straight one too!
"Hey, are you okay?" Finn's return startled Andy and nearly made him drop the container. Very unattractively Andy shoved a piece of the shortbread and gave a thumb up, Finn looked weirdly at Andy but he didn't have time to care, it was the only way to keep himself from saying something stupid like I'm better than okay, I'm just having a boner right now like a fucking teenager. I know you're straight and all but wanna have sex with me?
Yeah, something like that.
Finn shrugged off his odd behavior and took a bite at his shortbread, Andy's you-know-what jumped a bit at the satisfied groan/moan Finn sent his way. To make such deep grumble and be this attractive at the same time should be illegal, it was almost sinful. The way Finn licked the crumbs off his fingers had Andy's mind to go wobbly and he felt the need to talk to stop this madness right now.
"So," Andy cleared his throat as he hugged a big cushion to hide the embarrassment, "how's the company doing?"
Finn scoffed lightly, "what you think? The winter showcase is coming and most of the major brands haven't approved their agreements with us yet. The VIPs are complaining and asking for the list, you know how it goes, without the major brands we can't release the list yet. It's like standing in between the red sea and the devil."
Andy worked long enough to know the VIPs were particular the Gods in CM Ford, they were the first liner for all the limited edition products from any brands that were collaborating with the company and CM Ford's biggest consumers. Most of the VIPs were women, powerful women, from Prime Ministers to billionaires, that could strip down the company to nothing if they were not satisfied by the treatment given every year. It was a risk when Claire Ford decided to follow up her crazy idea, by focusing her market on the rich and famous only. Therefore there was only a handful of CM Ford malls around the United States, however they were enough to stand strong among the rest of the popular malls like Target and Walmart. The winter showcase was sort of an annual fashion show for the VIPs so they could pick the latest and limited products first hand from the major brands, most of the products would only be released to the rest of the world after a few months of the showcase. The list was an invitation card that allowed the VIPs to know what kind of brands they would be looking forward to and registering their names on the product ID they wanted. The VIPs were the pillars who made CM Ford happen, the showcase was the foundation for the VIPs to build on.
"I thought the major brands should already confirmed their joint venue contracts months ago, it's already November! Does Jackson aware of the situation?" Andy was not a heartless monster, just because he was fired didn't mean Andy didn't care for his old workplace.
"Oh course he does, but this is his first winter showcase and not everyone is listening to what he has to say, the senior adviser has no trust in him and is always picking petty fights against him. Besides, his heart isn't really on the showcase right now and Jackson has been absent too much for the past weeks to even be there for the meetings with the representatives." Finn's face grew dark and had his hands in fists, for a split second Andy was terrified that Finn would do something violent like punching a hole through the glass table, but all he did was sighed in defeat before taking another piece of the shortbread. "There isn't much I can do but wait for him to get his shit together, I got a warning letter for meeting up with one of the representatives without his permission."
"That asshole," Andy grumbled, "I glad I left the company before it went downhill."
"I thought you're fired by Jackson? Made quite a scene too, I guess Jackson still has no clue the man who burned his crotch is the man taking his children?"
Andy didn't know Finn knew what he had done, he might hear the rumor from his colleagues but care enough to remember was a complete different story.
"Nope," Andy replied warily, "not a single clue. He even thanked me one time for looking after the twins, best revenge ever."
Finn laughed loudly, like Andy had performed a stupid stand-up comedy or a bird pooped on his head. His laugh was surprisingly light and airy, it lifted the heavy atmosphere up instantly and it somehow encouraged Andy to join in. The laugh lasted for a few minutes before it quickly died down to an awful silence, Finn went completely rigid and quiet, his turn to stare at Andy as if he was trying understand what'd happened to him.
"I think I should go, Andrea probably waiting for me." Andy said sharply, the laughter and easiness of the moment gone in the blink of an eye. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, there was sharp pain in his heart and he didn't know why he was feeling this way. Maybe because he could sense it, the way Finn stopped laughing when he caught him looking at him, like all the light had been sucked into an empty void and he was the empty void. Not entirely a surprise since he was the motherfucker whose ex-boyfriend kicked his ass and called him a bad father.
