Saving Him

13

TW:
-mentions of abuse
(Finney's pov)

When I woke up, Vance was still at my house. I was confused at first when I saw him still here, but quickly blushed when I realized that my head was laying on his stomach. It took me a few minutes to fully wake up, but once I was fully awake, I moved off of Vance.

"Sorry for sleeping on you," I said to Vance, not looking at him out of embarrassment.

"It's fine, Finney," he said back to me.

I looked at the clock on my nightstand, and saw that it was almost seven thirty in the evening. I had no idea how long I had been asleep for, but I figured that it had been awhile since I fell asleep.

"How long have I been asleep for?" I asked him.

"A few hours," he said, shrugging.

"Is Gwen okay? Has my dad come back home?" I asked Vance.

"Gwen's fine. She went to Susie's about an hour ago, and your dad hasn't came home at all," Vance said calmly.

I nodded my head back to him, feeling slightly better now that I know that Gwen was okay, and that my dad wasn't home.

"Are you going to leave here soon?" I asked Vance.

He shook his head back to me. "Not until Gwen gets back home. I told her to call if she wanted me to come pick her up."

I nodded my head back to him as a small smile came onto my face. Vance has done so much for Gwen and me within the last few hours, and I couldn't explain how grateful I was for him.

"Thank you for being here today," I said to him.

"You don't need to thank me for being here for you, Finney. I've told you multiple time to call me if things get bad with him," Vance said back to me.

I nodded my head back to him. Vance and I talk to each other about random stuff. We would also sit in silence for long periods of time.

Around nine at night, Gwen called Vance, and asked him to come pick her up. I went with Vance out to his car, so we could go pick Gwen up. Once we got to Susie's house, Gwen came out to the car a few minutes after.

"Are you guys hungry?" Vance asked me.

"I ate at Susie's," Gwen said.

"I'm not hungry," I said back to him.

"You sure, Finn? You haven't eaten since before you fell asleep," he said back to me.

I nodded my head back to him. "If I get hungry later, I can just eat an apple and some crackers."

Vance looked at me quickly, before he looked back to the road.

"Finney, when was the last time you had a proper meal?" He asked me.

I took a minute to think about my answer, but before I could even reply, Vance spoke.

"If you have to think about it for that long, it's obviously been awhile," he said.

My face heated up from what he said. The truth was that early last week was the last time I had a proper meal. Most nights I didn't eat; I would make sure that Gwen at least had food each night. Even if it wasn't that nutritious.

"When we get back to your house, I'm cooking you a proper meal," Vance said.

"You don't have to," I said quietly. Embarrassed that Vance is offering to do that.

"Yes I do," he said back to me.

The car fell silent for the rest of the drive home. I picked at the skin around my fingers and bounced my leg up and down as Vance drove. When we got back to the house, Gwen went to her room, while I sat at the table, watching Vance cook in the kitchen.

After about half an hour, Vance was finished cooking. He set a plate down in front of me.

"Thank you," I said quietly, before I started to eat the food.

"Finney, don't thank people for caring about you?"

"What?" I asked him.

"You've thanked me multiple times today for doing things that people who care about you would do. I want you to stop thanking me for doing those things," Vance said.

I smiled softly at Vance. "You're a softie."

Vance rolled his eyes at me. "Don't tell people."

I crossed my fingers to show him that this conversation was just going to stay between us. Vance smiled at me, before he ruffled up my hair. I smiled even more as I slowly took another bite of the food Vance made.

After eating a plate and a half of the food Vance made, I put my dirty dishes in the sink, and washed them up quickly.

"Thank you for cooking. It was really good," I said to Vance, as we stood in the kitchen.

"You're welcome," Vance said.

"Are you going to be leaving soon?" I asked him.

"If you want me to. I'm more than willing to stay the night, in case your dad comes back," Vance said.

I shook my head. "We don't need you to protect us. He is our father after all."

"A father shouldn't hit his children," Vance said.

I stayed quiet after that.

"How long has he been doing this?"

"I'm pretty sure I've already told you, but he's been like this since my mother died. I guess you could say that he was still somewhat like this before her death," I told him.

"How's that?" Vance asked.

"He never helped my mom. He would yell at her for not getting stuff done while he was at work. Even hit her a few times for not doing house work," I said back.

Vance looked at me with a hurt look. I could tell that he was trying to hide the hurt look at the same time. He walked over to me, and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"If he does anything, at all, you call me. I don't care what time it is, you call me. I will come and get you and Gwen, or best the shit out of your father," Vance said.

I wrapped my arms around him too, and leaned into his touch.

"Okay," I said back to him.

Vance held onto me for a little longer, before he let go of me. We said one last goodbye to each other, before Vance left. I locked the door after Vance left, and headed to the living room.

Gwen was fast asleep in our fathers armchair. I smiled to myself as I walked over to her, and carefully grabbed the remote to turn the television off. I grabbed a blanket, and laid it down on top of her.

I moved a little bit of hair from her face, and pressed a short kiss onto her forehead. I slowly walked to my room right after that. Once in my room, I shut the door behind me.

I laid down on my bed; not changing my clothes because I was comfortable in the clothes I am wearing. I pulled my blanket up to my chin, and slightly curled myself up into a ball, as I shut my eyes. Everything felt just fine right now.

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