That Girl

"No, dad," Finley said with a sigh. "I'm just staying over because we're going to watch movies."

"Watch movies, huh? I was a teenager, too, Fin."

She rolled her eyes. "No shit."

"I'm not comfortable with this, Finley--"

"Dad," she interrupted while shaking her head. "I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"I'm not worried about you, Fin, I'm--"

"You're worried about Alex. Yeah, I know. I'm pretty sure this is a speech that just…spawns in a parent's head the minute they become a parent or something," she told him. "But I'm still going to stay over. I just wanted to let you know."

Robert sighed on the other end of the phone. "Fine. Be careful."

"Always. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Love you."

"I love you, too, dad," she said quietly before hanging up her phone. With a sigh she ran her hands over her hair and walked back into the pizza place, taking her spot across from Alex.

"Good talk?"

Finley's eyebrows rose slightly. "Hmm?"

"With your dad?"

"Oh, yeah," she said with a nod.

Alex took a drink of his Coke. "Does he want me to take you home after dinner?"

She shook her head. "No, uh. I told him that I might not be home tonight."

"You have plans?"

Finley shrugged lightly. "It's possible."

Alex smiled. "I think you should stay with me tonight."

"Okay, Romeo," Finley said with a light scoff, rolling her eyes.

"I mean it! I--"

"Hey, Lex."

Alex paused, looking up at Jack who had walked in with Luka. "Hey, Jack. What's going on?"

"Didn't expect to see you here," Jack said, eyes landing on Finley, "especially with her."

Finley bit back a comment, though she really didn't know why.

Alex shrugged. "We're just…hanging out."

"Of course you are."

Alex's eyes narrowed. "Jack, don't."

"Weren't you going to give up and move on since it's clear she's not interested in you?" Jack asked him.

"Jack--"

"Back off, Barakat," Finley said.

"Don't even bother, Finley," Jack said with a shrug. "I'm just curious. See, the last time Alex and I talked, he was done with you."

"Well, the last time Alex and I talked, which was about two seconds ago, he wasn't. Now, I'm done with this conversation--"

"I'm not," Jack told her.

"I don't fucking care if you are or not," Finley snapped.

Alex sighed. "Jack, just go."

"Alex--"

"No, I will," she told him. "I'm not playing these fucking games. I don't have the time or the energy for them."

"Finley--"

She held up a hand to cut him off before standing from the booth and walking out of the pizza place.

Alex sighed. "Dammit, Jack," he muttered.

"I'm helping you out, bro. You'll see that later," Jack told him with a shrug.

Alex pulled out his wallet and threw some bills onto the table, telling himself he would text Lisa later to apologize for running off, before following Finley out of the building. "Finley!"

"I don't even want to hear it, Gaskarth," she told him, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

Alex sighed and took the phone from her hands. "Talk to me."

"About what?" she asked.

"I don't…I don't know," he admitted with a shrug.

Finley crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you done with me?"

"I…I thought I was. But then you came over and… I don't know," he told her.

"And what does that even mean anyway?" she snapped.

Alex sighed. "I've liked you from day one, Fin. And up until today, I didn't think you liked me back," he said with another shrug. "I'm not good with reading people's feelings, okay? You could be an open book in front of me and I still wouldn't understand you. But you're not. You're too fucking complex and complicated and. I don't even know what to make of half the shit you say. You're frustrating and unpredictable. And I never know what's going to happen. And I wanted to give up because I'm not going to chase after someone who doesn't want to be caught, you know?"

Finley bit at her lip. She wasn't used to someone spilling their guts to her…at all. And even if that wasn't technically what Alex was doing, it sure felt that way. She sighed. "I don't know what you want me to say, Alex."

"I want you to say…that you want to be caught," he said quietly.

"I'm not a prize."

"Yes, you are."

She sighed. "No, I mean in the…competition way, you know?"

"I know. And you are," he repeated.

Finley ran her hands over her face.

"Say you'll be my girlfriend. So we can skip over all this bullshit," he told her. "Skip over all this liking each other and not really knowing if the other person likes you back. Skip over all this questioning and just…be together. What do you say?"

"I can't do this," Finley said, shaking her head. "I have to go," she told him before turning around to walk away again.

"I have your phone."

"I can buy another."

Alex sighed. "Dammit, Finley, you can't run away from all of your problems! Is that why you left Texas? Running from something else?" he asked.

Finley froze in place, her jaw set, and she turned around to face him. "What did you say?"

"I didn't stutter, and I know you're not hard of hearing, so I'm not going to repeat myself," he told her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You do not get to judge my current actions based on my past. A past, need I remind you, that you know nothing about."

"You're not denying it."

"I'm not running from anything, Alex," Finley told him. And, okay it was kind of a lie. Technically, well, she was running from some people. But, well, she wasn't the type to run from her problems. Well, not all the time. But this time, it was different…wasn't it?

"You're running from me. You've been running from me since day one. And I know it's not because you're scared of me--"

"I'm not scared of anything," she interrupted him.

Alex smiled softly. "I get it--you're fearless."

She could've sworn that she heard bitterness in his tone but she ignored it.

"Finley…" he said with a sigh. "C'mon."

Finley bit her lip again. "I'm not the girlfriend type."

"How do you know that?"

"I've never had a boyfriend."

"That doesn't mean you're not the girlfriend type. It means--"

"Most other guys give up," she told him. "Why the fuck couldn't you just give up like Jack said?"

Alex shrugged, walking over to her. "Because I'm different. And I want you to see that…it's not a bad thing."

"Alex--"

"I'm not going to use you. I don't know what other guys have done, Fin, but I know I'm not like them. Let me prove it to you."