If I Found Finn (#Wattys2015)

three/ glassy

The week before everything went wrong, Finn and I were stuck in a tree.

Well not necessarily stuck for him, since he could get down anytime he wanted, but more for me, who needed his whole 5'9 self to get me down.

"What do you want to be when you grow up, Fiona?" he asked, squinting at the horizon.

I could make out the freckles that dusted across his cheeks from the way I was sitting.

"Probably a doctor or something," I answered not really knowing what to say.

"I mean, what do you really want to be when you grow up?"

I thought about it for a while, trying to ignore the green eyes trying to discern me.

"A writer," I had said.

I was expecting the whole, writing isn't a career type speech, but it never happened.

"That's good," he responded, looking fully at me, smiling warmly.

He swung his legs onto the lower branch, and jumped down to the ground.

He looked up at me and expected me to follow suit.

I did, slower and more hesitant, and made him stand at the bottom so he could catch me if I fell.

In more ways than one.

When my shoes touched the ground, he wrapped his arms me so tight that it almost hurt, but it felt like home.

"You know," he started, then his face contorted into this pained look that made me want to cry. He paused for a second and looked up at the sky.

"I love you, a lot, and I'm glad that I get to have you in my life."

I furrowed my eyebrows, "What?" These types of things were never our forte.

"I get that we're both emotionally confused people, but you need to know that you make my life better, okay?"

"Hmm, yeah," I murmured into the soft fabric of his sweater, "I guess this is the part where I say 'I love you too', huh?"

"Yeah," the pained expression melted for a second and I could feel him smile. At the time, I hadn't understood why his eyes were so glassy.

Now that I do, I can't stop crying.