Another Way | Adopted by Gerard Way (Book Three)

18

Finn had his head of green and blue ringlets buried in his arms, resting on the splintered and graying wood of the picnic table. He hadn't looked up since he'd uttered a weak hello in Harley's direction when she'd joined the group and he hadn't even flinched or found the energy to lean into the touch when Andy began rubbing slow circles on his back. With a lull in the conversation, the group's talking replaced by the sounds of skateboards on asphalt and kids talking and laughing, he couldn't continue to lie there unaddressed.

Andy leaned in close to him and asked, their voice a lot more serious than the joking tone it usually held, "You okay there, Finny?"

Finn rolled his head to the side sending a sharp look at Andy. "I'm actually worse now that you've called me Finny."

"Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood," Andy said, retracting his hand from Finn's back to rub the back of his neck. "You wanna talk about it?"

Finn sighed deeply, finally picking himself up off the table. He rubbed his eyes and squinted at the group. "The sun's too fucking bright."

"That's not the real problem," Pond said matter-of-factly, observing Finn's tired eyes and dishevelled hair he hadn't bothered trying to tame that morning. His wrinkled clothes suggested he was still wearing yesterday's outfit.

"Obviously that's not the problem. I can handle sunlight unlike the vampire among us," he said, jabbing an elbow lightly against Andy who only shrugged as if to say fair enough. "It's just—" he sighed again, "—I had a shit weekend, alright? My parents dragged me to my grandparents' house 'cause it was their fiftieth anniversary and the whole family was there, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, cousins I haven't seen in years... you know, literally everybody was there. It sucked. Like, majorly sucked, 'cause, like, they're all the same. Every-fucking-one was like, 'So, do you have a girlfriend, Finnegan?' and 'Girls aren't gonna find you attractive with hair like that,' and I could've found it funny if half of them didn't already know I was gay 'cause my mother outed me. They're all just pretending it never happened and like it's this taboo thing you can't talk about and I'm fucking sick of it. Like, I want out of that fucking family."

When Finn finished his rant by groaning frustratedly and putting his forehead back down on his folded arms, Andy resumed their comforting back rubbing. "I wish I could have been there with you to put those assholes in their place. Um, permission to call your family 'assholes'?"

"Permission granted," Finn's muffled voice replied, "but I think it would have been worse if you were there. I wouldn't want to put you through meeting them, let alone wasting a weekend with them."

"You're worth going through more than just a weekend of that for," Andy said softly with the first hint of sadness Harley had ever seen on his face.

"You're worth that and more," Pond chimed in, reaching across the table and placing a hand on Finn's elbow. "And, if it's any consolation, as long as you're stuck living with them, consider us your home away from home. You know, your chosen family. And if you ever need to get away, you're welcome at my house and I'm sure everyone else feels the same way."

"Yeah, dude, you're always welcome at my house," Andy said, nodding. "Although I'm not sure it's very much better than yours at the moment... the divorce and all... it's messy. But, uh, we're not talking about me right now." They rubbed the back of their neck again.

"You can come to my house if you really want to," Remi's quiet voice piped up next, "but, you know, I have three siblings, so I can't exactly offer you the peace you're probably searching for."

Finn picked up his head again heavily, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly transforming the darkened expression he'd been wearing that day into something that resembled more his usual self. "Thanks, guys."