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Chapter Text

Finney Blake knew his life was unfair. It had been unfair ever since his mother had killed herself. It wasn't fair that, even when she was still alive, she was still distant and cold, always stuck in her head. It wasn't fair that he had to be the one to find her body. It wasn't fair that he and Gwen were still stuck with him. It wasn't fair how he got beat basically daily both at school and at home. It wasn't fair how Gwen had to watch. And it wasn't fair how he had lost Robin. It wasn't fair how he lost all of the boys, his boys. It wasn't fair how he had been forced to suffer in the same place they had as well, taunting them by somehow being the only one to make it out alive. In his opinion, it should've been Vance, or Robin, or Bruce, or literally anyone else but him. What was fair, though, was that the boys, his boys, were now free. They were free while he was left behind, forced to suffer through his shitty, unfair life.

Finney deserved this; he thought as he lay down in his bed. He didn't deserve to be with his boys. His boys... when had he started calling them that? They weren't his, he barely even knew any of them before they all went missing. He had a few classes with Bi-Paperboy. With Paperboy. Same with Griffin. He'd talked with them before, worked in projects, sat next to them. And now they were gone, just out of his reach. It hurt. He barely knew Vance. He'd seen him around, helped him once, even, when he dropped his chocker on accident. But he didn't know Vance. Nobody did. Nobody ever wanted to. Finney wanted to. He liked Bruce. Even when he won against their team in baseball, he was kind, respectful, he even complimented him. It was hard not to like Bruce. But again, he didn't know him, he found himself content with knowing the bare minimum, knowing that he was popular, he was good at baseball, and most importantly, he was nice. Now though? He's not quite satisfied with just how little he has on Bruce.

But Robin? Robin is...was his...They had both agreed on it, even. Seven years old, they both looked each other in the eyes and said "You are mine. And I love you so much!" It was cheesy and stupid, now that he looks back on it, but it meant so much to them. To him. Losing Robin was like losing a baseball game. A punch to the gut. A bad metaphor, but really the only one he could think of right now. He'd think of a better one later, one that would actually honor his and Robin's friendship. But right now? He was tired. Finney slowly drifted off into another restless night of sleep, thoughts focused on his... no, the boys, and what could've been.

Finney wakes up and groans. He squints his eyes shut almost immediately as the sunlight streaming through the window assaults his vision right then and there. Wait. He opened his eyes again.

"The fuck?" Finney groans. Finney had moved his bed to the other side of the room so that it would be out of the way of the murderous sunlight in the morning. He had done that two days ago. He knows he did.

Finney grabs his phone off of his nightstand and pauses at the date. As of right now, which should be December 3rd, 2021, his phone reads: September 21st, 2021. Maybe his phone is just being weird. Maybe he's finally just losing his mind and he didn't actually move his bed and half-heartedly rearranged his entire room a few days ago. He checks his calendar. September 21st, 2021. He rubs his eyes. He checks again. September 21st, 2021. Finney checks outside. There is no sign of even a speckle of the snow that was on the ground yesterday.

Finney sits in his bed. He thinks.

He breathes.

He calms down.

He knows what he has to do.

Griffin Stagg was reported missing on September 23rd, 2021, after his mother had not seen him all day. He left in the morning to go to school, never came back. He was there one second, gone the next. Finney Blake was going to save Griffin Stagg. Finney knows that he should be more surprised, more confused, more scared, but he has spent the last two days hidden away in his room mourning the loss of four boys he barely knew, and one he knew better than anyone. This was his chance to save them. This was his chance to make things right for himself.

This was his chance. And he was going to take it.

Finney and Gwendolyn Blake make it to school just on time. They were almost late; their father hadn't been in a very good mood that morning. They just barely got out before he got too mad. It was a very close call.

They go their sperate ways, Finney to the high school wing and Gwen to the middle school wing. Finney has math bright and early in the morning as his first block and makes it just in time before the bell rings. He scans the classroom with his eyes, looking for Griffin. Math is one of the only classes he has with him.

He finds him, albeit having to check the classroom twice, and walks towards the back of the class to sit next to him at the joint tables.

"Hey, I'm Finney." He holds his hand out for Griffin to shake. He ignores him. He tries again.

"Hello?" Finney drawls out, tapping on the part of the table in front of Griffin. He has yet to sit down. Griffin finally looks up. Finney smiles. "I'm Finney." he tries again. "Can I sit with you?" Griffin looks around, confused.

"Me?" He asks, pointing to himself.

"Yeah, you! Who else?" Finney says with a smile. Griffin looks sheepish. Finney asks again, he doesn't mind. Not many people talk to Griffin, really only Paperboy, although, he probably still likes to be called Billy, given the current timeline. "So, can I sit with you?"

"Oh, of course, I'm so sorry!" Griffin sputters out. It's kind of cute. Finney finally sits down next to Griffin, sitting far enough to be socially acceptable, but sitting close enough to let Griffin know that he's not a threat. That he's nice. He's friendly. He really wants to be friends with Griffin. He wants to be friends with all of them. He introduces himself again, just in case Griffin didn't catch it before. "I'm Finney." He speaks.

Griffin smiles. "I know."

"Really?"

"Yup, anyways, I'm Griffin."

"I know." He copies.

"Really?" Finney likes where this is going, the easy playfulness and comfort in the air.

"Yup." He responds. They look at each other for a few seconds. They burst out laughing. 

"Boys, be quiet! Is what you two are talking about really so important that you have to interrupt my lesson for it?" They both apologized and turned to each other after. Neither of them was sorry.

They spent the rest of the class talking quietly and laughing, and Finney loves every second of it. He learns that Griffin is not as meek and quiet as he seems, quite the opposite, really. He spends a lot of class time ranting to Finney about everything under the Sun. He also learns that Griffin has quite the attitude. He's funny, he's sarcastic, he's amazing. Class ends and Finney finds himself disappointed that he and Griffin have to split ways. While Griffin's packing up, Finney turns to him.

"Do you want to sit with my friend and I at lunch? You don't have to if you don't want to, of course, but I thought it would be fun, y'know?" Finney really hopes he says yes. He thinks that if he can get close to Griffin within the next day and a half, then maybe they can hang out and Finney can keep Griffin safe. Maybe.

Griffin looks happy that Finney asked. He wonders why. Griffin doesn't have to pretend to like Finney, he just has to let him hang out with him until September 24th, then it would be okay. Then Finney would leave him alone. That's probably how he likes it, alone. He probably didn't even want Finney to sit next to him, didn't even want to talk to Finney, he was probably just being polite. "I would love to sit with you and your friend!" Griffin's response snaps him out of his head. Oh. "Can I bring my friend Billy though? We usually sit together, don't want to leave him all alone, y'know?" Finney perks up at that.

"Of course you can! The more the merrier!" With one last look, they both split to go find their respective classes, neither of them being able to hold their excitement.

It turns out, whenever something is going right for Finney, there will always be someone to knock him down. Finney is currently hiding in a stall in the boy's bathroom, door locked and feet off the ground. Matt, Matty, and Buzz just can't seem to get enough of him. He's tempted to punch them in their stupid looking faces, but he knows they'll just snitch. They'll snitch and then his dad will be called, and he'll get the beating of a lifetime that even Gwen's amazing make-up skills and his expertise in lying for his own good won't be able to help them.

With the way things are going, he's not sure if he wants to keep it a secret anymore. He reprimands himself. If they tell someone about their dad, then they'll be separated, thrown away into different foster homes far, far away from each other. Away from their friends. Neither of them can deal with that right now.

The door to the bathroom opens. Finney stops breathing. The stall next to him opens, closes, and locks. He sighs. He leaves.

Robin, Billy, and Griffin are all already sitting at his and Robin's usual table. Robin and Griffin seem to perk up at the sight of him. He almost cries. Robin's even more beautiful than he remembers, his fine brown hair pulled back by his bandana, his soft brown skin untouched by that monster. His brown eyes full of life.

It shakes Finney to his core, and he spends a good minute just staring, taking in his every feature. His every untouched, beautiful, amazing feature. He chokes back a sob that's threatening its way up his throat and does his best to put on a wide smile. He's not sure it works.

"He Robin!! Hi Billy, hi Griffin!" He greats everyone cheerfully, because they deserve an optimistic, happy friend. They deserve everything.

"Hi Finney!" They all greet. They're so nice.

"Finn, can you help me with my math homework? Pleeeeaaasseee?" Robin begs. He doesn't have to; Finney thinks to himself. He's always going to say yes.

"Of course." He says, because why would he ever say anything else?

"Wait, Finney, can you help me too? "Billy asks. "Robin says your like, the only reason he's even passing math, please can you help me, please?" Finney says yes, because of course he does.

When Finney's done helping them, Robin rewards him with an apple, (he would have given it to him no matter if Finn helped him or not) and Billy looks at him like he hung the moon.

"I know we've only really known each other for this lunch time, but Finney whatever your middle name is Blake, will you marry me?" Billy asks, with literal tears in his eyes. Robin glares. Finney wonders what he did wrong. It seems like he's always doing something wrong. He'll ask later, right now he has to keep Billy from bursting into tears.

"It's just math homework." Finney laughs as he grabs Billy's hand. Robin looks like he's going to implode.

"But it's not "just math homework! You are the answer Finney! It's you!" Billy is clearly dramatizing this whole ordeal for laughs, and it works because Finney is now laughing along with Griffin, with Robin and Billy looking at him with a look he can't quite place. It's the same look he sees Suzie's mom give Gwen whenever he goes to pick her up from Suzie's. It's the look that he sees Robin's mom give Robin. He doesn't quite know what it is though. He wishes he did.

"We should all hang out tomorrow." Finney suggests. He lets go of Billy's hand. Robin seems to calm down. Get closer with them, he thought. Finney really likes Billy and Griffin. He hopes they like him too. But that's probably just wishful thinking.

"I can't", Robin groaned. "I have to help Mama with what she likes to call "fall cleaning". I can do Wednesday though." Wednesday. The 23rd. Griffin's kidnapping date. That was even better. Finney quickly thanked the God he's never really believed in for Elena Arellano and answered Robin with what he hoped wasn't too much enthusiasm.

"That sounds great, actually, what about you guys? Is Wednesday alright?" Finney desperately hoped it was.

"Yeah, I can do Wednesday."

"Me too." Griffin replied. Finney almost squealed in excitement.

"Give me your guy's phones." Billy demands of Robin and Finney. They do as told. Finn turns to Robin as he brushes hair out of Finn's face.

"Your hair is always in your face." Robin tells him, almost sadly. Finney doesn't get it. Griffin perks up.

"Come, Finney, sit with me." Finney, once again, does as he's told. Griffin starts playing with his hair. Finney finds it relaxing. He's mostly just leaning against Griffin now, and Griffin starts pulling his hair up into a ponytail. His fringe still falls in front of his face. Griffin secures the ponytail with a purple scrunchie he found in his backpack. "There, now we can see your pretty face!" Griffin says.

"I agree, Finney is quite pretty." Billy sounds like he means it. Finney gets a warm feeling in his stomach. He's not sure if he likes it. "What do you think, Robin? Do you think Finney's pretty?"

Robin looks more flustered than Finney feels. His face is turning a deep shade of red, and Finney reaches out to touch his hand to Robin's forehead. "Robin, are you okay? You're burning up!" Finney's really concerned now. He hopes Robin isn't sick. Robin hates being sick. Robin mutters out a response, but Finney doesn't get the chance to hear it over the teacher who's on lunch duty yelling out that it's the end of lunch. Finney has his next class with Robin, so at least he can keep an eye on him for a little while longer.

They both say goodbye to Billy and Griffin, who both have their next class together as well. Robin and Finney walk hand in hand together to their next class, and Finney feels slightly accomplished. He may have just found a way to save Griffin Stagg.

Chapter Text

Finney was bored. He had woken up early, it was only 5:00 am. School didn't even start until 8:00, and even then, their first period didn't actually start until 8:20. 

Finney found himself waking up earlier and earlier every day now. He didn't know why, the Sun hadn't even risen yet.

Finney got an idea. He crept downstairs as quietly as possible, he didn't want to wake Gwen. He definitely didn't want to wake his dad.

Finney was now sitting in the steps to the house, waiting for the Sun to rise. Back to the topic of his Dad...

Terrance Blake used to be a good dad. He used to be Finney's favorite (parent, that is, no one could ever beat Gwen for that title, not even Robin.). Before their mother had died, Terrance used to love his kids, adore them, even. He would tuck them in at night and read them bed time stories. He loved them.

Now, don't get him wrong, Finney isn't stupid. He knows that different parents have different ways of disciplining their children. He knows that other kids get hit with a belt by their parents, he knows that kids get spanked and what not. What he also knew, though, was that their parents did it to teach them a lesson. He knew that they weren't drunk off their asses while doing it. They didn't do it nearly as hard. Nearly as angry.

Whenever Terrance Blake decided that his kids did something worth punishment (mainly Finney, Gwen was never around enough anymore), he would go all out. He. Would. Be. Pissed. Even when they (he) hadn't even done anything, he still seemed angry. He was always angry. 

Finney leaned against the railing and listened. He listened to the birds chirping, starting off their day bright and early, happy and bright. He listened to the wind, the soft breeze bringing a slight chill to the air, the leaves crumpling and crunching as they flew across the ground. It was nice. Calm. Something Terrance Blake never seemed to be anymore.

The Sun was starting to rise. How long had he been sitting there, trapped in his own mind? It doesn't matter, the sunrise was beautiful. He still likes sunsets more.

He and Robin used to watch the sunset every Saturday together on Robin's roof, sometimes staying out even later to look at the stars. Finn would point out all of the different constellations he knew, spitting random facts about space while Robin just sat there and nodded. He says "used to" because, about a year ago, (maybe two, Finney couldn't remember) Finn fell off Robin's roof. He broke his right arm and cracked a rib as well. Robin's mother scolded Robin for a week straight and babied Finney for even longer. Now they just lay on the grass of Robin's backyard and watched the sunset from there.

Finney wondered what time it was, he had left his phone upstairs. He wanted to go and grab it, but he didn't want to risk missing Billy with the morning papers. Maybe he could even join him. If he wanted to do that, he would have to go back inside anyways. Finney made up his mind.

He quietly got up, only being able to hope that the stairs wouldn't creak. His father was still passed out in his stupid chair, beer bottle still in hand. The bottle was starting to slip and Finney was starting to panic.

If the bottle fell then it would break, and then his dad would wake up and blame Finney for the noise and then he would be just oh so mad and nobody wanted that, and then Finney would be in trouble and-. Whatever, it was a very bad situation. 

Finney did his best to be quiet, and it must have worked, because Finney was able to make it next to his dad to stop the bottle from falling and breaking into a million pieces. Now his father wouldn't wake him mad. Now it would be okay. For now, at least.

Finney, once again, as quietly as he could, made his way up the stairs. He checked Gwen's room, she was still asleep. Good, Gwen deserves to get rest.

Finney checked the time on his phone; 5:45. 

Wow, Finney thought, did I really spend that much time outside?

Time always seems to be moving weirdly for Finney, sometimes too fast, sometimes too slow. He never fully knew how much time had passed in situations, despite knowing how long he actually had to be there. It was just so weird. 

Like how it was in the basement. Finney thought grimly. 

Time never seemed to move forward down in the basement, everything took too long, and then the only good parts (the phone calls) passed by way too quickly in Finney's humble, completely unbiased opinion.

Finney's brain started to feel gross, he was growing nauseous. He wanted his skin  off, he wanted it clean, untouched by the monster disguised as a man. A pathetic one at that.

That's when it hit Finney, and it hit Finney hard.

He would have to kill The Grabber. Again. Finney wanted to throw up. He rushed to the bathroom, dry heaving for about a good two minutes. He felt gross, like his body wasn't his. He could vaguely hear someone getting up and walking towards the bathroom. Finney could only pray that it wasn't his father.

"Finney?" Gwen asked through the door.

That's what broke him. He started sobbing, not being able to stop even as Gwen rushed into the bathroom to hold him. He felt disgusting, used. He felt violated. (And he was wasn't he? That had been what happened, hadn't it?) He wanted the feeling gone, his skin sticking to him too tight, too hot. All he could do was sit on the dirty bathroom floor as his little sister had to comfort her pathetic excuse of an older brother. He couldn't even think about time without freaking the fuck out.

The Grabber deserved what Finney did to him, but the thought did nothing to calm him. It still made him feel sick, ending somebody's life. Like a monster. What made it worse, (because somehow it can always get worse) was that a part of Finney liked being the one to kill The Grabber. A part of him liked the fact that he was the one to exact revenge, the one to free his boys. His boys.

Finney knew, that in the end, he would not hesitate once given the chance to kill The Grabber, because as much as he was sad (scared), he was also angry. No, not angry. He. Was. Furious. He would not let The Grabber feel any sort of satisfaction by getting his boys. Finney would haunt The Grabber just as he haunted his dreams every night. He would torment, torture him, even, and once The Grabber thought he was safe, that's when he would strike. The Grabber would regret even thinking the names Griffin, Billy, Vance, Bruce, Robin, and Finney. Finney would bring complete and utter chaos into The Grabber's life, and would not stop until he saw fit. 

The Grabber would beg and plead, just as they had. He would beg Finney to stop, no longer being able to handle the type of torment Finney saw fit. Finney would show him no mercy, just like he had.

Finney would become a threat, something that The Grabber feared, something he had nightmares about every night until he couldn't handle it anymore.

The Grabber would be afraid, and Finney would be why.

Finney could vaguely hear Gwen whispering something in his ear, he couldn't quite tell what thought. He was assuming it was something like "it's okay, Finney, you're okay" or "come on, breathe, it's okay". That's usually what they told each other when they were having a breakdown. Although he wasn't really sure, he did it anyways.

His skin still felt gross and he still felt wrong, but he did at least feel a little bit better than before.

Finney finally got a look at Gwen, and immediately felt awful again, but in a different way this time. She looked so worried, so concerned. Gwen should never have to worry about him. Ever. 

Finney and Gwen just stared at each other for a while, Finney glad that she didn't ask any questions. Finney wasn't sure what he would even say.

"Why was I dry heaving and then sobbing for a solid 10 minutes? Well Gwenny, I actually traveled back in time, and I, along with five other boys actually get kidnapped and die! I somehow killed the kidnapper and escaped, but now that I've traveled back in time to a day before the first kidnapping, I'm now realizing that I'll have to kill him again, all while making sure nobody else finds out because if they do, they'll think I'm crazy and probably put me in a mental hospital or something." 

Yeah, no. He'll pass. Besides, Finney would never burden Gwen with something like that. 

At one point Gwen has asked if he was okay now. Sometimes they both just needed a good cry. (Only the non-existent God's know how many times they've both comforted each other for one reason or another.)

Finney was far from okay, his skin still felt icky, but maybe that would go away if he took a shower. Yeah, that was a good idea, maybe then he could wash him off. He would try his best, anyways. 

He said he was okay, because maybe he would be. Maybe.

Gwen left with one last look, but not another word. She was probably really tired, he had ended up accidentally waking her up with his, rather pitiful, breakdown. 

Whatever, right now, Finney was going to take a shower, and maybe he could even still catch Billy if he was quick enough. He looked at the time. 6:05. Billy didn't deliver the newspapers until 7:00, and didn't even get to Finney's street until 7:10. Finney had plenty of time.

Good, Finney thought. Maybe if he scratched and scrubbed hard enough, he might get at least a fraction of the dirt and filth engraved into every corner and crevice of his skin, into his very being gone. Only getting rid of the feeling wasn't enough, it didn't change the fact that he was still touched, violated, by him. It.

Finney was going to start calling The Grabber an it now. If it wasn't human, (because no human would ever do something so cruel) then what else would it be called?

He finally hopped into the shower and turned it as hot as it would go. Maybe Finney could burn it away.

Thankfully, Finney knew that he didn't have to worry about his father right now, the sheer fact that he hadn't marched upstairs and beat his ass for crying so loud was as much reassurance that he wasn't home anymore that Finney needed. He wasn't quite sure what his dad was doing, he didn't think any bars were open at 6:00 am. His father didn't work until 8.

Finney had gotten the rest of his morning blues out during his nice, long, hot shower. By the end of it, he was feeling considerably less disgusting and he was satisfied with how much invisible dirt and grime he had gotten off his body that was left over from the basement.

As he went outside to go wait for Billy, (it was now 7:05, Billy should be here any minute now) Finney started to wonder if Billy would even want Finney to hang out with him. Maybe Billy liked being alone in the mornings, maybe he would tell Finney to fuck off. Just because they had hung out once at lunch time didn't mean that Billy automatically wanted to be best friends. Maybe Billy would feel forced or pressured into it because Finney had helped him with his math homework, maybe Billy would feel like he owed it to him. Maybe he-

"Hey, Finney!" Billy said, stopping by his house, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hi Billy!" Finney said with a smile. Just because Billy might not like him didn't mean he didn't like Billy.

"Hey, um, I know this might sound stupid and all...but do wanna join me while I deliver papers? It's just, you look kind of bored just sitting there and I could use a friend." Billy looked...nervous, almost? Why would Billy be nervous? Finney hoped nothing was bothering him.

"Of course! I am quite bored, actually, I woke up rather early." Billy seemed relieved at his answer. Finney needed wanted to know why. Was Billy nervous that Finney would say no? Did Billy want to hang out with him that much? Probably not, he was nothing special.

The Grabber It seemed to think so. Finney pushed himself out of his thoughts, this was his chance to hang out with Billy, one on one, get to know him better.

See if it was watching them even before they got kidnapped. It probably was, the evidence is undeniable. Griffin was kidnapped on his way home from school. Finney had seen him starting to walk home, but his mother had said she hadn't seen him sense he left in the morning. The Grabber would have had to learn where Griffin lived, his path to and from school, all of it. It made Finney feel sick to the stomach, just thinking about it. How The Grabber would have already been watching Griffin, watching all of them.

Whatever, Finney would save Griffin, and everything would be perfectly okay. The thought did little to calm him. 

"I just need to go leave a note for my sister, in case she wakes up. Is that okay?" Finney desperately hoped it was.

Billy smiled. "Of course, take your time, too. I got off to a bit of an early start today, so it'll be fine."

Finney smiled and quickly rushed into the house and wrote his note.

Gwen,

Biking with Billy (the Paperboy)! I will be back in time to walk school, call me if you feel necessary.

Love,

Finney ♥️

It was very unlikely that Gwen would get up so early, Finney always seemed to have basically drag her out of bed in the mornings. It still made him feel better about leaving her alone so early in the morning.

Finney quickly ran outside and grabbed his bike from the garage. Just like that, he and Billy were off.

He and Billy biked in a comfortable silence for about a block, listening to the sounds of the morning and people starting their day with the occasional whack of papers being thrown.

After a few minutes, Billy decided to start conversation."So, uh, you're really good at math, huh?"

Finney could tell that Billy was still nervous. He wanted (needed) to know why. So, naturally, he asked.

"Are you alright Billy? You seem kind of... nervous?" Finney winced, he didn't mean to potentially come off as rude, it was kind of just what came out.

Billy sighed. "It's just... please don't be mad. Please?" Billy seemed almost desperate.

"Of course I won't be mad Billy, I could never." Finney knows that that might have come off just a tad bit strong, but it was true. Billy could curse him out, punch him, and literally tell him to kill himself and Finney would apologize and ask what he could do to be better.

Intense, yes, but true.

Billy sighed again, an this time, stopped biking, so naturally, Finney did too.

"It's just... there's been this...van following me around recently. I don't want to seem like a scaredy cat or like I'm dramatizing this whole thing, 'cause I've really only seen it in corners, or slowly passing, but I'm..." he sighed, a long, heavy sigh. "I'm scared, Finney, and I shouldn't have dragged you along with me because now you could be in danger, but you're just so nice and understanding, and you looked kind of bored so I thought-"

"Hey, Billy, it's okay." Finney reassured him calmly, but he was really anything but. He was absolutely furious. Again. How dare that monster make Billy worry so much? Finney took a breathe and collected himself. What mattered right now was Billy.

"You're not a scaredy cat and you're not over exaggerating or anything like that, okay? If you aren't feeling safe, then maybe you shouldn't be doing the papers in the morning."

"But-"

"No buts, Billy. Your life is a thousand times more important than some randos getting the morning paper." Finney said firmly. He needed Billy to understand.

Billy started to tear up. "Okay." His voice cracked.

Finney dropped his bike and held his arms open for Billy as an invitation. Billy gladly accepted. They stayed like that for a bit, just wrapped up in each other's arms. 

Finney looked at the time. "Billy," he whispered, "we have to go. It's 7:30 and I have to get back home soon."

Billy quickly let go of Finney (much to Finney's dismay, he quite liked hugging Billy) and looked kind of embarrassed. Finney, once again, did not understand. If Billy was not feeling safe it was nothing to be embarrassed about. 

Billy stood there awkwardly, so Finney quickly added on "and you're coming with me, of course."

"I am?"

"Of course you are, you just told me that you're not feeling safe, why would I leave you all by yourself?"

Billy looked sheepish. Finney sighed.

"Come on, we do not want to keep Gwen waiting, trust me." And while Finney knew that there was still no way that Gwen was up, he was starting to see the front of a black van rounding the corner.

It was the same one that haunted his nightmares every night, never letting him forget his mistake. It was the same one that took him and his boys. his boys.

Not this time, Finney thought as he, and a slightly still teary eyed Billy started biking back to the direction of his house.

Not this time.

Chapter Text

It was currently lunch time the next day, but, as always, Finney's adoring fans still just can't get enough of him. His day had already been pretty shitty, with his history teacher on his ass for all of first period. He also apparently forgot to pack himself some snacks, so he had been absolutely starving all day so far. That, along with his breakdown yesterday morning, Billy's breakdown, the fact that today was the day of Griffin's kidnapping, and that his father had actually come back to the house last night, got mad at him for no reason, and then just left straight after was making him feel like absolute crap.

So yeah, he was having a pretty shitty day so far.

And not to forget right now's inconvenience, Matt, Matty, and Buzz were currently searching the school top to bottom for him, just to get a few punches out and then move on.

Maybe Finney should just lock them in a rage room together. See how long it takes for them to go from hitting the stuff you're meant to, to hitting each other. 

Unfortunately, it was all just wishful thinking, because just then, the door to the boys bathroom opened and his lovely fans called out for him.

"We know you're in here, fag. You're boyfriend Arellano told us." Finney knew that it wasn't true, Robin would never, but it still caught him off guard.

"What?" Damnit.

"You idiot, you really believed that?" Buzz sneered. "Let's see what Arellano thinks we he finds out how low you think of him."

There was no point in trying to hide anymore, his psycho killer stalkers would find a way to get to him one way or another.

He left the stall to be met with Matt, Matty, and of course, Buzz.

"What are you doing in here, huh. This is the boys bathroom, not the fags bathroom." Buzz snickered. The other two were quick to follow.

"Shut up, you ginger whore." Woah. Finney did not mean for that to come out, but oh well, might as well keep going. He already just dug his grave, what's a bit deeper?

"I am not in the mood to deal with your guy's bullshit today, okay? In fact, nobody is. Ever. Do you ever wonder why you're all failing all your classes? It's not because you're stupid or anything, but it's because even the teachers are fed up with your bullcrap. You're not cool, you're not quirky, and you are not fun. What you are, though, is a bunch of piece of shit high schoolers, that for some reason get off to bothering people for no reason."

That felt so good to get out. And it was true, too.

People weren't friends with Finney, not because they thought he was weird, or because they believed any of the rumors that Matt, Matty, and Buzz spread around the school like wildfire, but because nobody could be bothered to make friends with each other. If somebody actually tried to make friends with someone else, people probably wouldn't have any problem with it.

Buzz apparently didn't like what he had to say, though, because next thing he knew, he was right in front of him, punching him square in the face. His head snapped back and hit the wall behind him with a dull thud, really not making anything better.

As if his day couldn't get any worse than it already had been, Matt and Matty were now on either side of him, ready to pin him down.

Finney acted on pure instinct, despite not really knowing where said instinct came from, quickly kicking Buzz in the balls.

Everyone, including Finney, kind of just froze for a second while Buzz was busy groaning in pain. Clearly they hadn't expected Finney to fight back. Finney hadn't expected it either.

He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts by the two tormenters who weren't doubled over in pain slowly advancing on him. 

Finney was glad they decided to take their time, because just as he was getting ready to defend himself again, the door to the bathroom opened, revealing a concerned Robin Arellano, a confused Billy Showalter, and a bored looking Griffin Stagg.

The concern on Robin's face quickly turned to one of anger as he saw the three all too familiar boys surrounding Finney. That anger then turned into a look of surprise as he saw Buzz still in pain from Finney's previous attack, to one of amusement as he saw the fear on Matt and Matty's faces upon seeing him, and then finally back to concern as he noticed Finney's probably already bruising face.

To anyone else, the changes in Robin's face that conveyed these emotions as he takes in the rather interesting scene would have been almost unnoticeable. Luckily, Finney isn't just anyone. He's Finney Blake, Robin Arellano's best friend. (Finney wanted to be more than just friends.)

Everyone just kind of stood there awkwardly for a bit, no one really quite knowing what to do, Matt and Matty scared of getting beaten up by Robin, Buzz still doubled over in pain, Robin not knowing if he should go over and check on Finn first, or beat the shit out of the other two, and Billy and Griffin not really knowing their place in this situation.

Finally, Robin marched over towards Finn, grabbed him by the arm, and and practically dragged him out of the bathroom, Billy and Griffin following not far behind.

About halfway through their trek across the school (where they were going, Finney hadn't the slightest idea), Robin reached into his bag and shoved a dinner roll and an apple into his hands. Finney knew better than to say anything, though. One, because Buzz's assault on his face was finally starting to register in his brain, making his face and head hurt like a bitch. Second, because Robin would go on a twenty minute rant about how he shouldn't thank people for basic human decency. So, Finney silently are his small version of a shitty school lunch as they continued to whatever destination Robin had in mind.

It turns out that Finney really shouldn't trust Robin with bringing them places, because apparently the wonderful, all secret and mysterious destination that Robin was making them walk all the way across the school for was the nurse's office.

Finney groaned internally. He hated the nurse's office. The nurse always asked him complete nonsense questions like "are you sure you're okay?" and "come back if you need anything, alright?" He wasn't sure why she always did that, she had done her job by patching him up, who cares after that?

As they entered the room, Finney noticed that no one was there. Finally something was going his way.

"Oh, would you look at that, there's no one here! Guess we'll just have to leave and never come back, yeah?" Robin looked disappointed that Finney wouldn't be getting any help, but seeing as there was really no way to argue, he gave in.

"Next time, Finn. Next time you'll get help. I mean, just look at what they did to your face! Black and blue all over." He said, gently cradling Finney's face in his hands. Thankfully, he was clearly over exaggerating, if the looks on Billy and Griffin's faces had anything to say about it.

"Don't worry, Finney, it's really not as bad as Robin's making it out to be. You look fine."

"Thanks Billy."

He smiled. "Of course!"

The warning bell rang and Billy and Griffin scampered off to their next classes, Robin and Finney staying behind. They had social studies next. No one liked social studies.

The rest of the day, thankfully, went by with no more incidents or horrible realizations. It went about as smooth as it could get with Finney.

It was now last period, Finney had biology, when the group chat with him, Robin, Griffin and Billy started going off. Good thing he had his phone on do not disturb, that way it would only vibrate.

H-H-HOMOSEXUALS⁉️ 😨😨😨

2:45 p.m.

Billiam: so excited to hang out today!

Griffinherthighs 😼: me too! thank God for Robin's mom, because it turns out that my mom also needed me for something yesterday. It would've sucked to have to cancel on you guys 😔

Robinthebank: fr ♥️

Finneus and Ferb: we stan Mama Arellano 😍

Robinthebank: ^

Griffinherthighs 😼: ^

Billiam: ^

"Finney Blake, I better not be seeing any phones out during my lesson."

"Yeah, of course, sorry."

Finney's biology teacher is pretty chill, but you still definitely do not want to piss her off. He sent one last message.

Finneus and Ferb: Ms. Mayfield is gonna steal my soul if I don't get off my phone soon 😭

Griffinherthighs 😼: Sucks to be you 🤷♂️

Finneus and Ferb: 🙄

Finneus and Ferb: Whatever, bye losers (affectionate)

Griffinherthighs 😼: Bye Finney!

Billiam: Bye bye!

Robinthebank: Bye Finn ♥️

Finney smiled at that last message. Robin sent him a heart! He couldn't believe it! He quickly put his phone away and looked at the time.

Only five more minutes left. Finney thought excitedly. He couldn't wait to hang out with his friends.

But, no matter how excited he may be, he couldn't help but also be nervous, the familiar anxiety and paranoia that had long since rooted itself deep into his veins. What if Griffin ended up wandering around on his own? What if The Grabber still tried to kidnap Griffin even after today? What if it tried to get all of them? What if it succeeded?

No, that wouldn't happen, Finney wouldn't let it. He would do everything in his, rather limited, power to make The Grabber's life a living hell, starting with taking away the main thing that gave it pleasure. That gave it power. Kidnapping little boys. Two birds with one stone, Finney supposes. Save his boys, and take away what little sense of cruel and twisted joy The Grabber had.

The bell finally rang and Finney was the first one out of the classroom. He had packed up about ten minutes ago, knowing damn well that he wasn't going to get any work done. He all but ran out to the front of the school and waited by the entrance for his friends.

He must have spaced out at some point, because next thing he knew, he was being knocked over onto the ground, with a, thankfully, familiar face looking down at him.

"Hi Finney!"

"Hi Gwenny." Finney smiled softly up at her. He hadn't been seeing her much recently (he doesn't count his pathetic little breakdown yesterday morning as "hang out time"). He misses her. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to voice these thoughts to her, as he doesn't want her to feel like she has to come back to the house, like she's trapped. He would rather wallow in his own self pity and despair then make her feel compelled to go back to the pathetic excuse of a home. Back to him.

"What are you going to do now that school is out?" He asked her. Finney had already told Gwen about his plans for today the day they made them, but when asked what she was going to do, she just responded with "I'm not sure yet".

"I'm going to go hang out with Suzie, I'll be back before nine. Do you know if Dad will be home?"

Finney doubted it, his father had been in a rather depressed mood this morning, too busy grieving to even get the chance of getting mad at his children.

"No, I don't think so. But you might want to see if you can stay the night at Suzie's, even though it's a school night. I'm going to be staying at Robin's for the night, I don't want you home alone." He said instead.

Now, he knows that Gwen isn't stupid, in fact, she's one of the smartest in all of her classes, but he doesn't need to publicly announce how their father is still grieving their mother and can't even be there for his children anymore.

Gwen helped Finney off of his spot on the ground, just to get knocked down again right after, this time by Griffin, with Billy quickly joining in on their doggy pile. Robin just watched, and amused look in his face.

"Guys, I can't breathe!"

Even then with his warning, Billy still took his sweet old time getting off of him and Griffin.

"Sorry Finney, I'm just really excited, y'know? I've never really hung out with anyone who wasn't Billy. He can get quite boring after a while, if you know what I mean." Griffin laughed at Billy's mock offense.

Despite the joke, it still made him sad. Griffin deserves all of the friends in the world, and then some more.

Whatever, he has Finney and Robin now too, and hopefully Bruce in the near future. He hopes that they can become at least somewhat friends with Vance. It would be tricky though, seeing as Vance is scary as shit.

They said goodbye to Gwen (right after she threatened Billy and Griffin that she'd shave their heads in the middle of the night and cut off their balls if they hurt Finney), and set off for the Grab N' Go.

"Just so that we can get snacks first, then we'll go to Robin's." Finney explained. No one had any complaints. That made things about 1,000 times easier, being able to stay inside and within his line of sight so that The Grabber couldn't get them.

Once they finally made it to the Grab N' Go, the first thing Finney noticed was sound of the pinball machine going off the background. The second thing he noticed was the person playing it. Vance. He doesn't look so scary, now that he took the time to notice. He looks more... focused than scary. Now that Finney really thinks about it, Vance never really bothers anyone unless they bother him first.

Good thing Finney's too much of a wuss to even talk to Vance Hopper.

Billy and Griffin immediately rushed over to the candy isle, while Finney stayed back with Robin.

"Can you help me with the math homework again? Please? It's just so hard. I really don't know how can be so smart, it's incredible, really."

Finney blushes at the compliment. He can only hope that Robin is too dense to notice.

"Of course I'll help you. Come on, let's go make sure that Griffin and Billy don't overdose on candy." Finney linked his hand with Robin's as they walked over.

If only he saw how flustered Robin got at the action.

"Robin and I are going to go get some drinks, don't kill each other while we're gone, okay? Three different candies, max."

Griffin rolled his eyes. "Okay, mom."

That made Billy giggle, which led to Griffin giggling as well, which resulted in an almost laughing Robin, and a confused Finney who doesn't understand what's so funny.

He and Robin walked to where the drinks were kept, pinkies locked, and dopey smiles on their faces. Finn immediately grabbed a Grape Fanta soda (what can he say? They're good.), while Robin grabbed one of those big bottles of Coke. Finney hates Coca-Cola (he's always thought that it tastes like pennies), so he always just got a grape soda while everyone else (usually just Robin and Gwen) shared a big bottle of Coke.

He hopes that it'll be enough for everyone to have as much as they want, as they were pretty limited on money.

That reminds him, he needs to get a job soon. His father clearly isn't doing enough. As they were getting ready to leave, Finney heard a thud and a swear. He looked over at the corner where the pinball machine resides, spotting a very frustrated Vance Hopper.

He wondered what could have made him so angry, there was no one else but them in the store, so no one would have been able to somehow piss him off.

Then he saw it. Vance was rummaging through his pockets as if there was no tomorrow. He must have run out of quarters.

Before Finney could stop himself (because seriously Finney, stop), he found himself making his way over to Vance. He fished some stray quarters out of his jean pockets, and held out his hand for Vance to take them.

Vance just looked at him suspiciously.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving you quarters."

"Why?" That was kind of aggressive. Finney contemplated turning around and running away, but that would just make no sense.

"Because you ran out, right?"

"...Yeah..." Vance just stood there awkwardly. Finney decided to test his luck and walked a bit closer to him.

"Take them." He insisted. "You seem to have a greater use for them than me." 

Vance scoffed, but took the quarters anyway.

"Thanks...I guess. I won't forget this." He sent a meaningful look towards Finney before turning back around and going back to playing pinball.

Finney doesn't understand what the look was for, but he supposes it doesn't really matter.

He smiles at Vance, despite him not being able to see it, and exits the Grab N' Go to join his friends outside.

The first thing he is greeted with by going outside is Robin and Billy rolling around on the ground, Griffin cheering Billy on. The second thing he's greeted with is the absolute horrendous sight of the front of an all too familiar black van turning around the corner.

This must have been when Griffin was kidnapped, walking out of a pathetic, run down gas station, unaware that he was going to get kidnapped by a pathetic, run down monster.

"Oh, um, I forgot to grab something inside the store, can you guys come with me?" Finney asked hurriedly.

"Sure, Finn! What did you forget?" Robin asked, immediately getting off of Billy. 

"Simp." Billy coughed.

Robin turned a bright red. Finney, once again, did. Not. Get. It. He's so tired of not understanding things, because it sure seemed to happen a lot.

Finney quickly snapped out of his thoughts and ushered them inside.

While Billy and Griffin rushed straight back into the candy isle, probably hoping to somehow convince him and Robin to get another bag of candy (it would probably work), Robin stayed right next to him.

"What did you need? I can go grab it for you." Robin offered.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, um, I was just thinking that we could also grab a bag of chips. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, of course. What kind?"

"You can choose."

Robin smiled softly at him. "Okay, I'll be back in a second."

As Robin went to the chip isle, Finney stared out the window. He enjoyed the look of confusion and frustration on The Grabber's half mask covered face as he drove by. The Grabber looked at the window. He stared at Finney. Finney stared back.

Eventually, The Grabber must have decided he had enough, because a few seconds later he finally drove off.

Finney let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He made his way over to where Griffin and Billy were, still arguing about what candy they should get. Just because The Grabber didn't get Griffin right at this moment, didn't mean that it wouldn't try again sometime today.

