#okay these tags r long enough soz

[punkbeetleart]

I drew Sir Morpheus Sandman and i dont think i ever posted it here so here ya go

[bigfan-fanfic]

Im super interested in your idea of reader being a District 12 Mentor and being the only person ol lovely Haymitch trusts 👀👀 i wld like to request at least one fic pls sir 🙏🙏

Like, I imagine R also won through some way that the President Snow took as "rebellion", and faced the same tragedy as Haymitch. I personally love the idea of R being a gatherer before being reaped, and they had developed a prior immunity to the same poison berries that Katniss & Peeta ate, just from (accidentally?) eating them several times,, kinda like exposure therapy lol. Maybe R won by befriending everyone and getting them to eat the berries. Pseudo-pacifist victor? Lmao

Haymitch and R tag-team mentoring the tributes from District 12, and even though none of them make it out of the arena alive , R keeps mentoring even when Haymitch gives up hope, bc he wants them to have a fighting chance. Id love to see some sort of "get it together, dammit" talk

You dont need to include anything from this if you want lol, this is just my own HCs. Id love anything from you, my good sir! Soz for the long ask akdbdksn

Okay so sorry for this taking so long to respond but I love this idea! Nightlock berries probably wouldn't be a great fit since they're intensely poisonous and entirely fatal. Also this ended up turning into a full-blown fic here all on its own so take this as just backstory for the Mentor!reader lol

But okay, so like, Haymitch and the Mentor being like, terse allies at first. Probably the Mentor has been a victor for around 16 or 17 years, the winner of the 58th Hunger Games. Is probably like ten years younger than Haymitch. But like imagine getting Reaped and this 24 year-old man ends up deciding that you're probably not going to win. He's still handsome and muscular, although he's started to get a beer gut and his gray eyes have started to dull. He's been a victor for 8 years now. He's seen 16 kids die and felt the guilt of their deaths. He might even have been your first crush. And you get to the Capitol, scared out of your wits... and when he starts helping the girl you came to the Capitol with, you know that you're completely alone in this world. He gives you token support, but you know he's already picked who he'll support.

It's almost freeing, in a way. Knowing that you have no chance. There's no fear anymore for you. You glut on the Capitol's rich food, enjoying whatever you can of life's sparse pleasures before it is all taken from you. You laugh with Caesar Flickerman and his perma-grin (this year his suit and hair are dyed a vibrant green) and... you establish yourself as a personality. The Capitol likes you because you have charm. Wit. Serenity. You barely even mention the Games in your interview, which charms the citizens, and makes your opposition nervous about your nonchalance.

You dart into the rocky savannah landscape at first sound of the horn, escaping the Cornucopia bloodbath - but your next move shocks the viewers - you immediately call out to the District 4 boy who charged off in the same direction as you, and you wave for him to follow you. He's so confused - he has no idea what you're trying to do, but you simply raise your hands and say he can kill you if he wants... but wouldn't you two do better together? He knows he brings nothing to the alliance - he's not prepared for this landscape, he excels at fishing, not foraging in a dry grassland, but he knows he has no better options.

You charm a District 7 girl into joining the alliance and the three of you take the Capitol by storm, and the Gamemakers by surprise. You win their loyalty by forging food on days when your foraging and hunting runs short - your glutting at the Capitol gave you just enough extra body fat to be comfortable. She comes up with the idea to call each other by District number. To avoid getting attached. Eventually it becomes certain that they have to take the three of you to the end because even though none of you have actually killed anyone, and even though you flee at any sign of combat, your genuine friendship is just so compelling - and the President must ensure that it is seen to be divided when all the chips are down. District 7 and 4 send sponsor gifts to the three of you - Haymitch sends you nothing, until your counterpart from 12 appears in the sky.

Four likes to read whatever he can get his hands on when he isn't on the fishing boats. He likes the color green so much his older brother made him a bracelet from it. He gives you that bracelet one night, hand holding yours as though it's the only thing that exists. Seven whittles little figures for her little sisters. Her eyes go dull when she mentions her youngest sister has started to play Hunger Games with them. She was going to be married, she mentions. To a girl. Their families were both merchants and it would have helped them lower prices for the poorer in their District.

