Stick around (RINNEY)

8

Finney dangled his legs back and forth over the edge as he sat on the nurses bed, the comfortable material adjusting around him to suit his small figure. The nurse was currently busy at her desk, filling out all sorts of different paper forms, leaving him to ponder on things.

Finney ripped the clear plastic wrapper off the lollipop stick, placing it into his mouth, letting the sensation of sweet cherry dance around on his tongue. He wasn't allowed anything high in sugar when he's at home, so he always appreciated the lollipops a bit more than anyone else would.

He didn't like the silence, but he tried to ignore it by getting lost in his own train of thoughts. Normally, he would dream of family vacations that they used to go on every year. The palm trees that had swayed in the wind. The soft sand that stuck to the bottom of his feet and got everywhere. The cerulean skies so clear it created an entery for the scorching sun to fall over Finney's face, giving him sunkissed cheeks.

But for a few days now, it had changed. His mind only wondered to one certain boy.

They hadn't spoken since the small moment they had in the bathroom a few days before.

It was weird.

Really weird...

It was as if Robin was trying his best to ignore him. Finney had tried saying hi to him in the hallway, but the brunette just stared straight ahead, no emotions on his face, and kept striding a long.

It made Finn start to panic as he tried to recollect anything he could have said or done wrong. But he just couldn't think of anything. Maybe he was just overthinking it all, and everything was fine. He did have a tenancy to overreact sometimes.

The door swings open and rips him away from his thoughts. And of course it's him. The boy in question. The boy who hadn't left his mind for days on end.

He carelessly chucks himself onto the hard wooden chair, not seeming to notice the other beside him. He had an angry expression on his scarred face. His knuckles were red, raw, and bloody, making it apparent that he had gotten into a fight. He muttered a series of curse words under his breath as he stared at the dusy floor, which really needed to be cleaned.

The atmosphere in the room stood still, and tranquillity ran throughout. For some people, it would be a nice change from the loudness of the halls, but for Finney, who was constantly surrounded by a sheet of silence, it made him uncomfortable.

"Who was it?" The words escaped out of Finney's mouth, travelling around the place. Robin's head snapped in his direction as he finally realised someone else had been there the whole time. His eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" He said, his tone coming out more aggressive than he had intended, taking Finney aback slightly.

"Your-um." He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. "Your knuckles are bloody, so I assumed you beat someone up." Robin's expression softened as guilt washed over him. He didn't mean to yell at Finney like that.

"Oh. Right." He raised his hand and wiped the blood that was running from his nose. "Yeah, I beat up Archie." Finney raised his eyebrows in suprise. That wasn't a name he was expecting to hear. He had always seen them talking to each other and laughing.

"I thought you guys were friends?" Robin scoffed loudly.

"Fuck no." He clenched his fists. "He's a massive dick."

"What happened?" Finney asked curiously. He didn't know if he was being too nosy or not. He hoped he wasn't. Robin searched through Finney's eyes for a few seconds, remaining quiet as he contemplated telling him the truth before drawing his eyes back to his feet.

"He said something he shouldn't have." He explained but not going into great detail. He couldn't bring himself to tell Finney what Archie had actually said. He couldn't admit to Finney that he had beat someone up because of him. For him. Robin had found out that Archie was calling Finney horrible names, and after all of the anger that had pent up inside of Robin over the week, he snapped. "You skipping gym?" Robin brought to attention to get away from his thoughts.

"Yeah." Finn nodded his head. That's when the nurse pushed her desk chair out.

"Hey! You're sick. Remember?" She pointed at him, giving him a stern look. Finney knew she was only joking.

"Oh, yeah." He faked coughed, making the other two in the room laugh. He smiled to himself proudly. The nurse went back to filling out papers, and it soon went quiet again. "Wanna lolly?" Finney offered, but Robin politely declined. Finney tried to bite back his curiosity, but it was too strong not to question. "Hey, are we ok?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Robin frowned, but he knew exactly what he meant. Finney shrugged his shoulders and moved his gaze to his feet.

"I don't know. We just haven't really talked since Monday morning." He pointed out. Robin bit his bottom lip, feeling disappointed in himself for letting his stupid thoughts and feelings get in the way of talking to his friend.

"I'm sorry." He apologised. "I've just been..." Robin paused. "Busy." He lied. Everything was just too overwhelming at this point in time, and he needed to escape it all.

Finney frowned. After years of his dad lying to him, he can tell when people aren't speaking the truth.

"I just thought I did something to upset you." Finney shrugged his shoulders. Robin shook his head, his shiny brunette locks bouncing around.

"Nah." He doesn't think Finney could ever do anything to upset him. Robin couldn't understand how a person can be so sweet. His smile was so pure, his giggles like candy. How can he still be so innocent after getting beat up so many times. "You have a baseball game tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah." Finney nodded, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Why did that matter?

"I'll come watch. And then maybe after we can hang out?" He looked at Finney, hope in his eyes. He wanted to make up for everything. Finn smiled brightly.

"Yeah, that's sounds good."