"Finney, can we please get this bag of Sour Patch Kids? Pleaaaaseee?" Griffin practically begged. Finney sighed and gave in.

"Fine. Come on, let's go. Robin, did you find any chips?" He called out.

"Yeah, let's go."

They left the Grab N' Go once again, Finney on high alert this time. Robin seemed to notice his anxiousness and squeezed his hand.

"You okay?"

Finney smiled at him. "Yeah, let's go to your house, yeah?" He asked hopefully. He really didn't want anyone outside for too long, The Grabber could be waiting around any corner.

"Yeah, my house."

And so they set off once again.

They were now all hanging out in Robin's attic, where Uncle Ricky usually stays. When Finney asked Robin where Uncle Ricky was (because he was basically Finney's uncle at this point as well, his words, not Finney's), Robin told him that he was away on a trip in Peru.

Finney has always admired Uncle Ricky for going to trips like that, traveling the world. He has always dreamed of leaving the country some day. Maybe he would visit France, that was where their mother was born. He knew the language and everything, so it shouldn't be too hard.

Right now, they were watching a movie, waiting for dinner to be ready. Robin's mom had informed them that she would be making her famous mac and cheese after learning that Billy could not handle spice. Whatsoever.

Finney and Robin were sharing the beanbag, Robin's arm around him. Billy and Griffin were sharing the couch, Griffin practically laying straight across Billy, head in lap, hand in hair.

They were just getting to the good part of Tangled, where the other two thieves were tying Flynn Ryder up and sending him across the lake with the stolen crown, when Robin's mom called up to them that's dinner was ready.

Disappointed that they had to pause the movie, but excited for food, they somewhat, half heartedly, all but ran down the attic stairs and into the dining room.

As they were all eating, they were left in a comfortable silence, only being interrupted by the occasional sound of forks scraping against plates.

"So, boys, how was everyone's day?" Robin's mom asked.

"It was good, Mrs. Arellano."

"Yeah, after school we all went to the Grab N' Go and got a bunch of snacks, and we were watching Tangled and we just got to the really good part!" Griffin rambled.

"Well isn't that just wonderful? And Billy, please just call me Elena."

"Okay, thanks for dinner Mrs. Are- Elena." Billy corrected.

"Yeah, thank you." Griffin and Finney repeated.

"Oh, Finney, I've been wondering. How did you get that bruise on your cheek? What happened, bebé?"

"Oh, it was nothing, really, I-"

"He's lying mama! It was those estúpidos pendejos lame pisos!"

"Robin, language!" His mom scolded. "And Finney, you know that you can tell me anything, right? I won't judge, cariño."

"I know." Finney said sheepishly. "It's just, there's really no reason to make a big deal out of it. And besides, I actually fought back this time."

"It's true, mama! When we found him, Buzz was kneeled over, groaning in pain. I'm not sure what Finn did, but it must have been awesome!"

"Well, I'm glad that you can stand up for yourself, Finney."

Finney just sat there awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. Plus, how could he ever do possibly think of a response when his empty plate had just barely become just oh so interesting?

Robin, noticing that everyone had finished their plates, apparently decided to take pity on him.

"Come one everyone, let's all go back upstairs." Everyone quickly agreed, clearly wanting to get back to their movie marathon.

They quickly left their dishes in the sink, wished Robin's mom a good night's rest, and ran back upstairs.

It was now 12 a.m., everyone thankfully sleeping peacefully. They must have all accidentally fallen asleep while watching It (per Robin's request).

Finney quickly looked around counting the bodies next to him. Robin, above him, as his head was in his lap. Billy's head in his lap, and make importantly, Griffin, right next to him, cuddling into his side.

It finally hit Finney. He did it. He saved Griffin Stagg.

He felt a wave of relief and exhaustion crash over him like a tidal wave, finally being able to relax now that Griffin would be safe from The Grabber.

It had a way of doing things, a schedule of some sorts, so he knew that Griffin was out of the woods.

Finney let himself fall asleep with the comforting knowledge that Griffin was in fact, right next to him, and not in some creeps basement, scared out of his mind.

He did it.

He saved Griffin Stagg.

Chapter Text

Finney woke up early again, as he always does, but this time covered in a cold sweat. He was having a pretty nice dream, actually. That was before The Grabber just had to of course ruin it with its rather unpleasant presence.

He was hanging out with Robin (well, doing just a bit more than ‘hanging out’ (they were on a date), but that wasn’t really anyone’s business, was it?), when suddenly it showed up, kidnapped him and Robin and then killed him right in front of Finney. It was awful.

This whole thing was just so unfair, Finney shouldn’t have to worry about going to sleep each night, terrified that his mind will betray him and torment him with images of The Grabber, of his never made friends' dead bodies, their lifeless eyes staring into his as they beg him for revenge. He should be able to think about eggs without gagging and growing nauseous, he shouldn’t look at Sprite and think about just how many Sprites The Grabber kept in the fridge, just how long it intended on keeping Finney down there. And he shouldn’t have to be the one to stress over saving a bunch of teenage boys' lives that are all way too independent for their own good when he was only fifteen himself.

Stop Finney, now you’re just being ungrateful. He thought to himself. He had been given a chance to stop all of these horrendous things happening to completely innocent kids who didn’t deserve any of it. Well, maybe not completely innocent, he didn’t know what kind of trouble Vance got into, he had only heard certain stories, but no matter what, Vance didn’t deserve it. None of them did. (Maybe he didn’t deserve it either.) He should be grateful, happy that he got a second chance.

It still didn’t make him feel any better. Nothing seems too nowadays. (His boys did.)

He quietly got up to go use the bathroom. He really hopes that none of them wake up as early as he does, because he looks like absolute death. How ironic. Now that he was getting a good look at himself though, he really did look awful. His eye bags were basically as dark as they could get, his hair all messed up, his eyes bloodshot from lack of any proper sleep over the last week, and the stress of saving Griffin and avoiding The Grabber as best he could was really showing. He hopes that he can fix it before everyone else wakes up, they don't need to be worrying about him. He worries about them, and they get a happy ending. It’s as simple as that.

Unfortunately, not everything seems to go his way, because a few seconds later, he was snapped out of his one-sided staring contest with himself by a knock on the bathroom door.

“Finn, you in there?” Uh oh. It was Robin. If Robin saw him like this, he would go into absolute mother hen mode, and his mother would be even worse. One time she had babied Finney for almost a month because he sneezed, followed by a cough, one time in October last year. As much as he loves Robin’s mom, he cannot deal with that right now. He’s supposed to be the one babying people right now, not the other way around!

“Um, yeah. Give me a second.” He replied.

“No, take your time, I was just wondering where you were. I didn’t see you when I woke up, I wanted to make sure you’re okay. Are you okay?”

“Oh, um, yeah. I’m okay.” A lie, but Robin didn’t need to know that.

He quickly splashed some water on his face, messed with his hair a bit, and rubbed his eyes hard. He gave himself one last look in the mirror. Still like death, but if death was a bit healthier and didn’t kill as many people. He sighed. It would have to do for now, hopefully Robin would be too tired to notice how bad he actually looked.

“Oh, are you sure you’re okay Finn? You don’t look too hot.” Robin said to him as he exited the bathroom.

“Thanks.” Finney said sarcastically.

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just… please don’t lie to me. Are you sure you’re okay?” Robin asked slowly.

Finney really didn’t want to lie to Robin, he wanted more than anything to spill all of his feelings and troubles to him, to have Robin reassure him calmly that he’s doing a good job and that everything will be okay, but he couldn’t do that to him. He wouldn’t, couldn’t burden Robin with all of those feelings and thoughts. Robin should not worry about him. He isn’t even that worth worrying over anyways. Finney’s not sure why everyone pretends to care so much, there was no reason to. He cares about them, and they care about themselves. It really was so confusing, the way people acted around Finney.

Finney, as pathetic as it sounds, had to mentally prepare himself before giving Robin his response.

“I’m fine, I’m sure. I just haven’t been getting much sleep recently, y’know?” At least it technically didn’t even count as a lie. He really hadn’t been getting much sleep recently. (That didn’t erase the fact that he still was not okay.)

“Let’s go back to bed then, yeah? Not even mama wakes up this early.” Robin gently guided him back to their makeshift pillow fort that they had made the other night. As they settled back in, Finney’s head in Robin’s lap, his fingers carding through Finney’s hair soothingly, Finney actually found himself drifting off to sleep.

“It’s okay, Finn, I've got you. Go back to sleep.” Robin whispered to him. With Robin’s soothing motions on his head, Griffin cuddling back into his side in his sleep and Billy waking up for only a moment to somehow position himself against Finney in one way or another, Finney finally drifted off into a peaceful, comforting sleep.

Something he had not had in a while.

Finney didn’t want to get up, he was so cozy and warm, all cuddled up with his friends, but Robin’s mom had other ideas.

“Come on boys, I know you’re tired, but I’ve stalled as long as I can. I took a long time getting ready, and breakfast has already been made. If you don’t get up soon, you’re going to have cold and soggy scrambled eggs for breakfast.”

Oh. Oh no.

Images of the basement invaded his mind, the taste of old, not nearly cooked enough scrambled eggs leaving an unpleasant presence in his mouth. He gagged. Finney buried his face into a pillow and took deep breaths to avoid throwing up. He could not deal with this right now. Everyone else seemed to start to get up though, and Finney didn’t want to seem like a whiny baby by trying to stay in bed any longer, so he did his best to suck it up and act his age.

The smell of freshly cooked eggs greeted him as they all filtered into the dining room. He nearly gagged again. He took his seat in between Robin and his mother’s, doing his best to keep it together while everyone else served themselves eggs. Robin walked over to him.

“Are you going to have any Finn? You must be hungry, right?”

“Um, I’m actually not usually all that hungry in the morning, y’know? I’ll just eat at school.” This was probably the only time that Finney was grateful that he never ate breakfast in the mornings (he usually regretted it later, he just couldn’t eat so soon after waking up, it made him nauseous. Another thing to add to the list of unfair things in his life, he supposes.), because at least he was used to not eating. At least he wasn’t lying. Finney hates lying to Robin, it makes him feel sick to the stomach. Apparently, everything does nowadays, though.

Robin didn’t look satisfied with his answer, but he really didn’t know what to tell him. It was true, he just wasn’t hungry in the mornings. (More like he felt like he would literally explode and die if he ate so early, but it’s basically the same thing… right?)

“You know what? I’ll pack you a snack that you can while we’re walking or something. How about that?” Finney smiled. He was glad at least someone was thinking rationally this morning. He was just planning on starving until lunch time.

“Thanks, Robin. I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Starve, I suppose. Now, what do you want? We have apples, we have oranges, we have goldfish, we have peanut butter crackers, we have granola bars. The choice is yours, amor mío.”

Finney blushed at that; he’s always liked the way Robin sounds whenever he speaks Spanish. Plus, he even called him ‘my love’ or something like that. He knows what amor’ means, everyone does, but ‘mio’ was added to the end of it. Finney doesn’t know what that changes the meaning to know, but it still sounded sweet. Maybe he ought to call Robin cute pet names in French. If Robin can play that game, then so can he.

“Do you guys have those breadstick Nutella dipping thingies?” Finney doesn’t know what they’re called, but Gwen once rambled to him about how good they are after she had tried them at Suzie’s one time. Plus, Robin somehow always seems to have them somewhere in his house, whether his mother knows it or not. It couldn’t hurt to try them.

Robin smiled. “Of course we do, Finn. We always do, you know this. I’ll go grab one for you.”

“Thank you, Robin, tu comptes vraiment beaucoup pour moi.”

“Woah, Finney, what was that?!” Griffin almost shouted as he sat down with his plate full of eggs. This would be harder than Finney thought.

Robin, who looked a bit red in the face, is still somehow the one to answer Griffin.

“Finn’s French. Of course, he can speak the language.” He said as if it were obvious.

“Finney, you’re French?!” This time, it was Billy who was being just a tad bit too energetic for it being so early in the morning.

“Yeah, I thought I told you guys already.”

“Yeah, and shouldn’t you be out throwing papers at a bunch of rando’s doorsteps or something? ‘Cause you weren’t gone when I woke up earlier and doing it then.” Robin said playfully.

“Well, Robert, I’ll have you know that my mother called in for me and said that I would be unavailable today.”

Finney laughed, glad that his friends were somehow able to take his mind off eggs, even as they were eating them right in front of his face. “Robert?” He giggled.

“Yeah, I agree with Finn. You could have come up with something much more creative. Why so basic?” Robin said. He didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was, unfortunately, laughing at him, not actually questioning.

Billy shrugged. “I mean, it’s pretty self-explanatory. A basic name for a basic person.”

Robin gasped. “I am basic?! Right Finn? I’m not basic, am I?”

Finney looked Billy right in the eye. “Trust me, he’s far from basic… quite complicated, really.” He deadpanned.

Robin gasped again. “Can’t believe it! Betrayed by my own best friend! Have all of these years together meant nothing to you, Finney Blake?”

“Boys, calm down. Eat. Oh, are you going to eat anything, Finney mijo?”

“He’s not hungry right now, ma, but don’t worry. I’m gonna pack him a snack so that he doesn’t starve himself to death. Right Finn?”

“Yeah, thanks again.”

“It’s really no problem, Finn. What kind of friend would I be if I just let you starve?”

“Wait, hold on. We need to go back to Finney being French.”

“Yeah, I agree with Griffin, how come we didn’t know this?

“I thought I had already told you guys.” Finney whines.

“Well, you didn’t. So, in order for us to forgive you, you now have to say something in French.”

Oh god. “Fine…what do you want me to say?”

“Hmmm…”  Billy pretended to think. “Compliment me.”

“Tu es le fléau de mon existence. Je ne sais pas pourquoi je suis ami avec vous.” Finney deadpanned.

“That doesn’t sound very flattering.”

“No, it is, trust me. Listen, if you say ‘Va te faire enculer!’ in your best French accent to a French person, they will be head over heels.”

“Really?”

“Yup.” If Finney was going to be forced to sit around and watch a bunch of people eat the very thing that made him want to crawl out of his skin and throw up for the next hour, then he should be allowed to have just a little bit of fun to try and make it at least a bit better.

As everyone else ate, Finney put his head down on the table, taking deep breaths in order not to throw up right in front of everyone. This whole thing really did suck.

Even though Billy’s kidnapping date wasn’t long after Griffin’s, Finney was going to allow himself to not think about those kinds of things today. Today was just going to be like any other day. He would go to school, maybe run into Matt, Matty, and Buzz, hang out with his friends at lunch, walk home alone because Gwen was going to hang out with Suzie again, find the house empty and cold, like it always is, clean up the house on the off chance that his father would show up any time before 12 a.m., eventually find something else to do to occupy him until 11, in which he would then get ready for bed, stare at the ceiling long enough to hear his dad slam the door when he eventually came back, and then drift off to sleep once he was sure that his father was not storming up the stairs to let some of his anger out on his son.

It would be a nice break from thinking about kidnapping and saving all of his friends' lives. He couldn’t wait.

“Oh, here Finn,” Robin said, reaching into his backpack and handing his snack to him.

Finney smiled. “Thanks, Robin.”

“Anytime, Finn. And I mean it, really. Anytime. If you ever need anything, you can let either me or Mama know, okay?”

“Okay.” Finney tried to sound reassuring, but he didn’t really know if it worked, given the look Robin was giving him. For good reason, too, he supposes. Finney isn’t exactly known for reaching out for help whenever it’s he who needs it.

“Listen, I will. I promise.”

“...Pinky promise?” Robin asked, holding his pinky out.

Finney smiled and sighed. Robin was just so adorable sometimes. “Pinky promise.” He said, linking their pinkies. Welp, looks like he’ll actually have to reach out for help now. It’s not like he didn’t want their help, or that he thought he didn’t deserve it, or anything; he just didn’t want to be a burden. He hated bothering people, but with how often Robin and his mom offered to help him with something or another, he was starting to feel like maybe, just maybe, he’s not as big a burden as he thinks he is.

“Same for us, Finney. You can always come to us for help.” Griffin said, and Billy nodded along with what he was saying.

“Yeah, we’re always willing.”

Finney smiled; they really were just the best. “Thanks, guys. It actually means a lot, so really, thank you.”

“Of course, Finney.”

“Yeah, always.”

“We’re here for you, Finn, just like how you’re there for us.” Unfortunately, their little heartfelt moment was then cut short when someone came walking towards them.

It was Bruce.

“Hey, I’m Bruce.” He introduced himself, as if the entire town of Denver didn’t know who he was. “The cafe on Maple Street is looking for more employees,” Bruce said, pulling out a flier from the stack in his arms. Finney decided to take one, as his dad had been using all of his money on beer and at bars. Bruce seemed glad. “All of the needed information is on the flyer.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“No, thank you, really. You’re the only one who’s taken a flyer so far. Hey, you’re Finney Blake, right?” Bruce said, his face seemingly lighting up at the realization.

“Uh, yeah… how’d you know?”

“I’ve seen you play before. Baseball, I mean. Your arm is mint.”

Your arm is mint. You almost had me.

“Oh…uh, thank you. I’ve seen you play, too. You’re really good.”

“Well, thank you too, Finney Blake. Maybe we could practice together sometime?”

“Yeah, that’d be cool. See you later?”

“Yeah, bye Finn.” Robin coughed loudly, probably to remind Bruce that there were other people here as well.

“Oh, sorry,” he mumbled. “Have a nice day, everyone.” Bruce waved to everyone, smiling one last time at Finney, then left. Billy turned to him, shocked.

“Did ‘Golden Boy’ Bruce Yamada just compliment you on your so-called 'baseball skills' and then ask you if you two could practice together?!”

“Hey, clearly you haven’t seen Finney play before. He is really good at baseball. He’s the only reason why his team won at least half of their games last season. Right, Finn?” Robin said, immediately coming to his defense.

As much as Finney didn’t want to brag or anything, it was kind of true. His team last year hadn’t been a particularly good one, and even his coach had told him that he was carrying the team. “Um, I mean…I guess.” He begrudgingly admitted.

“You guess? You guess?!” Robin yelled, bewildered. “Finn, don’t you remember that one time that your coach had you help run one of your practices? And, if I do remember correctly, your team was a lot better after it. Everyone from Denver who watched the next game was talking about it for weeks. And you guess?”

That was true, too, Finney remembers hearing people talk about the sudden improvement of their baseball team for a while. Whenever someone asked one of his teammates why they were suddenly so good, they just pointed to Finney. There was praise around his name for weeks.

“Can we watch when you practice with Bruce?” Asked Griffin.

Finney shrugged; he didn’t see why not. “Sure, that is if it ever even actually happens.”

“I’m sure it will. He did seem very excited about it,” Griffin replied, clearly excited to watch Finney play baseball.

“Yeah, well…come on, we still have to go to school.” He said, getting them to start walking again.

Robin groaned. “Do we really have to, though? Can’t we just skip? Please?”

“Unfortunately, no. Just because you don’t care about your grades doesn’t mean that everybody else doesn’t as well.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

Finney was glad Robin decided to listen to him, because if he really did want to skip school, Finney probably would too, only getting himself in trouble with his father. He did not need that right now, especially since today was supposed to be his “normal” day. His day to relax.  His day to think normal thoughts.

Finney loves Bruce, really, despite not really knowing him all that well, but he really wasn’t doing much to contribute to Finney’s normal thoughts, normal everything day.

All he could think about all day was Bruce. How he didn’t deserve to get kidnapped, how he really did seem to be Vance’s only friend, how heartbroken he was when Vance got kidnapped, how nice he was to Finney. About how he probably worked at the cafe on Maple Street, since he was the one handing out the fliers, how Finney really needed a job, and how working at the cafe would get him both a job and closer to Bruce. And if he got closer to Bruce, then he could find out how to save him from getting kidnapped.

That was a good idea, Finney decided as he sat down at their lunch table. He immediately leaned against Robin’s side, feeling extremely tired after they had run the mile. Apparently, they also had to do the pacer test, which was just extremely unfair. It’s like their PE teacher was trying to screw them over.

“My legs are dead.” Finney groaned.

“What was your time?” Griffin asked.

“Six o’ four.”

“Dang, that’s really good, Finney!” Billy exclaimed. “I got twenty forty.”

Griffin looked stunned. “Twenty forty?!”

“Well, it wasn’t like I ran it! I walked the whole thing…”

Griffin sighed. “Of course you did.”

Finney laughed at that. “Oh, um, I think I might go and check out a job at the cafe. Y’know, the one Bruce was handing out fliers for this morning.”

“That’s great, Finney! Will your dad be okay with you being out of the house so much, though?” Griffin asked. Finney really did not want to explain that his father himself wasn’t even ever in the house, and when he was, he was only there for a limited time; therefore, he wouldn’t even be able to notice if Finney was there or not. I mean, come on, he hasn’t even told Robin yet.

So, instead, he just said, “Don’t worry, Griffin, he’ll be fine with it; he’s actually been really supportive of me wanting to get a job.” The lie felt bitter on his tongue.

“But what about Gwen? Doesn’t she need someone to watch her?”

“She usually goes over to her friend Suzie’s house after school, so I don’t need to worry about that. And besides, she’s thirteen, not three.”

“Oh, okay then. Well, I think you should definitely go for it!”

“Thanks, Griffin.”

“Of course!”

Finney left lunch much more confident in his decision to try to get a job at the cafe. I mean, it really does solve a lot of his problems. It helps him get closer to Bruce, and it gives him money so that there will actually be food in the house that he can eat.

As of right now, there was a bottle of water and a single apple in the fridge. The cabinets were basically empty, only having ingredients that were all useless and expired. Finney only really ate at school and at Robin’s house, usually being sent home with whatever leftovers Robin’s mom thought he deserved to bring home with him. It usually runs out after two days, his father bringing most of it to his work and eating it there.

Needless to say, Finney thinks that getting this job will really start to solve a lot of things for him. If only he knew how true it really was.

It was 5pm when it happened. Finney was shuffling through the cabinets, trying to find anything to have for some type of dinner. As much as he loves Robin’s mom’s cooking, he didn’t want to bother them by begging them for food, but if he didn’t find something soon, he would have to. He pinky promised!

Anyways, he was busy trying to find something to eat so he wouldn’t starve himself, when his father had apparently come home. Finney hadn’t even heard the door shut.

He had accidentally slammed the door to one of the cabinets shut, waking his dad up, who was passed out in his chair in the living room.

Which leads us to where we are now, Finney on the ground in front of his father, groaning in pain from a very recent attack on his stomach.

“God, you’re so…fucking useless.” Terrance slurred. “Can’t even take pain like a man. Slamming doors and…’nd shit.”

“Sorry. I’m sorry.” Finney mumbled. Terrance kicked him again, this time in the head. Finney cried out in pain. He’s pretty sure he felt something drip down his forehead.

“What did you say, boy?” His father yelled, pulling him up by his hair. “I couldn't hear you over your whining and complaining.”

“I said,” swallow. “I’m sorry.”

Terrance huffed. He felt tears well up in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. Eventually, his father decided that he had enough of their makeshift staring contest and dropped him to the ground. He let out the quietest of noises he could at the sudden contact his body made with the floor.

“You kids are just absolutely useless, aren’t you? Just like your goddamn mother.” That surprised Finney. His father never insulted their mother. Never. “Gwenny’s leaving, isn’t she? Just like your goddamn, useless mother.” He started to tear up. “She’s leaving.”

Finney wanted nothing more than to scream at his father at that moment. Scream at him that it was all his fault that Gwen was distancing herself from the house, slowly removing her very existence from it. He’s seen the boxes in her room. Apparently, he had too.

The man stalked over to the fridge, probably hoping to find a beer so that he could drink his sorrows away. Upon finding that there was practically nothing in the fridge, including zero beers, he stormed over to their small, frail table and threw the empty glass vase on the floor right in front of Finney in anger, some of the shards embedding themselves into his arm.

“When I get home, I better see this cleaned up, and you better be in your room, not making a sound. If I hear anything from up there, God help me, I’ll make you wish you joined your mother when you found her in her bedroom that day. You hear me?”

Finney just lay there on the floor, not being able to reply, a pounding headache finally making its way to his body.

“I said, did.” Kick. “You.” Kick. “Hear.” Spit. “Me?!” Finally, the man was done with his assault, waiting for Finney to answer.

“Yes.”  He mumbled out.

“What did you say?”

“Yes.” He said louder. Thankfully, that seemed to be enough for the man. He finally stalked off, slamming the door shut behind him. Funny how he could do it, but Finney couldn’t.

He just didn’t get it. Why couldn’t the man love him? What had he done to deserve this, to deserve now having to go to bed hungry and aching?

He knows that he had promised Robin that he would go to either him or his mom if he needed anything, but he technically didn’t need anything. He didn’t need food; he could just eat something at school tomorrow. He didn’t need anyone to patch him up; he could do that perfectly fine all by himself. Only God knows how many times he’s had to. He doesn’t need help; he can help himself. (Sometimes he wonders if that’s really true. Maybe he’s just scared of accepting help. But why would he be scared? Help isn’t scary. Well, when he thinks about it, it kind of is. He doesn’t know why, though.)

Whatever, the main thing is, he’s technically not breaking his promise, because he doesn’t need anything. Finney can only hope that it will stay like that. He doesn’t want to become a burden.

Finney went to bed that night, hungry, sad, hurt, and like a shitty friend. He doesn't need anything. So why does he still feel like he broke his promise?

Whatever, feelings have always been weird for Finney. He hopes Robin isn't mad at him tomorrow.

He doesn't know what he'll do if he is.

Chapter Text

Finney woke up, nauseous and hurting, the lack of food and the man’s beating from the other night finally catching up with his body. This whole thing was just so unfair! Well, at least it was Friday. Tomorrow would be prime just him and Robin time, watching the stars together. He wouldn’t have to worry about not eating, because Robin’s mom would make them dinner. He wouldn’t have to worry about being too loud, because they would be outside for most of the time. He wouldn’t have to worry about existing, because, for some reason, Robin and his mom both seem to love the fact that he exists.

Finney tried to stand up, but very quickly found that his body had other ideas. He was hit with the painful realization that his head, ribs, arm, and fingers hurt like a bitch. He hadn’t even noticed, too busy trying to make sure that the man didn’t accidentally kill him in his rage, but if the marks and bruises on his now probably broken fingers had anything to say, it seems that the man had stomped on his fingers at one point.

This is probably the only time that Finney is glad he wakes up unusually early for a 15-year-old boy who barely gets any sleep in the first place. Now he has time to patch himself up, nearly overdose on painkillers, and come up with an excuse as to why he’s all beat up.

I could always just say that it was Matt, Matty, and Buzz. Finney muses, attempting to get up again, albeit much more slowly this time. It didn’t really help all that much. No, but that wouldn’t make any sense. Why would they come after me when school has already ended? This was going to be harder than Finney thought.

He made his way to the bathroom, which took a lot more effort than Finney would care to admit.

He sighed as he looked in the mirror, he was really starting to hate his face recently. Yesterday, before the man came home, he had just stared in the mirror for a good 30 minutes. Finney doesn’t know what’s wrong with him, this isn’t how normal people act. (But he was far from normal, wasn’t he?)

He has a big bruise with a cut in the middle on his forehead, right near his hairline. That should be pretty easy to cover up, he could just wear a hat. Most of the man’s attack was targeted around his middle, and he didn’t really fancy wearing crop tops, so that should also be fine. The main problem is his fingers. Every time he even thinks about moving them, they hurt so bad that he has to take multiple deep breaths to calm down. Today was definitely going to be a challenge, seeing as he did require working fingers for school. He could just down a bunch of painkillers, but the last time he did that Robin got mad at him. Well, not mad at him, but mad for him, or something like that. Finney can’t quite remember how Robin’s mom explained it to him. (He was nine. He hasn’t done it since, not wanting to make Robin mad again.)

Finney debated whether or not just taking a bunch of painkillers and hoping that he didn’t die was worth Robin’s definite concern anger that would come along later once he found out.

It turns out that it doesn’t matter, because once he had decided that the pain was just too much and he did not want to have to go the nurse's office once he got to school, he went downstairs to try to find the nearest and most promising looking painkillers, but apparently his fingers were just too goddamn broken to even open the bottle!

You know what? I’ll just kill myself instead. Finney decided as he plunked his head down on the table, accidentally hitting his fingers on accident. He almost cried in pain. He really didn’t know how he was going to make it through today, he can’t even open the one thing that would solve all (most) of his problems.

He knew that he should ask for help, but who would he go to? Gwen isn’t home (she never is anymore), the man probably won’t be home for a while (and thank the stars for that), and it’s not like anyone else lived at the house. He knows that he should go to Robin, or his mom, but he can’t exactly text him or anything. And he is not showing up to their house unannounced as ass crack o’ clock in the morning.

After some very painful research on his phone (he used voice to text for most of it), Finney found that his fingers (thankfully only his pointer and middle on his right, and his ring finger on his left hand) were unfortunately, definitely, 100% broken. Every time he tried to move them, it hurt so bad that he actually had to take a few seconds. It didn’t help that basically all of his torso hurt so bad that he could barely breathe without crying. All he wanted was some damn painkillers, but his stupid, no-good fingers just had to ruin it all!

He figures that he doesn’t really have a choice anymore, Robin was going to find out anyways, so better sooner than later, and decides to call Robin.

 He’s decided that it’s an appropriate time in the morning to go bothering someone, he did waste a good amount of time trying to open painkillers and then wallowing in despair after not being able to. It’s 7:00 o’ clock now, so both Robin and his mom should be awake. That did make Finney feel a bit better, if Robin didn’t pick up, then his mother surely would. He finally mustered up all of his courage he could and pressed the call button next to Robin’s name. It only rang once before he picked up. Finney didn’t know whether to be thankful or worried.

“Hey Finn! What’s happening?” Robin’s voice sounded through the other end. Thankful, Finney decided. Definitely thankful. The sound of a familiar and friendly voice finally being directed towards him instantly made him feel so much better.

“Just keepin’ on, keepin’ on, I guess. Hey, um…. Could you maybe come over real quick? Just for a second, I, uh, kinda need… um, help… with… something…” His voice got quieter and more uncertain with every word. Why was this so hard?! It’s just a couple of words.

“Of course!” Finney could already hear Robin shuffling around in the background. “I’ll be there in ten minutes at most, okay? What do you need help with? Is something wrong? Oh, mama just said that she’ll drive me. So, I guess I’ll be there in about five minutes, alright? Hang in there, Finn, we’ll be there soon.” And with that, Robin hung up the phone.

Finney sighed. There was no going back now. He went to push his hair back from his face. Shit. His forehead. He still needed to find a hat.

Finney rushed up the stairs and into his bedroom. Surely, he had a hat somewhere nearby, right? I mean, he plays baseball, there should be one somewhere at least somewhat accessible. God damn it, why is it so hard to find a stupid, lame hat somewhere? Where are they?

Finally. Finney thinks in relief when he finally finds one after gently tearing apart half of his closet. It’s more of a beanie than a cap, but it’ll do.

It’s going to have to, I guess. Finney thinks as he hears knocking on the front door. No way that just took five whole minutes. He thinks as he rushes down the stairs.

“Come in!” He calls, halfway down the staircase. He won’t even try to bother opening the door with his barely functioning fingers. It’s not like the man locks it anyways.

Finney didn’t even have time to greet two of his favorite people in the world, because as soon as he officially made it all the way down the stairs, he was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug.

“Hi Robin.” He says fondly, hugging the boy back gently.

“Hey Finn.” Robin says, pulling away from him. “Are you okay? What happened? Why did you call? Is something wrong? Finney!” Robin seemed to get uneasy at his lack of response. He really didn’t know what to do, it’s not like he gave him any time to respond!

“Um, well…I think my fingers may or may not be…broken…?”

“Finney, cariño, what do you mean? What happened, querido? Where’s your father?” Robin’s mom said, immediately rushing to his side and picking up his hand gently to inspect his fingers.

“Uh, no, he leaves early in the morning for his work.” A lie. A bad one at that, too. “He was gone before I woke up.”

“Did this happen recently? When did this happen, Finney?”

“This morning…” He really needs to stop lying, it doesn’t really feel all that good. “It really hurts, can you open the painkillers for me…please?” Finney didn’t want to sound desperate, but they really did hurt.

“Of course, mijo. Robin! Go open those painkillers for Finney, yeah?”

“On it, mama!”

“How many are you allowed to take?” If he was being honest, Finney didn’t really know. But… he was on quite the lying streak right now. What's one more?

“Um, like…four? Yeah, four.” That’s a reasonable amount for a fifteen-year-old boy, right? Robin’s mom didn’t really seem all that convinced, but seeing as she didn’t really understand how medicine worked, she just went along with it. Finney could only hope it would be enough that his pain would go away, but not too much that Robin got mad at for him.

“Where’s your home phone, baby? Do you have one?” Robin’s mom said, grabbing his cheeks gently, diverting his attention back to her.

“Yeah, um, it’s in the kitchen. Over there, on the wall.” He says, pointing to the kitchen. “Why?”

“I’m going to call the school and tell them that you won’t be going to school today. You are going to take the day off, and stay where I am able to watch over you and make sure you don’t get hurt, and am able to take care of you, okay?”

“But-”

“Uh uh, no buts, Finney Blake. You hear me? You are hurt and you need to be taken care of. In fact, I’m going to take you to the hospital. I can’t fix those broken fingers, Finney, you need professional help.” Oh. Oh no. This is bad. Like, really bad. 

Fun fact: Finney really fucking hates hospitals. He’s always hated them, the man always yells at him whenever they have to go, muttering about how expensive it is. The bright lights, pure white walls, and constant smell of chemicals usually just ends up giving him a headache and making him feel nauseous. And besides, if the man finds out that he went to the hospital because of him, Finney’s going to end up with a bit more than just a few broken fingers.

“Uh, I actually don’t think that necessary. We can just, like, look up on Google what we’re supposed to do or something, right? We don’t need to go to the hospital!” He rushed out. He was not going to go to the hospital. Not today. Not when he was still with him.

“But Finney, if we don’t get you professional help, your fingers may never heal…surely you don’t want that.” She was right, of course. He did not want that. He also didn’t want to get beaten half to death. Maybe once Gwen is fully gone, fully safe, then he might tell them what’s been going on at this pathetic excuse of a house. But only when Gwen is safe. Only maybe.

Finney smiles softly as Mrs. Arellano, wanting to comfort and reassure her. “I’m sure that we can find what we need if we just go on Google. They probably have all the necessities at the local drug store or something. It’ll be fine, I promise…just please don’t make me go to the hospital. Please?”

She gave him a funny look, but eventually gave in to his pleading. “Fine, but if I see you in pain even after we half ass fix you up, I am taking you straight to the hospital, and you are going to have no complaints. You hear me, Finney Blake?” She said firmly.

“Yeah…I hear you.” Just then, Robin came out of the kitchen, thankfully with the painkillers open.

“Here, Finn. That was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Mama, did I hear you say something about Finn getting to skip school? Can I skip too? Please? To look after Finn, of course.”

“Of course, you can. Come on, now. Let’s go.” She said, herding them out the door and into her car. As Robin came in and sat down next to him, he suddenly felt very tired. It made sense, he didn’t exactly get a lot of sleep last night.

“Can we have breakfast?” He asked, laying his head down on Robin’s shoulder. He didn’t know why he said that. It was a very stupid question to ask.

Robin’s mom smiled softly at him from the front seat, though he didn’t see it as his eyes were closed. Why was he suddenly so tired? “Pancakes or waffles, mi niño precioso?”

“I love waffles.” Finney mumbled, falling asleep against Robin. His shoulder is really comfy, now that he thinks about it. Finney thought he heard someone laugh, probably Robin, if he had to guess.

Finney loves Robin’s laugh. He loves making him laugh even more. His laugh is so nice, so calm. It’s always so happy and light. It makes him so happy to hear it, it makes him feel accomplished knowing that he’s the one who caused the sound.

“Waffles it is then, corazón.” Finney fell asleep to the sound of Robin’s mom turning on the radio, and the soft feeling of Robin’s gentle fingers running through his hair.

“Go to sleep, Finn, I’ll tell you when we’re home.”

And with that, he was out.

When Finney woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was incredibly well rested. The next thing he noticed was that he was not at the house. He tried to sit up, feeling reasonably panicked, but was stopped by the feeling of someone’s arm tightening around his waist.

“Robin?” He asked, still sleepy. He didn’t get a response. Finney did his best to turn around to face his best friend. When he finally got a good look at him, he was greeted with one of the best sights he’s ever seen.

He’s always loved seeing Robin asleep. That might sound kind of creepy, but he just always looked so at peace, no longer burdened with reputations and fights. The crease between his eyebrows was gone, and he always wore the tiniest of smiles whenever he was in a rather deep sleep. Robin’s always been beautiful, but it was times like these that Finney was really able to notice and appreciate it. It was times like these where he was able to look and admire for as long as he wanted to without being seen as creepy or weird.

Minutes and minutes passed, possibly hours, Finney knows that he did fall back asleep at some point, until they finally got up. Well, less like getting up and more like being awake at the same time. It was now 12 pm. He hopes Griffin and Billy aren’t too bored without them. Or worse, worrying.

“Hey, Finn,” Robin whispered, running his hand through his hair. "how are your fingers?”

“They still hurt. Like a lot.”

“Well, it makes sense. You didn’t even have time to take the painkillers that you had me open back at your house before mama rushed us to the car. Do you want to go downstairs and take some? We’ll have lunch too, I don’t think you’ve eaten anything today, have you? Come on, let's go.” Robin gently maneuvered himself so that he was sitting up without hurting or moving Finney too much. “Come on, you look starved. Mama even went to the store and bought those weird frozen Eggo waffles that you like so much.” He said, pulling Finney up by his wrists.

“But I was so comfy!” He whines, getting up, nonetheless.

“After we eat and fix you up, then we can go up to the attic and hang out and watch movies all you want, but right now you look like you’re going to keel over any moment now.” Robin whispers, as if it were a secret, something important and sacred just between the two of them.

It kind of was, in a way. No matter who they shared the attic with, or whatever friends they invited over for dinner, or breakfast, or whatever, it will always be a Finney and Robin thing. It started that way, and it will end that way. Even if it means never telling Robin of his feelings that he’s had since middle school. Even if it means changing himself, rearranging his entire personality, turning the world upside down and starting a revolution. It will always be their thing. Finney and Robin. Robin and Finney. Forever.

Finney was snapped out of his daze by Robin taking his wrist and leading him down the stairs into the living room, where his mother was.

“Mama, we’re awake. Can we have those waffles that you got from the store? Y’know, the frozen ones that Finn seems to like for some reason.”

“I know what you’re talking about, bebe. First, we need to fix Finney up, though. Go to the bathroom, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay, mama. Come on, Finn.” Robin said softly. Finney silently followed him, all the way to the bathroom, until he was seated on the sink counter and Robin was standing next to him.

“Robin?”

“Yeah, Finn?”

“You know how much you mean to me, right?”

“Well, I’d sure hope so, we’ve been friends since we were six.”

“No, I mean…you really do mean a lot to me. I think I’d be dead without you, if I’m being honest.””

Robin smiled softly at him; he seems to be doing that a lot recently. Finney likes it. “You mean a lot to me too, Finn. I mean it, really.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“No, I’m not. You know how in 2018 when mama said that we were going to move back to Mexico?”

“Yeah, I cried all night after you told me.”

“You’re the reason we never left, Finney.” Robin just said his full name. He must actually be serious, then.

“Really? Why?”

“I didn’t want to leave you. I spent the whole week explaining how it would be cruel to me to take me away from you.”

“But don’t you love Mexico?”

“It’s not worth it if I don’t get to see you.”

Finney smiled. Robin definitely knows how to make him feel all mushy gushy inside. If only Robin could ever return these feelings. He knows that no matter how many times they’re all sentimental, it’s platonic. It’s always platonic.

“I love you, Robin.”

“I love you too, Finn.”

If only they both knew how much the other really meant it.

“Finn, what happened?” Robin asked. They were currently on their way to the Grab N’ Go. Finney wanted to stretch his legs now that his fingers were all fixed up (well, about as fixed up as they can be when you’re going off a wikiHow article), and no longer hurting (he finally got his painkillers!).