The Careers hunt you down, they kill the boy from 4 before turning on each other like wild dogs, and you and the girl from 7 make it to a rocky plateau just before the sky opens up and floods the entire savannah, making a beautiful setpiece for a final confrontation. You never learned his name. Even when they tell you later his name is Adon, you still think of him as Four.

She'll kill you, you have no doubt of that. The boy from 4 kissed you in the night, under a blanket where the cameras couldn't see. Whispered words of love under artificial stars and could barely keep from touching you, wanting as much contact as possible, knowing one of you would be gone in a matter of days. He might have spared you, forced the Gamemakers to intervene.

She won't. She has no choice. Her district, her girlfriend, her sisters - all are counting on her. She can't swim, and you aren't sure you can do well in this flood. There will be no running.

And then you tell her your name. Her eyes go dull. She hefts her spear and screams at you. Orders you to fight. Begs you to. Because she knows that if she kills you, if you don't defend yourself, it doesn't matter anymore. That she will always think of it as murder.

Before you can stop her she turns and throws herself into the water. Two minutes pass before the final cannon rings, and everything feels far away when they call your name and say the word Victor.

You could hate Haymitch for how he treated you but you feel so empty inside. You can't even cry. After you are checked out, your fluids and nutrients replenished, your scars erased, all you can do is just put your face into Haymitch's neck and let him hold you. You can't sob. You can't scream. The only thing you do is shake, violently and jerkily, as he tries to hold you still. Tears will come later. Sobs and screams and nightmares and this empty feeling will never really seem to go away.

And it doesn't end. You become the tribute who never threw a single blow, a legend in the capitol and a warning for the Gamemakers not to let it happen again. Your wit and charm again save you - you are beloved of the Capitol and of Caesar and they don't want to let you go. There are cries to make you a commentator at the next Games, but you're only turning sixteen and you've experienced things that would destroy someone twice your age. You are not unpunished. Like Haymitch before you, they kill everyone you've ever loved. Everyone else distances themselves from you. You are alone.

Except for Haymitch. Over the next 16 years you both are mentors for the tributes from Twelve. And you see him drink more, his cynicism turn to bitterness. You watch him as he gives up. When you turn twenty you move to the Capitol instead, living there, attending parties, returning to Twelve only to collect the tributes. You hate it there. Everything is grey. Everyone has given up.

In the Capitol there is vibrancy, there is life. There are people you can charm and outwit and bend to your will so that they'll give fortunes to save the kids you desperately try to keep alive. As long as Haymitch picks first you don't feel as guilty - you're just protecting the one left behind, not trying to indirectly kill off 23 other children. In a way you've given up, too. Maybe you gave up back when Haymitch first abandoned you. Maybe when Four died - you still wear his bracelet every day. Maybe when you and Haymitch lost both your tributes at the Cornucopia - you remember having to wash the vomit out of Haymitch's hair after the bender he went on that time. You don't drink. Maybe you're disgusted with him. Maybe you just want to punish yourself by never allowing your senses to be dulled to the pain.

Effie collects you from your apartment to prepare to make the journey to Twelve and you spend a moment checking that you're still you. And there, under the decade and a half of age and worry, under the silken suit with its neon trim, under the shakiness of your hands that has never left since you returned to District Twelve to find your mother's mouth overflowing with white rose petals and her hands filled with nightlock berries, under it all, it's still you. A sixteen-year-old pacifist who still thinks they could die at any moment. Because you've never really left the arena, have you? Every day is still a fight for survival, and not just for you.

Ladies and gentlemen, let the 74th Annual Hunger Games commence.

