Newsies Oneshots 2.0

Let It Grow-Fenry

To be quite honest, Finch had always liked the idea of having long hair. They always wondered what it felt like on his neck, how it would wrap around his fingers when he twirled it—and they had healthy enough hair.

But there was always an interference in that decision—his dad not wanting his son to look like a girl, his mother not having the time to help them take care of longer hair, a stint in angst in which they shaved all of it off and got a tattoo—there was always something. But he was in a good place, with an even better boyfriend, so now it was do-able.

But what would Henry think?

Fairly enough, Henry was from and spent time in France, and if Finch was remembering correctly, the French were healthily focused on themselves, unlike most Americans. If that were to remain true in his boyfriend's genes, they were set.

But if the American influences of uniformity affected his boyfriend's beautiful mind, then they had a problem. Finch was doing this either way.

But it was still nice to tell him. "I was thinking about growing my hair out."

Henry stopped combing his fingers through Finch's shorter hair, prompting them to look up in curiosity. "What?"

"Like, letting it grow past my ears", Finch elaborated, smiling to soften the blow. "I've always wanted to do it. Just wanted to know what you thought."

"Yes", Henry stated immediately, nodding just as enthusiastically because Finch would look so pretty with long hair. It was hard to not think about—carding his hands through it, braiding it. Even thought of the smile on their face when they thought about made it hard to say no, thought he wasn't planning to. "I- absolutely, do it. Please."

Finch chuckled. "You sound more excited than me."

"I am totally chill right now." Henry was panicking, and his heart was beating faster in his chest. "Totally. Not imagining you with long hair at all."

"You totally are."

"Nope!"

——————

It wasn't a foreign feeling to him, gay panic; but it always felt more jarring every time.

Finch looked good—amazing, gorgeous, hot. Finch looked too good to bear, to be real. If Henry didn't know better, he'd swear they weren't.

Finch sighed as they looked at himself in the mirror, pouting quietly. Their hair was in that particular phase between being longer but not long—short but not a bob. It was the same phase tweens went through, that unsureness in itself in which you don't know what you are. That was their hair.

There was absolutely nothing they could do with it—it was too short for a ponytail, too long to push back. He tried headbands but those hurt after a while by practically eating into his skin. Trying to deal with it was even worse.

Finch almost called out of work that day just on the basis of not wanting to deal with his hair. It seemed valid enough. So they tried barrette clips.

They seemed to be a hit—Jack said he liked them, Elmer and Crutchie gushed over them and even bought him more. Race asked to borrow a few for Spot's hair, which was apparently getting longer and longer by the minute.

Henry stubbed his toe when he saw them.

"Oh my, God! Are you okay?" Finch was quick to support his boyfriend as he bounced around holding his foot, though he stared at them. "Does it still hurt?"

"Your hair", Henry mumbled, and Finch's brows furrowed in confusion. "The, the clips look, um...You look really nice."

Finch blinked in surprise, face blushing rapidly across their nose. "Really? I was hoping you liked them."

"God, you're so cute", Henry gushed, his heart bursting when Finch giggled. "I can't believe you're real."

Finch rolled his eyes. "I'm starting to think you stubbed your toe in Jack Kelly fashion."

"Please", Henry breathed, placing his foot on the floor and wincing against the stinging pain and cold floor. "No one is that dramatic."

Finch shrugged, smiling mischievously. "Of course not. But it's nice to know you're down terrible for me."

Henry chuckled, kissing his boyfriend's face. "'Course I am."

——————

The day Finch pulled his hair into a ponytail was the day Henry almost called into work.

There was a big smile on their face, a proud one that seemed to appear more and more often, as their fingers ran through locks of brown hair and pulled them into a hair tie. Henry had a heart attack the minute he saw them.

"It's so long now", Finch chuckled, admiring himself in the mirror. A thin, loose tendril fell in his eyes, but it was hard to care. He'd successfully grown healthy, long hair—he wondered if this was how Rapunzel felt after she grew her hair back from that horrendous pixie cut. "I can put in a ponytail and everything!"

Henry, in all honesty, would've preferred in their hair was down, just at their shoulders, and left there so he could focus all of his attention on it. It was so long, he could spend hours running his fingers through it, enduring exertion pains for doing it so long. "You look beautiful."

Finch looked behind him, smiling gratefully. "Mean it?"

"Uh, always", Henry stated obviously, walking towards his sheepish boyfriend. "You're also smiling a lot more, so if growing your hair out means I get to see more of your grin, then I'm all for it."

Finch grinned, and Henry was quick to kiss him. "Thanks. But remember that when I forget to clean hair out of the shower."

"You do that anyway."

Finch playfully punched Henry, who laughed off the hit. "I'm just reportin' the news!"

"Ugh, please, don't do an Albert impression while you're holding me", Finch groaned, shaking his head in distaste. "It's giving me flashbacks."

"To what? Eight grade? When you had a crush on Albert?"

"Stop it or I'm leaving you and I'm taking the kids."

Henry laughed, wrapping his arms around Finch and pulling them closer, kissing their nose softly. "You look beautiful, baby."

"Why, thank you, darling."

"Honey."

"Boo."

"Babe."

"Love."

"Mon poussin."

Finch's nose scrunched in confusion, eyes leaving Henry's has they searched for their own translation. "My chick? What...No, yeah, just what?"

Henry, in his own confusion, blinked. "My mom used to call my dad that. Is that not..."

Finch shook his head and hummed. "Not a thing here. But I am not upset by it. I just don't want to be, you know, a chick."

"Totally", Henry agreed, sighing softly in thought. "How about...mon oiseaux qui j'adore beaucoup?"

Finch chuckled. "Bit long, but I like your spirit."

"Mon oiseaux j'adore."

"Much better." Finch kissed him, smiling softly. "I love you, too."

————————————————————————

I don't really like this one, but that's just my opinion.

It is sweet, though—I figured I should finish up a few oneshots I've been writing, and after the angst I posted today, I might as well give you something sweeter, like Henry being so attracted to Finch he accidentally hurts himself.

Thanks for reading!!!