“Hm?” Finney hummed, snapping out of his daze. Sue him, but he was a bit preoccupied with the way Robin’s hair bounces up and down ever so slightly whenever he walks.

“How’d you hurt your fingers?”

“Oh, um…uuhhhh…” Oh god, why can’t he come up with something? He’s always been able to lie whenever he really needs to, so why is this time different?! “I, uh…”

“Finney.” Robin cut him off firmly. “What happened? You don’t have to lie to me, I promise.” Finney pursed his lips. This is where Robin is wrong, he kind of does have to lie to him. He cringed, Robin was being really serious, he really wanted to know, and Finney did really want to tell him, but he couldn’t. Not until Gwen was gonesafe.

“I’ll tell you when I can, okay? I promise, I just…I know it sounds weird, but I can’t tell you right now.”

“When will you be able to tell me then?”

“Soon, I think. Hopefully, anyways.”

“Okay.” Robin said with a soft, almost fond smile. He grabbed Finney’s hand softly and swung their arms together.

“Okay.” Finney said back.

They walked the rest of the way to the Grab N’ Go in silence, gently swinging their arms every once in a while.

“Y’know, I really don't understand why you like Coke so much. It tastes awful , horrendous, even.” Finney said, grabbing a grape soda for himself now that they finally made it to the Grab N’ Go. The sound of the pinball machine being played was loud and clear, a nice reassurance that The Grabber didn’t decide to go off schedule and take Vance when Finney hadn't even had the chance to know him yet.

“Yeah, well I don’t understand how you can even stand the taste of grape soda. It doesn’t even taste like grape!” Robin retaliated, picking out a bottle of Coca-Cola.

Finney rolled his eyes and made his way to the candy aisle, which was conveniently very close to the pinball machine. “You just don’t get it, it’s really good.”

“I could say the same thing to you about coke.”

“Whatever.” The sound of the pinball machine stopping, and the grunt of a frustrated Vance Hopper caught Finney’s attention. He looked over to where the pinball machine resided to be met with Vance already looking at him. Well, less at him, and more at his fingers , to be exact. Vance’s gaze traveled up to his face. His eyebrows furrowed, just ever so slightly. Finney didn’t know why, there was nothing to look at.

“Blake.” Vance called. Robin was by his side immediately. Finney was surprised that Vance even knew his name. “Chill Arellano, I’m not going to beat him up or anything. It seems that someone already beat me to it.” The blonde said, pointing to Finney’s forehead. Oh. He must have forgotten to put his hat back on. Robin must have taken it off when they were still sleeping.

“What’s it matter to you?”

“It’s okay, Robin. He’s not going to kill me or anything. Right, Vance?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What happened though? Who did that?”

“Why?” Finney asked. He really didn’t see where this was going.

Vance crossed his arms and looked about anywhere besides Finney's direction. “You helped me…so it’s the least I could do. Make sure they don’t mess with you again, y’know?” He muttered.

While it was sweet, what Vance was trying to do, it wouldn’t do anything. Vance thought he could help, but unfortunately, he can’t. Finney wishes he could. Vance is tough, hard as nails, borderline scary, sometimes, but in the end, he was no match for the man. Vance could threaten and punch and kick and beat as much as he wanted, but again, while Vance is only tough… the man is just cruel. He’s cruel in a way that might even be able to even rival The Grabber, because even though The Grabber was a pedophilic, creepy and dangerous monster, the man was still human. A human that was cruel, a human who would beat his own children and care about himself more than he ever could his kids. The Grabber was a cruel monster. It fit the description; it made sense. Monsters were cruel. But the man was human. The man could be loving, he could care. Monsters can’t. Finney doesn’t know which one’s worse.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that, Vance. Really, it’s my own fault.” At least that wasn’t a lie. If he hadn’t been slamming cabinet doors and making a ruckus, he wouldn’t be here. He would have eaten last night, and gone to bed without broken fingers, a raging headache, and a hurt middle.

“Bullshit.” Vance huffed. “What could you have possibly done to get this beaten up.”

Finney sighed. Apparently, this was going to be much more difficult than he anticipated. “Really, Vance, don’t go beating anyone up.” (It’s not like he would be able to do anything, anyways. He didn’t say that, of course, but it was still a very prominent thought.) “It’s not worth it.”

“Then what can I do to pay you back, huh? What wonderful ideas would you happen to have?”

Finney definitely had one, but it was kind of stupid. But, then again, the worst Vance could say is no. The worst that could happen, though, is Vance thinking that he’s a total weirdo, therefore never letting Finney get close to him, making it about a thousand times harder to save him from The Grabber. But, then again, he… might be okay with it. Lots of emphasis on the might.

“You could be my friend?” He asked, cautiously.

“What?” At this point Robin had gone to go get chips, it was only the next aisle over, but it still left Finney alone with Vance. All he could do now is hope that Vance won’t want to kill him.

“You could be my friend.” He said, more clearly this time. “No offense, but you don’t seem to have many, seeing as everyone is scared shitless of you. And besides, if you find me to be bad company, you can always just ditch me later. It couldn’t hurt, right?”

Vance sighs, hard and heavy, almost like he’s disappointed in himself for the choice he’s about to make. At least that’s how it sounds to Finney. “Fine. I’ll be your…friend or whatever. Do not expect me to be nice to you, got it?!”

Finney smiled; he didn’t actually expect Vance to say yes. “Of course not!” Just then, Robin came back next to Finney.

“Are you ready to go, Finn? I already paid.” He said, eyeing Vance wearily.

“Yeah, let’s go. Bye Vance!”

“Whatever.” Vance mumbled, going back to playing pinball. Call Finney crazy, but he swears that he saw Vance throw a concerned look his way as he and Robin left the Grab N’ Go.

“What was that about?” Robin asked him once they were far enough away from the gas station.

“We’re friends now.”

“What?!”

“Me and Vance. We’re friends now. It’s not that big of a deal. It was quite easy, really. I don’t think Vance is going to be that bad.”

“He better not be, or else I’ll stalk him, find out when he has Oreos, break into his house in the middle of the night, switch the cream with toothpaste and the toothpaste with the cream, and then swap his and his mother’s clothes.”

“Creative.”

“Never expect anything less from me.”

“I heard his mother is a cop.” A lie, but a playful one. This one doesn’t feel bitter on his tongue, doesn’t haunt his subconscious.

“Really?!”

“Yeah.”

“In that case do expect less than me.”

“No, you should do it, really. I want to see how it plays out.”

“Be quiet.” Robin laughed, which made Finney laugh, which only made Robin laugh even more.

They spent the rest of the day huddled up in the attic together, cuddling and even falling asleep at some points. Finney couldn’t be happier. His day hadn’t exactly started off the greatest, but it only kept getting better as it went on. He got to sleep for as long as he needed, he got to have waffles for lunch with Robin, both him and Robin got to skip school, he made friends with Vance, and now he got to fall asleep, wrapped up in blankets and Robin’s arms, gently drifting off as Robin, once again, ran his fingers through Finney’s hair.

“I love you, Finn. Go to sleep, I’ll protect you. It’s okay.” Robin whispered.

Maybe asking for help isn’t as bad as Finney thought.

Chapter Text

Finney Blake is a weird kid. Not weird as in “oh, look at that weirdo, let’s go bully him for being a weirdo” (unless you were Matt, Matty, and Buzz), but weird as in something Vance hasn’t really ever seen before. Or at least not often. I mean, sure, Finney Blake might like space just a tad bit more than the average kid, or he might just be a bit more socially awkward than people are usually used to, but come on, give him a break or something! It’s not like he’s a bad kid. It’s not like Vance would bully him.

Vance likes to think that he’s better than that. He likes to think that he wouldn’t steep so low as to be on the same plain as Matt, Matty, and Buzz. Or Moose. He likes to think that he’s, at the very least, just above them on the ‘good person’ scale. At least he doesn’t beat people up for no reason. Bruce would probably be at the very top, along with Vance’s mother, Bruce’s parents, and that one kid he once saw save a dog from getting hit by a car. Vance loves dogs.

Anyways, back to the point. Finney Blake is a weird kid. He always moves with his head down, but is somehow also always looking up, seeing everything. He takes note of everything, making sure to always be careful. He always seems to neglect himself but gets upset and concerned whenever anybody else does. He walks on eggshells half the time but is simultaneously probably one of the most clumsy and reckless people Vance has ever seen. He seems to think he’s not a fighter but is always ready to take a punch and get right back up after. A silent fighter, then, Vance observes. Because, in the end, that’s all this is. Observing.

Vance observes a lot of people, his only real friend going to a different school leaving a lot of just, well…nothing to do while he waits before they can hang out again. Because of this, Vance notices when things are off. Weird. He notices when someone comes to school with a limp, one that definitely wasn’t there the day before, he notices when girls stop eating during lunch and when boys start to wear long sleeves all the time, even in the middle of summer. So, of course he notices when Finney Blake flinches at what are supposed to be friendly hands innocently raising to give him a high five, when he closes the classroom doors more softly and carefully than Vance has ever seen anyone before. Of course he notices when Finney Blake is being weird.

This whole thing makes Vance want to rip his hair out! It makes him want to kick and punch and beat and threaten. It makes him want to punch his walls until his knuckles are bleeding and he’s sobbing on the floor until his mother has to come into his room and calm him down. It makes him want to go outside and scream at the top of his lungs until his voice is raw and he can’t talk for hours afterwards. It makes him want to play pinball until he’s broke and has to beat up some random person on the street for more money. Wait. That’s actually a good idea. He should go play pinball.

Even though Vance was on his way to his third favorite place in the whole wide world (his first was his house, the second being Bruce’s), he was still fuming as he marched down the road to the Grab N’ Go. Why was he thinking about Finney Blake so much? He’s just another kid that Vance had the time to observe whenever he saw him, so why was he actually worrying? Vance doesn’t have time to worry about kids like Blake. (That’s a lie, he has a lot of free time on his hands. A bit too much, actually.) Vance doesn’t know why he’s questioning why he’s worrying about Finney Blake; he knows the answer. Before Vance’s mom had had enough, his dad was a dick. He would push them around, was a violent drunk, hit them, sometimes, even. Game recognizes game, he supposes. Even with these observations (instincts), he still had no proof. He couldn’t do anything about it, even if he did want to. Which he doesn’t, obviously. Why would he care about Finney Blake? He’s just some weird kid.

So why should he care?

Vance just put in his last quarter. He only barely registers the sound of the door to this shitty gas station open, the bell on top of the door not even working anymore. He doesn’t understand why people even still come here anymore, he himself only comes here for pinball, and he’s the only one who plays the rundown machine. Even though this town is full of stupid idiots who seemingly can’t grasp the concept of anything, really, they’re all still somehow smart enough to stay away from the pinball machine. The pinball machine is Vance Hopper’s, and it will stay that way. Finally, something that this bullshit town can agree on.

He continues to play the game, his attention focused on nothing else. He kept jamming the buttons violently, he was so close to beating his high score! Just when he thought he was going to make it, it dropped. What the hell?! He was so close! And of course, this had to be when he was out of quarters! Vance kicked the stupid machine and let out a swear under his breath. Who even needed to win pinball anyways?

He quickly rummaged through his pockets, hoping to maybe find at least one quarter in the seemingly bottomless pits that are the holes in his jeans. Just as he thought he found something (who was he kidding, that thing was no larger than a penny), he saw a pair of probably the most rundown pair of sneakers in his peripheral vision standing across from him.

Vance Hopper turned his attention away from his pockets to be met with the sight of a very nervous looking Finney Blake holding out his hand towards him, seemingly offering something.

Vance doesn’t know what that kid is doing, but now he’s just being a different kind of weird.

“What are you doing?” He asks, because what is this kid doing?

“Giving you quarters.” The kid deadpanned. Wait, what?

“Why?” Vance didn’t mean to ask it so aggressively, but it’s not every day that he gets proper social interactions with other kids his age. Blake looked like he was regretting every decision in his life that led up to this point, especially now that his friends were going outside to wait for him, but he seemed to decide to push through.

“Because you ran out, right?” No shit, sherlock.

“...Yeah…” Vance doesn’t quite know what to do now, they had identified the problem, that he was out of quarters, but what were they going to do about it?

Blake inched a bit closer to him, testing the waters. Vance scoffed under his breath, it’s not like he’s going to beat him up. (It’s not like the kid knows that, though.) “Take them. You seem to have a greater use for them than me.” Vance scoffed again, but this time it seemed like the Blake kid heard him. He could use these quarters to buy something, or to save up for something bigger than some shit from a ruddy gas station, but here he was, giving them to Vance, saying that he has a better purpose for them than him, despite knowing that all he’s going to use them for is a game. This Blake kid needs to sort out his priorities.

Despite his thought process, he’s still going to take the quarters. One, because he’s out, and he was just about to go beat someone up for more, and two, Finney Blake looks like he’s going to sob or kill himself, or something if he doesn't take them. Besides, he is feeling particularly nice today. (Or maybe it’s just because he’s Finney Blake, and Vance Hopper is actually worrying.) So, he takes the quarters.

“Thanks…I guess. I won’t forget this.” He told him, because he won’t. Not just because this a very weird exchange for Finney Blake to go through with (and listen to him, talking about that kid as if he knows him, how he is), but also because Finney Blake is now counted as one of the very few people who don’t treat Vance like a wild animal. Like a ticking time bomb that could explode any second, just by standing near him. Believe it or not, it actually means a lot to him, that Finney Blake would interact with Vance Hopper without acting like it’s a big, huge deal and that he’s going to die just because Vance looked at him.

He sent a look towards Finney, hoping that he understands what it means. Hoping that he understands that Vance is going to find a way to repay him for his kindness, something that Vance honestly doesn’t get a lot of. Whether it be Vance beating up his bullies, or stealing him a bag of chips, or something like that, he’ll find a way to repay him. Surely Finney Blake doesn’t think that he’s going to get away from this situation without another person to semi-rely on, just once, though.

Because even though Vance may now be only slightly looking out for him in the hallways, throwing glares towards Matt, Matty, and Buzz every now and again, he’s still Vance Hopper, and Finney Blake is still just Finney Blake.

So why would he care?

The next time he interacts with Finney Blake may be weirder than the first time, because this time it’s him who initiates the conversation. Don’t get him wrong, it’s not like he likes Blake now or anything, but he did say that he was going to find a way to repay him, and the kid did just walk into the Grab N’ Go with broken fingers and a huge ass cut in the middle of his forehead! And, to make matters worse, it’s the middle of the day on a Friday! Shouldn’t he be at school or something? The fact that Finney Blake was injured enough to get out of school was a surprise to him, and there was no way he wasn’t going to take this as his chance to repay the kid.

“Blake.” Vance called. What he wasn’t prepared for was Arellano getting all up in his face for simply saying the kids name. “Chill Arellano,” because seriously, chill. “I’m not going to beat him up or anything. It seems that someone already beat me to it.” He said, pointing to the big ass cut on Blake’s forehead.

“What’s it matter to you?” Arellano basically snarled. Jeez, if he knew that Arellano was going to act like this, he might as well just have never said anything.

“It’s okay, Robin. He’s not going to kill me or anything. Right, Vance?” Finally, someone with common sense.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What happened, though? Who did that?”

“Why?” He asked. Vance sighed; he thought that Blake was supposed to be smart. He crossed his arms, for some reason he couldn’t seem to bring himself to look at stupid (helpless) Finney Blake. Why was this suddenly so embarrassing?! Vance has beaten up many people before, what was so different about it now?

“You helped me…so it’s the least I can do. Make sure that they mess with you again, y’know?” He said (muttered), because he’s assuming that this was the work of Matt, Matty, and Buzz. Vance didn’t go to school yesterday, so it would’ve been the perfect time to go after him.

Assholes. Vance thought.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that, Vance. Really, it’s my own fault.”

“Bullshit.” He huffed. “What could you have possibly done to get this beaten up?” There was no way that Finney Blake’s broken fingers and big ass cut in the middle of his forehead is the product of his mistakes. Someone with a vendetta against Blake must have done this, ‘cause this was no kind of punishment that kids were given.

Maybe it is, though. Maybe for Blake it is. Vance thought.

“Really, Vance, don’t go beating anyone up. It’s not worth it.” He sighed. Again, bullshit. If what Vance is thinking is actually true, then yes, it is worth it. It is completely worth it. There was still a problem.

“Then what can I do to pay you back, huh? What wonderful ideas would you happen to have?” Vance asked. If Finney Blake didn’t want him to exact revenge, then what exactly was he supposed to do?

“You could be my friend?” Vance is surprised that he had the gall to ask, Arellano had left his side a bit ago.

“What?” In his mind, Vance Hopper and Finney Blake were complete opposites. Vance was mad and aggressive in situations where Finney was calm and collected. Vance fought violently and loudly, something everyone could see. Finney Blake fought silently, fighting with a quiet compassion that you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking for it. Unfortunately, most people seemed to be invested in themselves to even spare a second glance at the silent war that the kid seemed to be fighting. Vance didn’t quite understand the whole thing, didn’t know all the details, but Finney Blake was fighting something. It was in the way he talked, the way he moved with some sort of hidden fire. The way the fire suggested that he was going to win.

“You could be my friend. No offense, but you don’t seem to have many, seeing as everyone is scared shitless of you. And besides, if you find me to be bad company, you can always just ditch me later. It couldn’t hurt, right?” Vance supposed that he has a point. And besides, maybe this could be the perfect opportunity to learn more about the perplexing puzzle that is Finney Blake.

Vance sighs, he can’t believe he’s actually doing this. “Fine. I’ll be your…friend or whatever. Do not expect me to be nice to you, got it?!” Just because they’re going to be…“friends” or whatever, it doesn’t mean that he has to be nice to him. (He’s probably going to be nicer than he would be with others, though. No matter how much he doesn’t want to admit it.)

“Of course not!” The kid said, seemingly being very enthusiastic about this whole thing. Vance doesn’t get it, why would Finney Blake want to be friends with him?

“Are you ready to go, Finn? I already paid.” Arellano said, suddenly coming up right next to Blake. Once again, he was looking at Vance as if he was going to kidnap and torture the kid.

This guy seriously needs to calm down. Vance thought. I mean, I just agreed to be friends with Blake. Isn’t that a good thing?

“Yeah, let’s go. Bye Vance!” He called as he and Arellano started to make their way out of this stupid gas station.

“Whatever.” He mumbled, going back to playing pinball. As soon as was sure that neither Blake nor Arellano were looking, he threw a concerned look at the kid. Sue him, but with the way that Finney Blake was basically wheezing with every breath he took, he feels that it’s appropriate to be at least sort of concerned. If Vance Hopper is going to be friends with Finney Blake, then the least he can do for the kid is find out who beat the crap out of him and give them a taste of their own medicine.

It’s the least he can do.

It’s dinner time now. Vance is at his house, eating with his mother. It’s been quiet for a while; he doesn’t really know what to say. Apparently, she doesn’t either.

Vance has been thinking. Surprising, he knows, but he has. About Blake, he means. Maybe it wasn’t Matt, Matty, and Buzz who roughed him up. Call him crazy, but they never seem to go that far. Not so far that the kid ends up with his fingers broken and barely being able to breathe without whimpering in pain. Not so far that he skips out on school because he literally wouldn’t even be able to do anything. Never that far. So, who could’ve done it? Moose hasn’t messed with him since the 7th grade, getting bored after trying for months and still never getting a reaction out of the kid. Vance truly doesn’t know who it could’ve been.

Well, that’s not entirely true, he supposes. There is someone that it could’ve been, but he doesn’t have any proof. Vance can’t just go around saying that Terrance Blake beats his own children, away from where anyone would be able to help. He wants to, believe him, he really does. He’s seen the way that that man, if you can even call him that, behaves. He was perfectly fine before his wife had killed herself, but ever since that horrible incident, he just hasn’t been the same. He’s been more…aggressive, careless, indifferent. He and his mother have spent plenty of time criticizing the man on his rather pathetic behavior; he wouldn’t be particularly surprised to find out that he can’t even treat his own children right.

Vance wants to tell someone about this, he wants to help, because even though it may not be likely (who is he kidding, it’s a much more likely situation than you’d think), he’ll sleep better at night knowing that he’d helped a friend. Because apparently that’s what he and Finney Blake are now. Friends. And what kind of friend would he be if he didn’t at least try to help?

“I made a friend today.” Vance blurts out, because what else was he supposed to say? Plus, it was really the only thing he could think of in his split decision to tell his mother about this.

“Really Vance? That’s wonderful! I’ve always told you that all it takes is just a little bit of effort, haven’t I?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, that’s not the point.” He grumbles.

“Then what is?”

Vance sighs. It’s now or never. Help his…friend or go to bed each night that he didn’t even try to help Finney Blake out of a possibly dangerous situation. “I think that…he might be in danger.”

His mother’s demeanor immediately changed. “What kind of danger, dear? And who is it? Your friend, I mean, maybe if I know who it is then it will be easier to help them.” Vance has always admired that about his mother. She’s never afraid to jump in and help, where he always seems to hesitate and try to figure out if it will benefit him in the long run. He’s glad his mother doesn’t think like that.

“It’s Finney Blake.”

“Finney Blake?! Oh dear, he’s a darling, I can’t believe he’s in danger, we have to help! What’s wrong, what kind of situation is he in?”

“Uh, well…that’s the thing, I don’t really have any proof and it’s kind of stupid now that I’ve said it out loud.” What was he thinking?! Finney Blake is probably perfectly fine at home. Right now, he’s probably eating a nice, freshly home cooked meal at the dining room table with his father and sister, laughing and having a good time. Probably. Maybe. Possibly. Hopefully.

“No, dear, it’s not stupid. If there’s even the possibility that he is in danger, then it is worth looking into, alright?”

Vance is glad she said that, because he really wasn’t all that convinced with his half assed attempt to try and convince himself that Finney Blake is okay. “Well, it’s just…I think he might be in a bad situation at home, or something like that. Y’know, like how…dad was with us…”

His mother gasped. “I always knew that Terrance was bad news. Ever since Finnley killed herself, bless her soul,” Vance nodded, it truly was awful. “he just hasn’t been the same. Especially towards his kids. Y’know, I hear that nowadays little Gwendolyn Blake doesn’t even live there anymore. I heard that she lives with that friend of hers, Susan, or something like that.”

Vance sighed. He’s glad that his mother is taking concern, but sometimes she really did just get all caught up in her ‘lady friend’ gossip. “And who did you hear that from?” He asked.

“Susan’s mother. Oh, no, wait. I think her name is... Suzie? Yeah, Suzie. So sorry Suzie.” She muttered. “Anyways, back to the topic at hand, this is definitely something worth looking into Vance, alright? It’s good you brought this up. You did the right thing.”

Vance is glad to hear those words. They gave him the exact confidence he needed to continue his line of thinking. Something is wrong with Finney Blake’s upbringing, and Vance is almost one hundred percent sure that Terrance Blake is the one to blame.

It’s in the way that Finney Blake carries himself. The way he shrinks in on himself, trying to take up less and less room, almost as if he believes that he doesn’t deserve to take up so much space and that others deserve it more than him. It’s in the way that he talks, carefully picking out each word to make sure he doesn’t set off the imaginary ticking time bomb that he seems to think exists within everybody. It’s almost as if he’s grown up being told that his words don’t matter, that he should only say what people want to hear. The problem with that is that there is no way to ever know what anybody ever wants to hear. It’s in the way that Finney Blake genuinely seems to believe that he is just simply not worth it. Not worth the time, not worth the words, not worth the listening. Not worth the effort. For some reason, with the way he acts, the way he moves, and frankly just the way he… be’s, it’s almost like these false statements are like mantras that he lives and breathes, almost like they’re ingrained into his very bones, carved into his brain so that he’ll never forget. These types of things are not something you come up with yourself, they’re something that is taught. Vance can only imagine how many times that the kid had to be told those things to apparently believe them as much as he seems to.

Vance lays in his bed that night wondering if he made the right choice. Objectively, he knows he did. There is something wrong with Finney Blake’s life, so if he and his mother can help, then it’s a good thing. But what if Blake doesn’t want their help? What if he refuses to do anything about it? He’s gone this many years being silent, what’s a few more? It’s only about three years until he’s 18, so he can just move out then. Maybe Blake just doesn’t know how to ask for help. Maybe all of these years of never reaching out, never even considering the thought have finally caught up to him and now he doesn’t know what to do. Maybe he's just scared. Terrance could have threatened him and his sister into silence, maybe he’s scared that if his father finds out that he’ll get beat worse than he’s ever before. It’s a very valid fear, Vance supposes, with how he was looking today. If it was even Terrance, who did it.

That’s the thing about this whole situation, there’s no way to know if it is actually Terrance’s fault unless Blake or his sister say it themselves, which given their track record, is very much not likely. Finney Blake won’t even speak up about some high school bullies, it was very unlikely that he would speak up about an abuser.

That word hurts to say. Abuser. It’s such a confronting word; abuser. Vance first learned the word abuser when he had accidentally let slip to his kindergarten teacher that he had once caught his father throwing his mother onto the ground and then continued to throw something at her. He didn’t understand what it meant, back then it was normal to see adult men so violent and angry. It was normal for him to come home to a pissed off 40 something year old yelling at his mother to go get him another beer, to cower in his room as the man screamed words and insults that no five-year-old should ever be hearing towards his mother. Sometimes at him, too. Sometimes the man would bang on his door, threatening to bust his door down if he didn’t open it right that second. Vance doesn’t remember much of his childhood, it’s all really just one big blur, but he does remember being so scared, doing his best to push his dresser in front of his door. He remembers hiding in his closet, pushing his palms against the sides of his head, crying in the nearly pitch-black corner of his too small sliding door closet as he waited for the mean, angry man to stop yelling at him. He remembers being so scared.

Vance wonders if that’s how Finney feels right now. Vance only had to deal with that for a short number of years, only three of them he can remember, but Finney Blake has, supposedly, been dealing with a drunk, angry man for eight full years, all of which he can remember. Vance remembers that reaching out for help was hard back then, when he had only dealt with the repression of emotions and fear for three years. He can’t imagine how hard it must be for Blake, having to deal with all of that since he was seven. That’s probably why he hasn’t done anything about it yet. He must just be scared.

Despite that totally reasonable and believable explanation, Vance can’t help but feel like there’s something more to it. He really doesn’t know what it could be, though. And he means it this time, too.

When Vance really thinks about it, he and Finney Blake are not all that different. He has spent the whole day thinking about how they are different, that he hasn’t really stopped to think about how similar they are. They’re both traumatized by mean, angry men. They’re both fighters. And, in a way, they’re both just fighting to survive. Vance is fighting like he always does. Loud, violent, and brash. Something that everybody notices. Finney, however, fights differently. He fights by not letting others win. He doesn’t give them what they want, what they’re looking for. He fights quietly, keeping his nice and kind personality while Vance lost his so long ago. Here he is again, pointing out their differences, even when comparing. This isn’t some English where he has to compare and contrast two pieces of writing. This is real life, two real people who are so similar that they can only be described as different. It's kind of poetic, really. So similar that they can only be described as different. So different that they can only be described as similar. They both fight, but Vance can only seem to point out their different techniques, they’re both just doing their best to exist and make it from one day to the next, but Vance can only seem to think about their different reasons. Vance does it for his mother. For Bruce. For the people he cares about and that he knows care about him. Blake does it because…well, Vance doesn’t really know why the kid does it. Here he is, again, talking about Finney Blake as if they’re best buds and he knows him like the back of his hand. He doesn’t, so why does he talk of him as if he’s known him his whole life?

Vance eventually drifts off to sleep after a while, the thought of Finney Blake and hopefully finding a way to help him still floating around in his head even as he’s drifting. The thoughts of what he has had to go through, what his sister has been through, how bad they’ve probably wanted to reach out and ask for help but have been too scared to. 

Vance knows that, despite being a mean, violent, and angry person, he will do everything in his power to help out Finney Blake. If he doesn’t, then who will?

Because, in the end Finney Blake is more than just some weird kid.

He's scared.

He's selfless.

He's...infuriating in a way that Vance adores.

He's Vance's friend.

And he'll be damned if he doesn't do anything to help.

Chapter Text

Billy is kidnapped on the 30th of September, a week exactly after Griffin is was kidnapped. It’s Saturday now, so Finney has (including today) four days to find out how to save Billy from getting kidnapped, and then one faithful day to execute his probably really bad, not very reliable plan. Finney is still at Robin’s house, but he knows he has to go back to the house soon. Gwen said that she was going to be back around 12 pm. It was currently 9 am and he and Robin had still yet to get out of bed. Finney liked being like this, wrapped up in blankets and Robin’s arms, still in a sleep-like headspace. Unfortunately, he knew that they had to get up soon, seeing as there was most definitely still a bunch of broken glass on the ground floor of the kitchen from when the man had thrown the empty glass vase at him. There was probably a bit of blood on the floor, too, from when the man had kicked him in the head. Finney’s just grateful that he doesn’t have a concussion or anything. That would be bad. Finney weighed out his options. Either stay in bed with his best friend in the whole wide world, leaving Gwen to be at the house by herself and eventually notice the broken glass and blood, causing her to worry, or, he could get up, go home, clean everything up, and be there for Gwen when she got back, leaving her with nothing to worry about. It was clear what his choice was going to be.

Very carefully, Finney maneuvered himself out of Robin’s (surprisingly strong) hold ( whyisthatkindofhotwhyisthatkindofhotwhyisthatkindofhotwhyisthatkindof -). He, as quietly as he could, tried to make his way to the bathroom. Key word: tried. He quickly found, that just like yesterday, his body was not willing to abide by his wishes to just stand the fuck up . He took a deep breath; what was he on his period or something? There is absolutely no need to get so upset about this. It’s just the aftermath of a beating. He’s gone through this plenty of times before, why is he getting all pissy now? Whatever, it doesn’t really matter (it kind of does, he doesn’t want to accidentally be a bitch for no reason), right now he’s just going to, slowly , get up and go to the bathroom so that he can make sure he doesn’t look like absolute death when Robin wakes up. He doesn’t want him to get concerned. And besides, he can’t afford for Robin to persuade him to go back to sleep like he did last time. He just can’t.

Finally, Finney is able to make it so that he’s standing up, and of course, they just had to fall asleep in the attic! Finney is going to kill himself; he swears. If he can barely even stand up , how could he possibly make it down a, very unnecessarily steep, staircase?! Whatever, he’ll just have to suck it up and stop being a baby. It’s quite pathetic, really, that he can’t even bend over without almost crying out in pain. God, he’s such a baby!

Eventually, after multiple breaks, Finney finally made it down the staircase and into the bathroom. Hm, he doesn’t look… too bad. Weird. He usually looks like absolute shit. Well, he guesses that’s what actually getting a good night's sleep does to you. You end up actually well rested and not feeling like the world is absolutely going to end just because you’re a bit tired.

Finney took his time in the bathroom to think about Robin. About how he makes him feel. It’s kind of frustrating, now that he thinks about it. All Robin does is sit there, and his heart feels like it’s going a thousand miles per hour and as if his stomach is doing backflips. All Robin has to do is laugh and look at him, and suddenly he’s head over heels, swooning as much as someone can swoon. Robin makes him nervous, sometimes, when he gets real close, when he whispers in his ear, but a good kind of nervous. Finney doesn’t know if that’s a thing, a “ good kind of nervous”, but he assumes that it is now. And the worst part about all of this is the fact that Robin will never feel the same way. Robin’s palms will never get sweaty when thinking about asking Finn for something, his heart will never pound in his chest when they get particularly close the way Finney’s does, and his stomach will never feel as if it’s doing backflips whenever he looks at him. Robin will never love Finney the way that Finney loves Robin. I mean, if his own ‘father’ can’t love him, then why would Robin? Why would anyone?

Finney is suddenly hit with the overwhelming need to cry. He doesn’t know why, it’s not like he didn’t know all of this before. He feels a tear slip down his cheek, and then another, and then one more. Next thing he knows, there are tears falling non-stop, no matter how hard he wipes at his eyes, no matter how many times he scrubs his face. He’s such a crybaby. Crying isn’t going to magically fix all his problems. It’s not going to make the man be his father again, it’s not going to save all the boys for him, it’s not going to erase his own memories of the basement, and it is not going to make Robin love him the way that he loves Robin. Crying is not going to solve anything, so then what’s the point? What’s the point of sitting here, wallowing in his own pool of self-pity and doubt, when it’s not going to do anything for him? What’s the point?

Quite the question, isn’t it? What’s the point? Finney can ask that about a lot of things. What’s the point of going to school when he has no future anyways? What’s the point of eating breakfast when he can just eat something at school? What’s the point of the universe giving him another chance when he’s already gone through hell and back? What’s the point of making him save the boys after he’s already seen them dead, talked to their lifeless voices over a stupid, broken phone? What’s the point?

Finney figures that there are perfectly good answers to all of these questions, but he, quite frankly, does not care. He kind of just wants to be sad right now, is that such a crime? For some reason he doesn't want to be cheered up, he kind of just wants to wallow in his own pit of self-despair. He doesn’t know why, but he’s just in a sad mood right now, and he kind of doesn’t want to be brought out of it. He’s sure that the second he sees Robin he'll be right back into the right headspace (is his normal headspace a right one, though?) and smiling once again, but can’t he just indulge in his own awful, depressing thoughts for a bit?

Apparently, no, he cannot, because not even a minute later, he heard someone knock on the door.

“Finn, are you in there?” Robin asked, sounding very concerned. Finney must have made him worry by leaving without telling him. He cringed; he didn’t mean to make Robin worried.

“Yeah, sorry. I’ll be out in a sec.”

“No, no, it’s okay, take as long as you need. I just got…kind of worried, is all. I woke up and you weren’t there, I didn’t know where you went.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Finney said, opening the door slightly, not quite sure if he wanted to be suddenly snapped out of his morning blues just yet.

Turns out, it doesn’t quite matter what he wanted, because as soon as the door was even the slightest bit open, Robin grabbed the doorknob, wrenching the door open and enveloped Finney in possibly the biggest hug he’s ever been given. It took a few seconds, but eventually Robin pulled away, much to his disappointment.

“Sorry,” Robin apologized, almost embarrassed. “I just…I don’t know. Something just feels…wrong this morning. Do you know what I mean? I just felt like…you needed that. I needed that. Come on, let's go get breakfast.” Despite Robin’s tendency to move from one thing to another within the blink of an eye in conversation, Finney did know what he meant. This morning does feel a bit…wrong, but he doesn’t know what could possibly happen. The man might be at the house sometime today, but that was a very, very, very big ‘might’. But, other than that, he really doesn’t know what else could possibly happen And, to be honest, he really did need that hug. Finally, he was out of his morning blues, he doesn't know why he would ever want to be stuck with his depressing, pathetic thoughts, all alone by himself. He’s such a weirdo.

He and Robin ate breakfast in silence, just enjoying each other's company. Robin’s mother wouldn’t be awake until at least 10 am. Finney didn’t know why, but she seems to like to sleep in as much as she can whenever possible. Well, he does know why, actually. Before all of… that happened, Finney used to love sleeping. He would whine whenever he had to get out of bed, sleep in until the absolute last minute possible, complaining all day to Robin about how he missed his bed and couldn’t wait to get back home, where there would be no one to interrupt his long naps. Now though? Finney hates sleeping, despises it, even. It seems that every time he closes his eyes, he’s left with images of the basement, of undercooked, cold, soggy scrambled eggs, of blood and dirt-stained walls of possibly the coldest place he’s ever had the unfortunate opportunity to be in. Images of it , its mask that always seemed to only cover half of its face, unless it was really mad. Then it would wear a mask that covered all of its face. Images of his boy's bloody, mangled, and deformed dead bodies, begging him to do something, anything that wasn’t just sitting on the ground or the mattress, slowly rotting away until there was nothing even left for The Grabber to take from him. Needless to say, Finney hates sleeping. The only time that he seemed to get a peaceful, nice, full night of unbothered sleep was when he was with Robin. He wonders why. (And look at him, being so silly to say that he doesn’t know why he’s getting good sleep whenever he’s with his best friend in the whole entire world! Finney wants them to be more than that, but he knows that Robin would never. He wishes he would, though.)

Finney was snapped out of his thoughts by something lightly tapping his shoulder. “Finn, you okay?” Oh, it was Robin.

Finney smiled. “Of course, I am! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“...Well… maybe because you’ve just been staring and lightly picking around at your waffles, that you love so much, by the way, for the whole time we’ve been sitting here. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Finney decided to take a second to just appreciate how much Robin cares for him. Without Robin, Finney definitely would have died already, whether by his own…actions, or someone else’s, he’s not sure he wants the honest answer to.

He smiles. “Really Robin, I am. I promise.”  He even took a bite of his waffles to prove it.

Robin sighed. “Okay then. Just…promise to tell me if you’re not okay? Promise?”

Once again, Finney could do nothing but play along. Sometimes doing this makes him feel bad, agreeing with Robin. Sometimes he’s scared that he won't be able to live up to his word and break his promise, making Robin mad. Well, probably not mad, but rather upset. He doesn’t think Robin could get truly mad at him. It’s that thought alone that helped him make his decision.

“Of course.”

“I wanna hear you say it, Finn. Please.”

“I promise.”

“To what?”

“To tell you if I’m not okay.”

Robin took his hand and linked their fingers together. He smiled up softly at him. “Thank you.” He said, just looking at him for a second. He seemed to almost be in a trance, just looking at Finney. Is it just him, or is Robin’s face slowly inching closer and closer to his own? (Surely, he’s just crazy, I mean, why would Robin ever want to kiss him? )

After a few seconds, Robin seemed to clock back into reality, and (much to his dismay) pulled away from Finney, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Sorry.” He said, although Finney didn’t quite know what he was sorry for. He certainly doesn’t have any complaints.

Finney decided to play dumb, purely out of pity, mostly. “For what?” He asked innocently.

Robin sighed. “Nothing, don’t worry about it. Let’s just finish up eating, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

It is now 10 a.m., and Finney is kind of starting to regret not taking up the offer of just staying at Robin’s for the rest of the day. It seems that the man must have come to visit at some time yesterday and gotten mad that he wasn’t here, if the broken bottles on the ground and the tipped over dining room table and chairs had anything to say about it. He hasn’t checked how his room must look. He’s not sure if he wants to.

Finney decides that he’ll just start by cleaning up all of the broken glass that now lays discarded on the floor. It seems to be mainly in the living room, all around the man’s chair. He scoffed. The man must have fallen asleep in his chair holding a beer or something. Finney’s just glad that it seemed to be empty, judging by the absence of any awful smells coming from the already dirty and stained carpet. He has about an hour to clean everything up, thirty minutes to walk to the nearest grocery store, buy something with what little money he has to make lunch with, walk back home, and then make it in time for Gwen for when she gets back from Suzie’s house. Yeah…he can do this…probably. Maybe. Whatever! If he wants to be on time, then he better start now.

It actually only took half an hour to pick everything up, even with the mystery mess in his room that he was saving for the very last. Maybe he should give himself more credit, he’s clearly more capable than he dared to believe. This just means that he now has extra time to go get something from the grocery store. The nearest one was only about five minutes away by car, so he should be able to get there within 15-25 minutes. Finney honestly doesn't really know, but he can walk fast enough when he wants to.

As Finney pulls on his sneakers, he’s finally realizing just how run down and dirty they are. He’s had this pair for about two years now, he doesn’t know how they still fit. The soul of his, rather pathetic, pair of Converse is basically completely torn off from the rest of the shoe (okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but hey, it’s still pretty bad. He’s had to re-duct tape them twice now). They’re as dirt and mud stained as something can get, and there’s a hole right near the top of them. Just another thing to add to the never-ending list of things that he needs to get something more of. Currently, that list contains several light bulbs, food, a shower head, notebooks, makeup for Gwen, a new carpet, and now, shoes. Finney can only hope that he gets the job at the Cafe and eventually makes enough money to buy all of these things. For now, though, he’ll just have to live off of his, rather meager, hidden stash of money that he keeps in a box far underneath his bed that you can only reach if you use a clothing hanger to reach for it.

Maybe I’ll even save up enough to move to France one day. Finney muses as he starts his, hopefully not too long, walk to the store. Thank God it’s a nice day outside. T-shirt weather and everything. At least now I won’t freeze.