Why would he even care, it wasn't like Andy had feeling for Finn, right?
Right?
Andy didn't want to think anymore, he had enough of these headaches and he just wanted to be back in his apartment and probably drink the pain away. Andy stood up and headed to the door, his hand was on the doorknob when he was suddenly forced to turn around. His back was slammed against the wooden door and before he could register what was happening, a hand cupped his cheek and a pair of warm lips touched his.
Andy was definitely taken aback, standing there dumbly and staring at the man who just did what he thought he did. This was not Andy had in mind after he had an internal battle with himself thirty seconds ago, his breath hitched as Finn's palm pressed against his chest, spreading a warm heat over his heart which was rocketing against his ribs. It was a brief kiss, Finn moved away a bit and stared for a long moment, his seafoam eyes searching Andy's and his fingers loosening on the cheek like he was waiting for Andy to react or pull away. So much questions running through his head but Andy didn't have time to think and he soon found being tugged closer to Finn until his lips met back his. It was slow, an experimental kiss on Andy's side but Finn took advantage on the hesitation and deepened the kiss. Each second the kiss continued, Andy's doubt grew bigger and he had to pull away and take a few short breaths.
He had to know, this was different from all the one-night-stands he had for the past ten years, the feeling was slowly coming back to him. Most of the times he avoided eye-contact with whoever he was sleeping with, and every kiss he gave had no meaning. This time, Andy was clueless to why he was feeling like he was kissing someone important, kissing someone like Chase. Looking up, Andy expected to see two pale blue eyes looking back at him and a heartache followed close behind. However the moment he leaned forward and stared deeply into those eyes, he saw a different view; a raging storm over the sea clashing against the tide. Andy didn't understand why a pair of eyes meant so much to him, a quick instinct to calm his uneasiness down instantly. They were not the same, they had different color and they belonged to a different man.
A man that wasn't Chase, a man he had feeling for other than Chase.
And a man who had a child with a woman.
"Stop," Andy croaked out helplessly, he hated this feeling but knowing it was too late for him to pull himself back from the trap. Finn moved on to press a trail of gentle kisses up his jaw, behind his ear, down the column of his neck.
He couldn't do it - he couldn't let himself fall deeper into someone he knew he had no chance with. With more kisses on his skin, Andy could feel his principle and barriers rotting away as if every self-restrain he had made throughout his years being drained down to nothing. Andy was better than this, a part of him was stronger than the need to hold Finn in his arms very badly. This was wrong, Andy never did this shit, no straight guy would love a gay guy like him. "Stop, don't kiss me like you mean it."
"I mean it," Finn yanked him forward and ducked his head just slightly, cutting him off with a forceful kiss.
"Stop, you- no- you have- you have Alex!" Andy managed to get out, that stopped Finn from dragging his mouth further down. Andy curled his fingers into the collar of Finn's shirt and pushed at his chest, Finn didn't stop him and began to move with the force. "You're not thinking straight, Finn. You know you don't want this, it's just your hormones doing shit with your brain. I'm not- I'm not... Is this just physical?"
"I don't know, unless you want it to be."
Andy could do it, right? He was good at no-strings attached, he probably could do it and maybe if he let it out of his system, his mind would be cleared and Andy could just leave and not think back of the night again. This was just his hormones talking, maybe Finn didn't have time to look for a woman and Andy was just there at the right time. Andy could definitely do it, but he didn't want to.
"No, I don't. If this is just- No, I don't think I can..."
In an abrupt moment, Andy realized he wanted more than just physical.
Andy wanted Finn to love him.
"Then don't," Finn said hoarsely as he stole a kiss from Andy, making it look so easy to just go back and kiss Andy like nothing had happened.
"I can't do this," Andy pulled away, "you have Alex and I can't do this to myself."
