Skyfall ☾Flarke AU [SLOW UPDATES]

8; i am barely breathing

" Hold me now, 'til the fear is leaving, I am barely breathing. "

Sunday, 7:40 PM

They had not arrived at the pawn shop yet when Finn pulled over to the side of the road, feeling unable to keep going for now. His eyes were a river and tears streamed down his face; he was unable to make them stop. But Clarke's hand was still onto his shoulder, and it soon moved to his hand, which she squeezed tight.

She was very concerned about Finn, who was now breaking down in front of her. It truly broke her heart to watch him like that, when she was unable to understand what happened to make him feel that way. "Finn, it's okay... You can let it out, they say it's good to cry instead of keeping everything in." She said, trying to reassure him. That's when she felt his hand squeeze hers back, so tight that it almost hurt her. But she didn't care.

After a while, he managed to calm down, and suddenly felt embarrassed. He glanced to the window next to him but soon realized it was impossible to see a thing as not only the darkness of the night covered their entire town, but a heavy rain was now soaking everything outside. "I'm sorry..." He muttered as he freed his hand from hers and looked down to his laps.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She gently asked, her eyes glued on his fingers that were now forming fists. She remembered earlier, when something similar had happened, he had refused her help. But maybe he had changed his mind, and she just wanted to let him know that she was still there to listen if he needed to talk.

Finn wiped his eyes with his sleeve before shaking his head slowly; he deserved to be haunted by these thoughts, he thought, Clarke shouldn't have to be there for him. He didn't want her to have to bear his problems on her shoulders, when she deserved so much better than this. "We're almost there, we should get going; Monty isn't going to last the entire night." He replied as he turned the engine on again, looking in the rear window as he drove back on the road. Tears were still in his eyes, but he couldn't give in anymore, not in front of Clarke. He needed to be stronger and braver.

Clarke watched him, feeling sudden sadness overwhelming her heart. "Finn..." She muttered, wanting to help. "You... You can't keep going like that... At some point, you'll need to talk about what happened, whatever it is."

"I'm okay," he lied, not wanting to have to talk about anything to anyone. After a while, when he heard no reply from Clarke, he glanced at her, and caught her already staring at him. "I swear I am, I just..." He sighed deeply before focusing his eyes on the road again. "I worry about my parents, that's all."

"We all do..." She replied, allowing him a small smile when he glanced at her again. Although she was positive the reason of his sudden tears wasn't only about his parents, she decided to let it go for now. When she looked back in front of them, her eyes pierced a small shop across the street, enlightened by the headlights of the car. The raindrops smashed against the front window, which was making it even more difficult to see anything, but Clarke assumed they had reached destination.

As soon as Finn turned off the car, Clarke pulled a flashlight out of their backpack and glanced at Finn, whose cheeks were still coloured with a pale shade of red. She wanted to say something else, but instead decided to open the door and walked outside, hearing Finn following after her. They both hurried toward the front door of the shop, trying to avoid getting their clothes too wet. Once they got there, Finn pulled two small metal instruments out of his jacket and began working to open the lock with them, with the help of the flashlight Clarke was holding.

At some point, she glanced at the front window of the shop, the flashlight following her eyes. She frowned and felt her heart twitch when she noticed the smashed window, where pieces of glass covered the sidewalk.