A spirit between us (BoyxBoy)

Chapter Two - Archie.

The moment had finally arrived. The day that Finn O'conner had both dreaded and daydreamed about in equal measure for as long as he could remember. This was it. The time to break out of his shell, to face his feelings, and to finally talk to the boy who had unknowingly set up camp in his brain and refused to leave. For years, Finn had hidden his true self, but now was the moment to embrace his identity, own his feelings, and take a bold step toward the happiness he deserved.

Or, you know... not.

Finn felt like a full-blown creep. Not the "quirky rom-com" kind, but the kind you'd cross the street to avoid. When the final school bell rang and unleashed a tidal wave of students eager to flee, Finn... didn't. Instead of racing to freedom like any sane person, he somehow managed to shuffle at the pace of a tortoise in quicksand. Archie was still talking to Mrs. Rosery, and Finn, in his infinite wisdom, decided the best move was to wait for him to finish.

In his head, this was strategic. It would give him time to come up with a cool, charming way to talk to Archie. Something smooth or maybe even funny. He had built his personality brick by brick in order to fit in with the people surrounding him, and he was doing it again in an attempt to impress his crush. But because the universe loves a good laugh at Finn's expense, Mrs. Rosery's "serious chat" lasted all of two seconds.

Before Finn could even comprehend it, Archie was casually strolling out of the classroom, and had rushed passed Finn, which wasn't hard given his snail-like speed. But Finn had nothing. No plan, no words, no escape route. Naturally, he panicked and did the worst thing he could've possibly done. He followed him.

Followed him. Straight out of the school, down the street, and right into the middle of town, which, in fact, was in the complete opposite direction of Finn's house. So now, not only did he look like a total stalker, but he was also hopelessly lost and heading further from home with every awkward step.

Smooth, Finn. Really smooth.

⭐️

Time had slowed to an agonising crawl as Finn Spiralled into a full-blown internal panic. He has been trailing behind Archie for a solid ten minutes now, feeling like a criminal in a true crime documentary 'Teen Boy Follows Crush For Miles- No One Surprised' would be the headline. He wanted to say something, anything, but his throat was too dry to call out to Archie, his stomach had formed some sort of weird anxiety pretzel, and his mouth was too busy biting down on his fingernails.

The longer Finn stayed silent, the worse the situation got. The tension was suffocating, but if he turned around and bolted now, he'd basically be admitting that he had been following Archie like some sort of deranged puppy, and he didn't want to draw attention to himself.

He kept trying to gather the courage to reach out to Archie, he kept thinking of how disappointed he'd be in himself if he simply didn't do anything and went home with his tail tucked between his legs. Not to mention, he'd taken this route specifically to follow Archie and was too busy overthinking everything to pay attention to his surroundings, if he turned around now he'd be completely lost.

Different thoughts and imaginary situations tumbled through Finns mind like an anxiety ridden pinball machine. "What should I say..?" was the question that he was trying so desperately to find the answer to. "How do I say it without sounding like a total freak? Should I compliment his hair?? No. Too weird. His outfit? Still kinda weird. His ..breathing..?.."

"What the hell is wrong with me?".

And then, just as Finn was about to settle on something excruciatingly awkward, along the lines of "Hey.. nice weather.. we're.. walking in...?" The most terrifying thing happened. Archie turned around. His face twisted in a Pure scowl.