Finn's face darkened and Andy didn't even need to struggle to push him because he moved away himself. Andy thought it was finally over when Finn returned to his space but this time his hand curled into Andy's shirt, shoving him so hard into the door that it rattled. The short pain exploded at his back and Andy thought he was seeing stars.
"So that's it? Because I have a fucking child and you can't accept that? How could you? I thought you like her, I let you take care of my daughter and you can't accept me because I have a daughter?" Finn let out a bitter, sharp laugh, "like you're better than me now? Is that what it is?"
Each word confused Andy further as he tried to keep the grip off of him, "what the fuck?"
"I thought you're different, I really do. Alex keeps telling me you are always nice to her and let her play as a knight and not a princess. Or was it because I am a bad father? You told me before, right? That I am ignorant and a complete asshole for not listening to my own child. Fuck you, Andy, I know my child is different but it doesn't mean I don't love her. Am I not good for her and that's why you can't accept me?"
"You're not a bad father," Andy replied, "this is not what I meant."
"Then what is it?" Finn barked out and Andy felt like a elastic band stretched to its limits, tired and raw and wanted to go back like this day did not happen.
"YOU'RE STRAIGHT! You can't possibly mean what you're doing, I can't do this." Andy shouted in desperation, he refused to break down in front of the man who just accused him of something he never did.
Each breath came out as a wheeze, the pain was leaving him as Finn finally stopped grabbing at his collar. It felt he was being gutted.
"What are you talking about, Andy?"
"You're straight and I'm gay, you can't do this to yourself more than I can do this to myself." Andy explained tiredly, he was exhausted and Finn was looking like he was trying to register what Andy had said. Andy could see the realization slowly dawning on Finn's face as he clenched his eyes shut, cursing himself repeatedly and saying how fucking stupid he was.
"I'm sorry, Andy," Finn shook his head frantically, "I should have told you before hand but I thought you knew. I kissed you for god sake, I'm not-"
There was a frantic knock on the door and both of them looked toward it, Finn cursed and pulled Andy back into the living room. Andy lost all the fight in him and allowed himself to be dragged by the man, he just wanted to get this over with.
"Wait here, just listen to what I have to say before you decide what to do. But hear me out first, I really like you, Andy. Stay here, it's probably my father bringing Alex back." Before walking back to the door, Finn surged forward to steal a kiss from Andy, "please stay here."
I really like you, Andy caught Andy's attention, he perked up to meet with Finn's tiring eyes and he couldn't help but to nod in response.
"It's not like I can go anywhere," Andy muttered under his breath. Finn smiled one last time and walked back to the door, leaving Andy trying to decipher what Finn was trying to say.
Andy was just catching his breath when he heard a loud clank followed by a heavy thud coming from the front door. A panic rose in his heart as Andy quickly moved toward the sound, the scene in front of him made him gasp and tremble in fear. Finn was unconscious on the ground with a pool of blood near his head, standing a feet away from his body was none other than Chase himself. The man was holding a baseball bat and the eerie smile on his face twisted Andy's gut in fear.
"Hi, Snow White." Chase stepped inside and ignored the way he stomped on Finn's body.
"Finn!" Andy went forward and kneel down next to Finn, there was a huge gash on the side of his head and Andy quickly took off his shirt to stop the blood from flowing, "are you fucking crazy, Chase? Call 991 now!"
Chase just stood there looking at him, his eyes were bloodshot and Andy could smell the strong stench of alcohol two feet from him. Andy tried to use one hand to pull his phone out when Chase grabbed Andy's wrist, wrenching on it so fast that Andy tripped forward. It was a blur of movement before a hand caught the back of his neck and Andy's face was slammed into the carpeted floor. Andy's head flared in pain, his shoulder screaming when Chase shoved his arm behind his back. Andy gasped, clenching his eyes shut and struggling against the force.
Chase bent in close, waiting until Andy stopped squirming before he spoke into the shell of Andy's ear.
"Sleep tight, baby. It's time to go home."
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This chapter is planned from the start, this dedication is purely from my heart.
Rest in peace for all of them.
I love you and I hope you're safe in anywhere you live in.
Love ET.
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