A spirit between us (bxb)

Chapter 16 - Lovesick.

Finn pushed open the heavy library doors, immediately feeling the stress begin to melt away in the quiet, peaceful atmosphere. The soft sound of pages turning and the faint smell of old books wrapped around him like a comforting blanket. He spotted Archie already sitting at their usual spot, the worn out couch tucked away in the corner where no one ever bothered them.

Archie had his legs casually crossed, a thick book balanced on his lap. The Book of Origins. It was open, but Finn noticed Archie's eyes weren't on the pages. Instead, they flicked up to meet his as soon as Finn approached, a faint smile tugging at the corner of Archie's lips.

"Survived the crowds, huh?" Archie's voice was unbothered, but there was that familiar hint of sarcasm laced beneath it, the kind that always seemed to ease Finn's tension.

Finn let out a long sigh, sinking into the couch beside him, close enough that their knees bumped. "Barely. You'd think I was the only guy in the world."

Archie's smile grew, and Finn caught the way his gaze lingered for a second longer than usual before he looked down at the book again. There was something electrifying between them, something subtle but undeniable. Finn had felt it before, the way Archie seemed just a little too comfortable when they were alone, the way his attention never strayed too far from Finn. It was in the small glances, the casual touches, like the way Archie's knee brushed against his now but didn't pull away.

He'd always assumed that was just how Archie was. Calm, detached, like nothing ever really got to him. Archie seemed to accept things and move on without letting anything linger. But Finn couldn't help silently hoping that it was something more. Maybe, just maybe, this was how Archie acted around him. That the easy smiles, the quiet closeness, the way Archie never seemed to pull away, it wasn't just Archie being Archie. It was something special, something meant for Finn.

Archie flipped a page in the book, pretending to focus on the text. "I started reading this. It's... dense and very wordy, but there's a lot of stuff about different entities and spirits."

"Anything useful yet?" Finn asked, leaning in a little to test the waters, their shoulders brushing now too. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but Archie didn't seem in a rush to move.

"Not yet." Archie admitted, "but I'm getting through it. Slow and steady wins the race, right?"

Finn's eyes drifted to the blonde boy beside him, who still hadn't put any real space between them, despite the wide couch. There was something comforting about it, something that made Finn's heart race just a little faster. He liked it. Maybe... maybe Archie did too.

"Thanks for looking into it," Finn said softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

Archie glanced at him again, and this time there was something in his gaze, something Finn couldn't quite place but made his pulse quicken. "Yeah... well, I promised, didn't I?" Archie's voice was equally quiet, almost intimate in the silence of the library.

Finn couldn't help but smile, the room around them disappearing as if they were the only two people in existence.

Finn cleared his throat, unsure how to break through the quiet. "So, uh... what have you learned so far?" He nodded toward the book resting on Archie's lap, hoping to steer the conversation into safer territory.

Archie glanced down at the page, absentmindedly tracing the lines with his finger. "Well, if this is right..." He hesitated for a second, as if piecing things together. "Then I've been wrong about evil spirits."

Finn's brows furrowed. "How so?"

Archie looked back at him, his expression a little more serious now. "Well, for starters, they're not exactly evil. At least, not in the traditional sense. They're more like... corrupted. Ghosts of people who left the world with such overwhelming bitterness that it consumed them, even after death. They couldn't shake it, so they kind of... became it."