to make things awkward | fillie

7 | meant to be

When Millie saw Finn in line at Starbucks just after leaving her lawyer's office, she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. She hadn't seen him in person since they parted at the hospital after giving their baby up for adoption. For him to suddenly re-enter her life the same day she found out that she was about to regain custody of their daughter. . .well, it was at best  an incredibly odd coincidence, at worst, a sign of something she didn't want to think about.

But it was convenient in a way. Her first thought in her lawyer's office—after "How in the world is this happening?"—was, "How am I going to tell Finn?" It was both a question of practicality and a question of what to say. She didn't know how she would contact him, and once she figured that out, she had no clue what she would have said, presumably over the phone. She had considered not even telling him, but that quickly presented in her mind as a terrible idea. Not just because he'd surely find out at some point, but because it would be cruel to keep them apart on purpose.

She worried about what to tell Jake too, but he was away for a few days, so she had time to figure it out. Although, the thought had occurred to her that there was a chance she would have her daughter with her by that point and it would have been naive to believe they wouldn't have some type of argument over the whole situation. Even if he accepted Lucy, and how she came to be, he might not accept her being in their lives now. And, more likely, Millie assumed that he'd be straight up pissed that she never told him about what happened on their break. She knew that she would be were the roles reversed.

She took a large gulp of her drink, not wanting to think about it any longer and found that it didn't sting like usual, so either she was more drunk than she wanted to be at this point, or Finn made this drink weaker. She wasn't sure whether to be mad at him for trying to control her alcohol intake, or thankful that he was caring enough to realize she didn't need to get blackout drunk the night before meeting her daughter. She just set the drink down and looked at him, silently sipping his own beverage and looking around her apartment. His fingers drummed anxiously on her marble countertop.

"So what are you doing here anyway?" she asked, "In Atlanta, I mean."

"Hm?" his dark eyes refocused on her, "Oh, um, music stuff. . .Malcolm and I are working on a new album."

She nodded, "How's he doing?"

"Malcolm? Good. . .good."

"He ever pluck up the courage to marry that girl?" she asked.

Finn smiled then shook his head, "No, and they broke up for a bit but they're back together now. Still just dating till the end of days."

They both laughed and then Millie took a sip and looked back to Finn, "And you?" she asked, "How's your. . .life?" She didn't want to ask about his dating life so explicitly, so she went for the implied route.

"Uh, non-existent." he said, but he rubbed the back of his neck and drank a larger gulp than he had all afternoon.

She gave him a look that let him know she didn't believe him and he shrugged, "Well, yeah, I've dated I suppose, but never serious since my last go with Elsie like five years ago."

She looked at his neck in an obvious way, "That recovering hickey tells a different story." she smirked, bringing her glass to her lips once again.

Laughing nervously, Finn reached up and cupped the spot on his neck, "That was a one-night thing." but she saw the hurt in his eyes, he never was one to cover up his emotions well, even if he was a fine actor.

"But did you want it to be?"

His eyes grew darker and his smile faded, "It doesn't matter. . .she didn't, and honestly, now I'm glad. This all would be far more complicated had she agreed and come with me."