For the entirety of his walk, all Finney is capable of doing is thinking about how something just feels… off about today. He’s checked over his shoulder multiple times now, making sure that no black van or mysterious monster was lurking in the shadows, trying to catch him by surprise. He’s texted Billy, Griffin, Robin, and Gwen about five times now, asking them what they’re doing, if they’re okay, what they plan on doing. All he can think about is how something bad is going to happen and there is nothing he can do about it. It makes him feel helpless and out of control, the exact two things that Finney hates feeling the most. It makes him want to crawl out of his skin, it makes him want to fall to the ground and cry until he physically can’t anymore. It makes him want to scream at the top of his lungs, and it makes him want to cower in a corner silently until the feeling passes. Unfortunately, life doesn't stop just because he’s having a bad day, and Finney needs to continue to be a functioning human (well, about as functioning as he can be) for Gwen. If he doesn’t take care of her, then who will? (That’s a stupid question, she doesn’t need him, she has Suzie and Suzie’s mother and all of her friends who would be more than happy to help her. She doesn’t need him.)

What a terrifying thing to think; Gwen not needing him. For years, it’s the only thing he’s ever been completely sure of. The man definitely wasn’t going to take care of her, so if he didn’t, then who would? But then Suzie came along. Now, don’t get him wrong, Finney loves Suzie. He thinks that she’s exactly what Gwen needs, but that’s also kind of the problem. If Gwen has Suzie, then she doesn’t need her brother to take care of her anymore, so where does that leave him? If Finney isn’t meant to take care of Gwen and watch over her, then what else is he supposed to do? For years it’s all he’s ever known, it’s not fair to just suddenly rip it all away from him!

Finney takes a breath; he definitely needs to just calm the fuck down! Look at him, getting all worked up and upset about his sister being safe and being taken care of. What a beautiful picture that paints him as. And besides, there is something else that Finney is meant to do, he supposes. Save his boys. He isn’t ashamed to say it anymore, because they are his boys. The universe decided to give him a second chance to save them, even after seeing them at their literal worst. Come on, they were dead, it can’t get much worse than that. He was the one who was chosen to save everyone. Not Griffin, not Billy, not Vance, Bruce, and not Robin. Him. If that doesn’t say something, then Finney doesn’t know what will.

They are his boys.

No one can change his mind.

Finney and Gwen were now eating a very poorly made homemade pizza for lunch in the living room right in front of the TV. They ate in silence, The only sound being their chewing and the soft background noise of whatever show was currently playing. There seemed to be a somber mood hanging in the air, Finney’s just waiting for Gwen to tell him why.

Finally, it seemed that Gwen had enough of her stalling. “Finney?” She said, abruptly.

“Yeah?” Even though he’s pretty sure he knows what she’s about to say, he’ll let her tell him herself.

“I’m leaving.” Way to get to the point, I guess.

“I know.” He saw her nearly empty room when he was cleaning up earlier. All he wanted to do was make sure that the man didn’t mess up her room in his rage, but at least now he knows why today was feeling so off. Gwen’s leaving. For good.

His sister looked almost ashamed, he didn’t mean to make her feel bad or anything. “Oh.” She said, awkwardly turning back to face the TV. “I just…I wanted to be the one who told you.”

“You were. The only reason I only knew is because I was cleaning today and I just looked into your room really quickly to see if anything needed cleaning, but I guess you’ve already taken care of that.” Finney said, pursing his lips to try to stop his oncoming onslaught of tears.

“Is…are you…I’m sorry, Finney.”

“Why are you sorry, Gwenny? You’re getting out. That’s nothing to be sorry about.”

Gwen sighed. “But…aren’t you mad or something?” Finney looked over, surprised that she would even suggest something like that. Oh. She’s crying. He put his arm around her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. “I mean, I’m leaving you here, alone, and with…with him, so why aren’t you mad?” Now she’s only crying even harder.

“I’m not mad at you, Gwen. I would never be mad at you for this. You’re doing what you have to. This is what makes you safe. I’m not mad Gwen, I’m happy. Maybe not at this moment, because you’re leaving, you’re leaving and I don’t know what to do, but I’m happy that you’re getting away. I’m happy that at least one of us can.” Finney felt a tear roll down his cheek.

“But what about you?” Gwen sobbed. “Now you’re all alone.”

At this point, they had both fully wrapped their arms around each other, suffocating the other in a bone-crushing hug. “I’m not alone.” Finney whispered to her. “Just because you’re…leaving, it doesn’t mean that I’m alone.” Unfortunately, words can only mean so much.

“But you’re alone with him, Finney.”

He pet her hair. “That doesn’t quite matter, he’s barely ever home anyways. It’s okay, Gwenny. I’ll just go to Robin’s or something if anything happens, okay?”

“Promise?” Shit, he really needs to stop promising to do things he’s not sure he’ll be able to.

“I promise.” Finney cringes internally, that’s twice now in one day.

They had stopped crying a bit ago, but neither wanted to let go of the other, so, here they are, wrapped up as a pile of limbs on the ground. Finney decides to risk it.

“When are you leaving?”

Gwen picked at her fingers. “I told Suzie’s mom to pick me up around 5. I…I wanted to spend the rest of the day with you.”

Finney smiled softly. “Okay, what do you want to do then?”

Gwen shrugged. “Maybe we could, I don’t know…go to the park?” She said hopefully.

“Yeah, the park. Come on, let’s go.” He said, getting up and holding out his hand to help her out.

As he and Gwen made their way over to the park, Finney could do nothing but think about what was going to happen now. Gwen’s gone, so now he doesn’t ever really have to be at the house anymore. What was he supposed to do now? Even though Gwen was barely ever home anyways, this felt different somehow. Now there was no wondering if Gwen was going to be home, now there was no making sure that there was food in the fridge for her, and now, there was going to be no little sister in the room right next to his. There was no best friend to turn to whenever he needed her, there was no checking in and making sure that the man hadn’t bothered her at all. It bothered Finney. He had gotten so used to the routine of checking in on Gwen, making sure she had food to eat, knowing where she is, and knowing that she’s okay. Now it would be different. So different that Finney doesn’t know if he’ll be able to handle it. He guesses he’ll have to.

Finney and Gwen had spent the rest of their afternoon out and about, returning home around 4 pm. Currently, Gwen is giving him a makeover.

“Just sit still, Finney!”

“I’m sorry, it tickles!”

“It’s not that bad.”

Finney rolls his eyes. “What do you want for dinner?”

“What do we have?”

“Uh…I got some pasta when I went to the store earlier. Do you want that?”

“Alfredo?”

“If you want.”

“Thanks…I didn’t want to ruin our fun day out earlier, but…” She sighed and put her makeup brush down. “Finney, what happened to your fingers?” Right. They were broken. He kind of forgot about that. But, come on, can you really blame him? He was busy making sure that he and Gwen had a nice day together before she left.

He pursued his lips and-oh! Would you look at that? This carpet is very, um…carpeting today, yeah! I mean, the textures are just so good and interesting and-

“Oh. Did you at least get help, then. Please tell me you got help, Finney. This is too much, even for you.”

“Don’t worry Gwenny, I did. I called Robin. I spent the day with them and everything.”

“Good.” She hugged him. “Now, let’s go make dinner, after I take a pic first, obviously.” Gwen said, quickly pulling out her phone and taking a picture. “Here.” She said, showing her phone to her brother.

He cringes. “It’s not…too…bad…?”

Gwen scoffed. Then there was a knock on the door. Finney looked at the time. Oh. It was 5 already.

“I’ll get it.” Gwen said softly.

“Wait.” She stopped for a second. Just enough time for him to pull her into one last hug before she left. “I love you, Gwen.”

She sniffed. “I love you too, Finney.”

He kissed her forehead. “Bye, Gwenny.” He said, pulling away.

“Goodbye, Finney.” She said, teary.

And all he could do was was watch her as she walked out of the room, down the stairs, and out the door.

And now she’s gone. For good. No more coming back.

Finney finds that he can’t do anything, now that he watched her go. He can only stand there, at the top of the staircase as tears fall down his cheeks, hitting the floor with no sound. He can only stand there as Suzie’s mother drives off with his little sister in her car, taking her somewhere where she won’t have to constantly look over her shoulder. All he can do is stand there as minutes, possibly even hours pass, the entire world crumbling down around him as the reality of it all finally hits him. All he can do is stand there and cry.

No. He decides. Robin and his mother will be here soon to pick him up for his and Robin’s weekly stargazing session. He looks at the time, how is it 5:30 already?! Finney decides that he needs to look at least somewhat presentable, as if his heart wasn’t just completely broken into a thousand pieces that could possibly never be put back together again. He makes his way over to the bathroom in the eerie silence of this nearly empty house. He really does look absolutely ridiculous. He scrubs at his face until there’s nothing left to scrub at, and then some more. The next thing he needs to do is make it look like he wasn’t just crying for half an hour.

Finney had seen videos of people, mostly girls, if he’s being honest, on TikTok putting ice cold water against their eyes using spoons to make it look like they weren’t just absolutely sobbing their hearts out. It can’t really hurt to try, can it?

Turns out, getting water as ice cold that girls have in their Tiktoks is a lot harder said than done. So, Finney is now left to just sit there and hope that his red, puffy eyes go away soon and that he looks semi-normal when they come to pick him up.

He doesn’t want them to worry. ( Who is he kidding? He likes it when they worry. It makes him feel special. Wanted.)

He and Robin are now laid out on their backs on the cold grass of Robin’s backyard, watching the sunset hand in hand. When Finney had asked why Robin had initially only just linked their pinkies together, Robin said something along the lines of “you just look like you need someone to hold your hand”. He was right, of course, so then Finney had continued to grab hold of Robin’s wrist, which then resulted in them ultimately just holding hands like any other normal person would.

“The sunset is just so…pretty today.” Finney mused. “Like, it’s always pretty, but it’s extra pretty today.”

“You know what else is pretty?”

Finney sighed.“Don’t say that, Robin.”

Robin’s eyebrows furrowed, not that Finney could see it. He was too busy staring at the sky. “Say what?”

“Don’t say things that you don’t mean.”

Robin rolled over onto his side so that he was facing Finney. He pushed a piece of his hair away from his face, his fingers trailing down the other boy’s arm once he was done. “But I do mean it. More than anything I’ve ever meant.”

Finney rolled over so that he was facing Robin. “Why?” He asked.

“Why what?” Robin asked back, his eyes roaming over Finney’s figure. He doesn’t know what it is, but something about this moment, his best friend just looks so…beautiful, angelic, even. He always looks like that, Robin can never seem to take his eyes off him, but for some reason right now is when his mind decided to stop and appreciate it all.

“Just…why? Why me? Why now? Why?”

“You’ve always been pretty, Finn. I have always adored you. I always will.”

“I love you, Robin.” Finney said, lightly tracing the side of Robin’s cheek with his fingers.

Robin scooched even closer to Finney, close enough that he could kiss him if he wanted to. (Does he want to?) “And I love you, Finn.” They just stared at each other for a few seconds, it was really making Finney’s stomach do that thing where it gets all excited and starts jumping around and everything.

Screw it. Finney decided. In one quick second, Finney closed the gap between him and his best friend and kissed him. It wasn’t anything hard, or forceful, or anything, and it was very clear that Finney was giving Robin to push him away if he wanted to. But, much to his surprise, he didn’t.

Finney fully expected Robin to push away from him and call him a freak or something. To push away from him and yell at him about how he wasn’t like that, that he’s not a fag , and say how he never wanted to hang out with Finney ever again. Finney was fully expecting a second heartbreak today, but he didn’t get one. If anything, Robin just kissed him back harder.

After a few seconds, they both pulled away. All they could do was just look at each other, smiling like complete idiots.

“Hey Finn?” Robin giggled.

“Yeah, Robin?” He giggled back.

“I love youuuu.” Robin drawled out, immediately breaking out into a fit of laughter, only making Finney laugh too.

“Why is this so funny?” He managed out between giggles.

“I don’t know! Maybe because we’re…in love?” Robin whispered. “¡Te quiero, te quiero, te quiero!” He teased.

They sat outside until the first star of the night appeared, and they sat outside until they were both shivering so much that Robin’s mother had to force them inside. They immediately went up to the attic, cuddling and, sometimes kissing, even, for the rest of the night.

As they were finally falling asleep, Finney couldn’t help but reflect on today. It had started out kind of shitty, then only got more and more shitty as it went on (his little sister is gone and he still can’t believe it and-), but now he’s ending it all nice and warm inside. He had started the day in Robin’s arms, and now he’s ending them in his arms. Robin has always had a way of making him feel better about just, well…everything, he supposes.

Today was unfair.

His sister left.

He doesn’t know what to do.

Well, Robin might.

Finney fell asleep with only one thought in mind.

Robin.

Chapter Text

Finney’s been slacking. Billy’s kidnapping date is tomorrow, and he so far only has one idea as to how to save him! And, to make it even worse, the idea is a very bad one. It gives Finney the worst anxiety he’s ever had even just thinking about it. Here’s how it goes: wake up super early (that should be no problem for him), catch Billy as he’s doing the morning papers (for some reason he’s back at it again. Apparently his mom can only make so many excuses), do the paper’s with him, and beat up (possibly kill) The Grabber, but somehow also not freak Billy out and don’t let Billy be there and–wait. What was his plan again? Let’s try this again. Wake up early, do the papers, and-wait. Now he’s the one doing the papers? Ugh! Why is this so hard? He had this whole thing down just this morning!

“-inney? Finney?!” Robin said, shaking his shoulders.

“Oh, yeah, sorry. What were we talking about?”

Robin gently nudged his shoulder, nodding his head in the direction of the front of their lunch table. It was Vance. What was he doing over here?

“Here.” He huffed, shoving a slim piece of paper in Finney’s hands, stomping off immediately after.

Finney tilted his head; what could it possibly be?

Robin nudged him in his shoulder again. “Well, what is it?” He said, he, Billy, and Griffin all staring at him expectantly.

Finney unrolled the paper. The note read: Bruce made me. Bruce: ***-***-**** Me: ***-***-****. Only contact me if you absolutely HAVE to. Feel free to bother Bruce as much as you want. Enjoy…I guess >:(

Well, it wouldn’t be Vance if he wasn’t angry, he supposes. Robin snatched the note right out of his hands, Billy ripping it out of Robin’s hands almost the second that he had it.

“Damn Finney, you got both Bruce ‘Golden Boy’ Yamada and Pinball Vance Hopper’s numbers?! Well, I mean, can’t really blame them, if you know what I mean.” Billy commented, sending a knowing look towards Robin.

“Well, you saw how Bruce was with Finney when they bumped into each other the other day, and Finn and Vance are friends now, apparently.” Robin mumbled.

“Wait, Finney, you’re friends with Vance Hopper?! ” Griffin exclaimed.

“I know, I don’t like it either.” Grumbled Robin.

“No, no, I think it’s great! Really, Finney, it’s good you’re making friends. Even if it is with…Vance Hopper. How’d that even happen? ” Billy asked.

Finney shrugged. He doesn’t really know either. “I don’t know. I kind of just…asked and he said ‘yes’.”

“ You asked Vance Hopper to be your friend?! He didn’t…I don’t know, threaten you or anything?!”

Finney sighed, Vance isn’t that bad. “Nope, he’s completely innocent. I promise.” Finally a promise he could keep. 

After a few more seconds of intense staring from Billy, he finally just shrugged it off and went back to peacefully eating his lunch like normal routine. A routine that Finney intended on keeping. He took a deep breath, hoping that he gets it right this time. Finney’s Awesome, Amazing Plan to Save Billy Showalter From Literal Hell on Earth and Certain Death consists of: somehow finding out a way to make it so Billy can’t do the morning papers tomorrow (he really needs to figure that one out, and quick), wake up super early tomorrow morning in order to give himself several pep-talks, find a small, but still useful weapon, and then suck it up and stop crying like a baby and take Billy's place in delivering the newspapers to useless old people who get way too upset when they don’t get a newspaper at 7:00 in the morning. And, if Finney’s thinking is correct, he won’t even have to worry about getting potentially kidnapped, because The Grabber hasn’t even thought about kidnapping him yet. With how many kids that monster kidnapped, Finney thinks that it’s quite  reasonable to argue that The Grabber doesn’t even know who he is yet. Maybe it did a little stalking after their staredown through the Grab ‘N Go’s window, but Finney doesn’t think he’s in any real danger with The Grabber yet. At least, he hopes not. Don’t get him wrong, if it comes down to it, Finney will always take the place of any of the boys in the basement, but he really hopes that it doesn’t have to come down to that.

Now what’s something I can do to hurt The Grabber. Ruin its day? Spoil its plans? There has to be something! Finney pondered. If he was going to be the reason The Grabber had night terrors, the reason that it was afraid to go outside during both the day and the night, he can’t just sit around and wait for The Grabber to magically form a fear of teenage boys in place of its inappropriate and pedophilic feelings it currently holds. If finney wants to hold that kind of power over The Grabber, then he has to find the power within himself to actually do it first. He’ll think of something later, right now, he currently also has to figure out how he’s going to sabotage Billy. Well, that sounds a bit mean..how about saving his life? Yeah, that sounds a lot better than ‘sabotaging’.

I could hide the papers from him. But how would I access them? For all I know, Billy’s the only one who has direct access to them whenever he needs them. I could always… do something to his bike. No, that’s too mean. But…it might be the only way. And, if I do do something to his bike, I’ll have to do it soon…Ugh! This is so frustrating! Why can’t I just make up my mind?! Finney wondered, his one-sided argument with himself distracting himself from the weird look Billy was giving him.

“Finney? Are you okay?”

“Hm? What?”

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I must have zoned out, sorry.”

Billy smiled. “No, it’s okay. I just wanted to make sure you were alright, you were staring pretty hard there.”

He’s so nice. “Thanks, but no need to worry, I’m perfectly fine.” (Lie.) 

“Well, what are you going to do now that you have both Pinball Vance Hopper and Golden Boy Bruce Yamada’s phone numbers? Are you going to be texting them everyday now?” Suddenly, Billy gasped as if he just had the most horrendous thought on Earth. “Are you going to replace us with Bruce and Vance?!” Well, that explains it.

Finney tilted his head. “No, why would I? I love you guys, just because I’m making new friends doesn't mean that I don’t like you guys anymore. I hope you never genuinely think that I would replace you or anything like that.” He can’t believe that Billy would even think something like that! Clearly he has to be a better friend if Billy is so ready to just assume that he’d replace them with two people he barely even knows yet.

“You know I was joking, right Finney? I know that you’d never just replace us like that. You’re a good friend, Finney, really.” Billy told him, as if he could read his mind.

Oh. “Oh, yeah, no, I know.”Well now he just felt stupid.

“Hey Finn?”

“Yeah Robin?”

Robin smiled at him. “I love you.”

Finney smiled back. “I love you too.”

“Ugh, would you guys stop? Just because you two finally kissed your butts off last night doesn’t mean that Billy and I should have to be victims of your disgusting PDA.” Griffin remarked.

“Just because you and Billy refuse to acknowledge your, VERY OBVIOUS, feelings for each other, doesn’t mean that Finn and I should have to continue to suffer in silence.” At Robin’s words, both Griffin and Billy’s faces turned a bright red, both of them pointedly avoiding eye contact with each other. “Right, Finney boo boo bear?” He said, making a kissing face at him.

Finney cringed. “Listen Robin, I love you, but never do that again.” Despite his words, Finney still found it kind of endearing, in a way. It made him happy that Robin wasn’t ashamed of him, not embarrassed that he was, supposedly, ‘in love’ with him. Robin always seemed to bring a smile to his face, and it seems like he would not be stopping any time soon.

Just as Robin was going to say something in defense of himself, the bell that signified the end of lunch went off. As everyone started getting up and going to their next classes, Billy pulled him aside while Robin and Griffin walked off, arguing about one thing or another.

“Hey Finney?”

“Yeah?”

“I, uh…I hate to ask you this, but…couldyoueversopossiblydeliverthenewspapersformetomorrrowmorning?”

“Wait, say that again, please? All I heard was ‘newspapers.’”

Billy took a deep breath. “Could you do the newspapers for me tomorrow morning? It’s not fair to ask you, I know, but I have to take my dog, Harper, to the vet tomorrow morning, and I…you’re just the only one I can really ask, y’know?

Finney didn’t even have time to think before his mouth was spewing out words. “Of course I will!” He said, his mouth moving faster than his brain. “I mean, yes. I’ll do it. Whenever you can’t do it, you can always ask me, I’m more than happy to help.” Maybe he could even get a treat or something for Billy’s dog.

Billy sighed, obviously relieved. “I knew you’d say yes, thank you, Finney.” He said, pulling him into a hug.

“Of course, Billy. I’ll always help you.”

“Finney, have I ever told you that you’re an angel?” Billy asked, pulling away.

How ironic. Finney thought. He got flustered nonetheless. “Let’s…let’s just go.” He mumbled.

Billy laughed. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Billy linked their arms together, and with that, they were off, both in a rather better mood than before.

***-**-**** & ***-***-***

2:40 p.m.

***-***-****: hey, this is Finney. is this Bruce Yamada?

***-***-****: Yes!! Hi Finneyyyy!!! Don’t you have a class right now?

Finn⚾!: don’t you?

Bruce*^____^*: Actually, school ends for me at 2 instead of 3! Cool, right?

Finn⚾!: well now you’re just trying to make me jealous

Bruce*^____^*!: Oh, I’m sorry Finney 😔 I didn’t mean to make you feel that way.

Finn⚾!: oh, no, it’s okay Bruce! I was just joking

Bruce*^____^*!: Oh, okay then! Vance told me that you guys are friends now, that’s so cool! Vance is a really cool guy once you get to know him. He’s more than just anger and meanness, I promise.

Bruce*^____^*!: Anyways, I was thinking that maybe we could hang out today? Vance would be there too, just so you know. Don’t let him know I told you, but it was actually his idea to invite you to hang out with us! He likes you already!

Finn⚾!: that sounds like fun!

Finney was just about to tell Bruce that he just needed to check in with his sister first, but then he remembered. She’s gone. (She’sgoneforgoodshe’sgoneforgoodshe’sgoneforgoodshe’sgonefor-) Oh, right…This is going to take some getting used to.

Bruce*^____^*!: What time does your class end? Vance skipped out on school again 😔 , he’s with me at the cafe. It’s not actually open, but I needed to clean up a bit. I keep telling him that he needs to stop skipping out on school , but he never seems to listen to me! Anyways, what I’m trying to say is that we could go and wait for you at the gate! Or we could meet you there, depending on how much time it takes us.

Finn⚾!: yeah, that sounds good

Finn⚾! my class ends at 2:50, but I could just leave right now and meet you and Vance at the cafe if you want

Finn⚾!: It would be more convenient for you and I have a sub today so I really don’t think that he would notice. I’ll just ask to use the bathroom and leave

Finn⚾!: easy peasy lemon squeezy

Bruce*^____^*!: I mean, you can if you want, but Vance and I are certainly willing to meet you at your school gates.

Bruce*^____^*!: no we are not! you better walk your ass over here Blake I am NOT getting up and driving all the way over to that hellscape of a place

Bruce*^____^*!: aldjogjhgaorg

Bruce*^____^*!: asborjjoaa

Bruce*^____^*!: Sorry, Finn, Vance took my phone.

Finn⚾!: I could tell

Bruce*^____^*!: Don't listen to him. If you don’t want to walk all alone in the cold, then we’ll get you, don’t worry about it!

Finn⚾!: no, it’s fine, really

Finn⚾!:besides, I could use the exercise anyways

Bruce*^____^*!: Are you sure?

Finn⚾!: yes, Bruce, I’m sure

Finn⚾!: see you soon

Bruce*^____^*!: See you soon Finn!!

Finney is kind of regretting not making Bruce and Vance drive to the school and get him there. He doesn’t have a jacket, not yet, so he’s here stuck walking all the way to the cafe , and if there’s anything worse than walking in the cold, it’s walking in the cold all alone, always being acutely aware of everything going on around you, paranoid that a guy is going to pull up in a  black van disguised as an innocent magician and kidnap you. Again.

Whatever, he’s just being dramatic. It’s not that long of a walk, only about 20 minutes. Okay, maybe it is that bad. Well, he doesn't have much of a choice now anyways, because there is absolutely no way that he is texting Bruce, or even worse, Vance , to come and get him just because he’s being a baby and complaining that it’s too cold. It’s not even that cold out, he’s just being annoying.

For the majority of the walk, Finney was just stuck in his own thoughts. Thoughts about Robin, thoughts about Vance and Bruce, and most importantly, thoughts about Gwen. He was just being stupid when she left, just because Gwen isn’t going to be at the house anymore doesn’t mean that he’ll never see her. He can always text her whenever he wants, he knows that she’ll respond. He can always go over to Suzie’s whenever he wants to visit her, he knows that they wouldn’t mind. He was being so stupid . Gwen will always choose him first. It’s the one thing he’ll ever be completely sure of.

Apparently thinking about Gwen takes a lot of time, because next thing he knows, Finney is now right in front of the cafe. The sign says ‘closed’, but he can see Vance sitting at one of the tables in the corner, so he just goes in anyway.

“Finney!” Bruce said, coming right out from wherever he was before.

“Oh, hi Bruce...” he replied, slightly startled. Finney hasn’t even made it halfway through the door.

“Vance, come say hi!”

Vance rolled his eyes, but got up anyway. “Blake.” He greeted.

Finney smiled, at least Vance actually got up . “Hi, Vance”

“Where’s your jacket, kid?”

“Oh, I don’t have one yet.”

“Wait, Finn, you don’t have a jacket? You could’ve told us, we would’ve gone and got you, right Vance? Oh, you must have been freezing! ” Bruce worried, grabbing his hands to warm them up.

“It’s fine, really. I’m going to get one soon, probably…maybe… but it’s fine, really.” Finney said, shaking him off.

“No, it’s not okay, Finn. We would’ve gone and got you, you shouldn’t have had to walk all the way here in the cold. What is it, like a 20 minute walk? Come on, let's warm you up.” Maybe it wasn’t exactly “okay” that he walked all the way here in the cold. Even Vance looked slightly worried. That’s why Finney didn’t exactly mind when Bruce dragged him into the kitchen and made him stand by the stove to warm up, why he didn’t say anything about how Vance stood at the door, not leaving even after Bruce went to go get something, and why he didn’t argue when Bruce gave him a sweatshirt that was definitely way too big for him and didn’t move until he put it on.

Bruce smiled. “Alright, let’s go, yeah? Vace wants to go to the Grab N’ Go first, and then we were going to go bowling, but we don’t have to if you think that it’s boring or something. We can always do something else.”

“No we can’t!” Vance yelled from his spot by the door. “We are going bowling, you got that, Blake?”

Bruce rolled his eyes. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to. We don’t want you to get bored or anything.”

Finney shook his head, bowling sounds great. “No, bowling is fine. I haven’t been bowling in forever.” And by forever, he means since before his mom died. The man doesn’t really care for anything other than himself.

Just as Bruce was about to say something, Finney’s phone went off. Gwen was calling him. He answered immediately.

“Gwen?”

“Hi Finney!”

“Are you okay, Gwenny? What happened? Why’d you call?”

“Don’t worry, Finney, I’m okay. I just…I just wanted to know what you were doing, y’know? Suzie’s mom is taking us out for dinner. I was wondering if you wanted me to bring you any leftovers that we have tomorrow.”

Finney pursed his lips; he doesn’t want to take any of her food away, but she was the one who offered, and the fridge is still kind of completely empty. “Yeah, that sounds good…thank you.”

“Of course, Finney. What are you doing right now? Are you with Robin? Tell him I said hi!”

“I’m actually with some other friends.”

“You have other friends?”

“Oh, be quiet, Gwen, you know I do.”

“Okay, okay, who are they then?”

“Here, I’ll put you on speaker.”

“Hi Finney’s friends!”

“Hello, whoever this is!” Bruce said cheerfully. Vance just grunted.

“I’m Gwen, Finney’s sister.”

“Oh, well, hello there Gwen!”

“...Okay, bye everyone.” Before anyone even had the chance to say anything, she hung up.

Gwennywennyuwu & Mr. Finnster 😈

Gwennywennyuwu: we’ll talk later, I promise

Gwennywennyuwu: go hang out with your friends

Mr. Finnster😈: …okay, I love you Gwen 

Gwennywennyuwu: I love you too, Finney

Gwennywennyuwu: now go have fun, alright? I’ll see you later, kid

Mr. Finnster😈: okay, bye bye 

Gwennywennyuwu: bye Finney!

“You ready, Finn?” Bruce asked him after he finally put his phone away. He just nodded.

“Alright then, let’s go. I’m driving.” Vance said, mostly directing that last part towards Bruce. That’s okay, though, Finney doesn't know how to drive anyways.

As they finally made their way out of the cafe and into Vance’s car, Finney felt a strange sense of belonging. It was weird, definitely. Finney shouldn’t fit into Vance and Bruce’s friendship. For all he knows, Bruce and Vance don’t even want him here. For them, it’s always just been Vance and Bruce, Bruce and Vance. So why does Finney fit in with them? They’re all so different, Vance is mean and aggressive (but not really, huh?), Bruce is just so sweet and kind and gentle , and Finney’s just… well… he’s just Finney. There’s nothing special about him. So why does he feel like they actually don’t mind him being here? How come they don’t hate him? He’s been so boring and annoying and needy, but they still seem to genuinely want him around. Weird.

But hey, he can’t really complain, now can he?

Although Finney’s glad that Vance and Bruce wanted to hang out with him, they’ve been bowling for hours . Apparently, Vance is extremely competitive, and Finney winning the last five rounds hasn’t been enough to discourage him.

“Listen, just one more round and you’re over, Blake, I swear. I can do it this time!” Vance argued. As much as he wants to be able to stay and just hang out with them for as long as he can, he already passed that mark an hour ago. If Finney is going to deliver the newspapers for Billy tomorrow and potentially run into The Grabber as well, then he’s going to need all the sleep he can get.

“I actually really need to get home. My sister needs me home by, uh…” He checked his watch. It’s currently 5:30 p.m. Wow, time really does fly when you’re having fun. “by six. She needs me home by six o’ clock.”Just a week ago, that wouldn't have been a lie.

“Are you sure you can’t stay any longer, Finn?” Bruce complained.

“I’m sure. Sorry.”

“Nope, don’t be sorry. If you have to be home, then you have to be home. Come on, I’ll drive you.”

“Oh, thank you Vance.”

“Say anything else about it and you’re walking.”

“Got it!” Finney said, pretending to zip his lips shut and throw away the key.

As he and Vance were waiting for Bruce to get out of the bathroom (apparently it just “couldn’t wait”), Finney saw what he thought was a magician hat pass by from the corner of his eye. Shit. Finney’s not sure if his head has ever whipped around so fast.

There it was, in all of its rather nonexistent glory, at the front desk getting bowling shoes just like any other normal person. For some reason, the sight enraged Finney. There it was, the monster who had ruined his, and several other boys lives, pretending as if it were a normal human being who just wanted to go bowling, and not some kind of monster who had tried to kidnap Griffin Stagg just a couple of weeks ago (or was it just last week? Finney doesn't know anymore. He never knows.). As if it's not going to try to kidnap Billy Showalter, his Billy Showalter tomorrow morning. That thing is an absolute monster, it’s not fair that it just gets to pretend that its life is all fine and dandy!

But am I really any different? Finney suddenly thought. If The Grabber is considered a monster for killing people without a second thought, then am I really any different than it? Didn’t I do the same thing? Aren’t I planning to do the exact same thing that The Grabber did to us? To torture, to torment until it’s unbearable, and then take it’s life? How does that make me any different from it ? It doesn’t, he supposes. The sight of Finney here, innocently bowling and waiting for his friend to come out of the bathroom must enrage The Grabber just as much as seeing The Grabber here enrages him. If The Grabber even remembers anything, that is. For all Finney knows, he’s the only one who knows. For all he knows, he is completely alone in all of this. And he is, isn’t he? If The Grabber remembered anything, then why wouldn’t he change up his schedule? Why wouldn’t he just take all of them at completely different times than when he originally did? Why give him the chance to save his boys when he has the power to just take it all away anyways?

Well, when Finney thinks about it, The Grabber probably wouldn’t know if he knew as well. If Finney doesn't know, then why would The Grabber? If The Grabber does remember everything, then it’s probably just going to do everything the same, except for what he did with him. Why change everything when you can just change what you screwed up last time? That thought only makes everything even worse! If The Grabber somehow gets to Finney before he’s able to kill it (and become a monster just like it as well), then it’s going to be even worse than the last time. Finney can’t imagine going through what he already did again, he doesn’t want to have to go through anything else!

Whatever, what he needs to focus on is his rage. He’s been gaining more and more ever since he came back, and now it feels as if it’s almost going to overflow. Because, as much as the sight of The Grabber angers him (because why the hell does it get to pretend as if it didn’t absolutely ruin my life?!), it also scares him. This is the same thing that kidnapped him, that promised him no harm, and yet hurt him in a way that he’s never been hurt before. The same thing that beat him with a belt, Robin’s belt, until he passed out, that, that…that forced him to do something he never thought would ever have to happen to him, and then hold his face and cradle him after as if it were totally normal and it didn’t just completely violate Finney and make him want to rip all of his skin off and claw and scratch and burn and-

“Finney?” Oh. Bruce is back. He’s kneeling in front of him, and he suddenly feels embarrassed. He can feel the slightest remnants of previous tears on his cheeks. He can just barely see Vance looking at him worriedly from the corner of his eye. It seems that he moved closer to him while he was in his panic.

“Oh, sorry.” Finney said, wiping at his face. There was absolutely no reason to have any sort of breakdown, especially in a public place like this. All he can do is hope that people decide to mind their own business and not stare and ogle. “I’m sorry, that was stupid. I was just being stupid, I don’t know what happened, I’m sorry.” He mumbled. They probably never want to hang out with him ever again now that they know what a complete cry baby he is.

“Hey, no, Finney, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault, you clearly got triggered by something, so it’s not like you had any control over it.”

Finney tilted his head. “What does ‘triggered’ mean”

“It means that when you see or hear a certain something, it can send you into a panic or get you stuck in your thoughts or something like that.” Vance chimed in.

“Yeah, basically what Vance said. Now, we’re not going to ask you to tell us what triggered you, but we want you to know that we are here if you ever want someone to listen. Both of us, I promise.”

He smiled. Finney wanted nothing more than to get all of his anger and his sadness and his fear out, he wanted nothing in this moment than to rant to Bruce and Vance about The Grabber, and about how he’s so scared because who wouldn’t be? And how he feels like he’s all alone in this whole entire thing (because he is ), about how he feels like he won’t be enough to stop The Grabber but also too much at the same time, because he is seriously considering just going over there and bashing its brains in right now. Who cares about all of the people watching? They can deal with one murder. But he can’t. He can’t and he never will. So, instead, he just says:

“Thank you. Seriously. But…I kind of just want to go home.”

“Of course. Come on, let’s go.” Bruce coaxed, gently grabbing his hands and leading him towards the door, Vance following close behind them, almost like a human shield. The title certainly fits . Finney thinks.

Before they walk out the door, Finney takes one last look back. It’s buying food. Monsters like that shouldn’t be allowed to have food. Finney thinks darkly. As they finally walk out the door, he’s left with one thought.

The Grabber is going to pay.

The ride home is silent, but Finney isn’t quite sure what to say to fill the silence. Another apology? Some friendly chatter? Ask a question? None of those options seem all that appealing, if he’s being honest for once in his life.

“Hey, Blake?”

Or just wait until someone else strikes up a conversation. “Yeah, Vance?”

Vance just sighs. “If you…if anyone ever fucks with you…tell me, yeah? Arellano and I will keep them in check, alright?”

Random, yes, but still somehow reassuring. “Okay.” He whispered.

“Good. That’s good, kid. You don’t need anybody messing with you.” Vance mumbled. Bruce just smiled at him through the rearview mirror. That also made him feel a bit better. The least he could do was smile back.

After a few more minutes, they finally arrived at the house. Finney pursed his lips. He knows he’s the one who said that he wanted to go home, but right now he really doesn’t want to have to leave the safety of Vance’s car.

“Well, we’re here, Blake.”

“Yeah…Thanks for driving me.”

“Of course, we wouldn’t just leave you there! Bye Finn!”

“Bye Bruce. Bye Vance.”

“Don’t somehow kill yourself without us to watch you, alright?”

Finney rolled his eyes. Sometimes he can forget that Vance is still just a kid. “Alright mom. Bye!” He said, slamming Vance’s car door and running into the house before he could get out and kill him. He watched sadly through the window as they pulled out of the driveway. He didn’t move until the car was no longer visible.

Finney sighed, the only thing left to do now was sleep. He ate dinner when bowling with Vance and Bruce, and he doesn’t have to shower until tomorrow morning.

Right, tomorrow morning. How is he going to mentally scar The Grabber for at least a little bit? Finney wants to see fear in The Grabber’s eyes, and he wants to know that he was the cause. He wants to be the reason that The Grabber is afraid to close its eyes at night, scared that his face is the one that it sees. He wants to make The Grabber afraid.

He figures the first thing he can do to make sure that his face is the one that The Grabber fears seeing is making sure that he is there, staring at it whenever something doesn’t go its way or something bad happens to it. Finney’s not sure if it’s the best thing he can do, hell, he doesn’t even know if it’ll work, but it’s a start. And that’s really all Finney can ask for right now.

Finney slowly drags his feet up the stairs, into his room, to the bathroom, and then back into his bedroom. He contemplates laying down on his bed and eventually falling asleep, or laying down on his floor, staring off into nothingness, getting lost in his thoughts and eventually falling asleep. He picks his bed. He doesn't want to risk falling asleep on the floor and then waking up all achy. That would suck.

As Finney stares up at his ceiling, he finds that he’s actually starting to drift off. Apparently bowling (and having a cute little whatever that was back at the bowling alley) takes a lot more energy than you’d think.

Finney fell asleep with (thankfully) only one thought in his head.

Revenge.

Finney woke up at 5 a.m.. He spent 30 minutes in bed trying to get out of bed, another 30 minutes in the shower, and 15 minutes preparing to potentially have to interact with The Grabber. After he was done, there wasn’t exactly anything else to do, so he decided to just bike around the surrounding streets as he waited until it was actually time to throw the rolled up pieces of paper at people’s doorsteps. How fun.

Finney has always appreciated silence, but right now it’s not exactly his cup of tea. The silence is only letting him get lost in his thoughts as he, once again, turns the corner onto Frank Street. He’s all alone. This is the perfect time for The Grabber to come take him. There’s no one outside to stop it. Holy shit is that the van-oh wait, nevermind, it’s just a car. Just a plain, regular, non-kidnapper holding car. God, he’s being such a baby!

He looked at his watch, it’s time to start. Finney takes a deep breath and makes his way over to Parsonage Road.

It’s only been about ten minutes when the van finally arrives. Finney can see it turning the corner onto the road he’s currently on, slowly making its way up. Finney’s about halfway done with this road when the van is directly behind him. He stops. And he stares. He stares at The Grabber through the tinted windshield of that stupid black van, and he watches as its face turns from one of disappointment to one of confusion, to one of recognition, and then finally one that clearly displays anger. Anger from either not being able to kidnap Billy, or anger that Finney is in his place instead, Finney doesn’t care. After about five more seconds of death-staring, The Grabber seems to come back to reality and drives off as slowly as its van would allow. Finney finishes the papers in peace.

It takes him a hot minute, but the truth finally makes itself known in Finney’s brain.

He saved Billy Showalter.

  As Finney walks to school, through all of his classes, at lunch, even when he’s once again home alone and falling asleep in his bed, it says with him.

He saved Billy Showalter.

Chapter Text

Finney didn’t get any sleep last night. Ever since the incident at the bowling alley, he’s been seeing The Grabber around a lot recently. Like yesterday, when he saw it drive past him on his way to school. Thankfully, Finney didn’t have much time to worry about it, because not even a minute later, both Vance and Robin had joined him on his walk, flanking him like some type of guard dogs. It seems that they’ve formed some sort of truce, or something of the sort, because Robin hadn’t been nasty towards Vance the whole day. Finney can only hope that this isn’t just some sort of temporary agreement, or whatever it is, because he really doesn't need those two arguing and hating each other for however long they let him be friends with them. He doesn’t exactly need that sort of stress right now.