[tinycaprisun]

✨twenty questions✨

i was tagged by @freshlysqueezedmox !!! thanks summer i always get good and in my feelings when someone’s tags me in things 🧡

—

1. what do you prefer to be called name-wise?

uh, liz is cool but really u can call me anything, like i’ll respond to bastard if u yell it loud enough

2. when is your birthday?

february 29th & yes i am not joking i was born on leap year and my day of birth only exists once every 4 years

3. where do you live?

in super mega ultra hell. is that meme already dead bc idk i like the verbiage of it lmao- no but for real i live in missouri, and there isn’t much to do other than stare at a giant hunk of curved metal and eat barbecue that the locals tell u is the best thing since sliced bread & maybe it is i just don’t like it myself ahaha

4. three (3) things you are doing right now?

aside from answering this? well listening to 9 to 5 by dolly parton bc yeehaw, petting my cat who’s curled up on my foot, and slowly waiting for the day to end

5. four (4) fandoms that have peaked your interest?

oh god there r too many to count but as of rn? probs wrestling, buzzfeed unsolved, rupaul’s drag race & just drag in general, and achievement hunter

6. how has the pandemic been treating you?

um... if you would like the honest answer, not great... i lost my job in august so i haven’t been employed for a few months now. my dad hasn’t been making the money he used to so i’ve started helping paying the bills w/ the funds i had saved for going back to college from when i did have that job. sort of become a recluse again, where i almost never leave the house outside of small trips to the store or the literal once in a blue moon going and social distantly see a friend. it’s basically the life i lived in early 2019 while i’m very lonely all the time while trying to solve the problems of my family as the same time? whatever who cares i’m moving on

7. a song you can’t stop listening to right now?

oddly enough, ‘positions’ by ariana grande! i don’t listen to her all that often but for some reason this song really stuck to me! i especially like the versions of it where it’s slowed down and had reverb!

8. recommend a movie?

this might be out of left field, but ‘motocrossed’! it’s one of those disney channel original movies that i grew up with and it’s still pretty good to this day! the movie’s about (and this is in the words of the legendary nakeyjakey) girls pretending to be boys so they can ride dirt bikes

9. how old are you?

20!

10. school, university, occupation, other? 

as i said before i am now unemployed. and before that i did try to go to university once but failed out of all my classes due to never going to them because i couldn’t force myself to get out of bed. i want to go back to school so fucking bad for secondary education physics as a practical career. but recently i’ve been teasing the idea of becoming a ring announcer because my voice was build to shout really loud, but who knows, u know?

11. do you prefer heat or cold?

cold 100% bc i cannot function in environments above 75° (fahrenheit). like it can be -7° outside and i’ll be pleased as punch but as soon as it gets up there in temp? i melt like a popsicle

12. name one fact others may not know about you.

i used to be a gymnast! did all the flipping and the balance beam stuff & maybe thinking abt doing it again. idk i just want to do a backflip and have cool muscles

13. are you shy?

it kinda depends? i can be the most loud and unabashed son of a bitch if i want to, but sometimes i do get into my own head and go silent and nervous.

14. preferred pronouns

she/her and they/them! and they r not “preferred”, they r my pronouns! :D

15. biggest pet peeve?

okay this isn’t as profound or interesting as summer’s was, but people who scrape their forks against their teeth! it is one the worst sounds known to man and it hurts my already messed up ears

16. what is your favorite “dere” type? 

tsundere? i think? sure, i’ll go with that

17. rate your life from 1-10, 1 being crappy, 10 being the best it could be. 

5, and this calvin and hobbes comic explains why

18. what is your main blog?

this. she’s been through a lot and i feel sorry for her honestly

19. list your side blogs and what they’re used for. 

i used to have separate blogs a LONG time ago for art and writing, but as it turns out i’m shit at both so they got deleted and this is all i have now

20. is there something people need to know about you before becoming friends? 

if we aren’t counting the fact that i’m an asshole, i would say that i have the worst tendency to delete messages i send after a while. basically my brain goes into panic mode if someone isn’t responding back thinking “ur annoying them, they don’t want to talk to u. u should delete what u sent because u should have never of said anything in the first place! only speak when spoken to!” u know, the usual.

