Finn's POV:
Millie and I were lying down on our respective sides of my bed.
Something was off, though.
"Millie?" I whispered into the dark room.
"Mhm?" she hummed in reply.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked, turning on my side to face her.
"My dad," Millie answered, still laying on her back, eyes fixated on the ceiling. I watched her face change constantly, moving through emotions fluidly as moonbeams danced about her cheekbones.
"What about him?" I asked cautiously, not knowing how she would respond.
"Everything," she whispered lightly, but there was a darkly heavy force behind it.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I questioned after about a moment.
"Sure," she nodded, shifting her body to sit against the headboard, and I did the same. I reached over to the lamp on my beside table, and turned it on.
"Back when I was younger, before the days of Stranger Things, my dad was like my best friend. We did everything together; play in the puddles under the gray London sky, stay up late reading my favourite books, sing songs together in the car," Millie told me, her eyes lighting up.
"And then?" I asked quietly, watching her expression sadden.
"And then...and then..." Millie paused.
"Hey," I whispered, reaching over to squeeze her hand gently, "You don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to."
"No, it's okay," she responded with a sad smile.
"You sure?" I asked.
"I promise," she said, squeezing my hand once before returning hers to her lap.
"And then," Millie sighed, "I got casted for the show, which he didn't even want me to audition for in the first place. He thought I had so much more potential than two middle aged directors on a Netflix original."
"Oh," I sighed, offering for her to continue.
"He was just so angry, all the time. He was mainly mad with my mom, because she was the one who arranged the audition. So when he tried to hurt my mom, Charlie or Paige stepped in, and he hurt them. And then one night," Millie said, then paused.
It was quiet for a minute, while she tried to find her next words.
"And then one night," Millie's lip trembled, "He tried to hurt me. And even though Charlie jumped between us, my dad succeeded, and now I have this."
Millie raised her forearm, revealing a prominent scar that had once been a deep gash in her flesh.
"Oh my God," I whispered in disbelief, "How have I not noticed this before?"
"I always cover it up with makeup," Millie explained, returning her forearm to rest in her lap, "It brings back too many bad memories, ones I don't want to deal with on a day-to-day basis."
"I understand," I empathized, looking her trustingly in the eye.
"He cut me with his pocket knife, and he was out of the house that night. My mom thought it was from shame that he hurt his own daughter. I agreed with her, but I think it's also from the fighting," Millie went on.
"But then what happened with your mom?" I asked, knowing the awful state of her and her mother's relationship.
"Right. Well, after a couple days, when I was obviously still upset about my dad leaving, as any eleven year old girl would be, my mom started to get annoyed. Whenever she saw me crying or upset, she would go off about how it was all my fault. How I ruined our family by 'chasing my pathetic little acting dreams,'" Millie explained.
"But wasn't she the one who set up the audition?" I realized in confusion.
"Mhm," Millie nodded, "But she has this story made up in her mind that I forced her to set up my auditions and all that. When really, she offered to help make my dreams come true."
"God," I murmured, starting to feel myself getting angrier about it all.
"My mom just kind of shut down. Not like into depression, but into this denial robotic state where she was dehumanized," Millie continued.
"The mom I know now?" I asked, and she nodded.
"And then, it was Ava, Charlie, Paige and I that did everything together. I played in the puddles with Ava, stayed up late reading my favourite books with Charlie, sang songs in the car with Paige," Millie allowed.
"That's, that's awful," I said honestly, "I can't imagine what that must have been like."
I grew up with a dad who supported me in everything I did, even came to award shows with me besides the fact that he's a complete introvert. I grew up with a present mom who displayed her love for me in countless ways, every single day of my life.
It broke my heart to hear that Millie never had any of that.
"I'm-I'm so sorry," I stammered, not realizing I had started crying.
"It's okay," she whispered. I glanced over, to see tears rolling down her own cheeks.
"It's not okay, none of this is okay," I repeated myself, becoming more and more upset.
I scooted over to her, and wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug. We cried for God knows how long together, and eventually it came to a still.
"It's not okay now, but maybe it will be someday," I offered quietly, rubbing my hand in a circular motion on her back.
"I don't need it to be okay with my parents," Millie said.
"Why?" I asked in curiosity.
"Because I'm okay with my real family. The kids, the teens, Winona and David. Charlie, Ava, Paige and the Price twins," Millie explained, "You."
"You'll always be part of my family, Millie," I told her, then rolled over to turn the lamp off. We were in the darkness again, now snuggled up under the blankets with dried tear stains on our faces and each other's shoulders.
"Night, Finnie," she whispered.
"Night, Mills."
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Millie's POV:
"Rise n' shine, Fillie," someone woke me up, and I opened my eyes.
"Huh?" I asked, feeling Finn wake up in my arms. It was always a good feeling.
"We're filming our last full cast scene today," the boy answered, who I made out to be Caleb.
"Oh, right," Finn said groggily.
"We should probably get up then," I suggested. I crawled over Finn to get out of bed, and then walked over to his closet.
"Millie come back," Finn groaned, making me giggle.
"No, I have to get dressed," I mimicked back, "If you want to be near me then help me pick out my clothes."
"But I just want you to come back to bed," Finn whined.
"Would you rather go get a bra and underwear from Sadie than help me pick out some clothes?" I asked, placing a hand on my hip.
"Nope, nope, nope, getting up," he rambled frantically.
"Thought so," I laughed.
"Blackmail," he mumbled, switching our spots between the closet and the main bedroom space.
"I'll be right back," I told him, then started across the hall. I went over to Sadie's room, to see her cuddled up right next to Caleb.
"Aww," I mouthed silently, placing a hand over my heart and I watched their chests rise and fall in a deep slumber.
Careful not to make any noise, I approached Sadie's dresser and stole some of her under garments that she allowed me to borrow.
I exited the bedroom, then double-stepped the stairs until I reached Finn's room.
"Do you prefer white or cream colour?" Finn asked from the closet.
"Cream colour," I replied, then came into his view in the closet.
"Okay," he answered, then took a cream coloured plain hoodie from a hanger, and held out a pair of light wash jeans that weren't distressed, just basic casual jeans.
"Thanks," I said, taking the items from him.
"Kay, get changed and then I want to see," Finn said, making me laugh a little as I closed the closet door after he exited.
I changed into the hoodie and jeans, which I rolled up a ton as usual.
"Okay, I'm done," I announced, sliding the door open.
"Yay you look so cute!" Finn exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement.
"That's very indie of you," I said sarcastically.
"A guy can appreciate his girlfriend's minimalistic look and still watch overly pretentious movies," Finn sighed, making me giggle.
I walked over to the mirror, and adjusted the hoodie and jeans. I also adjusted my bra strap, not noticing that Finn had appeared in the mirror behind me.
"Who decided that women had to wear bras anyway?" Finn asked.
"I'm not sure," I sighed.
"Wouldn't that hurt?" Finn questioned, making me snort in laughter.
"Oh dear lord," I chuckled, sounding overly British.
"Seriously though, being practically caged in every single day of your life?" Finn asked, gesturing his hands.
"I mean, I guess I'm just used to it," I tried to reason.
"It's sad that some person, probably a man, decided that women had to wear bras because they were better off with them," Finn said.
"Although I'd like to continue talking with feminist Finn," I said, making him smile as I turned around, "We should get going."
"Agreed," he sighed, "Hold hands?"
"Of course, babe."
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A/N: poor Millie my baby
but fillie fluff man I love it so much
I just realized that it's nearly midnight here and I have to be up at 6:30
rip me.
all for now,
- Kate