Chapter 21: 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐𝟎

BREE

I don’t know when during the movie, I dozed off.

Finn and I watched three movies last night- or more precisely, we used them as background and talked over it, flirting, bickering then staying quiet to watch few minutes of the movie before restarting the cycle.

I wake up on the same spot I was sitting in last night. The only difference is that, I’m laying down with my head resting on Finn’s chest, his arms around me.

I carefully but quickly sit up.

I forgot to text Rose last night.

“Shit,” I mutter and start searching my surroundings to find my phone.

Where is it-

“What are you doing, amore?” Finn’s sleepy voice halts me in my task.

I look at him, his eyes are still closed.

“I can’t find my phone." I say, "I forgot to text Rose, she will be worried.”

Finn lays on his back and slowly opens his eyes, “I already texted her when you fell asleep,”

“Oh,”

He smiles, “good morning,”

“Good morning,” I mutter.

Finn sits up and stretches, throwing his arms up.

I try not to stare but..

He lets out a sigh as his arms drop, “did you sleep okay?”

I nod.

“Good.” he says, “you can go upstairs and use any bathroom, I’ll arrange a change of clothes,”

“Okay, thank you,”

I stand up, grab my bag and coat and go inside, taking the stairs to one of the guest bedrooms.

I go into the bathroom and find all the necessities already present in- toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash- I pull my hair up in a loose bun and fresh up

When I step back in the room, I find a sweatshirt and pants placed on the bed. I quickly change into them and find out that the pants are big on me.

Finn and I are different.

I fold the pants from my waist so it doesn’t fall off me when I walk.

I grab my things and leave the room, going downstairs where I find Finn in the kitchen, cooking. He changed out of the clothes he was wearing last night into a simple sweatshirt and sweatpants.

He turns around when he notices me. A smile grazes his lips as his eyes roam my body.

His gaze is enough to send shivers up my spine.

“My clothes look good on you,” he says, looking back at my face.

“The pants are big but comfortable,” I say, “you might not see this sweatshirt ever again, by the way,”

His smile stays in place, “not a problem,”

I smile in return. Finn tells me to take a seat then goes back to making breakfast, I put my things aside then go to him.

“I can help,” I say, reaching him.

He looks at me, “do you know how to cook?”

“No,” I say, “but I can do other stuff,”

A sly smirk takes over his lips, “such as?”

My cheeks heat at the meaning behind his words and I hit his arm only for him to grin.

“Shut up.” I mutter, “you know what? Cook yourself, I’m not helping you anymore,”

Finn chuckles as I turn around and stomp away from him, I hear him mutter, “cute,”

Instead of sitting around and watching him like a creep, I roam around the area, looking at his shelves.

I come across the picture frames placed on the bottom shelf. The first picture is of a young Finn, around the age of five, hugging a beautiful black haired girl who looks sixteen or seventeen. In the picture, Finn has his usual grin on his face while the girl is laughing, looking beautiful.

“Who’s this?” I ask, pointing at the picture frame and turning towards Finn.

Finn turns around, looks at me then at the picture. His expression changes for a split second then he masks it.

He turns back around and says, “my sister,”

My body freezes.

His sister..

“I didn’t know you had a sister..” I softly say.

“I don’t,” he says, his voice strange, different, “she died when I was eight.”

My lips part, my heart clenches.

Finn never talks about his family. I knew his father had passed away before he moved to New York but I never knew he had a sister, no one ever mentioned it. He didn’t even mention it. All I knew was that his relationship with his mother was complicated.

The room suddenly falls silent. I don’t know what to say to him.

Say something.

I look back at the picture frame and the others beside it. The second one is of Finn, his sister and a man standing by a tree in a park. Finn is in the arms of the man- who I assume is his father- both of them grinning and his sister is standing beside him, smiling.

“Come here.” Finn breaks the silence, I look at him placing the breakfast on the counter table, “Let’s eat.”

I make my way towards him, we take our seats and start eating.

“What.. what happened to her?” I cautiously ask.

“She was sick.”

“Oh,”

Silence.

“What was her name?” I ask.

“Sarah,”

“Pretty name,” I say, “she’s very pretty too,”

Finn hums, keeping his eyes on his food.

We finish the rest of our breakfast quietly, without exchanging any sentences.

Finn takes my dishes and puts them away.

I gather my courage to talk to him. I want to make sure he’s okay.

“Finn.”

“Hm?” he turns to me.

“I’m sorry,”

He stares at me, “what?”

“I’m sorry-”

“For what, amore?”

“I didn’t mean to touch a topic you didn’t want to talk about. I was just.. I don’t know.. Curious.. I..” I trail off.

His face softens, “amore..” he trails off, “you have nothing to apologize for,”

“But you’re acting strange. You went quiet. You’re not you when you’re quiet.”

A small smile grazes his lips, “you did nothing wrong. I just.. I don’t know, I don’t talk about my sister with anyone.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.. It’s hard.” He says, a hint of sadness on his face, “she was everything to me and… then she was gone. I never expected it.”

Finn drags a hand through his hair. He releases a heavy breath but his muscles stay tensed.

I wrap my arms around Finn’s waist and hug him.

“It’s okay,” I say, “you don’t have to talk about it. Not until you’re ready,”

He takes a moment but then I feel his body relax against mine and he hugs back.

“What if it takes me a long time?” he softly asks.

“I’ll wait,” I whisper. I lift my head and lock my eyes with his, “for you, I will,”

He gives me a soft smile before he leans down and kisses me.

I kiss back, parting my lips. He places his hand on my neck to tilt my head higher and deepens the kiss.

A moan escapes through my lips and I feel Finn smile before he pulls away.

“Do you have meetings today?” he asks.

I shake my head. I don’t think I can form any words.

“Good,” he leans in again, “I forgot to show you my room,” he says, then kisses me.

A gasp leaves my mouth when Finn picks me up and carries me to his room.

The tour was long overdue.