BRANCE + RINNEY

rinney - aligned stars and moon dust

collab 1/13/22 - 1/15/22 (with EliLover1 ) <3 i strongly recommend reading their books, i love them so much. :))
—

Maybe it was because of the rain, how it had managed to slick the ground just enough for it to become accident-prone. Maybe it was because of the taunting, the words of the infamous three bullies poking at his brain incessantly all day. Or maybe it was just Finn and him not having enough self-esteem, which isn't too out of the ordinary.

The game had started okay. The field was slippery, coating the shoes of each baseball player in globs of mud. It was cold out too. The wind nestled against Finn's skin softly, tightening its hold against him as his teeth chattered. The weather didn't bother him too much, not really.

"Another swing and a miss from Finney!" The team taunted as they pushed him back, making him land straight into the mud.

"Shit." He called as he looked down at himself now. This was uncomfortable. - he stood up after a quick second of accepting the fate that he'd have to buy a New jersey and held that tough look on his face till Gwen could reach the field. "Cock-suckers!" She screamed at the boys, who only laughed in her favor.

"I'll kill them." Gwen's signature angered scowl turned into a grimace as she moved closer to Finn, eyes tracing along the newly-brown jersey grasped in his hands. "It's cool. Calm down Gwenny." Finn forced out a smile and shook his head, beads of sweat flying towards the sides of him as he did so. "Gross."

Finney snickered. Watching Gwen's smile grow. "Robins here. I think he went to get food though." She noted. Finney's head shot up. "Shit, really?" He asked, wide eyed, on edge that the other would have to see him like this. "Yeah kid." She laughed right back at his automatic fear.

Finney watched as his team went off the field. He was unsure of what to do with his muddy pants now.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then. Suzie's waiting for me." Gwen's hair brushed past her face as she turned her head, most likely to scan the crowds of people for her friend. "Yeah, alright." Finn waved a quick goodbye as his sister departed from his side, the smell of dirt and dew making his nose sting.

"New jersey?" Finn jumped at the voice, a habit of his. Turning around, he was met with an amused Robin. "Very funny. I got pushed." Finn looked down at his attire and shook his head. His dad was surely going to kill him for this.

It almost hurt Robin's heart to see how Finney's team gathered in their own group to celebrate, without inviting Finney over to join them. He could take them all on right there. He was sure of it.

With quick whispers of Spanish curses he spoke up. "Let's go home. Then I'll take you somewhere to celebrate. It's getting cold." Finney nodded. Wiping his eyes a bit from embarrassment as he tucked himself underneath Robin's arm as it wrapped around his shoulders to keep him close, to keep the prying eyes off of them. Nobody dared to look at Robin's favorite person like that without a fear of getting their ass kicked.

The walk home wasn't long, or maybe it might've been. Finn couldn't really tell, having been too occupied with wiping his eyes and snuggling into the fur coat wrapped around Robin's body. He took comfort in the hand in his hair that stroked circles into his scalp, calming him silently.

"You probably wanna shower. Just leave your uniform on top of the washer and I'll take care of it." Robin pushed the front door open, sliding the small brown key in his palm down into his jean pocket. Finn only nodded at his words, sniffling as he began to walk to his bedroom.

Finney did one last wipe to rid the tears in his eyes with the back of his hand and started to enter the bathroom. He could only thank god that the bathroom had a heater you could turn on and off, his body practically burned from the cold.

He pulled the outfit off of himself and settled it on the counter. He let the bathroom heat up as he tied a robe around himself and brought the jersey and pants to the washroom and settled it on-top of the washer. Robin was outside of the washroom as he was putting away some of his own clothes. He patted the others back as he walked by. "Take your time." He reminded. Finney nodded

It was half an hour later when Finn emerged from the bathroom once more, clothes sticking to his skin as he had only partially dried off and a towel in his hand. His hair was curlier than usual, sticking his neck and face despite his patting at it with the towel he held. He was dressed warmly, almost similar to Robin except for the fur coat. Finn opted for something thinner, a zip-up jacket.

"Ready to go?" Robin leaned against the wall with a smile, something he reserved only for Finn. "Yeah, I just need my shoes." Finn tossed his towel into a nearby basket and knelt down towards his pair of beat-up sneakers. The shoes had small specks of mud still on them, meaning Robin must've done some sort of cleaning. Finn quickly slid his shoes on and tied them, sending Robin a bright smile when he stood back up. "There you are. Let's go."

With an arm wrapped around his waist Robin pulled him out the door. "You're still into space right?" Robin asked as he emerged keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, opening it for the other.

"Duh." Finney said with a big smile on his face. Robin shrugged and laughed. "Just checking."

"Is that a hint for something?" Finney nudged at him, Robin turned the key into the ignition. "Maybee... You're so impatient." He leant over to playfully hit him. Which finney did right back, twice as hard. "Damn." Robin acted.

The sky had already begun to grow dark, speckles of stars and aged sun painting it in a collection of warm colors. Finn watched the canvas above as Robin drove through lights and empty streets, admiring with a small smile and wide eyes.

The screech of tires, the hand shaking him softly, is what prompted him to return to reality. Robin had a line of worry streaked along his forehead when Finn turned to him, though it went away quickly and a smile formed on his lips instead. "We're here."

Finney smiled again and looked forward to where they were parked in front of the patch of trees. "Are you gonna kill me?" Finn jokes. It was a pathway right by the school gates. Robin was back there all the time.

"Yes. Now come on." Robin played right back as he pulled blankets from the trunk, throwing them over his shoulder. "If you fall into mud I might have to send you back to hell, cariño. But it's this way." He points into the patch of trees.

Finn blew out a breath, something smaller than a sigh, and allowed Robin to silently lead him to wherever it was they were going.

The trees covered most of the leftover sunlight, only leaving room for tiny golden specks to pass through. Finn hadn't been watching where he was going, having been too consumed with waving his hands around in an attempt to see better, which consequently almost ended in him eating a mouthful of dirt. Thankfully, Robin had turned in time to grab him by the wrist. "Jesus Finn, wait until we get to the clearing to start having fun." Robin chuckled to himself as Finn rolled his eyes, now once more leading the way though this time having to drag the other along by his wrist.

Once the sky opened up and left the trees behind them the sky was full of specks of starlight. It was almost perfect. "It looks like a painting!" Finney would remark as he let out a happy gasp. Robin took a long look as well. But focused on rolling out the blanket to settle them both down on it.

He pulled Finney to lay next to him. Pulling the second blanket atop of them. Finney was quiet. But his face, lit up by the strong moonlight, shone a happy smile. The biggest smile that Robin had seen on that boy's face.

"Are you comfortable?" Robin checked, to which Finn nodded. He didn't pry his eyes away from his sight on the sky.

"You ever been to the planetarium?" Robin questioned. Finn shook his head, throwing his arm over Robin's waist.

"I outta take ya, Finney. Really." Robin started. "It's crazy."

"As crazy as tonight?"

"Yeah... maybe not tonight." Robin smiled, looking down to the relaxing boy and kissing his cheek a few times.