—

certified and honorary cowboys i’m tagging: @orangechuckiet @darbs @yellow----daisy @trent-heel-beretta and anyone else who would like to participate i realize this is over a day old, soz for bothering y’all

[lurkernolonger]

B for Bollocks (1/2)

Hello! I’ve been lurking at the edges of the MMFD fic tag for much too long, so I’ve finally decided to leave my shadowy corner and venture out into the light. The blinding, extremely intimidating light. Every emu I’ve encountered has been nothing but lovely, but that doesn’t stop the doubt from creeping in and unpacking it’s bullshit. Especially as of late, since there has been a plethora of amazing stories gracing my dashboard (looking at you @how-ardently @slitherouter @rinnship @kneekeyta @madfatty @hey1tskat1e  @crystalgiddings1993 @emmatationsforall (and that’s not even everyone!)).

This is my first dabble in writing and if I’m being generous I am about 27% confident in it, so I am basically throwing this out there and running away. Story is a season 1-esque AU and will be a two parter. @mmfdfanfic

Finn shuffles past the green doors of The Swan with a heavy sigh. Keeping his eyes trained on his boots, he makes a beeline for the bar, completely unaware of the greedy stares from a table of girls in the corner. Waiting for his pint, he finally moves his eyes to the table near the jukebox, where he knew the gang would be sat. Well, the gang minus one. Rae.

Finn was well aware that she had a shift at the record shop which meant she would be last to arrive, which in turn meant he wasn’t in any hurry. He’d been antsy to get down there all day to see her but his dad had been on his back about yard work; even going as far as to threaten to play his 70s soft rock tunes at top volume next time Rae was over if Finn didn’t get it done. He shuddered at the thought, then bit his lip to stop the grin that came with the image of Rae’s likely reaction: furrowed brows, turned up nose, slightly parted kissable lips. He could practically see the fire dancing in her eyes and hear her cheeky comment of how he’d “definitely inherited his dad’s taste in crap music”. Another feeling, this time in his stomach, came to him when he thought about how he would drag her upstairs where they’d lie side by side on his bed listening to records.

Finn glanced at his watch, contemplating if he still had time to sprint down to the shop. He could just look around in the last few minutes of her shift and then walk her back to the pub. But it was five to and by the time he ran there he would probably be a sweaty mess. No, not a good idea. He did not need her to see him like that. Rae made him nervous enough without the added worry of BO.

“Oi, Finn!” Chop’s voice broke through the pub and Finn looked over to see him waving both arms like some blimmin’ air traffic conductor. Finn nodded in his direction, taking another sip of his pint before ambling over. “Took yas long enough, knobhead! Need another lad to outnumber these two and their girly talk” Chop jerked a thumb in Chloe and Izzy’s direction. Finn chuckled, taking out his tobacco tin and papers. If the girls were on about something, he definitely needed a rollie.

“Oh please, Chop. You talk about girls in front of us all the time!” Chloe huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Hearing you lot go on about how blue a bloke’s eyes are is not drinking talk, alrigh’?” Chop grumbled, his eyes shooting to Izzy for a second before he knocked back the rest of his beer.

“You know, all blue eyed people can be traced back to one caveman” Archie said matter of factly, pushing his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose.

“So you and Chop are related then?” Izzy asked seriously.

“For fucks sake! Boys and history! Finn mate, save me” Chop begged. Finn just shook his head and laughed while he lit up his smoke. “Jesus. Where the hell is Raemundo when you need her? I swear she’s the only fun one ‘round here.”

Rae. Now that is a subject Finn was willing to chime in on. “She’ll be here soon, mate. Her shift just ended.” He couldn’t help but smile.

“I wonder if she’ll bring Brandon with her” Izzy said to the whole table. Finn immediately scowled. Brandon? Who the fuck is Brandon? And why the hell would Rae be bringing him?

“Oh God, I hope so Iz. They seemed pretty chummy earlier” Chloe said excitedly, flicking her hair over her shoulder. Earlier? Chummy? Finn had definitely missed something.

“I’ll shout the next round. Give us a hand, Arch” Finn got up and Archie followed him to the bar. Finn glanced back at the table to make sure that the others couldn’t hear before leaning closer to Archie. Giving the room a glance to seem nonchalant, he asked “Who’s Brandon?”