It’s Friday and Finney can barely wait until the next day. He doesn’t exactly have anything to do today, but at least tomorrow he there’s the interview at the cafe, and if he’s being honest, he almost feels like he has a chance at getting the job. He hopes so, anyways, because there still isn’t any food in the fridge, (only what’s left of the leftovers Gwen gave him the other day), or the cabinets, and not sure if he can take another night being hungry. The man hasn’t been home since last Friday, and even then there was still practically no food anywhere to be found. If Finney doesn’t get this job, then he’s screwed. He does not want to have to go crawling to Robin for food every day. That would just be embarrassing.

Finney was seriously considering just going back to bed when skipping school today, even though he’s already all ready for the day (he’s sure if he does that he’ll see Vance at the Grab N’ Go, and he could at least watch him play), when his phone went off.

H-H-H OMOSEXUALS⁉️😨😨😨:

Billiam: why is my chat name so basic?

Robinthebank: because, as one wise man once said: a basic name for a basic person

Billiam: I love when you quote me

Billiam: If only I wasn’t so smart (or something like that)-Nikolai Lanstov, ??? (I don’t fucking know when those books take place)

Griffinherthighs😼: god Billy, you’re such a nerd!

Griffinherthighs😼: NERD ALERT!! NERD ALERT!!

Billiam: stop it they’re good books 

Billiam: c’mon, where’s Finney when you REALLY need him? (jk I ALWAYS need my finney-winney pookie wookie bear)

Billiam: @Finneus and ferb

Billiam: @Finneus and ferb

Billiam: @Finneus and ferb

Billiam: FINNEY

Finally, he decided to answer. He really does love these idiots.

Finneus and ferb: yeah, Billy?

Billiam: OH THANK GOD

Billiam: back me up here

Billiam: the SaB trilogy and SoC duology are top tier and deserve everything and more (plus RoW and KoS idk though they’re SO LONG)

Finneus and ferb: yeah, I guess I can agree with that

Finneus and ferb: I really like those books

Griffinherthighs😼: that’s so cool, Finney! on our way to school, do you want to talk about them with me?

Billiam: WAIT SO YOU SUPPORT HIM AND NOT ME????!?t?t@?

Griffinherthighs: what can I say? Finney’s just better

Griffinherthighs: and you just suck (affectionate.)

Rockin’Robin & My Finn

My Finn: they are SO in love

Rockin’Robin: I KNOW

My Finn: you know what we should do?

Rockin’ Robin: what?

My Finn: we should set them up

Rockin’Robin: YES

Rockin’Robin: OMG YES WE HAVE TO

Rockin’Robin: PLAN IT OUT TOMORROW WHEN WE WATCH THE SUNSET?

My Finn: YES

My Finn: YAYAYYASYAYAYAYAY

Rockin’Robin: this is going to be perfect!

My Finn: I know 😈

Well, now he HAD to go to school. He couldn’t just miss out on watching Billy and Griffin stare at each other as if the other were the only thing left in the world. He couldn't miss watching them be ridiculously in love with each other and looking at Robin whenever he had an idea of how to get the two together. In his excitement, Finney almost missed his phone going off, for what was probably the hundredth time this morning.

***-***-**** & ***-***-****

***-***-****: I’m outside

***-***-***: get in the car, Blake

Finney’s heart plummeted. Who was this?! How did they get his number? Why were they outside? Could it be The Grabber? Had it realized that after their little stare-down Wednesday morning that it just couldn’t wait any longer and needed him now? Finney shivered at the thought. He can’t bear being down in that stupid, disgusting old basement again. And he wouldn’t. If you let them know you’re scared, then it’s already over before it even begins. Finney would go into this with as much confidence as he could, and he would not let The Grabber know that he was scared. Not like last time.

***-***-****: who is this?

***-***-****: it’s Vance, you idiot

***-***-****: Who else?

OH THANK FUCKING GOD! Finney thought. Even though he’s beyond relieved, now he just feels kind of embarrassed. There was absolutely no need for all of those five seconds of worrying. He was just being stupid. As usual.

The kid (Blake): oh…

The kid (Blake): why are you outside my house?

Vance!: to pick you up

Vance!: I already told you

Vance!: hurry up before I leave

The kid (Bake): okay, okay, just give me a second

Finney quickly made his way down the stairs and out the door, not even bothering to lock up the house. There was nothing to take. He got into Vance’s car as fast as he could, not wanting him to have to wait any longer. Despite the suddenness of all of this, Finney’s glad that Vance apparently just decided to come and get him, even though he didn’t even ask. Speaking of which.

“Hey Vance? Why did you drive all the way to my house just to pick me up? I didn’t even ask you or anything.”

“Because you don’t have a jacket and it’s cold as hell today. You don’t need to be walking all the way to school, shivering the whole time.”

“Oh. Thank you, Vance. It’s not that big of a deal, so thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah, now shut up so that we can go.”

“Where are we even going? It’s only 7:00, and I know damn well that you are not willing to go to school an hour early.”

“We’re getting breakfast.”

“But I don’t have any money.”

“I don’t remember asking you if you did, Blake. Now stop talking before I change my mind.” Even though Vance didn’t quite look like he actually meant what he just said, Finney decided not to push his luck and finally shut up.

The ride to wherever Vance was taking them for breakfast was mostly quiet, save for the occasional short conversations the two struck up whenever they felt like it. Finney can’t believe that he was ever scared of Vance, he's really not even that bad. I mean, he never yells at him, he hasn’t beaten him up yet, and now he’s even paying for his breakfast after picking him up at his house! Vance really isn’t all that bad.

Just as they were about to take a turn, Finney saw what he thought was the front of a black van parked in a gas station parking lot. Not just any black van. The black van. The Grabber’s black van. Shit.

“Vance, stop!” He yelled.

Vance skid to a halt. “What, what is it?!” He asked, panicked, immediately turning to check on the other boy.

“Pull into there.” He said, pointing towards the gas station.

“What? Why?”

“Just do it!” Finney stressed. He doesn’t know why, but he needs to see that van. He could barely even sit still as Vance pulled into the parking lot. Before Vance even was even fully parked he was already unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the door.

“Wow, hold on there, Blake! Where are you going? What. Is. Happening?!”

“It’s just…I…ugh!” Finney rushed out, because what is happening?! Why does he need to see The Grabber’s van? Why does he need to get so close to the real thing? Why does he need to see The Grabber?

And that was it, wasn't it? He needs to see The Grabber. He needs to know what the hell it’s doing in a gas station like any other human being. He needs to get all up and close to that stupid black van. He needs to smash that van.

“I have to use the bathroom.” He lies. He’s said this a million times before, but he really does need to stop doing that. He can’t exactly smash the van, not when Vance can still see him in all his rage and insanity, but he can at least see The Grabber’s stupid face. He can still haunt it.

“Really, kid? All of that for the bathroom?”

Not exactly. “Sorry.” He replies, trying to sound sheepish.

Vance sighs. “Just go. Hurry, you have five minutes before I leave you here and get breakfast all by myself, got it?”

“Sir, yes sir.” Finney fake salutes. He practically runs into the store before Vance can decide whether or not he’s going to strangle him.

The second Finney makes his way into the gas station store, he’s already regretting even stepping foot outside of Vance’s car. There’s no one inside except for the person behind the counter, him, and The Grabber. But that’s what he came in here for, isn’t it? To get into The Grabber’s head. If seeing it around town is going to become a recurring event, then at least he can make something out of the rather unfortunate situation.

Finney’s been wandering around the aisles for a bit now, at least two minutes, with still no sign of The Grabber. If it's not in the store, then where else could it be? In its van? Behind the store? In the bathroom? Suddenly, Finney’s very thankful that needing to use the bathroom was just a lie and nothing else. Although he wants to instill fear in The Grabber’s very being whenever it sees him, even though he wants to make his presence known to the Grabber, he does not want to be stuck in a small, enclosed space with it. He feels like that would be what does it.

It only takes a few more seconds, but soon enough, The Grabber finally makes its way out of the gas station bathrooms. Finally. Finney thinks. If it took any longer, Vance probably would’ve left without me by now. As The Grabber makes its way through the store, from the aisle with the beer to the aisle with the ice cream, Finney follows from just one aisle behind. He can see it look back every time it moves, wondering if Finney’s still there. And Finney enjoys it. Although he’s still not something that The Grabber fears, not something that The Grabber despises seeing, Finney finds that he rather enjoys seeing it look over its shoulder every few seconds to see if it’s still being watched. It’s fun.

I’m getting too into this. Too lost in this game I’ve started. Finney decides from his place in the candy aisle. Before he can change his mind, he leaves.

Finney makes his way back to Vance’s car. “Go.”

“Fucking Christ, Blake.” Vance mutters, followed by a sigh. Thankfully, he starts the car. If he didn’t, Finney thinks that he would probably hop right on out again and back into the gas station store.

Even though Finney got his very unhealthy dose of slowly making The Grabber scared of seeing his face wherever he goes, he’s still on edge as he and Vance make their way to what Finney now knows is McDonalds (how Vance has the money for that, he’ll never know), as they make their way through the drive-through after Vance practically forced him to get something that was more than just a dollar (not many good things were on there for one dollar), and even as they made their way to school as they ate their breakfast in Vance’s car, in fear of seeing The Grabber’s black van again, in fear of seeing it wear that stupid magicians hat as it drove by. Finney already saw it today; he doesn’t need to again. Once is enough.

But it really isn’t.

Finney is now at the principal's office. He’s not quite sure how he got here, but Matt, Matty and Buzz are here too, so it can’t be good. Here’s what he remembers. Finney was just making his way to his next class after 6th block when he heard the three talking about some girl. Now, at first, he was just going to ignore it. Matt, Matty, and Buzz talk shit all the time, it’s nothing new. And besides, what’s the point of getting involved in something that doesn’t concern him? Until he heard them say the girl's name. It was her name. Gwen’s name. Finney remembers feeling the anger rise up within him and throwing the first punch, but not much else after that. But, judging by the way that Matt, Matty, and Buzz look and how his body feels, Finney thinks that it’s safe to say that both Robin and Vance would be proud of him.

The principal sighed. “Matthew, Matteo, Busby, you can go to the nurse. Finney, I want you to stay for a second.” The boys snickered at Finney. “Go, boys!” The principal nearly yelled.

The principal sighed again, leaning on her desk and clasping her hands in front of her. “Finney Blake.”

Finney crossed his arms and looked towards the ground. “Ms. Menzie.”

“Why did you start a fight with those boys?”

“They had it coming.” He snapped.

“Finney.” She sighed. “I want to understand. I want to help you, but I can’t if you won’t work with me here. I need your help to figure out what’s going on, I can't just do this myself. You’re a good kid, Finney. I’m on your side here, just let me help you.”

As if . Finney thought bitterly. These are the same words that he has been hearing for years and years, day after day when he comes to school with bruises on his arms or a cut on his cheek. I want to understand. I need your help. Work with me here. I want to help you. Bullshit. Nobody wants to help him. Not even his own sister. ( Because she left. Sheleftsheleftsheleftshe-)

That’s okay, though. Finney thinks. It’s not her job to help me. It’s my job to help her. He still has to bite his lip to keep himself from crying.

“Finney!” She says, snapping him back into reality.

He huffs. He’s too tired to think of a lie right now. His head hurts. “They were talking shit about Gwen.”

“Language!”

“Please, as if you care. There’s no one here except for you and me, I don’t think it really matters all that much.” He rambles, because it’s really not that big of a deal.

She purses her lips. “Finney,” she says sternly. “Why did you fight with Matthew, Matteo, and Busby?”

It takes everything within him to not burst out laughing at their names. “I already told you. They were saying some nasty stuff about my sister. I’m not going to just hear that and walk past as if everything is all fine and dandy. Because, if you couldn’t tell, it’s not.”

“What could they have possibly said that made you punch Matteo in the face?”

He narrows his eyes; Ms. Menzie was really playing with fire right now. “They were saying how she’s a “good for nothing troublemaker whose own father probably doesn’t even love her.”” True, Finney thought. But they still can’t just say that. “And about how she’s probably the reason why our mother killed herself.”

The principal gasped. “They said that?!”

Finney is really starting to lose his patience. If he even had any to begin with. “Oh, please, is it really that hard to believe?”

“Finney, I think you’re starting to get a bit worked up. How about we take a few deep breaths together, yeah?”

“No!” Finney nearly yelled. “Do you even know what they do when you’re not looking? When there’s no teachers around? They have been tormenting me for years. The beginning of sixth grade, they chose me to be their main target. For years and years, day after day, they have seeked me out between classes, during lunch, hell, even before and after school to call me names, beat me up, and just generally make my day just a bit worse than it probably was before. Ever since the ripe eleven, I have been their main target, and you have had absolutely no clue. And then I’m the one who has to stay behind and get in trouble?! I think I have the right to get at least a little bit angry, don’t you?” Finney can feel the tears well up in his eyes, but he is not going to cry in front of the principal . He. Will. Not. Let. Them. Fall.

“Oh, Finney…” She says, softly.

He needs to get out of here. Finney stands up from where he was seated in front of her desk. “No, you don’t get to be all nice now. You don’t get to just suddenly notice and understand. I’m leaving.” Before she can say anything else, he leaves.

There’s only about ten more minutes left of school, so he just goes to the bathroom instead. There’s no point in going to class, and he is not going to go to the nurse's office. Besides, at least now he can get a good cry out before he and Gwen hang out. They had planned it the night before.

As Finney finally makes it to the bathroom, he really doesn’t look as bad as the other guys. Sure, he has a split lip, a bruise right on his cheekbone, and they did manage to land a good kick on his ribs (which, ow. His ribs were practically already healed, but they still hurt.), but compared to Matt, Matty, and Buzz, he really wasn’t hurt all that bad. Maybe he is more capable than he’d like to admit. With what little he has in his backpack; Finney is able to partially fix himself up. There’s really no way to actually cover anything up, but thankfully he does have some Tylenol and Advil. He takes both.

Gwendolyn Blake is a glue eating, sand filled sandwich, soggy cereal witch. Finney broods, as she, once again, drags him to another store. According to Gwen, Suzie’s mother gave her 200 dollars for both of them to spend during their day out today. When Finney asked why the hell she would give away 200 dollars, Gwen just responded with “She’s still in her pity party phase. She’s trying to spoil me because she feels bad or something, I don’t know, but when I asked for some money because we’re both piss poor, she just…gave me the money. No hesitation.”. Some people are just crazy, Finney supposes. Whatever, that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that this is the eight store that Gwen is making them go into, and if they stay at the mall any longer, Finney thinks that he’ll  die, and Gwen will have to be the one to bury his dead body. His tombstone would probably include something like: Finney Blake. Beloved brother…actually, not really all that beloved, kind of an ass, really. I mean, he died when we were at the mall! In the middle of shopping, too! Whatever, Finney was a good brother, he will be missed greatly. Are we done now?

Something like that. So, not wanting his tombstone to just be an insult to his entire being, he continues to follow her around the store, occasionally picking out something that he finds interesting.

Just as they're, finally, about to leave, Finney spots the flower shop. He’s been meaning to visit their mother at her gravestone, and these flowers will just be the perfect excuse to actually take the almost 40-minute walk to the cemetery in which she lays. He’ll come back later; Finney decided. As much as he loves his sister, he needs to take this trip alone.

“What do you want for dinner, Gwenny? We still have some money left, so it’s really just up to you.” Finney asked as they made their way onto the bus that would take them to the park. From there, Finney would walk Gwen to Suzie’s house, and then go to the mall, visit his mother, and then walk home. Hopefully he would have enough time before it got too dark. The Grabber isn’t the only kidnapper out there.

“Sushi?”

Finney smiled. Gwen has always had a love for sushi. They even made it together, once. “Yeah, sushi.”

Finney wonders what flowers he should get his mother. He looked up a bunch of flowers that mean heart-felt, nice things, but he’s not quite he remembers what they’re called. He guesses he can always start with forget-me-nots. I mean, the meaning is in the name, you can’t exactly go wrong there. There were also the white tulips that he wanted to get her. To tell her that he forgives her for never really being quite…mentally there all the time, because he gets it now. There are times where he gets lost in his thoughts too, times where he wishes he could just live in his head and never have to face reality. He figures it’s one way to tell her that he doesn’t hate her for that. Not anymore, at least.

When Finney was younger, he used to get upset that his mother was always in her head. His anger only grew after she killed herself. In his mind, it was unfair that she got to skip out on life, got to live in her head while everyone else was stuck in the real world. And it wasn’t fair that she just got to leave once she had had enough while Finney and Gwen had reached that point long ago, and now they were stuck with the man who had caused her to leave in the first place. To him, it just wasn’t fair. He doesn’t think like that now. Now, he wants to leave sometimes, too. It’s in those times when everything is quiet, where he’s all alone, left with nothing but his thoughts, and his thoughts only. It’s in those times where he’s laying in bed in the cold and empty house in which he sleeps and does almost nothing else. Finney wishes he could sleep more, but everytime he closes his eyes, the only things that come to him are nightmares after nightmares. He wishes he could at least have one escape.

The last flower he wanted to get her were orchids. According to google, they represent love, beauty, and strength. Although Finney’s pretty sure that people usually give them to people they pursue romantically, that doesn’t mean that Finney doesn’t love his mother. He used to not to. He’s glad he does now. And besides, she really was quite beautiful.

As Finney makes his bouquet and checks out at the cash register with what leftover money from Suzie’s mother that Gwen had given him, his mind can’t help but keep bringing him back to the last time he had visited her grave.

It was around two years ago, and his father had been in one of his “I’m going to try to be a better father for my kids” phase. That day was the day that brought him out of it. He had woken them up at 6:00 a.m., claiming that they were going to go visit their mother. He and Gwen had been walking on eggshells all day, knowing that one wrong move would make the man break. They had left around 6:30, the man driving dangerously fast on the roads for it being the middle of winter. The man had been muttering to himself the whole ride there, Finney and Gwen holding each other’s hands as if their lives had depended on it. Finney had sat next to Gwen as she rambled to their mother’s gravestone about what had happened while she had been gone, watching the man carefully in case he suddenly got fed up with all of Gwen’s info-dumping at a rock sticking out of the ground. After about 30 minutes, the man had, rather sternly, told them that they had to leave. Gwen had refused, and Finney being Finney, went along with her. Both Finney and Gwen went to school the next day with bruises all around their arms, and not being able to sit without wincing.

Finney may not hate their mother, not anymore, but he sure does hate the pathetic excuse of a drunken man who was supposed to be their father. Unfortunately, he had lost that title long ago. He had lost that title the second that he found Finney on the floor of his mother’s room, crying his eyes out and screaming, because there was a fucking dead body in place of his mother, and then called the police and went out to go get piss-drunk. He had lost that title the moment that he chose alcohol over his children. His own god damn useless children.

Finney really needs to find a way to get out of his head, because he’s already halfway to the cemetery when he finally snaps back into reality. It’s a peaceful day, thank god, but the silence still bugs him. Because of the silence, he now has the faintest tears falling down his cheeks as he crosses the cross-walk that takes him to the bus stop. Fortunately, he’s able to wipe them all away and clear his face before the bus comes. That would be embarrassing, walking onto a public bus with teary eyes and a red face.

Once he finally makes it to the cemetery, he can see that it’s quite busy today. There’s at least 15 cars parked somewhere out of the way, and he can see some bikes over by the bike rack. It makes sense, Finney supposes. It’s a nice day today. The sun’s out, and it’s not even all that cold. Finney does his best to ignore the silence that’s still there, despite all of the people, and makes his way to his mother’s grave. Gently, he sits down and places his bouquet down right in front of her gravestone.

For a while, all he can do is sit and stare. Even as people come and go, all he can do is just sit and stare, sit and stare, sit and stare. At one point, he got the urge to cry. So, he did. No better place to do it, really. The cries were soft, never going any louder than just loud enough that people from about two-three graves away could hear him. Finney doesn’t know what it was, but after his little cry session, he just had to tell his mother, well, everything.

As the sun got lower and lower, and less and less people were left, Finney talked. He talked about school, about Robin, about his new friends, and about Gwen. He talked about how she had left, and how Finney was both just oh so happy but also so upset because she left and he really just doesn't know how to feel and-. He talked about how he was going to try and get a job at the cafe on Maple Street, and about how he feels like he might even have a shot at actually getting the job.

Even after he was done talking, he stayed. He sat and let it all sink in. The sunset, the sound of birds settling down for the night, the wind gently ruffling his hair every now and again. He sat there until he could hear the faint sound of footsteps walking towards him, and he stood there until they stopped by his side and sat down next to him.

“Hey, Finn.”

“Hey, Bruce.”

“Who are you visiting?”

“My mom.” He said, picking at the grass by his feet. “Who are you visiting?”

“My cousin.”

“Oh.” Finney kind of wanted to know how Bruce’s cousin died, but he didn’t want to be rude.

“Cancer.” Bruce said, almost as if he could read his mind.

“I’m sorry.” He spoke.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry about your mother.”

“It’s okay.”

Bruce looked around. “How are you getting home?”

Finney looked up at the sky. It was getting pretty dark out. Curse him and his emotions. “I was going to walk, but now I might just have to call Robin and see if he can pick me up.”

“Oh, well, in that case, I could spare you the trouble and take you home. Well, more like Vance can take you home. Actually, you know what? Have you eaten yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“Perfect, you’re going to have dinner with us.”

“What?” He asked suddenly. “No, no, you don’t have to do that, Bruce, I’ll just eat when I get home.” God damn it! He lies even when he’s not trying to!

Bruce just rolled his eyes. “I know I don’t have to, Finney, but I’m inviting you. No, you know what? I’m telling you. You are going to have dinner with Vance and I. I’ll text my mama right now, come on.” He said, holding out his hand for Finney. “I’m not budging on this, Finn. It’ll be easier to just say yes.”

Finney sighed. “Fine. Thank you, Bruce.” He said, taking his hand.

“You don’t have to thank me for basic human decency, Finn. Now, come on.” He said, not letting go of his hand even as they walked all the way over to Vance’s car.

As Finney got into the warm, heated car that he always felt way too safe in, Finney had one thought in mind.

What did I just get myself into?

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Finney Blake doesn’t know whether to thank Bruce Yamada endlessly or to strangle him. Because of Bruce, Finney is now at the Yamada’s household, and holy hell are they rich. He must look like an idiot, he supposes, gawking at everything as if he’s never been in another’s house before. But, can you blame him? They have a literal chandelier in their living room. And, you can’t even begin to touch their ceiling. Finney doesn’t think he’s ever been inside a house quite so pretty, inside and out. Their house is a nice cream-white color, much prettier than Finney’s house, which is old and has rotting wood on the outside. They even have a garden, too. The inside of their house is neat, not even a singular thing looks out of place or messy. Their walls are a soft blue, and Finney can’t help but smile at the color. But, most of all, it looks lived in. There are pictures on the walls of Bruce playing baseball, of his elementary school graduation, family photos, and even pictures of Vance and his mother as well. There are blankets on their couch, and there’s food in the fridge. The faint scent of a candle that must have been burning earlier is still haunting the air, and there and plants all over the window sills. There’s a bookshelf filled from top to bottom of not just books, but also movies, and on top are medals and achievements Bruce has won from his time playing baseball. It looks lively. It looks like a home. Which is much more than Finney can say about his own house.

“Pick your jaw off the floor, Blake, before you start catching flies.”

Finney finally snapped back into reality. “Shut up, Vance!” A few weeks ago, he would never even think about saying something like that to the other boy.

“Okay, you guys, that’s enough. Let’s just go into the kitchen, introduce Finn to our parents, and eat dinner, yeah?”

“Yeah, whatever.” Vance grumbled.

Finney, meanwhile, was freaking out. What if they don’t like him? What if Vance’s mom thinks that he’s too ‘soft’ or ‘nice’ for Vance? What if Bruce’s parents think that he’s not cool enough to hang out with? Because, really, Finney is not that cool and-

“Hi mom, hi dad! Hi Veronica!” Bruce greeted his and Vance’s parents as they walked into the kitchen.

“Hey Bruce, hey Vance.” Bruce’s father greeted. “And you must be Finney. Trust me, Bruce talks so much about you.” He said, turning to Finney. 

“Dad!” Bruce nearly yelled at the statement.

“What? It’s true! Don’t worry, Finney, it’s nothing bad. He mostly just talks about how nice you are and about how good you are at baseball.”

“Because he is! ” Bruce turned to him. “You really are good at baseball, Finn…do you maybe want to practice with me sometime soon? I know I already asked you once, but that was before we were, you know, friends.”

Finney smiled. “Of course, Bruce. I would love to.”

“You can talk about it later, boys, let’s have dinner.” Vance’s mother said.

As everyone else went to sit down, Finney moved just a few steps behind them. He wasn't quite sure where to sit, so he was just going to wait back a second and see which seat was left open, and uh oh.

“Well now, don’t be shy Finney, come sit.” Bruce’s father said, patting the chair next to him.

Now, normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. If it was anyone else, really, (well, maybe not anyone) Finney would happily go and sit next to them, eat his dinner, and maybe even strike up a conversation. Except, this is a problem. This is a problem because Bruce’s father scares him. His father just seems so sure of himself, and he kind of looks like the only person he doesn’t like in the room is Finney. He still has his suit on from what Finney assumes is his work, and he just has this general air of confidence around him as if he could crush Finney’s skull with his bare hands if he wanted to. If Finney’s being completely honest, he probably could. Either way, this man scares him. Good thing he’s had plenty of practice with scary old men already.

Carefully, quietly, Finney makes his way over to their dinner table, sits down next to Bruce’s father, and sends him a quick smile. Hopefully, it’ll be enough to convince him not to rip his head off.

“So, boys, how were your days today?” Vance’s mother asked.

“It was…okay, I guess.” Vance replied.

Bruce rolled his eyes. “Mine was more than ‘just okay’, unlike Mr. Grumpy over here, and it’s even better now that Finn’s here!”

Finney smiled. It was nice of Bruce to say, but he doesn’t have to pretend that he likes him that much. He doesn’t.

Vance’s mother smiled as well. “Well, that’s a nice thing to say. And Finney, how was your day?”

Oh. He wasn’t expecting her to ask him how his day was. No one does. Hurriedly, he scrambled for an answer. “Uh…I don’t know, it was good, I guess.”

“Well, that’s good, everyone had an, at the very least, okay day!” Said Bruce’s mom, coming out of the kitchen with a bunch of plates balanced on a tray. She must have been a waitress at some point, with the way she was able to balance all of that without breaking a sweat. “Alright, don’t be shy now, dig in everyone.”

As everyone else immediately started to enjoy their dinner, Finney couldn’t help but sit back and just watch for a second. Everything was just so…normal. Here they were, eating a homemade dinner , at the dining room table. Bruce’s father kissed his wife on the cheek, and an actual heartfelt ‘thank you’ as she handed him his plate. He saw Vance’s mother give him a pat on the head and watched as she ruffled his hair as he told her more about his day. He watched in silence and amazement as Bruce freely and openly rambled to his father about how excited he was for baseball season to come up again, and how he felt like this year's North Denver High School baseball team was going to be a good one. Finney can’t remember the last time he’d ever seen so many people be so familiar, so comfortable with each other. He can’t remember the last time he’s seen a family be a family . He’s not sure he ever has.

“Finney, dear, are you okay?”

“Hm? Oh, sorry. I must have just…zoned out there, for a second.” He replied, finally looking at Vance’s mother. He thought he saw Vance give his mother a look, but he must just be seeing things because a second later, it was gone. Finney really has to stop doing this whole ‘staring out into space and getting lost in his thoughts every five seconds’ thing, it’s not a very good look for him. And besides, life doesn’t stop, and decide to take pity just because you can’t seem to handle your own emotions. It continues, not sparing anyone a second thought. Finney can only sit and wish that it would, that would make things much easier.

“Yes, well, please, don’t be shy, go ahead and eat. You don’t have to wait for our permission, Finney, just eat.”

‘Just eat.’ Finney’s always had a problem with those words. Now, he wouldn’t exactly go as far as to say that he has an eating disorder , but ‘just eating’ has always been something that Finney hasn’t exactly been able to do. Finney doesn't really get either, but before he can start to eat something, he feels as if he has to assess it completely first, and if he’s being completely honest, he hasn’t even looked at his food yet.

“Mama, you can’t just say that!” Bruce cried. “It’s inse…insesiv…insensitive.”

“Oh, you’re right, dear, I’m so sorry, Finney.”

Finney smiled, and shook his head; it’s not even a big deal. “It’s alright, really, I only just zoned out for a second, it’s fine.”

As everyone else decided that Finney’s response was acceptable and went back to their conversations, he finally decided to look at his food. Steak and mac and cheese. I can do that, I like steak. Mac and cheese is good. Yeah, this looks good. Finney smiled, happy with his conclusion, and finally, finally, decided to eat. He deserves it, too, with all of the emotions and things he did today. He deserves to enjoy a nice, good, hot homemade dinner with his friends. He’s earned that, at the very least.

Finney Blake really does not want to go back to the house. He’s been refusing to call it ‘home’ because it’s not. That house stopped being his home after it became clear that the man was not going to stop being so mean to them. It stopped being his when the man had gotten rid of all pictures, all memories of Finney and Gwen around the house. It stopped being his when he had to hide one of the shirts the man had bought for him when he was probably only around three years old. Even then, it didn't fit anymore, but he still wanted to keep it, to remind himself about a time when the man had still loved them.

Anyways, back to the point, Finney Blake really does not want to go back to the house. He’s been having such a good time with Bruce and Vance’s families, and he’s not sure if he ever wants it to end. Finney hasn’t been around families this functional (other than Robin’s) since before his mother died. And even then, calling his family functional is a bit of a stretch. For the last couple of hours, they’ve just been playing a bunch of random games that Bruce found on the internet, and now they’re watching a movie. Bruce is already asleep next to him, leaning on him for support, and Vance is resting his head on the floor somewhere near his feet, but Finney can’t tell if he’s asleep or not. Finney is already halfway into closing his eyes and not opening them for another couple of hours himself, but he’s been doing his best not to fall asleep yet. He’s already eaten their food, took up space in their house, and even ended up talking their ears off at one point, he doesn’t want to be any more of a burden by making them deal with another sleeping child.

Here’s the thing: Bruce and Vance’s families are genuinely good people. Don’t get him wrong, he didn’t expect them to be man-eating monsters or anything, but they’re the kind of people who don’t wake up kids when they fall asleep sprawled all around the living room. No, instead, they’re the kind of people who would gently pick you up off the couch or the ground, or wherever you fell asleep, quietly carry you to somewhere more comfortable, lay you down as gently as they could, and still wish you a good night even though you’re asleep and can’t hear them. Normally, Finney craves this type of affection, hell, sometimes he’s even borderline desperate (and who is he kidding? He wants it right now, too. He wants to fall asleep and have someone care for him even though he wouldn’t know), but right now that’s kind of a problem. It means that if he falls asleep, then they’re just going to let him continue to be a burden, even though he’s already taken up so much of their time!

For once, Finney decides that he’s going to save himself (though, is going back to that empty, cold house really ‘saving himself’?) does what he does best, and lies.

“Hey, Mrs. Yamada?” He whispered.

“For the fifth time this evening Finney, Clara is fine. What did you need, dear?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mention this earlier, but my father is going to come pick me up soon. Probably in about like, five minutes or something, he just texted me.”

“Oh, that’s perfectly fine, darling. Do you want my help getting Bruce off of you?”

“Yes please.”

The ten minutes following that were all kind of just a blur. Once Finney was finally able to get up without accidentally waking up Bruce, he realized how tired he was. Mrs. Yamada had sent him a worried glance the first time he had swayed on his feet, but he was quick to brush her off. “It’s okay, I’m fine.” He had said. If only she knew how untrue that was. At this point, Finney wouldn’t have protested if she told him to just sit back down and go to bed, telling him that he was too tired to do anything else and that she’d call his father and tell him that Finney would be staying the night. But she didn’t. Much to Finney’s internal demise, Mrs. Yamada didn’t say any of that, and instead walked him to the door, offered to wait outside with him as he waited for his father, and gave him a very sweet goodbye after he told her not to worry about it and that he would be fine. Mrs. Yamada is a wonderful woman, if only she would just push a little bit.

As Finney began his sleep-ridden trek home, he couldn’t help but feel as if something was watching him, lurking around the corner, waiting for the perfect time to snatch him up in a big black van and keep him in a dirty, blood-stained walled basement. I wonder if this is how Vance felt. Finney pondered, looking up towards the dim glow of one of the streetlights that were just far enough away from each other to be unsafe. Right, Vance.

Vance Hopper was kidnapped on the 10th of October, 2021. Saving Vance would be a bit more tricky than the others, seeing as he was kidnapped on a Saturday. Nobody ever really sees Vance on the weekends, no one except Bruce, so Finney had absolutely no clues as to when he was kidnapped, or as to where. Finney sighed, letting a gust of wind ruffle his hair gently and letting it cover his eyes. At this point, it was already dark enough to not even need them.

Finney felt the eyes getting closer, sending a shiver down his back. Maybe he would need his eyes after all. Quickly, Finney pushed his hair out of his face, looking from side to side to see if he could find anyone spying on him. He didn’t find anything, but he still gripped the pocket knife his father had gotten him at one point for his birthday, telling him to ‘man up’. Maybe this would be what finally pushes him over the edge, what finally compels him to use it. Finney can see the headlines now: 'Teenager stabs random bystander in paranoia!’, '15-year-old boy hospitalized a stranger in a manic episode!’, ‘Finney Blake kills pedophilic kidnapper, Albert Shaw, in self-defense!’ None of them sound all too great to him, but Finney finds that he likes the last one the most.

For the rest of the cold walk home (he still doesn’t have a jacket), Finney does his best to come up with ways to save Vance. Passing Maple Street, he thought about how he could always somehow trick Vance into hanging out with him the entire day, passing Warner Rd., he figured that he didn’t really have to trick Vance and he could just ask him. Making it past the public park, he wondered why the hell he didn’t just sit and wait to fall asleep and see what happened then. Frank Orvis Ave. he was really starting to get tired of all the walking, and finally, after 30 minutes, he visibly sagged in relief when he saw his street’s name come into view.

As soon as Finney opened the, thankfully, unlocked door to his house, he immediately fell to the ground and just closed his eyes. For a second, he seriously considered just falling asleep right then and there, but he eventually decided against it. On the very off chance that the man would be coming back to the house tonight, Finney did not want to be caught fast asleep on the floor, practically dead to the world. So, probably as slowly as humanly possible, Finney drags his feet up the stairs, forces himself to change into pajamas, and promptly flops down onto his bed and doesn’t even wake up until 7 am the next morning.

The mornings must hate him, because at the exact moment that the clock hits 7 am the next morning, Finney Blake is woken up to the all too familiar sound of the front door slamming shut.  Because, of course, this is the time that the man decides to show up.

Finney can distantly hear the man's footsteps marching their way up the stairs amid his panic, and in a split decision of not wanting to be fucked up for his interview at the cafe in a couple of hours, shoves himself inside of his closet, and hides in the darkest corner he can find.

Finney can’t remember the last time he had to hide in the deepest darkest corner of his too-small closet to avoid getting beaten by the man, but he knows that it was not a pleasant experience. As the footsteps continue getting closer and closer, Finney can’t help but put his hands over his ears, memories of the man yelling at him to get the fuck out and face him like a real man! Although the man isn’t yelling right now, Finney can still feel his eight-year-old self trembling in fear of the man finding him.

The door to his room opens, and Finney stops breathing. The whole world seems to stop all at once as the man continues to walk deep into his room, goes through some of his, rather limited, things, knocks something over, and swears, leaving Finney to wonder what the hell he is still doing here. Still, even after the man had left his room, Finney sat there in the closet for another five minutes, waiting for the door to slam shut again and for the sound of the man’s car to start up again. Unfortunately, absolutely none of this happens, and Finney can’t just sit in his closet forever, so slowly, ever so slowly, he gets up, gets out of his closet, sits on his bed for a few minutes, and waits until he can hear the man snoring from downstairs.

Finney doesn't like being present when the man is at the house, in fact, he despises it. Now that Gwen is gone, Finney has the perfect opportunity to tell someone what’s been going on and get some help. He doesn’t want to admit it, because that means that he has to go to Robin, but Finney’s been realizing that maybe he does need help. Maybe he has needed help all along. Maybe it’s not okay that he doesn't get the luxury of eating dinner every night, maybe it’s not okay that he knows every way of patching himself from a beating. Maybe just because he can help himself, because he can… doesn’t mean he should have to.

Or maybe it’s just another thing to add to the list of things on Finney Blake’s Shitty, Unfair Life. Finney muses as he gets up to go take a shower. Showers in the morning have always helped calm him down, or bring him back down to Earth after something had happened, so Finney can’t wait for this one. His brain won’t stop reminding him of when times were really bad, when the man was home more often when there was barely ever a day that went by where Finney wasn’t terrified to step out of his room and make his way downstairs. Hopefully, this shower will clear up his mind for the interview today. He really needs this job.

As Finney creeps his way out of his window, not wanting to risk waking up the man by going downstairs and using the front door, he weighs the pros and cons of telling somebody, most likely Robin, about what’s going on at the house. The pros are: not having to walk on eggshells all the time, a house finally feeling like a home, being safe, and not having to see the man anymore. The cons: having to adjust to living in an entirely new home, possibly telling the wrong person, and suddenly he’s in foster care, halfway across the country, Matt, Matty, and Buzz finding out and spreading various rumors, and finally, nobody believing him. If he’s been able to be quiet this long and live with Terrance Blake without complaint for however many years, then why the sudden accusation? Logically, Finney knows that all of the cons are silly and most likely wouldn’t ever even happen, but he’s not sure that his brain got the memo. The entire 20-minute walk to the cafe, Finney finds that his brain keeps on coming up with various ‘what-ifs?’ that are seriously making him question his idea to finally tell someone. However, another part of Finney doesn’t know how much longer he can stand to be in that house anymore. He’s already going slightly crazy trying to save all of his boys while trying to make sure he doesn’t lose himself in the process, and the existence of that house is the reminder that Terrance Blake could have been a good father, he could have chosen his kids over alcohol, but he didn’t, he didn’t and he never will, really isn’t helping.

Finney really needs to find a way to stop getting lost in his thoughts, because all of that thinking took up the 20-minute walk to the cafe, and now here he is, in front of the building, seriously considering if his nerves are worth it. It has to be, he decides, it has to be, because if  I don’t get this job, then I’m doomed. Doomed to find help? He questions himself. Doomed with no other option than to find help. He decides as he opens the door to the cafe, the tiny bell above the door ringing to announce his arrival. The cafe isn’t even open yet, but the flier said to come in at 8 am, so here he is.

“Be right there!” He heard Bruce call from somewhere in the kitchen. “I’m assuming you’re here for the interview?” Bruce says, finally emerging from behind the kitchen doors.

“Uh, yeah.” Finney responds, waiting for Bruce to realize that it’s him and not some random stranger here for the interview.

Bruce gasped. “Finn, it’s you! Yay! I was hoping you  would come in for the interview, I can’t wait to work with a friend!”

“That is if I get the job.” Finney replied, not wanting to get his hopes up. Call him cynical, but it feels as if every time he thinks something is going to go right for him, it all goes to shit.

“Don’t be such a downer, Finney, you basically have the job already.”

“What?”

“While I am doing my best not to hire you on bias, I do also just genuinely think you’d do this place some good. That and you were basically the only person to even take a flier.”

“Oh. So, uh…what now?”

“Well, I was thinking that what we could do is have you work as a server today, as a trial of sorts, and if you do well, which I’m sure you will, and you like doing it, then you get the job. And if you don’t like doing it, then you don’t get the job. How does that sound?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” It’s a good idea, Finney muses. See if he’s any good at the job, and if he’s not, let him down gently, saying that he probably wouldn’t even enjoy doing the job if he wasn’t all that good at it.

“Perfect! We open at 8:30, so get ready!”

