Stick around (RINNEY)

6

Finney stared in absolute disbelief, his mouth parted open, and his eyes stretched wide. The big red c+ stared straight back at him, almost taunting him. He wasn't bragging when he said that he had never gotten below a B+ on a science test before. Partially because he enjoyed science and understood it really well and somewhat because his father always pushed him to keep up his grades. Now here he was, checking over people's shoulders trying to understand what the fuck was going on.

Under his mark, there was a small note from his teacher. It read: 'Not your best but you should still be proud'. Way to pour salt in the wound; he thought to himself.

He patiently waited in his seat until the bell was heard loudly around the room, and the stampede of students were gone for lunch before approaching Mr. browns desk, his test clenched tight between his fists.

"Uh, sir." Finney cleared his throat to announce himself. Mr. Brown stopped marking his papers, placing his red gel pen down onto his desk and looking up to meet Finney's gaze.

"Ah! Finney! How can I help you?" He raised an eyebrow and leaned back into his black desk chair. Finney brought the paper from his hand and showed it to him.

"I wondering if you, uh -" Finney gulped nervously. "If you marked me wrong or something." He mumbled. Mr. Brown took the test from Finney's grasp and looked at it for a second. Finney stood there awkwardly, watching as Mr. Browns eyes slowly scanned over his work.

"Nope." He sucked his teeth; something he did a lot, which really got on Finney's nerves. "No mistakes. Sorry, kiddo." He said, handing it back over to him. Finney sighed in defeat, looking to his feet.

"Alright. Thanks anyway." He muttered (half sarcastically) before turning on his heel and heading towards his normal spot at the library where Robin was currently waiting for him.

Finney had to admit, it was weird seeing Robin in a library. He just looked so out of place. Like he wasn't meant to be there. Alas, he wasn't complaining as it was still nice to have some company, even if it was just for a day.

Finn pulled out a chair and sat down next to the brunette, placing his bag gently on the dusty, blue carpet flooring beside his feet.

"What's with the frowny face?" Robin asked, picking up on Finney's bad mood almost instantly. "Not happy to see me?" He joked, making Finney roll his eyes.

"I got a C on my science test." Finney complained, propping his elbow onto the hard wood table and resting his chin on the palm of his hand.

"So?" Robins eyebrows pulled together in confusion. He couldn't see the big issue. He would love to get a C.

"So?!" Finney repeated. "My dad's gonna kill me!" Robin couldn't help but snort.

"If he thinks that's bad, he should see my test results." He says. "I've never had higher than a D." He shrugged. Finney blinked at him blanky, hoping he was joking.

"Robin. That's like really bad." Robin waved his hands in the air dismissively.

He knew he wasn't a smart person, but he didn't let that bother him. Since his dad died in Vietnam and his mum left, he didn't have that voice nagging about grades in his ear 24/7 like other people his age did. His uncle was super laid back and cared more about being his friend than a parental figure towards Robin.

He did sometimes wonder if it would be different if his parents were still around. If he would actually get good grades and try in school with them by his side.

"I know. I just don't understand it all. It doesn't make any sense to me." Finney shifted in his seat as he thought for a second.

"Well, what confuses you? I could always help." He offered. Robin cracked a playful grin, and Finney knew he was about to make a joke. Robin sucked in a breath and shook his head.

"I don't know, man. You did just get a C." He pointed out sarcastically. "You sure you're qualified enough?" Finney sucked his teeth, but the smile on his face revealed he wasn't offended.

"Jerk." He laughed, playfully hitting him in the shoulder. Robin's hands shot up.

"Woah, now! No need to get physical with me now." Finney rolled his eyes, and soon enough, Robin calmed down from his fit of laughter.

"I am being serious, though. I can help you." Finn spoke. "I want to help you." He whispered under his breath. Robin smiled slightly.

"Yeah. That would be cool." He mumbled, not knowing what else to say. "I've uh- got some homework due in for math which I have next. I think that would be a good start." Finney nodded his head.

"Alright. That sounds good."

Robin picked up his backpack from below him, placing it down onto his lap. He grabbed the metal zip, moving it up to open the bag. He rummaged through the mess with his hands. His bag was filled with many school books he couldn't be bothered to take out and piles of random pieces of paper and rubbish. Finally, he succeeded in pulling out the extremely creased math homework he had been searching for. He slammed it down onto the table, letting his backpack slide off his legs, back to the dirty floor.

Finney peered over his shouldler, taking a closer look as to what it was. It wasn't anything too hard. Just fractions and decimals.

Robin watched as Finney read through the questions quietly. Because Finney had leaned in closer to see it properly, the two's bodies were pressed close together. Finn looked as if he didn't notice. It probably wasn't anything intentional, but the feeling of his body against Robins was enough to send his stomach into spirals. He didn't understand why, though. He quickly dismissed it, telling himself he would react that way with anyone as he wasn't used to such close proximity.

He forces his eyes away when a loud pair of footsteps is heard and a girl shows up in front of the table they were on, slunched over, her hand over her stomach and out of breath as if she had just been running a marathon.

"Finney! Finney!" She forces out as she tries to regain normal breathing patterns. "I need your help." Finney huffs loudly, slunching back into his chair.

"What do you want, Gwen?" He said, the tone in his voice coming out annoyed. "Can't you see I'm doing something?"

"Yeah, whatever. I just need to ask you one thing." She spared one glance to Robin before looking back to her brother. He sighed.

"Robin, this is my sister Gwenny. Gwenny, this is Robin." He introduced them both after seeing the confused expression on Robins face.

"I know who he is, jerk face." Gwen snapped back, making Robin chuckle. "Anyway. I need you to cover for me today." Finney instantly opened his mouth to shut the idea down, but Gwenny quickly put her hand up to stop him. "Please. It'll just be for an hour and all of my friends are going to be there." She pleaded, trying to convince him.

"Gwen. You hang out with your friends all the time." He pointed out. She let out a breath of air and dropped her hands to her side.

"Come on, Finney!" She began to whine.

"Yeah! Come on, Finn." Robin added, moking the tone Gwen had previously used. Finney gave him a quick warning glare.

"Don't you start." He looked back to Gwen. "I'll tell dad you went to homework club, but that only gives you around an hour. And if he catches on, you're taking the full blame for it." She smiled.

"Thank you, Finney!"

"Yeah, yeah." He waved his hands to shoe her away. "You owe me." He said in all seriousness. She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." She grumbled. "See ya." Gwen said, quickly skipping away and out the library.

Robin ran a hand through his hair and laughed slightly.

"Your sister is definitely... something." Finney shook his head.

"You mean crazy?" Finney joked. The two instantly cracked out into laughter. Hearing Finney's cute giggles was like music to Robin's ears. It was as if the rest of the world had stopped, and it was just the two of them. He wished it could last forever, but he quickly fell disappointed as Finney settled down and said, "Ok, let's do some work now."

A/n: sorry i took a while to post
chat I have a five hour exam next week 😔 #sendhelp