Archie looked over his shoulder at the table then back to Finn. “Just a bloke who started working at the record shop. The girls went to see Rae earlier and she was training him.” Finn just nodded, knocking the bar a few times with a fist he hadn’t realized he’d made. Archie gave Finn a tight lipped smile. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, mate”

“Worry? Why would I worry? Means nowt to me” Finn shrugged and pulled at his ear lobe. Archie gave him a knowing look but didn’t say anything else.

They had been sat at the table for almost an hour, Finn silently counting the minutes and nursing his pint. He kept glancing up every time the doors swung open, waiting for a flash of dark hair and pale skin. Rae was late, which was odd, and Finn couldn’t help but wonder why. He was beginning to worry when he heard the latch on the door and his head snapped up for what felt like the hundredth time that afternoon. Finally. Rae. Fear creased her brows for a second until she spotted them and smiled. Finn felt that all too familiar tug of happy nerves in first his stomach and then his chest; which was punctuated further by the fact that she was alone. He moved down on the bench, making a spot for her right next to him. Finn opened his mouth to greet her but was cut off by Chop’s boisterous exclamation.

“About time, baby girl! I was about to send out a sexy search party!”

“Hiya” Rae gave the table a small wave and slid in next to Finn, leaving a sizable gap between them which he immediately closed. He pressed his thigh against hers which made her look up at him and he gave her a sheepish grin as a hello.

“Where ya been, Rae?” Izzy asked as she chewed on the straw of her alcopop.

“Yeah your shift ended ages ago” Chloe added.

“Soz, mum! I had to stay a bit later to show the new guy how to close”

Finn hid his smile behind his pint glass. New guy. Didn’t even call him by his name. Mr. Blue eyes may be memorable to some, but not Rae.

“God, I’d show him how to close any day” Chloe offered suggestively, moving her brows up and down quickly.

“Yeah you said as much earlier, Chlo. Right in earshot of him too” Rae rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“So did he ask about me then?” It was Finn’s turn to roll his eyes. Chloe always thought every guy was after her.

“Er…we didn’t really speak about anything but work”

“Did you ask him to the pub?” Izzy asked, which earned her a confused look from Chop.

“Nah. He mentioned earlier that he had footy after his shift”

“Well did you ask where he plays, babe? Maybe we could go watch” Chloe practically bounced in her seat.

“Nope” Rae shrugged, and Finn had to suppress a relieved sigh before taking a gulp of his drink. “But he walked me over here, so probably close by.”

Finn choked on his beer. He spluttered and coughed, and when Rae reached to pat him on the back he knew he was beet red. “M'fine” he mumbled at the concerned faces of the table. He glanced at Archie who gave him a grimace.

“So what do you think of him then?” Chloe pressed on.

“I don’t know! He’s alright, I guess. We literally just met” Rae’s voice was laced with frustration at Chloe’s questioning, but her cheeks seemed slightly pinker. Finn would know, he spent enough time staring at her to notice any minute change.

“Enough o’ this talk,” Chop interrupted, pounding on the table with a fist. “We have better things to discuss!”

Thank you, Chopper Finn thought. As Chop went on about driving out to Rutlands at the weekend, Finn moved his finger to Rae’s thigh. B-A-R? She smiled softly at him and nodded, and they both slipped off the bench. He followed behind her, admiring the swish of her hair across her back as she walked, shoving his hands in his pocket so he wouldn’t reach out and stroke it. Rae leaned against the wall, facing the table while Finn hunched over the counter.

“How was work?”

“Okay. Thought you were gonna stop by?”

“I wanted to, but my dad was on it about chores”

“Too bad. We got some new reggae in. I know how much you like that toss” Rae smirked at him and Finn had to grip the wood top to stop from kissing it off her stupid pretty face. He ordered their drinks from the bar man and nodded his head to the tune coming from the jukebox. The silence between them that was usually so comfortable felt heavy, and Finn knew he had to ask.

“So…new guy at the shop?”

“God you’re not interested in him too, are you?” Rae teased, throwing her hands up in the air. Finn laughed and shook his head. “He’s just a guy. Don’t know why those two are on about it so much.” She shrugged and turned so she was shoulder to shoulder with him. After a pause she leaned into him slightly, which made him look to her. Their eyes met before she said “he’s just a coworker” and in those four words Finn thought maybe she knew; knew how much he liked her, knew how little he liked the idea of another guy in her life, knew about that skin tingling spark he felt whenever she was close. He was staring at her lips until his view was obstructed by her snakebite, and as he followed her back to the table he made a vow to himself to make a goddamned move.