For the next couple of hours, with some explanation from Bruce and one other kid who worked in the kitchen, Finney served tables filled with everyone from old married couples, families of four, teenagers on dates, and people just looking for a quiet place to get their work done. Finney hopes that he’s doing his job right because he’s really enjoying working here.

The hair under Finney Blake’s hat ruffles near the ends with the wind, the cheering from his friends in the stands becoming nothing but background noise. Bruce Yamada is across from him, ready to hit. Finney’s concentration is on nothing but the boy in front of him and the ball in his hand. He takes a deep breath. In and out. In a split second, the ball is out of his hand and flying through the air. Bruce swings. He misses. Finney can’t help but smile; he enjoys the reminder that even though Bruce Yamada may be good at baseball, so is he.

Quietly, Finney watches as Vance throws him the ball, not wanting to leave his concentration level just yet. Finney always found himself feeling most like, well…himself whenever he was playing baseball. That and when with Robin. Finney readies himself once again to throw the ball. They’ve been doing this for probably only an hour now, and Finney can’t deny that he’s been having a lot of fun. Finally, all of the boys are here all together, Vance playing catcher for Finney and Bruce, Griffin deciding that he wants to run all around the empty baseball field to retrieve all of the balls that Bruce did end up hitting, leaving Robin and Billy to support their friends from the stands. It’s the first time that all of the boys have been in the same place all at once, and Finney’s honestly quite surprised at how well they’ve been getting along—especially Robin and Vance.

Finney throws the ball again. This time, Bruce does hit it, and Griffin is immediately running again, doing his best to follow its trail. Finney smiles at Bruce; as much as he likes it when Bruce misses, he also likes it when Bruce doesn’t. As Bruce walks towards him, he’s already regretting not throwing something harder in hopes that Bruce will miss. For about five rounds now, they’ve been switching off pitching and batting. Whenever the person batting hits the ball, then they switch. Finney’s never been particularly spectacular at batting like he is pitching, but it doesn’t hurt to have all the skills in your pocket, and Bruce himself even said that he’s not all that great at pitching, so at least they’ve both got something to work on.

“Let’s see how long it takes you this time, Blake.” Vance snarked. Vance has been a bit…moody towards him today, but he did say not to expect him to be nice when they became friends, so Finney’s not taking it to heart. Maybe he just had a bad day. What’s weird is that he’s also been hovering ever since he joined him and Bruce. Like when they took their first break, Vance followed him to the store where he was just getting water because he didn’t have one. He didn’t even say anything either, just followed him silently as he walked the short five-minute walk to the gas station that was just around the corner.

“This is probably the last one we’re going to do, just so you know, Vance.”

“What, getting tired already?”

“Yes, actually, I am. My arm’s getting a bit sore, too.”

Vance scoffed but said nothing more. Finney was glad that he was calling the line after this round because he was starting to get rather tired. The rounds where Bruce was pitching and Finney was batting are usually either much faster, or much slower, seeing as neither is particularly excellent in the other’s usual position, but Finney has a feeling this last round is going to be one of the faster ones because Finney can tell that Bruce is also getting tired.

Bruce throws the ball, but Finney doesn’t swing. He can hear Vance scoff and mutter something about ‘so much for wanting to end soon’, but he doesn’t get it. In a real game, if Finney had swung, it would be strike one for him, and if this is an impromptu baseball practice, then he’s going to practice.

It takes a few more tries, but eventually, Finney both swings and doesn’t miss. As usual, Griffin is immediately running after the ball, even trying to catch it as it continues to fall from the air, but nearly gets hit in the face instead. Finney can hear Vance laugh underneath his breath behind him. Finney winces, but Griffin insists that he’s okay, if he’s hearing his yelling correctly, so he just continues his way to the stands where Billy and Robin are watching.

“Finney, I am so sorry that I ever doubted you. You guys were amazing!”

“Seriously, Finn, you should’ve seen his face while you two were practicing.”

“Thank you guys, really.”

“Yeah, thanks!” Bruce said, coming over to talk as well.

“And what about Vance and I?” Asked Griffin, somehow still buzzing with energy. “What about our contribution to the practice?”

“You two did great, thank you.” Finney replied. Without those two, they’d probably be staying about another hour trying to find all of the baseballs.

“Yeah, you were amazing, Griffin.” Billy complimented.

Robin snickered. “Yeah, Griffin, Billy thinks you looked, I mean, did really good.”

Billy elbowed Robin. “Shut up.” He grumbled.

“Blake,” Vance called as everyone started walking towards their respective cars. Bruce was going to take Vance home or hang out, or something, but Finney doesn't really know, Billy’s mom is taking Billy and Griffin home, and Robin is going to take him to his house for their weekly watching the sunset session. Except this time, they’re going to be doing a bit more than just watching the sunset. This time, they’re going to plot how to force Griffin and Billy to confess their undying love for each other. He can’t wait. Unfortunately, Vance is going to make him.

“Yes, Vance?” Finney asks, staying behind with the curly-haired boy.

“My mom told me about last night.”

“What do you mean?”

“About you leaving around 10:00.”

“Okay?” Finney had absolutely no idea where this whole thing was going.

“Finney,” Vance said firmly. “I know that your dad did not come to pick you up.”

Uh oh. “What do you mean, Vance? Of course, he did, I don’t know what you're talking about.” Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshi-

“Finney,” Vance said again. “I wasn’t asleep, not yet. You said that your dad texted you, but he didn’t. I know he didn’t because your phone was on the floor, so I would’ve known if you got a text, even if it was on silent. I would’ve felt it vibrate.”

“Oh.” He said, the grass suddenly becoming very interesting. I mean, how can it be so green? Oh, and the texture-

“So, why did you lie? Why didn’t you just ask if someone could drive you home? Why didn’t you just ask if you could stay the night? Why did you decide to be such a fucking idiot and walk however many minutes it takes to get from Bruce’s house to yours half-asleep, in the dark, huh?”

Finney pursed his lips. In hindsight, it was a very stupid and unsafe thing to do, but at that moment, Finney was more concerned about being a burden than his own safety. Maybe that’s not exactly such a good thing. He sighs. “I don’t know…I guess I just didn’t want to bother anyone. And besides, I made it home safely, didn’t I?”

Vance shook his head. “Maybe you did this time, Blake, but that doesn’t mean you always will. God, did no one teach you about basic safety?”

Finney stayed silent because if he’s being completely honest, no one ever really did. He only got the summarized version from Robin’s mom every time she would scold him for getting hurt one way or another.

Vance sighed. “Okay, rule number one, you don’t go out walking alone by yourself anywhere, especially when it’s dark. Got that?”

Finney hummed. He didn’t exactly expect to get his own private safety lesson from Vance Hopper. “Yup.”

“Good. Rule number two, you don’t complain or get surprised when someone worries about you because you put yourself in a dangerous situation. Something could have happened to you, Blake and no one would have known. You don’t do that kind of shit, yeah?”

Finney sighed; Vance wasn’t going to let this go, was he? “Yeah, I guess.”

“Good. No more being stupid, Finney.” Vance said, finally joining Bruce in his car.

“Goodbye to you too, Vance.” Finney mumbled to himself.

For the rest of the time before he and Robin made it to Robin’s house, Finney couldn’t help but think more about what Vance had told him. Vance had known that the man hadn’t come to pick him up last night. What if Vance started getting ideas? What if Vance thought that the man didn’t care about Finney? He wouldn’t be wrong, but does Finney want that yet? Does he want people to know from figuring it out themselves, or does he want to be the one who tells them? And about the safety thing…maybe he was being a bit stupid. I mean, who goes on a 40-minute walk back to their house half-asleep in the middle of the night?! Maybe Finney really is starting to lose his mind and go crazy. Soon enough, he won’t even think twice about killing The Grabber and smashing its head in before it even has the chance to kidnap Vance. Finney hopes he doesn’t go crazy that quickly, seeing as Vance’s kidnapping date is only next week.

But that got Finney thinking. Why doesn’t he just go and kill The Grabber before it has the chance to kidnap any more unsuspecting kids who are just trying to enjoy their lives? Well, he has an answer for that: he’s too much of a pussy. But then why doesn’t he go to the police? Why doesn’t he just go to the police? Suddenly, Finney remembers what happened the last time someone (Gwen) had talked to the police. Terrance had not been happy. Finney’s not sure if the fear that Terrance Blake holds over him will ever go away.

He hopes it does. It has to.

“Or we could do the classic ‘lock them in a tight closet together until they’re forced to spill all of their feelings to each other’.”

“I like the way you think, guapo, but how do we know that they won’t just kill each other first?”

“Oh, yeah, I didn’t think about that. Griffin would probably choke Billy to death after the tenth horrible pick-up line.”

“Or Billy would find something pointy and accidentally stab Griffin with it.”

Finney laughed. Those two really were just a couple of idiots. “Or maybe we could write Griffin a love letter and say that it was from Billy.” He said, watching as the sunset was slowly fading away. Robin was sitting right next to him, his feet swinging one at a time. Robin’s mom wasn’t home, so they managed to sneak their way back up onto the roof, where they were now clutching onto the end of it tighter than they used to as their feet dangled off the edge.

For the next few minutes, they just sat there, reminiscing about the times when they were actually allowed on the roof. They would bring snacks, blankets, and sometimes even a radio with them so that they could stay up there for as long as they wanted. That was, of course, before Finney tragically fell off of the rooftop, permanently making it so that they were never allowed up there again until right now.

When Finney and Robin were both ten years old, they had their first kiss. They didn’t tell anybody, never dared to utter a word, because their first kiss was each other. It was on a Saturday, and they were sitting just as they were now, legs dangling, feet swinging, hands gripping the edge. It had been a rather quiet night, neither wanting to disturb the natural peace that the world was finally deciding to wear for once. At one point, they had begun playing truth or dare, and Robin had asked Finney if he had his first kiss yet. Finney had replied with an embarrassed ‘no, I haven’t’, because even though he and Donna were supposed to have something going on, according to the entire town of Denver, Finney never really saw Donna as anything more than a friend. A good one at that, too. Robin had confessed that he hadn’t either and deciding that they both needed practice for whatever girls that they were definitely, one hundred percent going to kiss in the future, decided to be each other's first kiss. Finney had only let it go on so long before he had told Robin that he thought that they had both had enough practice, red in the face and stuttering the whole time because that was when Finney had realized. Finney Blake liked kissing his best friend. They had both agreed never to speak of it ever again.

“Hey, Robin?”

“Yeah, Finn?”

“You know how we were each other's first kiss?”

Robin groaned. “Ugh, don’t remind me! I wasn’t even a good kisser back then!”

“And you’re saying you are now?”

Robin gasped. “Finney Blake, surely you’re not saying that I’m a…bad kisser, are you?”

Finney shrugged. “I don’t know, am I?”

“Well, this will certainly just not do! Here, let me prove to you how much of a good kisser I am!”

“I mean, I think that a real good kisser wouldn’t need to prove that they’re a ‘good kisser’ and would just be confident in their ability to kiss, don’t you?”

“Do you want the kiss or not, Finn?” Robin deadpanned.

“Well, of course I do! I’m just saying that-” Finney was cut off by the wonderful feeling of Robin’s lips on his.

Not much more planning got done that night, but Finney was perfectly okay with that.

Finney and Robin may not know how to get Billy and Griffin together, but they sure do know how to make each other happy.

That’s really all that they need right now.

Chapter Text

Gwendolyn Blake doesn’t know how to feel. She finally did it. She left. She left, and she doesn’t know how to feel. She knows that she should be happy, she knows that she should be crying in excitement, in joy, in pure bliss because she finally got out, she’s finally free, but at what cost? Gwendolyn Blake might be free of her monsters, but Finney Blake is not. Gwendolyn Blake may have made it, but will Finney? Here he is, right beside her, but how long will that last before he’s no longer able to?

These are the thoughts that haunt her at night. These are the thoughts that get stuck in her head as she desperately tries to fall asleep in her and Suzie’s shared room, the thoughts that stay with her even on her good days, the days when she’s not feeling as guilty for leaving her brother behind in her desperation to escape, the days when she’s able to see Finney around the school gates in the mornings and not develop the need to run into his arms and continuously apologize for even thinking about leaving him all alone with Terrance, let alone actually doing it.

Gwen still doesn’t know how she did it. This statement goes for a lot of things. She doesn’t know how she put up with Terrance for so long, she doesn’t know how she was able to allow Finney to take as many hits for her as possible. She doesn’t understand how she was able to muster up just enough courage to tell Suzie’s mother about what was happening inside that house, or how she was able to come up with a lie good enough to keep Suzie’s mother from taking Finney away from Terrance as well. She doesn’t understand how she brought herself to pack up her things, and she will never understand how she could leave Finney, especially after he made a whole pizza for them! Especially after he had checked her room to clean it for her. Especially after all he has done for her. Finney has done everything under the sun to keep her as safe as he is capable, and how does she repay him? By leaving him alone with the very thing that has hurt them the most!

Don’t get her wrong; Gwen wants Finney out of that house, as far away as possible from Terrance, but she couldn’t just let Suzie’s mother do anything about it. Finney doesn’t get mad often, but when he does, he gets mad. Gwen doesn’t want to imagine how mad he would be if he found out that she tried to force him out of that house; they both knew what would happen. Whoever they told would call CPS, Terrance would somehow bullshit his way out of going to jail, and then her brother, her wonderful, amazing brother, would be sent to another town, hell, maybe even out of the state, to go live in some foster home, because no one in Denver wants, nor needs, another mouth to feed. Logically, Gwen knows that Finney will eventually find his way out. She knows that now that she’s gone, now that she left , he will as well. But will he?

Finney’s always been the self-sacrificing type. Terrance has always been the ‘possessive even though he doesn’t care’ type. With her departure, Terrance is probably on edge even more than usual, and if Finney staying in that house and promising to never leave is what’s going to keep that monster from losing it and searching all of Denver from top to bottom for them, then he will do it. It makes Gwen sick just thinking about it.

Finney and Gwen are hanging out today. She figures that if her brother will have to continue to stay at that house, she can at least make it so he’s in there as little as possible. She also may have let slip to Robin that Finney’s been a bit ‘down in the dumps recently’, she had said, hoping that it would urge Robin to hang out with Finney even more than he already does. The less time Finney spends in that broken, beaten down, and busted house, the better.

“Wait, so Suzie’s mom just…gave you 200 dollars?! ” Her brother exclaimed, finally snapping her out of her thoughts. Good. She doesn’t deserve to be stuck in them anyway.

She shrugged, trying to pretend as if she wasn’t as stunned as Finney is right now.“Yeah.”

“Why the hell would she give away 200 dollars?”

“She’s still in her ‘pity party’ phase. She’s been trying to spoil me because she feels bad or something, I don’t know, but when I asked for some money because we’re both piss poor, she just…gave me the money. No hesitation.” It’s crazy what guilt and pity can do for you.

Gwen continued to drag Finney from store to store for as long as he would allow her to, wanting to spend as much time with him as she could, and once he finally told her how he was going to, quote-unquote, ‘die if she dragged him to one more store’, did they decide to leave and get dinner. Suzie’s mother gave them more than enough; they didn’t even spend that much here. Hell, Gwen had to basically shove things into Finney’s hands for him to get anything.

As they’re about to leave, Gwen can see out of the corner of her eye Finney looking longingly at the floristry. She wonders why. Maybe he has a crush? What if it’s Robin? It probably is, he and Finney don’t tend to be the most subtle when it comes to these things. I mean, come on, they were literally each other’s first kiss! Maybe Finney is going to confess. Maybe he already did and just hasn’t found the right time to tell her. Maybe he’s going to get them as a present. Or he could be doing that thing that he likes to do now and again and visit graves that he thinks probably don’t get visited a lot. Surprisingly, it’s a lot more fun than you’d think; he took her with him once when she was bored and had nothing better to do. They bought flowers, cleaned graves, and said a quick ‘hi’ before moving on to the next one. Perhaps he’s going to visit her grave.

Gwen tries her best not to be mad at their mother, she really does, but somehow her anger always finds a way to slip through the cracks. She knows that one person can only take so much before they lose it, trust her, she does , but she just doesn’t understand why she had to leave like that! Why couldn’t she just leave how she did?! Why did she have to kill herself in her bedroom?! Why did Finney have to be the one to find her?! Why couldn’t she take them with her?! If she was going to leave, the least that she could’ve done was make sure that they weren’t stuck with Terrance, but no, apparently she couldn’t even do that! Gwen tries her best not to be mad at their mother, she really does, and yet, her anger always finds a way to slip through the cracks.

“What do you want for dinner, Gwenny? We still have some money left, so it's really just up to you.” Finney told her as they walked to the park. Gwen just had to assume that they were going to get dinner, and then he would take her back to Suzie’s.

“Sushi?” She asked. Gwen loves sushi. Almost as much as she loves Finney.

Finney smiled at her. “Yeah, sushi.”

Gwendolyn Blake really can’t make this dinner go any slower than it already is. She’s trying her hardest, she is, but nothing seems to be working. She had already taken about ten minutes to decide what she wanted, pretended to change her mind when they ordered, kept asking the waitress for more refills on her drinks, and used the bathroom at least five times now, and somehow only 40 minutes had passed! What makes it worse is that Finney didn’t even get any food for himself, despite her insistence, leaving her as the only thing to wait on before they can leave. Gwen doesn’t exactly know why, but she can’t let Finney go back to that house tonight, she just can’t!

“...Hey, Finney?”

“Yeah, Gwen?”

“I, uh…I forgot how to use chopsticks. Can you teach me again?” That should buy them plenty of time, right? Especially if she just plays really, really dumb and makes Finney teach her over and over again until he eventually gives up on trying to help her. (Who is she kidding, Finney will sit here for as long as he needs to if it means that Gwen gets what she wants.)

“But…how could you forget? I remember when you were ten, you were determined to be better at using chopsticks than anyone else in your class and practiced over and over again to the point where… the man banned chopsticks at the house.” Finney said, tilting his head, obviously confused. She didn’t blame him; what he said was true. She remembers that too, she even forced Finney to learn how to use chopsticks the proper way as well. She wanted to be the best. (And she was.)

It was times like these where she would forever be grateful for the acting skills living in that house with Terrance for about as long as she can remember gave her. “Yeah, but…you know when your mind just blanks sometimes?” It was a low blow, she knows that especially since Finney’s mind has been seeming to do that more and more recently, but it was really all she could think of right now. So much for those ‘acting skills’. “It’s making me so mad that I can’t remember, so just shut up and help me!”

Finney smiled. Gwen didn’t get it. How could he smile when she’s running out of things to continue stalling? How could he smile when they would have to go their separate ways soon, unable to see each other until after the weekend?! How could he smile? “Alright.” He said, getting up from his spot across from her and sitting next to her instead.

For the next 15 minutes, Finney did his best to help Gwen with the chopsticks, but she wasn't exactly making it easy for him. After she finally saw how confused and maybe even…agitated(?) he was getting, she finally just decided to suck it up and stop.

“OH. Okay, I think I’ve got it now, Finney, look.” Clumsily, In order not to raise any suspicion from Finney, she tried her best to use chopsticks.

Once again, Finney smiled; she just didn’t know how he did it: being able to smile when they were going to leave soon, and then not see each other for so long. “That’s perfect, Gwenny! Good job!”

This time, Gwen could smile, too. She likes it when her brother calls her ‘Gwenny’; it reminds her that, even though Terrance had started calling her that first, it could still be used lovingly, as nicknames are supposed to, and not condescendingly. “Really?” She asked, trying to sound innocent. Sue her, but she quite likes being complemented by her older brother. It reminds her that maybe she’s not doing everything completely wrong.

“Yeah, you’re really good at this.”

“I know.”

Finney rolled his eyes. “Yeah, alright, finish up so that we can go. We don’t want Suzie’s mom getting worried, do we?”

Uh oh. Nononononono. “Um, actually, I told her that we might be gone for a bit, she won’t be worried.”

Finney sighed. What if he just didn’t want to hang out with her anymore? What if she’s just really that annoying? Please, listen to her, as if Finney would ever. “I didn’t want to tell you ‘cause I didn’t want you to feel rushed, but this place closes in, like, 30 minutes.”

Oh. So there was no stopping it, no matter how hard she tried. “Oh…”

“Is everything okay, Gwenny?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I just didn’t realize how much time had passed.” Lie. She had been keeping a very careful track of how much time she took up. 

“Oh, well, neither did I! I’m going to go use the bathroom; think about finishing up so that we can go, yeah?”

Silently, Gwen watched as he got up. “Yeah…” She replied, so quiet you almost couldn’t hear her.

Gwen sighed, now left alone. She doesn’t know why, but the idea of Finney all alone in that house tonight, the possibility of Terrance arriving and catching him off guard stung a lot more than it usually did. Finney can’t go back to that house tonight. She won’t let him. But how can she stop it? It’s not like she can just tell him to sleep on the streets tonight or anything. That also raises the question of where he could go. Suddenly, Gwen pulled out her phone.

***-***-**** & ***-***-****

***-***-****: Bruce Yamada

Bruce Yamada:...Who is this?

***-***-****: this is Gwen, Finney’s sister

Bruce Yamada: Oh! Hi, Gwen!

Gwen: hi, so, I was wondering…could you do me a favor? Please???

Bruce Yamada: Um, I guess. What do you need?

Gwen: if you happen to see Finney around today…could you hang out with him or something?

Gwen: I know I probably sound like a worried mother whose son doesn’t have any friends, but I’m serious

Gwen: idk I just don’t want him to go home so early

Gwen: he’s been having such a fun time out

Bruce Yamada: Yeah, of course I will! I love hanging out with Finney!

Gwen: really?

Bruce: Of course!

Gwen: oh, well…thank you

Bruce: You’re welcome, Gwen! I’ll tell you how it goes if I do see Finney.

Gwen: okay, goodbye Bruce

Bruce: Bye, Gwen!

Well, that’s taken care of. Gwen can only hope that Bruce does end up seeing Finney, but she can’t be sure. She never can. Bruce has his own life, in which he does his own things, Gwen can’t be certain that he’ll see Finney. She can’t be certain that if he does see Finney he’ll hang out with him. She can’t be certain that Finney will not be going back to that house tonight.

She guesses she’ll just have to hope, because all too soon, Finney is coming out of the bathroom, and she’s already done with her sushi. She was done about ten minutes ago, but she kept some food on her plate to stall. Unfortunately, it seems that she won’t be able to do that anymore.

“All ready, Gwen?”

She sighed. “Yeah.”

As they walked to the bus stop, during the bus ride, and the walk to Suzie’s house, Gwen gripped Finney’s hand harder than she had ever gripped anything before. She doesn’t want this time with her brother to end; she’s not ready! She can’t let him go without knowing that he’ll be safe. She can’t let him go without knowing that he’ll be fine.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to stay the night here or something? You don’t want to stay just for a bit?” She asked him on the doorstep of Suzie’s house. She can’t let him go.

“I’m sure, Gwenny. I don’t want to intrude on the space you’ve found. Plus, believe it or not, I’ve got things to do.”

Gwen bit her lip. Right, the flowers. “...Okay,” she sighed. “Just…I’ll see you soon, right?”

“Of course you will, Gwen.” He said, pulling her into a hug. The kind of hug that only your brother could give you. The kind of hug that she desperately needed right now.

“Bye, Finney.”

“Goodbye, Gwen. I love you.”

Gwen did her best not to cry, she really did. You have to believe her. “I love you too.”

And with that, they were separated once again.

Gwendolyn Blake likes to believe that she’s good at a lot of things. She’s good at using chopsticks, her perseverance can sometimes be unmatched, she’s good at standing up for herself and others, but most of all, she likes to believe that she’s a good sister. Finney Blake is the best brother that anyone could have ever asked for, even if she’s not particularly the best at showing it, so she sometimes likes to believe that Finney thinks the same of her. Gwendolyn Blake likes to believe that she’s good at a lot of things, but apparently, being a sister isn’t one of them.

She got the texts from Bruce. She knows what happened the other night.

According to Bruce, it went a little something like this: Bruce found Finney at the cemetery, invited him over for dinner where he stayed for hours until about 10 pm, and then he, allegedly, got a ride home from their dad. Her plan hadn’t worked. He still went back to that house. She couldn’t even do the bare minimum and keep her brother safe from the man who haunts that house.

What’s even worse is that he walked there. Unless Finney Blake somehow has someone to drive him to and from everywhere he goes, he walks. This means that he walked from Bruce’s house to Terrance’s, in the middle of the night all alone. Gwendolyn Blake may not be good at being a sister, but she sure is good at yelling. More specifically, she’s good at yelling for a reason. If this isn’t a reason to get mad and yell, then she doesn’t know what is. He could’ve gotten lost, hurt, or kidnapped.

Gwen’s not stupid, not like Finney was last night. She knows that there are bad people out there. She may not know what they do, but she knows that it isn’t good. She also happens to know that nighttime is when most of the kidnappers come out to play with innocent, unsuspecting kids who are just trying to make it home. Gwen’s not stupid. Not like Finney was last night.

But…she’s also been having these…dreams. This in itself is nothing new, but these dreams are different. Before, her dreams would show her a time when Finney got hurt and didn’t tell her, they might have shown her Suzie going to the hospital when she broke her arm, but nothing bad. She could always tell what happened, why they were hurt, why they were where they were. Before, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Now though? Now her dreams are getting kind of… concerning. She can’t make anything out of them, they move too quickly between things for her to get anything out of what she sees. Sometimes she’ll see Finney and Robin, and then it might cut to a black van driving past different places around town. Sometimes she’ll see a man in a mask, and sometimes he’ll be in the house. Other times he’s in that black van, or holding these black balloons. Gwen doesn’t like these dreams. They move too fast, she can never make anything out of them.

Gwen had one of these dreams last night. It started with Finney at the cemetery, crying in front of someone’s gravestone. She can only assume that it was their mothers. It cut to Finney eating dinner with who looked like Bruce, Vance Hopper, and some adults, most likely the other boy’s parents. She saw people sleeping, and then she saw Finney walking. It was dark, and the only thing she could really make out was her brother and something in the background. Something that looked suspiciously a lot like a specific black van that had been haunting her dreams for a bit now. Gwen doesn’t want to take any chances. She cannot believe that Finney had been so stupid!

She tries her best to remind herself it’s not Finney’s fault. It’s not his fault that he has no sense of self-preservation, he was forced to grow up without it. It’s not his fault that he doesn’t want to take up too much time or space, he’s been told for about as long as he can remember that he’s already taking up too much of it just by existing. It’s not his fault he’s the way he is. He can’t be the one to blame, he doesn’t know anything else. Gwen can’t blame him for living the only way he was taught. Finney Blake cannot be blamed. But maybe Terrance can.

*

It’s no secret (or, okay, maybe it is ) that Terrance Blake isn’t the best father out there. And yet, he’s still somehow probably not even the worst. Terrance is neglectful. He speaks down to his children (and now, only Finney, thanks to her), and takes his anger out on them, but he is still not the worst out there. Finney knows this. He has to. Gwen has to believe that Finney knows this, because if he doesn’t, then he wouldn’t be how he is now. Finney may not care a lot about himself, thanks to Terrance and his words (and actions), but at least he still cares a little. To Finney, Terrance may be cruel, and he may be mean, but he was, at some point, a good father. He used to love them. Gwen can’t remember much of it, and she doubts Finney can either, but it’s still there. The fact that he loved them, and maybe deep, deep, oh so very deep down, still does, seems to be enough. Somehow, it seems to be enough for Finney.

*

Gwen can’t do this anymore. She doubts that Finney can either. She pulls out her phone. She texts Bruce. It doesn’t work. She goes to the one other person who she thinks would understand. Vance Hopper.

Gwen knows that this might sound a bit…random, out of the blue, or whatever comes to mind when you think of Gwendolyn Blake going to Vance Hopper for help. When you think about it, though, it’s not as surprising as you think. Gwen has always been told she’s an ‘angry child’, a ‘troubled kid’, and Vance Hopper is basically anger reincarnate. In all honesty, it’s not as surprising as it sounds. She calls him. It takes a few tries, but eventually, he picks up. He was mad; she could hear it in his voice, but all she had to do was tell him that she called about Finney and he shut up real quick. She smirked. Finney had told her that he and Vance Hopper were friends now, but she didn’t think it was to the point where Vance cared that much.

Vance Hopper and Gwendolyn Blake are now meeting at the bus stop nearest to Suzie’s house at 9:00 am sharp. Gwen had insisted on meeting early in the morning while Finney was still busy and Vance couldn’t hang out with him. It’s 8:45 when Gwen starts walking, and she gets there with five minutes to spare. With her time to wait, Gwen is forced to think about what she’s going to end up saying to Vance. She hadn’t thought a lot of it through when she had called him, all she knew was that she needed Finney out of there and she needed help doing it. As much as she hates to say it, she’s kind of regretting her decision. What if this doesn’t work? What if Vance doesn’t believe her? What if she freezes up and makes up some bullshit excuse that’s not nearly as good as something that Finney could’ve come up with? When it comes down to it, Gwen can lie, but Finney’s always been the better of the two. What if she messes this whole thing up for her wonderful, amazing brother?

“Gwen, right?” A figure says, looming over her as she sits on the bus stop bench.

She snaps back into reality. “Yeah, and you’re Vance Hopper.” She stands up if only to be a bit more level with the curly-haired boy.

“Yeah. You said something was wrong with Finney? What’s up? What trouble did he get into?”

“Um, well…it’s less something wrong with Finney and more something wrong with, um…”

Vance sighed. “Just spit it out, kid.  Blake already did some stupid shit yesterday, what happened now?”

Gwen squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe it would be easier if she couldn’t see him. “Ourdadisabusive.” She rushed out. There. She said it. She opened her eyes and looked at the boy in front of her. It looked as if he didn’t understand a single thing that she just said. Great.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

Gwen sighed. She can only say it so many times . “Our dad is abusive.” She grits out.

A beat passed. And then another. Gwen thought she almost saw Vance smile, but why would he? Why would he smile at something like this? How could he? “Oh.” Vance muttered out, just loud enough for Gwen to hear.

“Yeah, oh.”

“Then…why… why come to me? Why not the police or CPS or someone who’s not, y’know, me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Vance, I was originally going to ask Bruce for help, but he didn’t answer.”

“Well, why not Arellano? You know that kid would do anything for Blake.”

“That’s the problem. Robin’s mom is already working enough as she is, and while she would be the ideal person for Finney to go to, he would kill himself or something for putting the burden of feeding another person on her.”

“And why not the police, again? I’m not saying that I won’t help you guys or anything, but I would just like to know why you can’t go to the police or CPS.”

“Please, Finney would kill me for getting anyone major involved. And besides, if we did, then he’d probably be sent out of town to go live with some foster family who might be even worse than Terrance! You don’t want that, do you, Vance?”

Vance sighed. “I guess not. My mom and I thought that something was up, no kid who behaves like you or Finney has a normal upbringing. If you want me to help, then what can I do?”

Shit. She kind of hadn’t thought of that yet. Give her a break, alright, she was more focused on making sure that Finney at least had someone who could help him. “Uh, well, um, you could…Oh, I know! You can help by making sure that he’s not at the house as often. Keep him busy and stuff like that. You don’t even have to be the one to hang out with him, just tell him someone needs help or something like that, and he’ll come running.”

Vance laughs. “You sure that’ll work?”

Gwen shrugs. “I mean…do you have any other ideas?”

“Tell the police.”

“That won’t get Finney taken away from everyone he knows.”

Vance sighs. “Nope. Do you want me to tell Bruce, too? He’ll probably be more of a help than I’ll ever be.”

Gwen doubts that. Just the sheer fact that Vance had agreed to meet her here and find a way to help Finney was already helpful as it was. “Go ahead.” She says. The more people on her and Finney’s side, the better.

“You do know that the police will get involved one way or another, right?”

She looks at the ground. Logically, she knows that they will. She’s known ever since Terrance decided that his children deserved to be punched in the face over and over for the first time. But, if it could’ve waited for all these years, why can’t it wait a bit more? “Yeah, but for now, can we just…just keep him out of the house as much as you can, have him sleepover, whatever until he basically doesn’t even live at that house anymore?” She asks him. Vance nods. She’s not sure there was anything else he could’ve done.

Vance had walked her home that morning.

Gwendolyn Blake doesn’t know how to feel. She finally did it. She got Finney help. She got Finney help, and she doesn’t know how to feel. She knows that she should be happy, she knows that she should be crying in excitement, in joy, in pure bliss because she finally got him help, but at what cost? Gwen may be happy with her decision, but will Finney? She may think that this is what is for the best, but does her brother? There he is, left alone in that cold, empty house; she just has to hope that it won’t be for long. She just has to hope that her plan doesn’t fail this time.

She just has to do what she does best.

Sit there and hope.

Chapter Text

Finney Blake can’t stop staring at his phone. Vance Hopper wanted to go to a pumpkin patch. He rubbed his eyes and read the text for what had to be about the sixth time this morning. It still said the same thing, had the same letters, and even the same half-hearted threat at the end of the message: ‘Blake, do you want to go to a pumpkin patch today by any chance? My cousin owns one. Tell anyone, and you’re dead.’

Finney cringed; maybe he should’ve taken the threat more seriously. He doesn’t want to die, not yet, at least. Robin already knows; he’s been reading over his shoulder this whole time. He figures that Bruce is already going to be there, and Finney and Robin think that it would be a good date idea for Billy and Griffin. Maybe it will finally get them to confess their feelings for each other when they see how much fun the other is having and how beautiful they think the other looks when they’re happy. Finney can only speak for himself when he says this, but he thinks that significant others look much more pretty when happy. Robin always looks beautiful, but Finney prefers it when he’s smiling.

Finally, Finney decides to respond to Vance. Maybe he’ll give him a free pass when inviting everyone else, but Finney does not want to meet his end by leaving Vance Hopper on read. Could you imagine? Surviving the basement for so long, fighting for his life, and eventually even killing The Grabber, pushing through when brought back in time, and making it this far, just to be brutally murdered by one of the very people he’s trying to save because he didn’t text back in time.

Quickly, not wanting to be murdered, Finney texted Vance that ‘Robin read over his shoulder, so it’s not his fault’. He’s not going to mention that they told Billy and Griffin; they would have found out anyway. Vance doesn’t respond, but about 10 minutes later, he’s pulling up in his car into Robin’s driveway.

“What the…?” He hears Robin mumble. “Finn, this guy is a psycho! He knows where I live!”

Finney rolled his eyes. Robin can be so dramatic sometimes. “Calm down, it’ll be fine. It’s not like it’s particularly hard to find your house or anything.” He starts walking towards the door. Finney wasn’t expecting Vance to invite him to a pumpkin patch; it’s only the first week of October, but he’s not turning down the offer.

Robin scrambles after him, pouting for as long as his body will allow him to.

“You keep pouting like that, Arellano, and your face will get stuck that way.” Vance remarked as they made their way into his car. Just as Finney predicted, Bruce was there too, sitting in the front seat.

“How do you know where I live?” Robin quipped.

“Please, it’s not like it’s hard to find out.”

“Whatever…”

“Are we going to be picking up Griffin and Billy too?” Bruce asked.

“What? Why would we?”

“I just thought that because Robin is here. then maybe Billy and Griffin would too.”

Vance sighed and started backing up out of Robin’s driveway. “Fine.”

Finney and Robin looked at each other. There was definitely something going on here. There would be absolutely no way that either he or Robin would be able to convince Vance to bring even more people on this outing of theirs; his car is already getting cramped as it is, but Bruce somehow managed to do it in one sentence!

Finney and Robin smiled at each other; they’ve got more scheming to do.

It’s cold today. Well, colder than it was yesterday. Finney’s body was not prepared. He’s starting to think that maybe it’s not okay that he doesn’t have a jacket, but that’s okay, for now, at least, because Finney has had plenty of experience with the cold. He knows how to make it at least a bit more bearable, at the very least. Every time he catches himself shivering, every time he feels his body tense up he takes a deep breath and just relaxes. He tells himself to ‘accept the cold’ and ‘let it be a part of him, let it seep into his very bones’. It sounds stupid, he knows that, he’s known that, but at least it helps. He doesn’t think he could’ve survived the basement without it. He could always cuddle up in his blankets when at the house, and he could always stand under the hot water in the shower if he needed to.

If there is anything that the man is good for, it’s paying the bills.

The basement was different, though. There was no way to warm up. Finney had tried everything he could think of, but it wasn’t much. He couldn’t run around because he wanted to save energy, even though he ended up not having much in the end. He couldn’t drink hot cocoa or tea, and there was no way in hell he was going to ask The Grabber for something to warm him up. By the time Finney had gotten the idea, he had already gotten on The Grabber’s bad side. It’s not like it was difficult to achieve, but it still sucked.

But still, it’s okay because Finney knows how to deal with the cold. He’s been dealing with it all his life; what’s a little more? Once he starts making enough money at the cafe he’ll probably get a jacket. He knows that no matter what, he has to have one by the end of this month. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’s stolen. Finney is not proud of his confession, far from it, but he does what he has to to survive. This is no exception.

But then, Finney is immediately disappointed in himself that his mind goes straight to theft. He doesn’t have to steal; he could just ask for help. Who is he kidding himself? He’ll never be able to! Not easily, at least. He’d have to hype himself up, tell himself to stop being such a coward (because no regular person acts this way when they need help), and just ask for a jacket. It’s not even something profound, not something that’s embarrassing, it’s just a jacket. Just a stupid jacket that he needs so he doesn’t get hypothermia and die. It is just a jacket.

Finney decides not to dwell on it any longer and makes his way over to where Bruce is standing next to a particularly small pumpkin. A really small pumpkin.

“Oh, hey, Finn!”

“Hi, Bruce.” He says from his spot next to him. “Is that the pumpkin you want?”

“I think so.” Bruce says, eyeing the pumpkin critically. He shivers. “Hey, it’s cold this morning, isn’t it? I don’t know how you’re not dying right now, Finn. I’m the one wearing a sweatshirt and I’m still freezing!”

Finney shrugs. “It’s nothing I’m not used to.” He does his best to keep the tremor out of his voice; his mind had decided to remind him of one particularly cold night in which he almost made it out, almost saved himself, but was then hit by a big black van and pinned to the ground with a knife to his throat. Finney may be used to the cold, but that does not mean he likes it.

Bruce looks at him worriedly. Was he not supposed to say that? Was he supposed to lie and say that he was perfectly fine? Finney didn’t think he would have to lie much to Bruce, but according to his reaction, he might have been wrong.

“I’m sure we’ll fix that.” Bruce tells him. Finney nods, although he’s not exactly sure how they’re going to fix it. “You still don’t have a jacket?”

Finney shakes his head. “No, but I’m going to get one soon. Hopefully. I just have to save up enough money.”

“Your dad can’t just get one for you?” Bruce asks, despite looking like he already knows the answer. Finney hopes he doesn’t. He wants to be the one to tell Bruce, he wants to be the reason Bruce knows.

“I’ve been wanting to start buying things for myself recently, y’know?” He lies with ease. Finney hates how it’s become second nature.

Bruce doesn’t look like he fully believes him, but he lets it go for now. “What’s your favorite color?” He asks after a second.

“Hm? Oh, uh…I really like the color blue. But not like the really bold blue, a nice blue, y’know?” He informs the other boy as he finally crouches down to pick up his pumpkin.

Bruce smiles at him as he gets back up. “Perfect.” Finney can’t tell if he’s talking about his pumpkin or the color. “Vance said his cousin owns this place, so we get the pumpkins for free.”

“And that’s the pumpkin you chose?”

“Hey! It is a very cute pumpkin. I can carve a cute face on it and then I won’t even have to smash it when it rots.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s most of the fun when your pumpkin rots: getting to smash it.”

Bruce rolls his eyes. “Whatever, let’s go show Vance.”

Vance. Finney hasn’t really been thinking about… it much recently. It meaning Vance’s kidnapping, not The Grabber. He knows that it’s important to figure out how he’s going to save Vance, but thinking about it makes him think about The Grabber, and those lines of thinking haven’t been the most pleasant. Well, they have for him, but in retrospect, it’s not good.

