BRANCE + RINNEY

Rinney - First Encounter

Finn chewed at the skin around his nail absentmindedly, pencil tapping on the wooden desk in front of him softly. Outside, the world seemed bleak. Gray clouds covered the sky, casting a shadow over the town of Denver. Finn vaguely remembered hearing about an oncoming rainstorm, small flooding and what not.

"Finney Blake! Are you paying attention?"

The boy awkwardly lowered the finger from his mouth, parting his lips to speak but pressing them together once again when he didn't have a good enough answer. The teacher sighed, rolling his eyes at the student he had confronted.

"Just make sure you're listening."

Finn nodded his head, an embarrassed blush coating his freckled face. He sighed when the teacher turned his back on him, placing his finger near his lips once again to resume his absentminded biting.

"You know, you're gonna prune your fingers doing that."

Finn turned his head to the side, slowly removing his finger from in-between his two rows of teeth. The boy who had spoken to him smiled softly, showing off his pearly whites that seemed to compliment his tan skin greatly.

"Hey. I'm Robin."
"Finney."

Robin chucked quietly, nodding his head at the other boy's name.

"Yeah, so I've heard. I think I'll call you Finn though."

Finn gave the boy a smile, cheeks reddening at the nickname. Robin was an alright person. The teacher turned around, facing the two boys with a frown.

"Robin. Finney. Would you two like to share your conversation with the class?"

Finn frowned, shaking his head quickly at the question. Robin kept quiet, his soft smile never leaving his face.
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"So, I told him he could kiss my ass because there's no way in hell I'm turning in that three page essay in a thirty minute class period." Vance scowled, shoveling food from his lunch tray into his mouth. Bruce shook his head in understanding of his dilemma. "Teachers man, I'm telling you."

Finn poked at the food on his own lunch tray, paying little attention to his friends talking in front of him. His eyes traveled around the cafeteria, looking at the different crowds of people sitting at the lunch tables. He quickly lowered his gaze when his eyes fell upon the boy from earlier, the same smile from before still playing on his lips.

Vance coughed from where he was sat at the table, eyes traveling from his friend in front of him to the boy he was staring at. He smirked when Finn finally looked at him.

"I think someone's got a crush on Robin." The blonde haired boy twirled his spoon softly, smiling as Finn's face reddened and he averted his gaze. "Who would that be?" Bruce gave Vance a confused look, not having been paying attention to what was going on. The blonde looked at him, then to Robin, then back at him. Bruce smiled in understanding. "It'd be you, smart ass motherfucker." Finn shook his head, looking back towards Robin who had just stood up. His eyes left the boy and looked instead to Vance. "I don't have a crush on him." Bruce and Vance gave the boy a look that clearly said 'seriously?". Finn shook his head once more, pushing his tray away from him as he too stood up. "Heads up. He's behind you." Before Finn got a chance to comprehend what his friend had meant by those words, another voice came from behind him, startling him briefly.

"Hey Finn. What's happening?"

Finn turned around, almost dropping the tray he had just gotten his hands on. He bit down on his tongue when he heard his blonde friend behind him snicker.

"Oh, hey Robin. Uh, nothing much."

Robin nodded his head, glancing behind the boy and towards his two smiling friends.

"Hey Vance. Hey Bruce."

The two boys waved at him, smirking when Finn turned towards them as well and glared. Robin turned his attention back to the boy in front of him, looking down at the tray he held in his hands.

"Are you done with lunch? If so, we could go outside while it's still sort of nice out."

Finn nodded his head, giving his friends one last glare, before throwing his tray away and walking out of the school behind the boy he had only just met that morning.
————

Vance and Bruce watched in amusement as Finn blushed at each word Robin said to him. The two boys were leant against a tree just outside of the cafeteria, legs touching in the slightest amount.

———-

"Enough about me, what about you? What's your life like?"

Finn faltered at the question, eyes looking upwards towards the cloudy sky. He pondered what the other had asked. What was his life like? Finn didn't have a great childhood, or loving parents who cared for him like a normal parent world. No, he only had a drunken, abusive father and a dead mother. He also didn't have a good school life either. He got bullied immensely ever since 7th grade when he had just started attending the middle school, attracting unwanted attention as soon as his feet hit the pavement of the school's courtyard.

"Finn? You okay?"

Finn's eyes focused back onto Robin, blinking slowly as the boy in front of him gave him a confused look.

"Yeah, no I'm okay. Just zoned out there."

Finn laughed a bit, biting at his finger skin just as he had earlier that day. Robin sighed, pushing the boy's finger away from his mouth.

"Didn't I tell you that that'd prune your fingers? Quit it."

Finn frowned but quickly turned his downturned smile into an upturned one when they boy in front of him grinned. Finn realized that he still hadn't answered the boy's question and let his fingers lazily pick at the grass below him as he thought of an answer.

"Oh, to uh, answer the question you asked me? My life isn't anything really interesting. The coolest thing I've done in the last five months is stay up until 4 in the morning. Although, that's become a regular thing now."

Robin frowned at the answer, giving Finn an incredulous look. He wanted to make the boy's life more interesting. More fun.

"You know, Finn, me and my uncle usually go to the drive-in on the weekends. You can come if you'd like."

Finn caught himself smiling, happy at the fact someone besides his two friends wanted to do something with him. Don't get him wrong, his friends are great and all, but they usually do the same stuff each time they hangout. Finn wanted more.

"Are you sure that's okay? I don't want to intrude on you guys' bonding."

Robin laughed. grinning at the other boy.

"Nah, don't worry. He won't mind at all."

Finn smiled wider, giddy with the excitement he'd be hanging out with someone new. Wait until Vance and Bruce hear about this.
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extra:

Finn waved goodbye to Robin, quickly reentering the school to make his way to his next class. He spotted Bruce and Vance walking together, talking softly to each other amongst the other students that crowded the long halls of the school. Finn pushed his way through, almost running to his friends. "Vance! Bruce!" The two boys spun around, smiling when their eyes landed on the shorter boy.

"You guys will never guess what happened."
"You and Robin are hanging out this weekend?"
"Shit."
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