As it turned out, making a move was impossible when Rae was literally never alone. If it wasn’t Chloe or Izzy giggling away in her ear, it was Chop making her laugh with his crude jokes, or bloody Archie hauling her off to a dark corner to talk about whatever the hell they always had to talk about in private. Rae hadn’t even been over to his in ages – okay, six days but who’s counting – because if they weren’t with the gang she was working at the record shop. He’d visit her as much as he could, but even then she was distracted. The commercial music store on the high street was closed for renovations which meant Town was busier than ever. Much to Finn’s annoyance that meant Rae was either busy with a customer or restocking shelves. He couldn’t even enjoy looking around with the throngs of twittering girls searching fruitlessly for the latest boy band album.

It was a Thursday afternoon and Finn hadn’t seen her in a day and a half and it was doing his head in. He was sitting with Archie in the park, trying to pay attention to his mate’s ramblings, but after the third time Archie had to repeat himself Finn knew the only way his mind would focus was if it was on Rae.

“Fancy going down to the record store?”

“I guess. Rae’s working, yeah?”

“Dunno. Maybe.” She was, and he definitely knew.

Pushing the glass door open, Finn was pleased to find the shop was relatively dull for once. There were only a handful of customers milling about, and it was quiet enough he could make out Parklife playing overhead. He heard a familiar laugh and his head shot up to find it. Rae. She was standing behind the counter price marking CDs. A tall dark haired lad was standing next to her (too close in Finn’s opinion) and Little Al was leaning against the counter talking to them both.

“Alright, lads?” Al yelled across the shop.

Archie waved and Finn merely nodded in greeting, his eyes never leaving Rae. “Alright, girl?” he said as they reached the group.

“Hiya Finn, Arch” she replied, a small smile on her lips. The tall bloke cleared his throat and Rae looked away from Finn and at him. “Guys, this is Brandon. Brandon this is Finn and Archie.”

So this is Brandon. Finn barely acknowledged the lad, while Archie went to shake his hand. Wanker.

“Nice to meet you” Brandon said politely.

“This here is Rae’s ex” Little Al piped up, clapping Archie on the shoulder. The entire group turned their heads to Al, in a collective ‘what the fuck?’ “Just getting the skeletons out the closet now!” Al laughed, hands up in surrender. Finn looked to Rae to find her eyes back down to the CDs, cheeks crimson.

“Ex boyfriend, eh?” Brandon directed at Archie and Finn could swear he saw him bristle, stand a little taller, as he looked Archie over.

“Er..yeah, but we’re just best mates now” Archie shot Rae a supportive smile, which she returned.

Brandon turned his eyes to Finn and Finn had to bite his cheek to not burst out with ‘And I’m her future boyfriend, ya prick’.

“Right, I’m off. Brandon, swing round mine on Saturday, yeah? Big party” Little Al slapped the counter for emphasis.

Brandon shrugged and turned to Rae, “You going?”

“Uh…yeah, we all are”

“If Rae’s going, I’m there” Brandon declared, a big grin on his face, as he swung his arm over Rae’s shoulders. Finn’s hackles rose, hands clenching into fists at his sides. In his mind’s eye he was ripping Brandon’s arm out of it’s socket, but in reality he stood there stunned. Rae rolled her eyes and shook her head, but blushed nonetheless.

“RAE” Finn hadn’t even realized he spoke out, loudly at that, until everyone was looking at him. He cleared his throat and said in a quieter voice, “you said you were gonna show me some new stuff?” He motioned with his head towards the other side of the shop.

“Right! This way, sir” she did a little bow to direct him which caused Brandon’s arm to drop from it’s perch and Finn couldn’t help but smirk at him.

“You won’t believe what came in the other day. Don’t tell anyone but I misfiled it so no one would find it” Rae chuckled as she fingered through a box of vinyl.