Finney has been getting more and more angry. More crazy. More murderous. Finney doesn’t like using that word, murderous , at least not when referring to himself, but he thinks that it is the right one to be using. When Finney thinks of The Grabber, he thinks of missing children, cold basements, shitty eggs, and murder. Finney knows he’s painting himself quite the picture right now, but he already killed it once, what’s one more? What’s a thousand? When Finney thinks of The Grabber, he thinks of outsmarting the bastard. He thinks of digging the hole in the ground, he thinks of using the wire to trip it, he thinks of beating its face in with that phone, and he thinks of snapping its neck. Finney doesn’t know which thoughts he hates more; the murderous ones, or the ones that haunt him in his sleep. The ones that remind Finney that even though he killed that monster, it still left its marks as well. Even though Finney beat it at its own game, The Grabber still played it well.

Finney can’t bear the thought of Vance going through what Other Vance did in the basement. In fact, he can’t bear the thought of a lot of things. The thought of Gwen being hurt. The thought of losing the ones he loves. The thought of eggs. The thought of the man getting mad. The thought of The Grabber. It’s funny, almost. For all that Finney can’t stand the thought of it, he sure does think about it a lot, doesn’t he?

In the end though, nothing is ever really that funny. It’s not funny that the second he hears the word ‘grab’ he starts to freak out. It’s not funny that he can no longer eat a food he used to love so dearly, and it’s not funny that he ever had to worry about the man who is supposed to be his father in the first place. It is certainly not funny when Finney realizes that he should never have gone through this in the first place.

Finney is only 15. He can’t do this. How could he ever think he could? Killing The Grabber had been a once in a lifetime thing, a freaky fluke. Finney is only 15. He’s 5’7 and only weighs 99 pounds, which he knows is not healthy, he knows, so why does everyone keep reminding him?! The Grabber is a 40-something year old monster who probably weighs twice as much as him. Finney is a fool to think that he could ever beat The Grabber at its own game. He’s a fool to think that he could ever be brave enough to face it ever again.

Finney doesn’t like thinking about The Grabber. It makes him spiral. It makes him think about how much he despises that monster, and it makes him think about how he’s beginning to despise himself more and more every day with all of these thoughts he’s having. It reminds him that he is still just a kid, what could he possibly do against The Grabber? What could he possibly do against a 40 year old thing that probably weighs twice as much as himself?

Most of the time, Finney doesn’t like thinking at all. It’s too many thoughts to keep track of. Thoughts of Gwen, thoughts of Robin, thoughts of how to save Vance, thoughts of killing The Grabber, thoughts of the basement, thoughts of the man. 

Finney doesn't want to admit it, but he doesn’t know how much longer he can stay in the house. The silence is no longer only deafening, but suffocating. The chill is becoming less of a chill and more of a freeze, and Finney’s worried that if he doesn’t get out soon he’ll either choke on the words he’s too scared to say, or he’ll freeze right along with the rest of that stupid house. His feet will become too heavy to move, too frostbitten to function. His fingers will have become pale and frosted over, as will his eyes. At least he won’t have to think anymore; his brain will be too cold to form anything other than ‘ it’s so cold.’

It sounds peaceful, almost. Then Finney remembers that he hates the cold. It sounds less appealing when he thinks of having to actually go through the process and not being able to just skip to the end result.

He and Bruce had finally found Vance, and now the dark brown haired boy is ranting to Vance about his pumpkin. Finney doens’t think he’s ever seen Vance so…content to just listen to another talk before.

As Finney gazes across the pumpkin patch, he’s reminded why he’s doing everything he is. He’s reminded as to why he was brought back, and he’s reminded as to why he hasn’t given up yet.

He watches as Robin inspects every pumpkin as carefully as he can, only wanting the best of the best. He notices how Billy has slightest upturn of his lips as Griffin is chasing him around the outside of the patch. He looks back to the two people in front of him as Bruce gushes about his ideas of what he could carve into his pumpkin and he observes with a smile as Vance makes his comments and remarks with a spark in his eyes. Finney remembers as to why he’s here. Why he’s still trying.

It’s a comforting thought, that the boys around him right now are here because of him, and will continue to exist because of him. It’s a comforting thought that Billy and Griffin are able to pine over each other in silence instead of suffering in silence, and it’s a comforting thought that Bruce gets to be appreciated by Vance just for existing and not for being a pretty boy to play with. Surprising enough, but not really, it’s all very comforting.

Finney gets snapped back into reality when Vance yells out that everyone has 15 minutes to pick a pumpkin and get to the parking lot before he leaves without them. Before either Bruce or Finney are able to say anything else, he Vance stalks off to go find his own pumpkin. Bruce frowns. Finney takes this as his chance.

“Hey…Bruce?” He asks hesitantly.

Bruce turns to look at him, immediately smiling again. “Yes, Finn?” He sounds as if he knows exactly what Finney is going to tell him.

He shivers. From the cold or the thought that Bruce already knows and Finney isn’t as good at lying as he thinks he is, he doesn’t know. “Well, um…”

“Oh, I know what it is! You’re cold, aren’t you? You just didn’t want to admit it because your stubborn like that.” Bruce pulls out his phone. Finney cringes. This is all because of the cold. “Here, pick a jacket.”

Finney looks at all of the jackets pulled up on Bruce’s phone. They’re all blue. He appreciates the thought, he does, but all of these jackets are way too expensive! The cheapest one on there that would actually keep him warm was 28 dollars!

“What? Bruce, no, I can’t do that?” There go his plans of telling Bruce about the man. He had hyped himself up and everything. He can’t say anything now, though. That would just be awkward.

“Why not? You’ll freeze to death by tomorrow if you don’t get a coat soon, Finn. I have no problem buying you a coat. Hell, I’ll even ask my parents if I need to.”

“What, no! Bruce, this is really nice of you, really, but I’ve got it.” He doesn’t. Bruce is right, he’d freeze by the time he actually saved up enough money to get him a jacket that would keep him warm. But he can’t tell him that. (What else can he do?)

“Finney. I am not budging on this. I don’t care how expensive it is, I can pay for it. I’m not letting you freeze everytime you go outside just because you refuse to accept help.”

Finney sighed; he doesn’t really have any other choice, does he? “Fine.” He huffs out.

Bruce smiles at him again, this time even brighter than before. “See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?” It kind of was, but Bruce is, once again, right. It wan’t as bad as he thought it would be.

He points at the cheapest jacket that he can find. “That one.”

“No.”

“No? What do you mean ‘no’?”

“No means no, Finn. That one won’t even keep you warm, that’s a windbreaker for spring. You’re just choosing the one that’s the cheapest. If you can’t find a jacket, then I’ll find one for you.”

Finney huffs. If he lets Bruce do that then he’ll probably make himself go bankrupt. “Fine.” They look at different coats and jackets until Vance calls out the five minute warning. Robin rushes over to him with two pumpkins in his hands.

“Which one, Finn? The bigger one or the small one?”

“The big one, obviously.”

“Yeah, obviously. That way we can have more fun smashing it when it rots.” Finney smiled at Bruce. Robin gets it.

As Robin runs off to find Billy and Griffin to herd them to the car, Bruce adds the jacket that caught Finney’s eye a few scrolls ago. Finney sighed. It wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t the most expensive on there either.

As everyone makes their way to the parking lot after Vance’s cousin attempted to tell them embarrassing stories from Vance’s childhood, Finney was the first one in the heated car.

Finney Blake hates the cold.

Chapter Text

Bruce Yamada doesn’t get it. This goes for a lot of things. Bruce doesn't get how he was ever afraid of ladybugs when he was younger; they’re so pretty and harmless. He doesn’t understand why he has to learn what x plus y equals when he knows that there are more important things in life he ought to be learning. Bruce doesn’t get why Vance likes him so much when he is simply just him and Vance is…well, Vance. He doesn't understand the feelings he gets whenever he’s around the curly-haired boy. He hasn’t the slightest idea as to how anyone could possibly not like Finney Blake, not when he’s a literal angel who was placed to suffer on Earth with the rest of them. And he certainly does not understand how a parent can hate their kid.

“Wait…are you sure? ” Bruce asks Vance hesitantly. It’s not that he doesn’t believe it, it’s that he doesn’t want to. How could any parent hate their kid, especially when that kid is Finn?!

Vance sighs. He looks back at the seemingly always empty and cold house that they just dropped Finn off at. “I don’t make up shit like this, Bruce. Besides, his sister told me herself.” He responds, looking back at the road in front of him.

“You mean Gwen? No offense, but why would she go to you and not the police or something?”

“I asked her the same thing. All she told me was that Blake wouldn’t like any ‘bigger people’ getting involved…”

“I have a feeling that that’s not all. What else, Vance?” Vance said nothing. Bruce scoffs. He loves Vance, he does (wait, loves?! ), but he isn’t exactly the easiest to get information out of. “Listen,” He turns as much as he can in his seat to face the blue-eyed boy. Bruce has always loved looking at Vance’s eyes. He feels as if he could fall into them endlessly if he didn’t look away quick enough, almost as if he’ll never make it out. Some days he even considered it a blessing to even be able to look in the direction of those eyes. Right now, though, it seems more like a curse. “I can’t help if you won’t tell me what’s going on. And I want to help. You want me to help, too. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be telling me this. So, Vance, tell me, what else? ”

Vance bites his lip, contemplating. In the end, though, he caves. Bruce smiles; Vance always gives in eventually. “They’re worried that Finney might be thrown into the system. Foster care, I mean. Worried that they might throw him somewhere across the state, hell, maybe even out of it, and that Terrance would somehow bullshit his way out of going to jail, or something like that.”

Suddenly, a lot more things made sense. Gwen texting him on Friday asking him to hang out with Finney if he saw him around. The way Finn acted around his father. Bruce can’t blame him; his father can look pretty intimidating if you don’t know him. “Shit. If I had known that, I would’ve invited him to hang out with us for the rest of the day. Suddenly, I don’t like the idea of Finn all alone in that house.”

“I was thinking of that too.” Vance agrees. “But I figured he’d be going back to Arellano’s.”

“Back to?”

“Every Saturday, Finney goes to Robin’s and spends the night.”

“And how do you know that?”

“I don’t think that’s what we need to focus on right now.”

Bruce sighed; he hated that Vance was right. ( He doesn’t.)

“I think it might…I think it might be a bit more than just a bit of…neglect.” Vance tells him ever so quietly.

Bruce bites his lip; it makes sense. Bruce hates to say it, but usually, kids who act like Finney Blake don’t have the most normal upbringing. Bruce can only talk so little about it, really, he’s only hung out with Finn so many times, but it’s really not all that hard to tell that there’s something…different about how the boy acts. The way he positions himself to take up less space, the way he seems sorry for even existing. The way he doesn’t care for personal safety. Kids who grow up safe with loving parents don’t behave like Finney Blake behaves.

“What?” Bruce meekly says instead. He knows the answer, but he wants to hear Vance say it. He needs to hear Vance say it. No, he needs to hear Finney, the man, the kid , himself to say it. But he doesn’t get that. Not right now. Bruce gets a lot of things in life, but not this, not right now. For now, he’ll have to settle for Vance.

Vance’s grip tightens on the steering wheel. He’s squeezing so hard that his knuckles are turning white and Bruce is scared that he’ll hurt himself. He doesn’t stop him. “There was…remember when I told you about how Blake managed to break his fingers or whatever?”

Bruce doesn’t like where this is going. He nods anyway. “Yes, I do. I’m surprised that they healed so fast.” Well, now he isn’t. Not as much, anyway. If there’s anything that he’s learned in the last couple of minutes inside Vance’s car as he drives them back to his house, it’s that Finney Blake is a fighter. He knows how to survive, and he’ll do anything to do so, even if it means killing a part of himself along the way.

Bruce is struck with a realization. He doesn't want Finn to change. Just because Finn can survive all on his own, just because he knows how to doesn’t mean that he should have to. He doesn’t want Finn to change himself to survive, he doesn’t want him to feel ashamed for simply just trying to get by. There are a lot of things that Bruce wants in this life. He wants to have something nice for dinner tonight, he wants to stay friends with Vance forever (but does he really want to be just friends?) , he wants to help out his friends, and he wants people to live without fear. Finney Blake hating himself for simply just doing what he has to to survive is certainly not on this list.

“I…I think it was Terrance, Blake’s father. Who broke his fingers, I mean. I’m pretty sure that’s not the only thing he’s broken, too.” Vance tells him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Bruce cringed; how much worse can it get? “So…so what do we do? We can’t just let this go on, Vance, we can’t .” He pleaded.

“And I’m not planning to, Bruce.” The blonde grits out. His grip on the steering wheel looks very concerning, but, once again, Bruce doesn’t mention it. “ We are going to help Blake’s sister with making sure that he ends up safe.”

“I get that, but how? ”

Call him crazy, but as Vance looked over at him, Bruce could almost swear that his gaze softened. “When I talked with Gwen, she said the best thing we can do right now is just make sure that Finney is out of that house as much as possible.” Bruce noted how Vance avoided calling it ‘his house’. It made sense.

“Okay.” Vance nods.

For the rest of the drive back to his house, all he can do is stare out the window.

Bruce Yamada doesn’t get it. This goes for a lot of things. Bruce doesn't get how he was ever afraid of ladybugs when he was younger; they’re so pretty and harmless. He doesn’t understand why he has to learn what x plus y equals when he knows that there are more important things in life he ought to be learning. Bruce doesn’t get why Vance likes him so much when he is simply just him and Vance is…well, Vance. He doesn't understand the feelings he gets whenever he’s around the curly-haired boy. He hasn’t the slightest idea as to how anyone could possibly not like Finney Blake, not when he’s a literal angel who was placed to suffer on Earth with the rest of them. And he certainly does not understand how a parent can hate their kid.

Especially when that kid is Finney Blake.

Chapter Text

Finney Blake has made an astronomical mistake. Billy Showalter now knows about the man. Shit.

He and Billy were hanging out at the park after school. It was a nice day out, and the jacket that Bruce practically forced him to buy had arrived just yesterday. He gave it to him before he left to go back to the house from work. It didn’t work, Bruce invited him over for a sleepover, and who was he to refuse a night in a nice, warm house? Bruce must be extra rich or something, because they ordered the jacket on Sunday, and it arrived on Tuesday. Finney wished that he didn’t have to wait for anything, just like Bruce doesn’t have to, but, unfortunately, waiting is what he’s been doing his whole life.

Waiting for his mother to do something about her mental state when she was still alive, waiting for her to wake up while he searched for any signs that she might still be breathing after he found her drenched in her own blood on her old, creaky bed. Waiting for the man to stop yelling at them so much, waiting for him to snap out of it and become a father once again. He had been waiting for Robin to realize that he’s really not worth all of the trouble that he is, and he had been waiting for Gwen to snap eventually and finally decide that enough was enough and get out. In the basement, he waited for a way to escape to make itself known, he waited for the phone calls and he waited until The Grabber was finally distracted enough to do something, anything that could have helped him. Even now, he still waits.

Finney waits for the man to eventually have enough of him and beat him up, kick him out, and maybe kill him, even. Sue him, but Finney’s thoughts have taken a turn for the worst in the last few seconds. Billy knows. Billy knows and it’s all his fault. He’s been waiting for the rest of the boys to realize the burden that he is, waiting for them to drop him because he can’t believe that they’ve allowed him to stick around for this long. He waits for The Grabber to get enough of his attitudes and random appearances (he’s been making a lot more of them recently. He even slashed its tire the other day. It was parked at a children’s playground, what was he supposed to do?!). But, most importantly, he’s been waiting for his revenge.

Finney doesn’t know how much longer he can wait. He’s very good at waiting, but this has lasted too long. Is it that he’s scared? Is he just a coward? Possibly. Probably. Finney’s never been the bravest of the bunch. Robin’s mom says that it takes courage just to survive, but if that were true, then that still doesn’t make him special. Everyone is surviving. The only problem is that, while everyone else is living, Finney feels that he is still stuck at the ‘just surviving’ stage. There’s not much more he can do, though, is there? (Okay, well, there is, but that would result in reaching out for help and Finney doesn’t like help because help is scary and wait didn’t he already say that help wasn’t scary, though and UGH-).

The point is: Finney Blake doesn’t know how much longer he can wait. Every time he thinks about The Grabber, he is filled with an uncontrollable anger that eats him whole and sometimes he wonders if that’s how the man feels when Finney fucks something up. His body becomes tense and his mind screams at him to do something because something is better than nothing, and then it gets worse. His mind tells him to be angry, but his brain gets scared. His brain very unhelpfully reminds him of the pure fear that he felt while stuck in that cold, damp, scary basement. His body tenses, but not in a good, anger feeling way anymore. No, this tensing is one of pure fear because that monster touched him in ways he only dreamed about his worst nightmares as a kid after watching a horror movie where some girl got kidnapped, violated him in the way that he knew existed in the deep dark pits of his brain, but the pits that he never cared to acknowledge. The pits that he didn’t want to acknowledge. It only makes him all the more angrier.

“Finney…” Billy almost whispers, refusing to look at him.

Finney cringes; he didn’t mean for Billy to find out, and certainly not while he was half having a mental breakdown, but nothing ever seems to go his way. And now Billy is left to pick up the scraps. He’s such a bad friend. “...Yeah?”

“Are…are you okay?”

It’s a valid question , Finney thinks. He did just kind of…blow up in Billy’s face. It wasn’t even Billy’s fault, Finney’s just been so…stressed, lately. Well, he doesn’t exactly know if stressed is the right word, but it’s not like he would be lying saying that he is. With Vance’s kidnapping being in, what, three days(?), his ever growing anger and need to do something , and debating with himself whether or not to tell someone about the man now that Gwen is gone, his emotions have been running high. He guesses that seeing a black van parked just far away enough to not be considered weird, but still close for Finney’s comfort was the last straw.

The thing is, though, is that Finney doesn’t even know if it’s the van. It’s too far away for him to properly tell, and that just makes it so much worse. It means that The Grabber has a tight enough grip on his subconscious that his brain just automatically thinks that anything even slightly resembling something related to it means that it’s here, and it’s going to try and take him. Or worse, Billy. God, Finney hates this.

“I…yeah, sorry.” He whispers, not looking away from the van. If The Grabber thinks that it can just go off schedule and try to kidnap them right now, then its got another thing coming.

“Um, I know you probably don’t want to, but…we can talk about it, if you’d like? You…you were there for me when I was scared, remember? You were there for me when I was freaking out, so…so I want to be there for you, too.”

Finney bites his lip and finally looks away from the van. It’s not The Grabber’s, he knows that now. He doesn’t know how he knows, but he just does. He looks at the water fountain that’s across from the park bench they’re sitting on, he looks at the leaves that are still hanging onto the trees. His eyes skim over the math homework on the ground by their feet that they were working on before Finney had thrown his fit, and he looks at his rocket pen that’s on the ground. Slowly, he bends down to pick it up and puts it in his pocket. Finally, after what seemed like centuries, but was probably only a few seconds, he looks at Billy.

The first thing that Finney notices is that Billy’s eyes look sad. They look incredibly sad, and Finney is immediately certain that he never wants to see Billy this sad again. The next thing he looks concerned. More than he should. Billy’s face drops and he figures that his face must be saying something that he is not, or maybe it’s just the silence that has lingered just long enough to be considered too long, but nevertheless, Finney scrambles to fix it. Billy should never look like that.

“Okay.” He nods. “Okay.” He says again, because he’s not quite sure what he is supposed to say. At the very least, Finney knows that Billy deserves to know the truth. Finney Blake is a dirty, disgusting liar, but maybe he doesn’t have to anymore. Maybe everything will be fine and maybe he’s just overreacting. “Can we…can we go to your house or something, though? I just…” Finney doesn’t finish the sentence. He doesn’t need to. Billy nods anyway and pulls out his phone to call his mom.

Finney only feels slightly bad. Only slightly, though. If Finney Blake is already a dirty, disgusting liar, he may as well be able to add selfish in there, too.

Finney Blake: The Dirty, Disgusting, Selfish Liar.

Right now, he couldn’t quite think of anything more accurate.

The tears in his eyes are not necessary, and yet, they are still there. For about the thousandth time, Finney looks away from Billy and at the floor. He thinks that Billy might also be crying, but he’s not sure. He’s too busy trying to make sure he doesn’t start sobbing in front of his friend and his friend’s mother.

Ms. Showalter, although she just told him to call her Jessie, is also in the room. She’s sitting next to Billy, and she looks more than ready to pull out her phone and call somebody. She had told him that if he didn’t want her in here, then she wouldn’t be, but she did say that she knew some people who could help who wouldn’t immediately get him thrown into foster care.

Finney had smiled weakly and told her that it was fine and that he wanted her in here, because, surprisingly enough, he did. Finney Blake wanted an adult to be in the room and help him. He wanted to be helped. Finney doesn’t know what to think of that yet, so he doesn’t. He just continued with what he was saying.

“I…If i’m being honest, I wasn’t even planning on telling anybody, but…when Billy and I were hanging out today I got a bit worked up about something and it kind of just…slipped, I guess.” Finney watches as Ms. Showa- Jessie’s frown deepens, and he can see Billy inching closer to him where he sits on the opposite side of the bed. He doesn’t stop him. “I…I probably would have deflected and lied about everything, but…” He sighs. “My sister’s gone. She left, and…and the only reason I really stayed at that house was because she was still there but now that she’s gone…” Once again, Finney does not finish his sentence. And, once again, he doesn’t have to.

At some point, Billy had made his way next to him, and now Finney was wrapped up into one of the tightest hugs he has ever been a part of, and that’s including Gwen’s and Mrs. Areallno’s.

Finney can’t remember when the first tear finally fell from his eyes and trailed down his cheek, he doesn’t remember when he stopped trying to cry silently and just started crying, and he certainly does not remember when he realized how broken he sounded.

It sounds like something straight out of some 2000’s emo’s diary or something, but all he can remember thinking is when did I sound so sad. Finney can’t remember a lot of things, and it seems that the last time he cried this openly, this freely, this truly is one of them.

He wanted it to stop. Desperately, Finney wanted to stop crying, but he couldn’t. There were more important things he should be doing right now, there were people who had it worse than him, but he still couldn’t stop. He buried his head into Billy’s shoulder and gripped his shirt even tighter. He didn’t want to be a burden. He didn’t want to feel so helpless, so broken, but there was nothing he could do about it as he just kept crying. Jessie had left at some point, but that didn’t really matter to Finney right now. The shield that he spent years and years building to protect himself and Gwen from being taken away, from spilling all of their secrets, from breaking down and losing it had shattered, leaving a sniffling, sobbing, broken Finney Blake in its wake.

All of that work, and yet, it still meant nothing. In the end, it always means nothing.

His hands burned. He didn’t care, though, just gripping the mug tighter. In some odd, twisted way, it helped. The burn was a stark contrast to the always present cold that haunted the house he used to be able to call a home. It also helps distract him from the pitying looks that Billy’s mom is giving him. He can’t blame her, he’s sure that his eyes are still puffy from his cry session earlier, and he’s sure that she heard it, too. Finney gripped his mug of freshly made tea even tighter. His hands burned, but he didn’t care.

They haven’t said anything to him yet, nor have they tried making him say anything, either. It’s only a matter of time, though, he figures. It’s not like you can just tell one of your best friends and his mom that your dad is abusive and neglectful and doesn’t even make sure that there’s any food in the fridge to eat leaving you to get a job or starve to death and then expect them not to have any questions. He brought this upon himself.

He’s leaning on Billy’s shoulder as the other boy sips his tea. His dog, Harper, comes bouncing into the kitchen and leans her head on Finney’s knee, causing him to smile. It’s hard not to when the world's fluffiest, happiest dog is leaning her head against your knee and looking at you like she loves you. Finney and Harper have become close in his time being friends with Billy, and he’s glad he finally gets to at least kind of learn what it’s like to have a pet. When they were younger, he and Gwen had begged the man for at least a fish. Finally, after months of pleading from their end and months of yelling from the man’s end, they got their fish. It died within a week. The man was not happy .

He takes a sip of his tea. It’s still too hot and it burns every crevice in  his mouth, but he doesn't care. He chugs at least half of the cup, savoring the burning and numbing feeling it gives him. It helps him forget about the cold. Finney hates being cold.

He looks around the dining room of Billy’s house. Billy’s mother is sitting across from them, on the phone with whoever she had told him would help. The voice on the other end kind of sounds like Vance’s mother. Usually, he would be worried, because if she knows, then Vance knows, but right now, he couldn’t really find it within himself to care. He looks to Harper who has decided that she wants to lay down next to his feet and is resting her head on his toes, and he looks over to Billy.

Billy looks…he looks wrong. He has a frown on his lips where his signature seemingly always present huge smile should be, his eyes look full of sorrow instead of the happiness and excitement that Finney usually notices. He can’t bear the thought of being the cause of Billy’s sadness, it eats him whole. Just like his anger, it swallows every limb until there is nothing left to take. Unlike his anger, though, Finney doesn’t relish its presence. He wants it gone. Now.

Anger is easier than guilt, and suddenly Finney wonders if this is how the man feels. Finney doesn’t want to become like the man, but it seems that the universe has other plans for him. The thought only worsens the pit in his stomach.

“Thank you,” He whispers. “Thank you.” He repeats. This isn’t something the man would do. If Finney is already becoming just like the man, he may as well get out his last few thanks and any positive feelings he has for anyone before they all disappear as well.

Before they disappear, just like he will one day.

Before that, though, Finney figures that he can be thankful.

Chapter Text

If Finney thought accidentally letting it slip that the man is an ‘abusive, neglectful piece of shit’, which is exactly how he phrased it during his breakdown the other day, was a mistake, then he’s not sure what this is, but it is much worse.

Finney’s not even really sure why he’s so surprised, he brought this upon himself. He thought that he could outsmart The Grabber, he thought that if he made himself known it would automatically just make it scared. He’s not sure how he came to that conclusion, but it was the wrong one.

He knows it’s his fault, he should never have tried to scare The Grabber. He thought that he could show up a few times, maybe make something bad happen, and it would be scared. He was being stupid.

Finney Blake knows that it’s his fault, and yet the thought does little to soothe him because that stupid black van is outside of the house and Finney thinks that if The Grabber doesn’t kill him, then he is going to do it himself.

 He cannot go through that again. He can’t.

Finney can’t find it in him to open the door. He had turned the handle. It was unlocked. Finney had started locking up the house again; he was making money and needed somewhere to keep it other than his pockets, so he’s been keeping it in a box underneath his bed. None of that money would matter if he wasn’t even there to use it, though. None of it would matter if The Grabber had got to it first. None of it would matter.

He looks back at the van parked in his driveway. It’s still empty, and the door is still unlocked. There’s only one place that it could be, and Finney is surprised to find that, while he is utterly terrified, he’s also a little…excited.

He knows he’s sounding like a psychopath right now, but the thought of The Grabber being so close yet so far, the knowledge that Finney could open this door right now and end it all, end it , is just so exciting. He has the power to do this, he knows he does because he’s done it before, he just needs to suck it up. Take all of his feelings and cram them inside of a box together, all of his hesitation and fear needs to go down the drain, and he needs to be a man.

For as long as he can remember, Finney Blake has been nothing but a kid. A kid whose mother killed herself, a shy, quiet kid, a kid who got bullied everyday by other kids who thought they were men, a kid whose father can’t decide whether or not he loves alcohol or his own children more, a kid who was kidnapped by a monster in disguise, a kid who survived. Finney Blake has been nothing but just another kid.

At first, he thought they were right. When Finney looked at himself in the mirror, he used to see the eight year old boy whose mother was dead and whose father was being unfairly mean. He used to see the ten year old boy who would cover his sisters body with his own while they hid from the man who tried to tell them that he was still their father, he was just in a mood that day. When Finney Blake looked in the mirror, he used to see a scared, beaten up kid. Even then, though, Finney knew that boy was dead. His reflection in the mirror was nothing more than a phantom, the ghost of a boy who used to be able to call himself a kid, who used to be able to yearn for his mother’s words just one last time. In the most liberal sense of the word, yes, Finney Blake is a kid.

Unfortunately, not everyone sees who he sees. Now, when he looks in the mirror, when he stares at the bags underneath his eyes, when he slowly starts to hate the way his face looks the longer he stares, Finney Blake sees nothing. He doesn’t see a kid, not anymore. A kid doesn’t have to work just to survive, a kid doesn’t have to do the things he has done simply to just make it through the day and protect his little sister. A kid doesn’t do the things he does at 15 years old.

He doesn’t see a man either, though. Finney Blake stopped being a kid a while ago, he stopped being a kid when he came home to silence that day, he stopped being a kid when he found his mothers dead body covered in blood on the red-stained sheets of her bed. But just because Finney isn’t a kid anymore does not mean that he is a man. A man doesn’t cower in fear at the sight of a black van, a man does not get the urge to throw up at the simple idea of anything egg related. A man is not as pathetic as he is.

Finney Blake is not a kid, and is still somehow not a man, either.

He hears a creak inside the house, the soft but somehow still heavy footsteps of someone walking down the stairs, and Finney Blake runs.

He’s not sure where he’s going, but that doesn’t stop him. In fact, he’s not sure he could stop if he wanted to. His limbs are moving too fast, his mind too slow, and cannot stop thinking about how if The Grabber had opened that door, if he hadn’t been so fast, Finney could be in the back of that stupid black van again, back to being surrounded by the blood-stained walls and the suffocating cold and silence that haunts that stupid, ugly basement.

At some point, he’s not sure when, but he finds himself in front of Bruce’s house. It’s Thursday, which means that his family is having a game night with Vance and his mother. Bruce had told him that he was welcome to join them anytime he wanted, but he didn't want to be a bother. Right now, though, as he frantically knocked on the door, he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Vance would be there, so his mother would too, and if Finney’s hearing isn’t as batshit crazy as he is, then the voice he heard Billy’s mother talking to on the other side of the phone yesterday was hers. Besides,  Bruce had been particularly pushy about joining them today, and he had told him that he would think about it.

Finney could feel a tear trail down his cheek, and then another. Bruce, or Vance, or perhaps one of the adults could open the door any second now. He tells himself to suck it up and stop crying, because he is not a kid anymore, but he can’t. The door opens, and at first Bruce looks happy that he is here, then he looks confused, then finally, concerned, and yells to somewhere in the house. He feels the tears continue to fall down his cheeks, his lips pursing, and a headache coming on, but he can’t stop. Finney Blake is no man.

He’s gently guided into the house by Bruce and is sat on a couch. The boy tries to leave, but Finney doesn't let him. He grips onto his wrist and doesn’t let him go because he knows that if Bruce leaves, then he will be in danger. If The Grabber found him, if it already went into his house, then who knows when the other boys will be next? The Grabber has completely discarded its schedule, and he is terrified.

Finney is brought back to Earth by Bruce sitting next to him and guiding his head so that he’s leaning against him. Bruce doesn’t ask him what’s wrong, all he does is run his fingers through his hair while he is left to try and rearrange his thoughts.

He can’t.

Sitting there, doing nothing but sitting, Finney Blake truly is nothing.

It’s 12:00 am and Finney can’t tell how many cards are in Vance’s hand. The blonde sitting across from him has won the last five rounds of Uno, and if neither him or Bruce don’t beat him soon, Finney’s scared that they’ll never live it down.

“Uno.” Vance whisper-yells, not wanting to wake up their parents. Bruce pouts at the card on top of the pile. It's a plus four.

Bruce groans. “What do you mean you have uno? You’ve won the last five rounds, you can’t give us a break?” He complains with probably somewhere around 12 cards in his hands.

“Hmmm…” Vance pretends to think. “Nope!”

Finney would be more disappointed if he himself didn’t have a plus four in his hand that would go straight to Vance. He can only hope that the last card Vance has is a useless, boring one. With much persuasion, (and the help of Bruce asking kindly) Finney had managed to convince Vance to play with stacking rules. If Vance has another plus four, Finney thinks he’s going to cry. Again.

“Blue.” Vance announces, but Finney can see the edge of his card. It’s a plus four.

Finney groans, pretending to be annoyed. Thankfully, he has a blue reverse, and now he can let Bruce unleash all of his cards onto Vance. He refuses to let Vance win again.

He puts his card down, and Finney swears he saw a deadass evil, villainous smirk come across the other boy's features. Vance bites his lip, and Finney knows that he is in for it.

It’s 1:00 am and they should really be getting to bed soon. They still have school tomorrow, but Finney doubts that they’ll be going. Vance will most likely force them to skip or something like that. While Finney from last week would have refused to skip, current Finney finds he doesn't care. He doesn’t know he could if he wanted to.

It’s 2:00 am and Finney's brain is refusing to let him fall asleep. Every time closes his eyes, he’s filled with fear, and he can’t move. Behind his closed eyelids, all he can see is The Grabber’s shitty mask, the checkered floor of the basement, the fear he felt when its arms wrapped around him, spraying a mysterious substance into his eyes and mouth, chucking him into the back of its van.

He’s angry. He’s been angry. Even before, he was angry. He was angry at his mother for leaving, angry at the man for not being a father. He was angry about the fact that Matt, Matty, and Buzz thought they could get away with anything just because they had more confidence than him, upset about how he thought he knew Robin wouldn’t return his feelings. Angry that he even had them in the first place. He was angry that no matter how hard he tried, his efforts would never add up to anything, whether it be in baseball or in school, and he was angry at the world in general.

Now, though? He’s furious. He’s furious that The Grabber has such a chokehold on his mind, furious that it still gets to hold the power of fear over him, dangling it in front of him as if some kind cruel joke. He’s furious that he’s the one who has to go through this, because goddamn it, it’s just not fair!

He’s acting like a child. He knows that. Finney Blake is acting like a child, which is going against everything he has ever thought. For years, forever, even, he thought he was no longer a child anymore. He thought that he had been forced to grow up, forced to give up his childhood so that Gwen could have hers. He gets it now, though.

It didn’t matter what he did. It never has. Finney Blake may not be a kid, but he is a child. He is a whiney, bratty, scared child. Finney Blake is scared, which is nothing new in itself, but this time, he doesn't want to face it alone. He always thought that he could do it. That he was meant to face his fears all by himself, but he doesn't want to anymore. Finney Blake is scared, and he has had enough of it.

He’s being selfish. He tries to trick his brain into changing its mind, because he doesn’t deserve to be helped. He is a dirty, disgusting, selfish liar. He’s dirty in a way that now matter how hard he scrubs, scratches, or even burns, it will never wash away. He’s disgusting in a way that he will never be pure again. He’s disgusting because he killed to survive, and he doesn’t know how much more disgusting you can get. He’s selfish in a way that convinces him that it was okay that he killed The Grabber, because it deserved it. He’s selfish because he’s convinced himself that he deserves help.

Finney Blake is a dirty, disgusting, selfish liar.

Finney Blake is scared.

Finney Blake is nothing.

And yet, not even that can stop him from getting his revenge.

Chapter Text

I’m supposed to be hanging out with Robin today. Finney reminds himself. He and Robin were going to hang out after school, which Finney was already skipping without telling him, but Finney’s not so sure if he’ll be able to manage that today. He loves Robin, he does, but the thought of leaving Bruce’s house and going outside where The Grabber could be lurking around any corner, ready to kidnap him again makes him sick to the stomach. I’m also supposed to be planning a way to save Vance from being kidnapped, not sitting on Bruce’s couch. He argues with himself. There are a lot of things he should be doing.

They hadn’t questioned him last night. He came in crying, broken down, and out of it, and Bruce decided that he had already been under enough stress that day. Logically, Finney knew he would have to talk about it at some point. He knew that, eventually, he would have to tell them. Lies only last for so long yet, Finney thought perhaps his would last just a little longer.

He sighs, picking at his fingernails as he’s curled up on Bruce’s impossibly white couch. He still has to tell Robin. He knows he shouldn’t be scared; Robin is so kind and understanding, but he still is. If Billy knows about the man, then he’s sure Griffin does, too. Just by proxy, really. Finney’s not mad at Billy if he did tell Griffin; he was going to find out soon anyway, but Bruce and Vance had been asking him a lot of suspicious questions earlier this morning and Finney had finally got it out of them that they knew. How they knew, he didn’t know, and frankly, didn’t care. He was too focused on another confession he was going to have to make soon. That leaves Robin, the one he has known the longest, the one he would trust with his life in the blink of an eye, as the only one who doesn’t know about the man.

Bruce sits next to him with a glass of ice-cold apple juice, Vance on his other side with a bowl of strawberries. They hand him both as their parents sit down across from them.

Is this some sort of bribe? Finny figures it doesn’t really matter. It’s not like he’s able to get up and just leave. He owes them an explanation as to why he came knocking at their door last night, crying and out of breath, unable to say anything. It’s time he tells the truth for once.

The Grabber was in his house. What was it hoping to accomplish? Did it hope to take him away once again, hide him in its basement to play with when it got bored? Did it want him gone? Has it gotten tired of seeing him everywhere it went, tired of the teenage boy staring into its soul as something goes wrong, as it gets more and more upset when things don’t go its way? So many possibilities, none of which Finney wants to explore.

In a way, he’s still kind of lying. It’s not like he can tell them the full truth. “Oh, hey guys, so I actually somehow magically traveled from the future back to the past because your children and I all get kidnapped and murdered and now I have to save them as well as trying to save myself all while trying to navigate life with a ‘father’ who wants you dead.” Hell no.

In the end, no matter how much he desperately wants to tell the truth, he can’t. How fucking unfair. He thinks.

Shut up, now you’re just being ungrateful. He scolds himself as he takes a sip of apple juice. Help is help, and you are getting it. He swallows and wipes his mouth with his sleeve.

He still feels like shit.

Finney bites his lip. He sighs. He’ll tell them what he can.

“There’s this…man” Already a lie. The Grabber is no man. It’s not even human. It sickens him to refer to The Grabber as anything more than a monster. The Grabber is a demon that ascended from hell with some games it wanted to play. Those games just happened to include innocent teenage boys. “He’s been…following me around, I guess.” At least that’s the truth. For every hate-filled look he gave that thing, it would give him one right back. For every move he made, The Grabber was only one step behind.

He can feel Bruce’s head turn to face him and Finney does not doubt that his eyes are filled with concern. Vance’s fists clench by his sides and the silence in the room is deafening, but no one dared say a thing. So, Finney continued. “And it’s been like…really scary ‘cause he wears this weird mask that covers his face and it’s…” He takes a sip of his apple juice. It’s cold, but that’s fine. Apple juice isn’t good when hot anyway. He shivers. Why is he shivering? He can feel the goosebumps on his arms and the hairs on the back of his neck rising. Why is his body reacting like this? It’s cold. Why is it so cold?

“Finney, darling, are you…alright?”

No! His mind screams. He’s not alright because it’s cold and he’s talking about The Grabber and everything is getting scarier by the minute and why is everything so cold- “And…and I saw him at my house.” He continues, ignoring Vance’s mother. He almost feels bad. Almost. “It-his van was parked outside of my house and the door was unlocked and I could hear his footsteps walking down the stairs and-” He cuts himself off.

Bruce’s hand enters his hair, his fingers carding through Finney’s curls. Leaning his head against Bruce’s shoulder, Finney realizes that he wants to cry. He shakes his head, almost as if he’s telling his tears no. “I heard him walking down the stairs” He tries again. “And I got scared so I…so I ran. I didn’t even know where I was going until I was already in front of your house.”

“Oh, Finney.” Bruce’s mother says softly. Slowly, ever so slowly, she stands up and starts to walk towards them. Vance’s leg is bouncing furiously, and Finney can just tell that Vance wants to hit something. Probably The Grabber. Finney likes the thought at first, but then he remembers what happened the last time Vance tried to fight back against that monster, and suddenly, the thought isn’t as intriguing anymore.

He looks over to Vance’s mother. She looks furious.

Apparently, telling multiple trusted adults and two of your friends that a monster weird old man has been following you around and showed up at your house the other night means that you can no longer go anywhere alone. Not that Finney’s complaining, no, he’s far from it, it’s just weird. He’s not used to people caring about him. He’s more accustomed to beatings and mockings, hiding secrets and lies. Things like that. He only felt protected by Robin and his mother, but Robin can only do so much, and Robin’s mom works a lot.

“Are you sure that you want to come with me to Robin’s?” Finney asks Vance’s mother as he puts his jacket on.

“Yes, darling, I’m sure. One, I’m a cop, so you two shouldn’t have to be worried about anything, and two, someone needs to make sure you two don’t get into any trouble.” She tells him teasingly.

