‹ Prequel: Burn
Status: Hiatus

Whispers

Within a minute I was all packed up

“Let me guess,” Finn rasped, heading towards the counter, turning to face Rae. The two girls had gone to Starbucks for the morning before Rae head to work and Finn headed to class. “You’re a vanilla frappacino kind of bird.”

Rae grinned, giving her a thumbs up. “Absolutely.”

Over the past two weeks, Rae had learned to absolutely love Finn. The girl was a wild-hearted and absolutely wonderful person. She was kind in every way that a person could be, but her personality was as wild and fiery as her hair. She was a real joy to be around, but she was not unpredictably wild.

In just two weeks time, Rae felt like she knew the girl quite well. And she was glad that she had met her. With the news of Leon’s possible parole, Rae had been stressed and on high alert, and it did not help her that Harry would not let her out of his sight for more than an hour.

Finn and Trystan’s efforts combined had totally relaxed her when she needed it. And as Finn made her way back with their order in hand, Rae felt herself relax again, thanking the red head and sipping her drink, the cold of it making her feel a little better.

“I don’t know how you can drink something so cold when it’s cold out,” Finn laughed, shaking her head and drinking her own, warm coffee. Rae was not a fan of the coffee at the place so much. She thought it rather taste like dirt. “Silly girl.”

“Well I don’t know how you could possibly need coffee to warm you,” Rae retorted, smiling. “With all that fire red hair you’ve got.”

“And so the ginger jokes begin.”

Ever since the Irish girl had joined the small group of friends, the hair jokes had come often, but kindly. Finn was a good spirit, and she took the jokes with a grain of salt. And a lime and tequila, of course, followed by six or seven pints, if she had it her way. The girl drank like a bloody tank.

Sipping their drinks, they talked about childhood memories and casual things. Rae quickly learned all about Finn, and she was glad to find that unlike most of her other friends, Finn had a warm, sound growing up. In this society, it was difficult to find people whose parents were still together or who had grown up with a lovely life.

Finn was lucky, to have that. So many people that Rae knew didn’t have nice quaint lives. Even Rae had been struck with horror when she was young, and who was now going on a rollercoaster of a relationship. Life was hard, and it was nice to see someone who was separate from all of that.

“So you’re dad, he likes Harry?” Finn asked, chewing on her straw. Rae noticed lately that she was a straw chewer, and it reminded Rae not to share drinks with her. It was a quality Harry had as well, and it drove Rae nuts. “Or at least, tolerates him?”

“Yeah, he had this weird change of heart,” Rae explained, frowning as she thought about it. He father had never told her what made him change his mind so suddenly, but she had a sneaking suspicion it was the way Harry was with Lily. That could change anyone’s perspective of him. “It definitely took some trial and error to get where we are now with dad, but I’m glad we are.”

“I know what you mean.” She smiled fondly at a memory, staring at her cup. Rae waited patiently to see what she was going to say. It seemed like Finn had something on the tip of her tongue. “My dad did not like one of my boyfriends either, but I wouldn’t have it. Turns out I should’ve listened to him.”

“Who was he?”

She rolled her eyes, smiling. “This idiot boy name Matthew. He was fond of the other ladies, though.”

“Well, he’s an idiot.”

She smiled fondly. “Thanks, Rae.”

The two girls finished their drinks and head out, Finn in walking one way and Rae walking in another. Rae did not feel like driving, so Finn drove to the coffee shop and Rae only had two blocks or so from there, hurrying in the brisk cold as she went down the side walk.

Spending time with Finn was becoming a new favorite of hers and Trystan’s. The girl brought a light that wasn’t there before, especially for a certain Liam Payne who was now coming around just as often as Niall was. In fact, Rae was finding that her house was filled with more of them every day, and it was really making her laugh.

What she thought was a casual group of friends seemed to be winding tighter. And she loved that.

*

“Why on earth would I be mad at you?” Trystan asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she moved across the living room. Louis was walking through her door, and Trystan had grudgingly let him in, even though she was not particularly fond of him at the moment. “You could not possibly have done anything to offend me.”

Rae had already left for work, which left Trystan to her own devices. She had her mind set on setting on the couch and using the new flat screen to her will and watch Titanic in high definition. Trystan rather enjoyed watching Leo DiCaprio that close up. And then Louis ruined it.

Trystan threw herself on the couch face first, hoping that he would get the idea she was not welcoming him to stay long. There was a tub of ice cream, a bottle of vodka and a movie with her name on it. Not in that order, though. Bottle of vodka first, ice cream later.

“Come off it,” he answered, his voice tired. He was over her attitude and she knew it, but she did not care. Actually she found it entertaining to a certain extent. “You’re mad because I brought that girl to dinner with me, but it’s not what it looks like, Trys. If you would just listen-“

“It didn’t look like anything,” she growled finally, flopping over on the couch to look at him. She was throwing him daggers, but she was trying not to show how much she cared. This was a fling, not a damn marriage. “It looked like you were taking a girl out to dinner with your parents. Why would I care what it looked like, Louis? We aren’t in a relationship.”

He hesitated before licking his lips. Trystan swore indecision flickered through his eyes, but she wasn’t sure. It was gone too quickly to know just what it was. “I know that, Trystan. Then why are you acting like this?”

“Have you ever thought that maybe I was offended you thought I was some clingy bird that wanted you all to herself?” Actually, that’s exactly what she thought that she was. But she would be damned to let him know that. She could never live something like that down. “Maybe I’m out of sorts because you expected me to be mad.”

He shrugged, looking down a frown touching his face. He looked beautiful, standing there, his hair down and his stubble on his chin. What she really wanted to do was run up to him and hug him. “I just thought-“

“That’s your problem,” she muttered, sighing loudly. “You think too much and make something out of nothing.”

That was a lie. It was the other way around and she knew it. But when he looked up at her, his face a mask, nodding, her heart fluttered. Was it possible that he thought maybe there was something more too? “Okay, you’re right. Have it your way.”

Trystan watched Louis walk out of the door.

“Yep,” she said to herself, “Definitely vodka first.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Trystan and Louis are just a hot mess. I love Finn.