“Come to mine tonight” Finn blurted. Apparently he had no control over his mouth today. Rae looked stunned at his practical demand; her mouth popped open, eyes searching his face. Finn demurred a bit at her hesitance. He looked down at the random record he’d grabbed and then back at her through his lashes. Once when he looked at her like that she blushed and looked away like maybe it affected her somehow and since then Finn held it in his ‘ways to get to Rae’ arsenal. It must still be a powerful weapon because her apprehensive look morphed into a cheeky smile.

“Why, you miss me Finnley?” Rae leaned over the crate between them and Finn automatically matched her movement, his arms resting centimeters from her hands.

Yes. So much. “Nah, not at all. In fact it was my dad that asked me to get you over” Finn shrugged, feigning nonchalance.

“That right? I guess Gary never did finish telling me about that time you put on your cousin Gemma’s princess outfit. Think he was about to break out the photo album” she replied, a mischievous glint in her eye. Finn glanced down to her lips and wondered for maybe the millionth time what they’d taste like. Whatever the flavour he knew her seeing his awkward childhood photos would be worth it. He opened his mouth to keep the banter going but suddenly Archie was at his side.

“Finn, you about ready? We’re meant to meet Chop soon” Fuck. He had totally forgotten about the stupid action film he’d agreed to see with Chop and the other footy lads.

“Guess I’ll have to bear witness to your embarrassment another time, eh?” Rae nudged his arm. Finn couldn’t help how his face fell.

“Tomorrow?” he asked hopefully.

“Eager for me to shame you then?” She chuckled. “But I’m working all day and then I have to do some stuff for my mum. I’ll see you Saturday at Al’s?”

“Yeah I guess” he replied glumly.

Finn hadn’t noticed Brandon standing on the other side of Rae until he spoke up. “So you’re free tonight then, Rae?”

Three pairs of eyes looked over at Brandon; one surprised, one wary, and one throwing daggers. “Um, yeah. I guess so”

“Maybe we should do something then”

Now all eyes were on Rae. She looked extremely uncomfortable and shuffled in place a bit before finally saying “Erm..okay. If you want to,” she shrugged.

Brandon beamed and nodded before saying “I really do.”

Finn felt his stomach drop to somewhere around his ankles. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to vomit or scream but he knew for certain the urge to rip any and all limbs off Brandon was in the forefront. His face must have betrayed his violent thoughts because he felt a conciliatory hand on his shoulder and turned to see Archie looking at him sympathetically.

“We better go. Rae I’ll ring you later, yeah?” Archie broke the palpable tension.

“Sure, Arch. Have fun at the cinema.”

Finn wouldn’t let himself read into the disappointed lilt in her voice. Instead he gave her a tight smile and turned to leave. Pausing by the shop window he allowed himself one glance back only to see Brandon standing in the spot he just vacated, body leaned towards Rae as she laughed at something he’d said.

They weren’t dating. Finn had heard so enough times from a scoffing Chloe, but they could have fooled him. Since the party three weeks ago, Brandon was always around. Specifically around Rae. That meant that Finn’s time with her had significantly decreased, along with his mood. It was blindingly clear that Brandon fancied her, and Finn was starting to worry that Rae felt the same. They’d show up at the pub together after work, or leave early if they both had a morning shift the next day. And if they weren’t off working together, they were talking about work; about the awful album someone bought, or the creepy bloke with the equally creepy mustache who only bought a CD if it had a half naked woman on the cover. It didn’t help that Chop, the pillock, kept making sly remarks about the two of them “sneaking off to do naughty things”; while Archie, the know it all, kept giving Finn apologetic looks. Not to mention Izzy and Chloe finding Brandon exceedingly charming, inviting him to every party and outing. Traitors, the lot of them.

Numerous times Finn caught Brandon ogling Rae’s chest when she wasn’t looking, or clocked him touching the ends of her hair as his arm rested on the back of her seat. It made Finn queasy, especially since it gave him a glimpse of what he probably looked like to an outsider; some eager puppy pawing for attention.