Finney can feel his face turn slightly red. He and Robin don’t cause that much trouble! (Okay, so maybe sometimes they do, but the hole in his and Robin’s math teacher's roof and the goat hair in his sandwich the next day were only partially his fault!) “We don’t get into that much trouble!” He protested.

Vanessa clicked her tongue. “Don’t think I didn’t hear about you two breaking into that rundown arcade and almost getting stuck in there because you wanted to see if the ‘Space Invaders’ machine still worked, Finney Blake.”

He cringed; it was not a pleasant time. He and Robin had broken their way into one of the many broken-down arcades in Denver because he had seen the Space Invaders machine through one of the dirt-covered windows. Robin had told him that if he wanted to go play it, they could, they just had to be sneaky about it. Turns out, there was a reason why that particular arcade was blocked off so heavily; the floors were not stable. Someone had somehow heard their screams and cries for help, and called the police. The dull ache in his ankle from falling through the floor paled in comparison to the beating the man had given him that night for pulling him out of work early.

“But-”

“No ‘buts’, Finney Blake. I am going to make sure that you stay safe, even if it means locking you and Robin in a room and locking my handcuffs around the handle to a latch so you can’t leave unless you ask me.”

Not to sound like the stereotypical horny teenager in every 2000s book, movie, and TV show, but Finney doesn’t think he would actually mind that all that much. “Yeah, because that is a huge punishment. ” He giggled. Sue him, but he kind of is a stereotypical horny teenager, is he not?

Distantly, he can hear Vance laughing somewhere in the background. Maybe at a joke someone told, perhaps at some TV show that has already been turned on in the Yamada’s humongous living room. It didn’t matter to Finney, all he knew was that Vance was laughing, and he was going to make sure that sound never went away.

Finney forced the sound into his brain, replaying it over and over again until it was forever engraved into his mind. Finney Blake would make sure Vance Hopper would be able to make that sound again.

“And so then,” Robin giggled. “Mama told the manager of the nail salon that ‘No, she wanted chicken on her fingers!’ So,” Robin laughed again, making Finney laugh as well. He can’t help it, Robin laughing just brings him so much joy! “When Mama came home, she had really poorly drawn chickens on her fingers with yellow beads on top as beaks!” Robin breaks down laughing. Finney’s not sure why it’s so funny, but he starts laughing, too.

Their laughter dies down and Finney stares. He can’t help it, Robin looks so beautiful laying there on his side as the light from the sunset glints off his back, basking him in a warm light. His eyes look extra alive, filled with happiness and glee, and Finney can’t believe he is about to ruin it.

Finney bites his lip as his eyes scan Robin’s features. His hair, his beautiful, gorgeous hair, down to his eyes that could drown millions and millions just by looking at them for just a bit too long, all the way down to his lips. Gently, he brings his hand to cup the side of Robin’s cheek, his thumb carefully caressing his bottom lip.

“...Robin?” He whispers. He can’t believe he’s about to ruin it all.

The boy smiles. Somehow, he manages to smile. “Yes, Finn?”

He sighs. “I have something to tell you. It’s…it’s really important and I should have told you so much sooner, but…” He looks away. Who was he kidding, Finney can’t do this.

“Hey, Finn, it’s okay. I’m not going to be mad, I promise.”

“Pinky promise?” He asks, holding his pinky out. Childish, yes, but still necessary.

Robin smiles again. Softer, this time. Much more welcoming. “Pinky promise.” He agrees, linking pinkies with him and shaking on it.

Finney sighs again, biting his once more. Robin always tells him not to do that, about how one day he’ll end up drawing blood, but it’s not like it hasn’t happened before. Besides, he doesn’t even realize when he does it, it just happens. “I…you know how I never talk about my…dad, or whatever? Like, when you ask about him or something I just move on to something else entirely?”

Robin hums. “Yes. I just assumed that it was kind of a sensitive topic.”

“Well, uh…you’d kind of…be…right.” Finney finally admits, his voice trailing off at the end.

“What do you mean, mi amor?” Robin stresses, grabbing both of his hands and cradling them in his own.

“Um, well…he’s kind of… abusive.” Finney manages. He can almost pinpoint the exact moment he realizes Robin’s heart breaks.

“Haha, nice one, Finn. It’s a bit late, but Happy April Fool’s Day…right? Finney, querido, please tell me you’re joking…”

Finney shakes his head softly; how he wishes that Robin would just smile again. It’s only been a few seconds, but a few seconds too many. Finney ruined it, and now he has to deal with the consequences.

“Oh, bebé come here.” Robin said, opening his arms as an invitation. Finney was all too happy to accept.

For a while, they lay there on their blanket outside, staying out until the sun was fully set. Finney’s head buried away in Robin’s chest, his fingers raking gently through his hair. “Let's…let’s do something.” Finney suggested after a few more seconds.

“Really, like what?” Robin whispered in his ear.

He shrugged. What had he had in mind? “I’m not sure but I need to do something. I can’t just lay here with my thoughts anymore.”

“Okay, let’s go inside then. We can talk with Vance’s mom. Did you know that she actually is a cop? Turns out you weren’t lying when you said that I shouldn’t break into their house at night and swap their clothes around.”

Although that sounded a lot more fun than talking with Vance’s mom, Finney knew that he had to. He has been on a roll with confessions and talks today, what’s one more? “Okay, let’s go.” He agreed softly.

“Okay.” Robin repeated, helping him up and pulling him into a kiss. “Just for a little spring in your step. Come on.” He said, dragging Finney into the house by his hand.

Finney can’t stop smiling. This is it. He knows how he’s going to settle everything. And it all starts tomorrow.

Vanessa promised him. She promised him that he would get his revenge. He may have told her a few more…key details. Just things that would make it easier to form a case against this monster, and now his time will come soon. It’s right around the corner. He can taste it.

The Grabber will regret waking up in the mornings. Finney will be the reason why.

He can’t stop smiling.

Chapter Text

Listen I KNOW I'm so close to finishing this but I'm actually STRUGGLING RN 😩

Uh but life did get in the way and I am NOT going to go so low as to prioritize a fanfic over my LIFE.

There will be a chapter next week, love ya pooks 😘 

Chapter Text

Finney Blake cannot believe this is actually happening. The Grabber is finally going to meet its end, and he is going to be the reason why. Well, maybe not so far as to its end, but Finney’s brain is too much of a flurry of emotions to care right now.

The sound of the sirens from Vanessa’s cop car is dull in comparison to his mind. Every nerve in his body is aching, begging him to bail out and refuse to see it. His mind screams at him to tell Vanessa that he can’t handle seeing the sight of the monster that had kidnapped him, because, yes, he had told her he had been kidnapped by The Grabber. He had told her that he felt uncomfortable saying it in front of everyone else, but the man who was inside his house he had seen before. He told her that he was so affected by seeing it in his house because it had already taken him before, but he was too scared to say anything. He had told her that he was so scared because it had finally come back for round two. Only half-lies, but these will actually benefit him in the end.

Because, while he was still betraying his very own body by doing this, he was bringing peace to another part of himself. He was bringing peace to the part of him that looked over his shoulder every five seconds, the part that could no longer eat eggs or drink Sprite. Finney Blake is finally bringing peace to the part of him that is still an innocent little boy who was kidnapped by something both much bigger and smaller than he himself has ever been and ever will be.

In the back of his mind, he can still hear Robin asking to come with them, begging Finney to allow him to comfort him. The pleading from his end, the near hysteria from the thought of Robin, his sweet, beautiful Robin seeing him in his worst, in his absolute worst, because he is going to do something that no love could ever fix, made itself forever ingrained into his head.

They round the corner onto The Grabber’s street, and tears fill his eyes as a waterfall a river. Except, this time, there will be nothing to catch him as he falls. He is alone, in the back of a cop car, with the knowledge that, soon enough, the very monster that kidnapped him and his best friends , the very monster that violated them in a way that no person should ever have to go through, the very monster that killed the very people who are probably the only reason he is still here in this very moment is going to be in the same crammed cop car as him in about five minutes.

Finney has never truly wished to kill himself, but right now, he is sure this is what it feels like.

“We’re almost there, kiddo. Everything is going to be okay, I promise. He won’t lay a finger on you.” Vanessa reassures him.

Finney doesn’t respond. He doesn’t want to be rude, but he can’t exactly figure out what to say. He also told her how it… got a bit inappropriate with him. It was a very awkward conversation, especially since Robin was there for the whole thing, but it was definitely necessary. Finney has a lot of things he has sworn never to say, but recently, he’s been finding that maybe it’s not okay to keep them hidden.

Of course, his mind goes back to Robin. The beautiful brown eyes that adored his features had filled with rage the second he heard just the bare minimum of what The Grabber had done to him. The heartbroken look on his face was almost enough for Finney to take back everything when he said that he didn’t want Robin going with him and Vanessa. They had left in a hurry, Finney not being able to just stand by idly while Robin, his beautiful, kind, lovely Robin was left in shambles after being forced to also sit by idly.

Sue him, but Finney didn’t want the love of his life (woah, love of his life?!) to see him as he broke down at the sight of a car. He also did not want anyone to witness what he had planned for The Grabber. He sounds psychotic, he knows, but nobody else knows what he’s going to do as soon as it is locked up in a holding cell for a bit. Vanessa told him that she could pull some strings and have it so he was able to see The Grabber for as long as he needed to. He had told her that it was for some sort of closure thing, and while it isn’t technically a lie, what he has in store is certainly not what anyone would expect from him.

One good thing about being labeled a ‘good quiet kid’ his whole life is that he can get away with certain things because no one expects good little Finney Blake to do anything irrational or stupid. Unfortunately for everyone else in the world, Finney is just the kid to do both of those things, usually at the same time. I mean, he’s about to do them soon, isn’t he?

The car stops moving, and suddenly, Finney is thrown back into reality. The sound of sirens is still playing in the background, and Finney is left to wonder what exactly is happening as Vanessa jumps out of her car and tells him to wait patiently. The sight of even just its driveway sends shivers down his spine, so he looks towards the back of the car; he cannot handle looking at its house just yet. There are more cars. What kind of cars? He blinked back tears and tried to even out his breathing. They’re cop cars. More cop cars. Of course. There would need to be more than just Vanessa to arrest this monster. Finney couldn’t believe he was so stupid to believe that it would be just him and Vanessa. He’s so stupid.

A woman enters Vanessa’s cop car, and Finney doesn’t even get any time to panic because she immediately reassures him that she is also a cop. She tells him she’s a friend of Vanessa’s and was asked to sit with him and look after him as she arrested The Grabber. She keeps talking about something or another, but Finney can’t bother paying attention because the door to The Grabber’s house is slowly starting to open and he can’t pull his eyes away from the scene.

Vanessa and some other cop finally come through the door and outside with it in tow. Vanessa has a black eye and a bloody nose, and the other cop has a split lip. The Grabber, in all of its fucked up, mask-covered face, beaten and bloodied up glory, stares at him through the windshield of Vanessa’s car.

Finney throws up.

 The cell bars between Finney Blake and a monster who was once able to be called by the name of Albert Shaw are the only thing keeping Finney from just killing it right this moment. Vanessa finally left him alone with his kidnapper once she was done questioning it, and now the only thing keeping him from exacting his revenge is his own goodwill and the fact that it isn’t even awake.

Finney bangs on the bars. It still doesn’t wake up. He huffs and tries again. It stirs this time but still doesn’t wake up from its spot propped up against the wall.

He stomps his foot, banging on the bars once again. “Hey!”

“Huh?” It mumbles as it finally starts to wake.

His hands are shaking, but he bangs again. “Wake the fuck up, you piece of shit.” He half-yells forcefully.

That seems to catch The Grabber’s attention. “What did you just say to me?” It asks threateningly. Finney Blake is not a coward. Not right now. He reminds himself. And yet, as The Grabber’s eyes seem to light up in recognition, he still feels the paranoia creeping its way up his back and the anxiety drilling itself into his very bones. He swallows and grips the bars even tighter than he was before. “You might want to ask a bit nicer, you wouldn’t want anyone thinking that you’re a naughty boy, would you, Finney Blake?”

Fuck. Finney sets his jaw and stares.

The Grabber chuckles, inching closer to the front of the cramped cell. “It’s so adorable you think that your little glares scare me anymore. I will admit, you surprised me at first, but now I get it. We’ve been given a second chance-”

Finney pulls out the gun he stole from Vanessa’s cop car and points it directly at The Grabber’s head. “Shut the fuck up.” He snaps. He can’t let its nonsense get to him. Finney has a job to do, and he is going to do it.

The Grabber stops moving, but it still doesn’t look too discouraged. That’s fine. Finney will fix that soon. It tilts its head. “Are you sure you know how to use that? We wouldn’t want you hurting yourself, now would we?” It smiles condescendingly.

Finney moves the gun to the side the slightest bit and shoots. It ricochets off the wall right behind The Grabber, barely skimming its ear. “Next time, it won’t be just your ear.” He grits out.

The Grabber hisses at him, cupping its ear. “You bitch!” It nearly screams.

Finney almost flinches. Almost. He centers the gun to the middle of its head again, hands still shaking. He just fired a gun. A gun with a silencer on it, but a gun nonetheless. Who knows who could come bursting through the door any second now? The look on The Grabber’s face snaps him out of it. It looks so angry.

For the first time since the basement, Finney takes the advice he’s been given by too many people before, and man’s the fuck up. Finney has seen The Grabber angry more times than he would like to admit, it’s his turn to be angry now.

Still pointing the gun at The Grabber, slowly, ever so, he creeps his way to the holding cell’s door. With the keys that he, once again, stole (he’s going to have to apologize to Vanessa a lot later), he opens the door and enters the cage.

The Grabber does little to nothing, just backing up due to the fact it has a literal gun pointed at its head. Finney smiles. He’s still scared, hell, fucking terrified, but he knows that, soon enough, he won’t have to be.

For the first time when he and the Grabber have been in the same room, Finney is finally the predator, and The Grabber has finally been reduced to nothing but a man.

Finally, the Grabber is nothing more than a man.

The tear tracks left on Finney Blake’s cheeks are nothing compared to the blood left on his hands, both literally and figuratively. The wind flowing through his hair from the rolled-down window of Vanessa’s car window is nice, but it’s starting to get a bit chilly, and Finney hates the cold.

Vanessa’s words are slurring together, none of them even trying to make any form of sense. All he can think about is the monster he’s become. The Grabber’s screams echo through his head, and although it sickens him, Finney can’t help but wonder why he hadn’t taken more time with him. Finney is allowing himself to refer to The Grabber as both Albert Shaw and as a human now. If the last hour has anything to say, Finney thinks that it fits perfectly. He has become the very thing he has always sworn he would never, all while making The Grabber into what he was.

His right leg starts bouncing. “Can you roll the window up?”

“Hm? Oh, of course, Finney, dear.”

The blood underneath his fingernails bothers him to no end, and he can’t help but wonder if Robin is going to forgive him for leaving him this morning. He’s also hit with the bone-crushing realization of how much he just wants his mother.

Finney knows that he has talked a bit down on her in the past, but she still kissed his knee when he scraped it, and she still read him bedtime stories every night. Finney wonders that if she had somehow found a way to push through, would she have gotten better? Would she have gotten away from the man and taken him and Gwen with her? Gwen. No, he doesn’t want his mother, he wants Gwen. His Gwen.

Gwen❤️ & FINNEY😍

FINNEY😍: meet me at Robin’s house?

Gwen❤️: yeah, what happened?

FINNEY😍: just…please, I’ll tell you when we’re there

Gwen❤️: okay…is everything alright?

FINNEY😍: no, just, I’ll be there around 2:25, okay?

Gwen❤️: okay, leaving rn

Gwen❤️: see you soon

FINNEY😍: bye

Finney sighs. He figures if there is anyone he can tell anything to, it’s Gwen.

As Vanessa pulls into Robin’s driveway, Finney can’t help but cry again. This time, though, he thinks it’s out of relief.

It’s over.

Finney Blake, 15-year-old ‘fag’ has once again, won against Albert Shaw, 40 something year old terrifying kidnapper and murderer.

He did it.

It’s over.

It’s over.

Chapter Text

Albert Shaw is angry. His beautiful, wonderful, malfunctioning, naughty Finney Blake wanted to run away from him! He had been such a good boy for so long, why did he have to ruin it?! The little rascal had tried to run away from him while he was sleeping, for Christ’s sake! Oh well, at least now they finally get to play Naughty Boy! He’d been waiting for this moment for so long; his little toy had been too smart for his own good and never even went up the stairs. That was until now, of course. He never wanted to hurt his beautiful boy, but he does have to say, the nosebleed isn’t a particularly bad look on him…and he does look quite nice splayed across his mattress like that…but no. No, Albert Shaw is angry right now. Finney Blake has become a naughty boy and naughty boys don’t get to have fun.

He just doesn’t get it! Sure, when he first saw that magnificent creature that annoying Robin had brought up, he was immediately mesmerized by his very being, but he wasn’t that bad! He still isn’t! If anything, that angel should be flattered and complimented that he went through all the trouble to get him down here so they can have as much fun together as they want. He even gave him the time to get comfortable and settled in! He offered him something to drink and everything! But no, he had to take it all for granted and try to run away.

Besides, he thought he was saving the kid. After that feisty Robin had begged him not to take Finney Blake, he had no choice but to do it anyway. But, of course, you can’t be interested in a person and not do your research. After watching his perfect boy for a bit, he found that the man who called himself the boy's father was not all that nice. I’ll fix that. He had decided. Albert Shaw was sure Finney Blake would appreciate the sentiment of saving him from his horrid father and getting to play a game with him! Oh, how wrong he was.

However, Albert Shaw will not say he wasn’t excited to play Naughty Boy with Finney Blake. Yes, he had heard all about how Finney Blake was not the kind of kid to get into much trouble. He wasn’t the kind of kid who sought out fights amongst his peers, he wasn’t one to fancy angering others, and he wasn’t fond of conflict, but Albert was sure he would be able to get it out of the boy and push him into his favorite game to play! Everyone has a breaking point, sometimes they just need a little push in the right direction.

However, the more time his wonderful boy stayed with him, the more he didn’t want him to become naughty. Sue him, but he had gotten used to having a good boy with him for once in his life!

As he makes his way down his basement stairs and sees his very own brother talking to what was his, he is reminded that Finney Blake is a naughty boy, and naughty boys don’t get to have fun.

Albert Shaw woke up, his body on fire.

Wait, woke up?!

His hands immediately went to his neck. Still intact. He checked his ankle. It was not broken in the slightest. His body still ached with what he thought was reality from his last breathing moments, but now he wasn’t quite so sure. What was happening?

The last thing he remembers is Finney Blake, the small, frail, good kid he had taken as his own, snapping his neck with that damned phone cord. He always knew that the black phone was bad news, even more so once the haunting voices of his previous boys started emitting from its nonsensical ringing. It wasn’t even plugged in! There was no way it should’ve worked, so why had it?!

At the thought of Finney Blake, he was filled with rage. How dare he?! You can’t beat a kidnapper savior at their own game! Can you? According to Finney Blake, you can. That boy had been the end of him, and he is more than eager to return the favor. If this whole thing is even real, that is. Maybe this is just some cruel joke the universe has decided to play on him for killing all of those kids. What if this is what his afterlife has in store, having to pretend to live while his killer gets to live a real life?

Albert Shaw had a lot of questions, and yet, not a single person to answer them.

So, he did the reasonable thing in this situation: he checked the basement.

Perhaps it was all just a really bad dream and I still have that first kid in my basement. What was his name? Gerald? Geoff? Griffin? Yes, Griffin! He pleaded with his mind as he frantically rushed down his stairs. Or maybe all of it was a dream and you never took any of those kids in the first place. His mind supplied him with as he pried his basement door open.

It looked completely untouched. No scratches on the walls. No holes in the ground. No bloodstains splattered across anywhere. No broken window. Nothing.

Nothing except for his old, rickety, dirty mattress.

A smile broke across his face, bigger than the one when he had finally beat that rude Vance Hopper and taken his life. Bigger than the one from when Griffin Stagg had begged him to stop for the first time since he had taken him. And bigger than the one when he had seen Finney Blake for the first time.

He ran back upstairs. He checked his calendar. September 21, 2021. Two days before he took Griffin Stagg for his own. He couldn’t believe it.

Albert Shaw has been given a chance to relive his time with his boys, and, more specifically, take revenge on the monster that is Finney Blake.

And he is going to take it.

Albert Shaw, also known (or to be) as The Grabber, is feeling particularly good about today. It is finally September 23rd, and he has decided that, because he has been given the opportunity to avenge himself, he will make it really hurt. (Like it was supposed to.) He is going to take his sweet with each of the boys, slowly leading up to his Finney.

He is sure that, if he remembers, then Finney Blake must as well. And if Finney Blake, who is supposed to be a good boy, remembers, then he will do everything to save the boys who he ‘took’ from him. If Albert Shaw can cause Finney Blake pain by taking away the very ones who he will try to save, then he will do it, by any means necessary.

He turns the corner to the Grab ‘N Go.

There they are all on the ground and covered in parking lot dirt. He wasn’t expecting four of his six boys to be there all at the same time, but that still works. This way, he can hit Finney even harder by taking multiple of his boys all at the same time!

Wait, why are they getting up? Where are they going? That bitch! Albert screams in his head. There he is, in all of his fucked up glory, Finney Blake, ushering everyone inside. He had expected the boy to try to protect the others, but it has only been two days! How the hell has he had enough time to make friends with those two!? It should have been harder than this; Griffin Stagg was, and always has been a nobody! So why has Finney Blake already found a way to befriend him?! It’s not fair!

As he continued to drive on by he stared at the window. Vance Hopper was there as well. What the fuck? Blake is staring at him. No expression on his face, just a blank stare. The corners of his mouth twitches up in what is the faintest idea of a smile.

What was this, some kind of taunt? Was his good boy taunting him? This isn’t fair! Albert Shaw has been much closer to all of those boys than Finney Blake ever has or ever will! Why does he get to be with them, as some kind of guardian, while he is left to sit back and watch? He is so close, yet so far away. If he wanted to, he could just walk right into that gas station and take all of them right now. He is much bigger and stronger than any of them, including Vance, he could do it. He should march right into that store and wipe that smug smile immediately off of Blake's face.

But no. That would be too easy. There are people around. Other cars are pulling in behind him. Finney Blake can pretend that he has outsmarted him, but he’ll be better next time. He was just unprepared today. He only had two days, can you blame him? (Of course, you can. Finney Blake did more than he has, and it has only been two days.)

He won’t do it, though. He wants to make it really hurt.

He’s prepared this time. He woke up extra early to scope out and remind himself of William Showalter’s newspaper route. He took the time to make sure the boy had no other option but to deliver his papers today (he hasn’t been doing it recently. He is sure that Finney Blake is the one behind it.) He knows exactly how this will go. Around 7:00 am, Albert Shaw will pull onto whatever road the boy is on around that time. He will ask to pet his dog, Harper, he thinks her name is, and when he is not paying attention, Albert Shaw will take William Showalter for his own once again.

He knows that there is no way Finney Blake will be able to ruin this for him. With how sleep-deprived he probably was in the basement, he is sure the boy will be doing all he can to catch up on the sleep he had taken from him. I mean, why would he ever willingly wake up at 7:00 am? Finally, Albert Shaw will have something to use against Finney Blake. He cannot wait!

As he turns the corner onto another empty road, he thinks about possibly trying to take Griffin Stagg again. No. He scolds himself. He has a schedule. And if he doesn’t follow it, then who is he? What would it even be for if he didn’t follow it? His chance to take Griffin Stagg is already gone. The most he can do is move on and take another one on his own. He won’t do any harm to Finney Blake if he sits around and wallows in his own self-despair of not being able to have Griffin Stagg once again. He already had fun with him and it is time to move on.

He turns the corner once again and he sees him. Finally, one he does not lose. He can’t see very well from here, but he is almost sure that is William Showalter delivering the morning newspapers. As he gets closer, he notices that the boy does not have his dog with him. Weird, he always seems to have that golden retriever with him. That’s fine, he’ll just have to be a little more…straightforward with it. Wait, why is his hair curly? He doesn’t remember it being like that, but that’s alright. Maybe he’s just trying a new style.

He’s finally right behind his boy. This is going to be so fun! Suddenly, William Showalter stops biking. It makes sense, he probably thinks he’s just going to pass him. Little does he know, he has much more planned for them!

The boy in front of him turns around, and his heart immediately drops to his stomach. That asshole! How dare Finney Blake get the best of him?! Again! How dare he himself not have expected it?! He should have known! How will he ever get to take any of his boys if that stupid kid won’t stop spoiling all of his fun?

There he is, once again, glaring at him as if he’s any better than he is. News flash: he’s not! Albert Shaw may be a murderer, but so is that wretched Finney Blake! He may have killed those boys, but Finney also killed him. He is on better than he is, so why does he have to behave as if he is?! This is so unfair!

He has had enough of of looking at his beautiful boy for now. He may be angry, but in just a few months, he will be the one with a smile on his face and victory in his system. He drives away, leaving a glaring Finney Blake in the dust of his van's awakening. 

He stares in the review mirror, Finney still staring. That’s okay. He’ll get his revenge soon enough. The next with Vance.

If Albert Shaw is going to take his time to make Finney Blake’s life a living hell, then he is going to need the energy to do it. So, here he is, in some random gas station (maybe then he could have run into his Vance), using the bathroom. Nobody else is here, except for the poor guy working, and he wonders if he’s imagining it when he hears the stores door open. Call him crazy (or maybe don’t, he is not that bad), but he’s kind of hoping that it’s his favorite boy, Finney.

Now, he knows he’s been thinking very harsh about him recently, but it’s not exactly his fault that he still finds the boy wonderful! And, come on, can you really blame the kid for killing him? He did come at the poor kid with an axe, that doesn’t exactly scream you’re safe here like he was trying to. Don’t blame him, though. Finney Blake had become a naughty boy, and he needed to do something about it.

Whatever, it doesn’t quite matter, because the thought that it coud be his Finney Blake in this almost empty store with just him is both exciting and infuriating. As he exits the bathroom, he is filled with joy at the sight of brown curly hair. Once again, he is staring at him, but he is not angry this time.

After Wednesday’s…encounter, Albert Shaw took it upon himself to reflect on his favorite. How he stares at him. How he’s taken the time to make himself known in front of all the other boys. It’s clear that Finney Blake also feels something for him. If he didn’t, why would he be drawing all this attention to himself whenever he is near? If he didn’t, why would he be here, following him around this pathetic gas station on a random day such as this one?

He slowly makes his way through the aisles, going all the way through from beer to ice cream. He stays with him the entire time. This proves his point. Finney Blake is just as infatuated with him as he his for the boy.

This fills him with so much joy. His boy, his favorite boy , wants him just as much as he wants him. It makes so much sense now. He must feel bad for killing him. That’s okay, Albert is sure that, with some much needed quality time and punishment, he will forgive him. I mean, how could he not? It’s Finney Blake. Finney Blake is a good boy. Sometimes they just need a little push in the right direction.

His boy, his favorite boy, leaves, and his mood is instantly brought down. He thought that he wanted to be around him! It’s okay, though. He’s probably just a bit shy. He probably thinks that he is still mad about him killing him. He kind of is, but he’ll get over it. If it means that his wonderful, beautiful boy will be next to him and continue to follow him around like a lost puppy, then he will. Eventually. With some punishments and reminders, of course. It will all work out, though. Albert will make sure it will.

His boy will love him just as much as he loves him. He knows he will. He just needs a little push.

As Albert Shaw walks out of the gas station, nothing even in hand, he finally understands.

Finney Blake and Albert Shaw have been given a second chance to make things right. A second chance to love each other as was intended.

Finney Blake never meant to be a naughty boy. He understands now. They have been given a second chance.

Albert Shaw could not be any more happy.

Albert Shaw has a plan. If he and his Finney Blake are going to be together forever, then he has to make sure he will be comfortable. So, he is going to go to his house. He’s sure the boy won’t mind; he’s already practically confessed his love by slashing his tires that one time. It means that he will come to him, not the other way around. For now, he just has to wait. However, he’s been waiting for too long, and his patience is running thin. He doesn’t want to be angry and moody when his boy finally comes to him, so he’s decided to grab some of his stuff. It will not only calm him down by getting to be around things that remind him of his boy, his favorite boy, but it will also give Finney a sense of belonging right off the bat.

Of course, he will have to be in the basement for a while before being allowed to be in the rest of the house. Finney Blake is still a naughty boy, and naughty boys don’t get to have fun. He’ll just have to grab a lot of his things in order to make him not so scared to be down there.

Unfortunately, he can’t do it today. He wants his boy to be there when he arrives, and a little drive around town reveals to him that he and William Showalter are hanging out. And if Finney Blake is hanging out with someone, it is likely that he is going to stay the night. Albert is not sure why he decides to tease him like this, but he does have to admit, it is kind of exhilarating. It gives the anticipation of his presence, but also the anger of his boy not being there sooner.

If Finney Blake does not hurry it up, he is going to have to take that Hopper kid to get him here quicker. He was planning on just ditching the whole thing and keeping his eyes on what will be his. If he can’t have any of his other boys, then certainly he can at least have his favorite. But, unfortunately, not everything goes to plan, and if this trip to his boy's house doesn’t work, then he’s going to have to up the stakes.

As he sits there in his chair, Albert Shaw can’t help but grow restless. His leg won’t stop bouncing, and he is hit with the urge to do something. Anything, really, but he takes this as a sign. He is not meant to wait until tomorrow. He needs to go today. More specifically, right now.

With this revelation, he quickly slips on his mask, forgoing his shirt. (If everything goes the way he wants, then he won’t need it.) He preps his van, getting the passenger seat all clean. He knows that his Finney Blake wants to come to him, but he is tired of waiting. He is going to go with him tomorrow, whether he likes it or not.

Albert decides to take the long way. This way, he can pass by William’s house, and maybe even catch a glimpse of his soon to be companion. He doesn’t, but the shadow of his figure moving behind one of the curtains is enough. He cannot wait to have his hands on his boy once again.

As he finally pulls into Finney Blake’s driveway, he cannot help but feel a rush of adrenaline. What if the boy’s father was actually there that night? Oh well, he’ll take care of that.

Unbuckling his seatbelt, Albert Shaw creeps into the unlocked house. He’ll have to teach his boy about safety if they’re going to be together forever. He can’t fathom the possibility of anyone aside from him hurting his beautiful angel.

The TV is off. The house is cold, no sign of other living life anywhere to be found. He’s almost disappointed. He kind of wanted an excuse to get rid of the boy's father; it would have helped sway the boy even more. He knows that Finney Blake already likes him, but having him in his debt from saving him from his father would have been amazing. Oh well, the second he finds where his boy’s sore excuse for a father is, he’ll take care of him. Finney Blake will no longer have to worry about anything. They’ll be perfectly happy and safe. Together. Forever.

Albert Shaw is hit with a wave of exhaustion, and he realizes that he has been spending too much time fantasizing about the wonders of what he and his Finney Blake could get up to, that he has not spent enough time taking care of himself. He wants to be in his best condition when he and his pet meet again tomorrow. So, logically, he starts to look for his boy's bedroom. If they are going to be together, then they have to get used to sleeping in the same bed. He is sure it will happen eventually, just not immediately. That’s okay, though. It just gives him plenty of time to practice after he kills Finney Blake’s father and the house is no longer anyones. He can claim it for himself and go back and forth between his house and Finney’s, so whenever he needs something, Albert will be able to get it with no problems.

His boy’s bedroom is not anywhere downstairs, so he slowly makes his way up the old stairs in the corner. Of course his bedroom would be on the second floor, why wouldn’t it? Everything downstairs is cold, it must be so warm up there. He was wrong. If anything, it was even colder upstairs than it was downstairs. That’s okay, though. He’ll just have to cuddle up extra hard in Finney’s bed.

He opens the door. His face lights up. All over this brilliant room are pictures of space, rocketship models, and even stick on stars on the ceiling. That makes things about a thousand times easier. He’ll just decorate his basement with space. It will be perfect for his boy!

As he climbs into Finney Blake’s bed, he cannot help but take a second to appreciate everything that has led to this. Sure, he did have to die, but if that hadn’t happened, he wouldn’t be here, inside of his boys house. More importantly, in his bed, which is drenched in Finney’s scent. He grabs a fistful of the boys blankets and takes his time breathing it all in. Soon enough, he will have the source of the scent and won’t have to resort to sniffing blankets and breaking into houses.

Well, technically, he didn’t break into this house. The door was already unlocked. Just another thing that his Finney Blake has perfectly planned. He probably left his doors unlocked just for him! He can’t believe it; this boy really is perfect!

As he drifts off with the blankets still clutched in his hands, he has but one thought dancing around in his head.

He and his sweet boy will be reunited in no time at all.

As he wakes up the next morning, Albert Shaw can’t help but wonder when Finney Blake will be back. It’s been a couple hours, and yet, he is still alone in this empty house.

To pass the time, Albert has taken it upon himself to look through Finney’s stuff. He starts off with the boy's closet, not finding much. A few shirts, only a couple pairs of jeans, two baseball caps, and a beanie. Not much to take, so he takes most of it. He doesn’t want to take all of it, not yet, anyway. Then, he rummages around his room, making a mess out of everything. He hopes his Finney won’t mind, but he has to find what he likes to most! He doesn’t want him to be bored and homesick when they finally get to live together, like everything was supposed to go.

By the time he’s done looking through everything (including the bathroom, his sisters room, his fathers room, downstairs, and then his room again), it is already around 5 pm. Albert is sure that Finney Blake must be home soon, so he decides to go downstairs and wait in the living room for his boy to arrive. It will be the perfect surprise!

As he makes his way down the stairs, he could have sworn he saw a figure outside of the window. When he looks back, however, it’s gone.

He sighs; he almost thought that his Finney Blake had finally decided to show up! That okay, though, he’ll wait. As long as he needs to, he’ll wait.

So, he does. Unfortunately, Finney Blake does not appear at all.

Albert Shaw does the reasonable thing. He trashes the house and takes things into his own hands.

He will get his boy. One way or another, he will.

Albert Shaw has spent the last two days brooding. How dare his boy, his favorite boy , trick him like that?! This is getting ridiculous! Now, he is just going to have to kidnap Vance Hopper and hope that Finney Blake comes running. He didn’t even want to take Vance as his own anymore, the only one he needed was Finney. But, if he won’t come himself, Albert figures he’ll just have to make him. It’ll all work out. Finney Blake just needs a little push. Or a big one. It doesn't matter, it will happen one way or another.

He pulls his mask on and gets ready to head outside into his van. However, he is interrupted by both the sound and sight of cop cars and sirens outside of his house. Shit.

They knock on his door, and he runs. He’s not sure where in his house he can hide, but he has to figure it out soon. They’re already trying to bust his door down, and he hasn’t even made it past his living room. That fucking bitch! He curses in his head. Why would his boy do this? He thought he was past being a naughty boy, but apparently not. He can hear his door forcefully burst open, and he is immediately swarmed by about five cops.

That stupid, naughty boy! His head screams at him as they run towards him. Albert Shaw had made it halfway down his stairs that lead to his basement, but apparently it’s not that hard to find. He punches the first guy across the face. He falls. The body really is great when undergoing an adrenaline rush. The next guy tries to tackle him, but he slams his head into a wall. The next cop, some woman with blonde curly hair tasers him, and he falls to his knees in agony. She walks towards him and he grabs her ankle, knocking her down his stairs. He tries to get up to push her into his basement and lock her in there, but the last cop hits him on the head. With what, he doesn’t know. He does know that it hurts.

The blonde woman gets up and pushes him down so he’s on his stomach, wrestling his hands behind his back. He somehow manages to kick her somewhere, probably her face, if the familiar crack of a nose breaking has anything to say, and he gets up. His knees are wobbly, but he manages to punch the other cop in the face. It’s weak, not nearly good enough to do much damage, but before he can get another chance, he’s knocked back down.

He goes down with a scream, the taser hitting his neck.

“You bitch!” He yells at the woman who gets back on top of him. It doesn't deter her one bit as she handcuffs him.

“Up.” She commands, her voice firm and cold. “You are under arrest for stalking, kidnapping, and attempted murder. Everything you say can and will be used against you in court of law.”

He scoffs, but the feeling of cold metal being pressed against his head encourages him to as she says. He still has a chance of getting his boy.

They walk out with him roughly, having to practically drag him out of his house. Outside, there are two other cop cars, and the front row in the first one is his.

There he is, in all of his fucked up, safe glory, is Finney Blake. Staring at him as some kind of taunt.

He stares back. He will take what is his, and he will do anything to accomplish it.

Finney Blake bends down, and he can’t help but feel satisfied with the retching sounds emitting from the car. That bitch will get it.

Albert Shaw wakes up to the ear-grating sound of metal bars banging and something stomping on the floor. His back is pressed up against a cold wall, and takes him a second to do anything.

“Huh?” He mutters. His head hurts, and he can’t yet tell his left from right.

“Wake the fuck up, you piece of shit.” Something yells at him. No, someone. Not just anyone, though. He opens his eyes. It’s Finney Blake.

“What did you just say to me?” Albert asks. He thought Finney liked him, why is he being so mean? He enjoys seeing the fear creep into his boy’s eyes. It’s a nice refresher. “You may want to ask a bit nicer, you wouldn’t want anyone thinking you’re a naughty boy, would you, Finney Blake?”

The boy, his boy does nothing but stares. He laughs, inching closer to Finney. “ It’s so adorable you think that your little glares scare me anymore. I will admit, you surprised me at first, but now I get it. We’ve been given a second chance-”

“Shut the fuck up.” He is rudely interrupted by Finney, a gun pointed at his head once again. He’s not scared. Not yet, anyway. Still, he stops moving. A gun is a gun, and you can never be too careful.

“Are you sure you know how to use that? We wouldn’t want you hurting yourself, now would we?” He asks, tilting his head. If Finney Blake wants to play around with a gun, he might as well play as well. How did he even get his hands on a gun? He thought he was done being a naughty boy.

The gun goes off, and Albert Shaw screams. That little shit just shot him! His hands come up to cup his ear.

“Next time, it won’t be just your ear.” His boy tells him.

“You bitch!” He screams at him. Is he even his boy anymore? His boy would never do something like this!

Finney Blake points the gun back to the center of his forehead, and he cannot recall a time he was more upset. How dare that fucker just assume he can do something like this and get away with it?! The monster that has taken over his beautiful boy creeps into the door of his cell, and opens. How the hell did he end up with the keys? It doesn’t matter. The monster enters the cage that he is now trapped in, and he feels nothing more than a man.

The look in Finney Blake’s eye is borderline psychotic, and he knows nothing will be able to save him now. As the boy continues to inch closer to him, he can do nothing but feverishly back away until he is back to back with the cold wall on which he fell asleep upon. 

The gun is pressed to his head, but it does not go off. He feels his mask gets ripped off his face, and he rushes to hide his face.

His fingers are stomped on, a sickening crack filling the air. He tries to scream, but the barrel of the gun is shoved down his throat.

“There is no one coming to save you,” Finney whispers in his ear as he kneels on his knees. “Scream all you want, the only person it will inconvenience is me.” Albert Shaw can feel the tear drops from Finney Blakes's eyes drop onto his shoulder, and yet, the fact he is crying does not soothe him one bit. “You are a pathetic man.” He spits. “You deserve a pathetic death.” He gets up and kicks him in the stomach.

Albert tries to do something, anything, but Finney Blake refuses to relent. Now that he is on the ground, he stomps on his face. Another sickening crunch fills the air, blood pouring from his nose profusely. He still does not stop. The stomps and kicks show no sign of stopping, and Albert feels as if he can pinpoint the exact moment his head starts bleeding.

Finney Blake gets down on all fours, props him against the wall, and shoots him in the dick. He screams out in pain, the monster immediately punching him across the face and shoves the gun down his throat once more.

“Can you shut the fuck up? Take it like a man.” He hits him across the head with the gun.

The monster finally stands up, leaving a bleeding and broken down man in his wake. Albert Shaw thought that this was the end of it. He was wrong.

Finney Blake shoots him in the head, and everything goes blank.