But when Rae walked into the pub, alone for once, everything inside Finn said fuck it, be whatever you have to be. He practically ran back to the table to pull out a chair for her. She greeted the gang and sat down next to him and he actually sighed when their arms touched. Chloe and Izzy were already babbling away to her about their dance class, so Finn reached out and rested his hand on Rae’s thigh. She twitched at the contact but he felt her relax almost immediately. He didn’t actually know what to write, just jumped at the chance to touch her again, so he drummed his fingers absently as he thought. After a few seconds her hand grasped his fingers, halting their movement.

She released her grip and wrote T-I-C-K-L-E-S on the back of his hand and he literally watched the goosebumps rise on his skin.

S-O-R-R-Y he traced.

I-T-S-O-K her finger replied, this time on his leg.

M-I-N-E, he paused. He had half a mind to end it there, but kept going. L-A-T-E-R-? He looked at her face and she was looking back at him confused. He reached over to explain, T-E-A-+-R-E-C-O-R-D-S

Her whole body seemed to breathe a relaxed sigh before she wrote S-U-P-P-O-S-E. Finn noticed her lips quirk at the corners and he had to fight off his own face breaking grin.

S-N-A-K-E-B-I-T-E-? He could have easily just written ‘drink’ but four more letters meant four more reasons to feel her beneath his fingertip.

P-L-E-A-S-E

He gave her thigh a quick squeeze before getting up to grab her order.

As he made his way back, pints in hand, he looked up to see the girls leaned over the table. Chloe had her hand at Rae’s neck, while Izzy looked on with bright eyes. Finn sat down to see they were fawning over a necklace.

“This is what you were telling me about, babe?” Chloe asked excitedly.

Rae tried to nod, but the hold Chloe had on her stopped her from moving too far. “It’s thoughtful, right?”

“Thoughtful? Rae this is mint!” Chloe exclaimed, examining it closer.

“Yeah Rae, that is dead nice. Like proper jewelry” Izzy added.

Rae blushed and leaned away so the necklace fell from Chloe’s grasp, and that’s when Finn saw it. It was a fine chain with a round pendant. Definitely real gold, like Izzy said. But it’s what was engraved on it that made his mouth go dry and his stomach twist. B. A fucking capital initial B. B for Bollocks. B for Bastard. B for fucking Brandon. Finn just knew it was from him.

“What’s this all about then?” Chop asked from the end of the table, craning his head to try to see the necklace.

“It’s nothing” Rae said, quickly tucking the necklace back under her shirt.

“That is definitely not nothing, Rae! Something like that must have cost him a fortune!” Chloe explained.

“Wait, what are we talking about?” Archie questioned, placing his arms on the table.

“Nothing! Just a gift. Can we move on?” Rae turned red at all the attention, while Finn went ghostly white.

This can’t be fucking happening. They’re not together. Everyone says they’re not together. Chloe. Archie. But now she’s walking around with a necklace that practically brands her? Finn thought he might spew the three pints he had swimming in his belly. His mind was drowning in a volatile mix of anger, disappointment, hurt, and regret. He practically saw the months he’d spent pining for her crumble away, along with the wasted worry over building up the courage to stop spelling out drink orders and write what he really wanted to say: I-LIKE-YOU-AN-ALMOST-UNHEALTHY-AMOUNT. He had stupidly been imagining this elaborate romantic story line for them in his head; best mates turned lovers who can’t help but pounce on each other as their favourite band played a soundtrack in the background just for them. 50% of the time he thought she knew, while another 50% of him was sure there was some kind of hope. Clearly he was 100% wrong. And now she was wearing another bloke’s necklace.

He hadn’t realized that he stood up from the table until the rough scrape of the chair on the floor brought all eyes to him. “I-I gotta go.”

“Wait, Finn…” Archie started to stand.

“I’ll just see you later, Arch.”

“Oi! Your pint’s still full!” Chop gestured with his own glass.

“Finn?” Rae placed a hand on his forearm, concern etched into all her features. But he couldn’t take her sympathy, couldn’t fall for the frown on the lips she’s probably been using to snog Brandon, so he shook her off and grabbed for his jacket. “But I thought we-”

“Another time” Finn cut her off and without another glance stormed out of the pub.