Blue Comes Through

Chapter Fourteen

Finn groans. "Ok. Ok. No need to be so violent."

I turn to glare at him. "You're doing it deliberately now."

His eyes are bright with amusement. "I'm really not. I'll try harder though. Promise."

The arm around my neck has dropped to link with the one at my waist and I'm standing in a very loose circle of his arms. I lean back and push my palms against his chest. The t-shirt is soft and warm beneath my fingers and I can feel his heartbeat steady and strong beneath my right palm.

He's smiling, his eyes scanning my face.

"This is a lovely thing that you've done. It's over the top, but very lovely."

He shrugs. "I meant what I said about him being happy here. This is upheaval for him too. I want him to feel secure and you must have left things behind."

I frown. "I am worried about that. Do you think this is going to have an effect on him?"

"What do you mean? Do you think in the future he'll get arrested for breaking into the grounds of Buckingham Palace and psychologists will trace it back to this moment? If only his mother didn't leave his abusive father?" He's laughing at me again.

I sigh and he stops laughing and shakes his head. "I really don't Maddie. Surely you would have done more damage if you'd stayed."

He's looking at me closely. "You look so much better. I know you've healed now. It's more than that though. I was talking to Carey about it the other day."

I look at him in surprise. He was talking to Carey about me?

"The tension has gone. You've relaxed and you can see it in your face. It's very subtle, but you can tell a weight's been lifted. The pinched look has gone. You're not so drawn."

This is not a flattering description. I think he can see I'm not impressed.

"You're still prickly as f..."

He stops and grins. "Whoops."

"Are you saying I've got a fat face? That's probably Matt's salted caramel shortbread." I can't resist it. It's a triangle of taste heaven.

He shakes his head. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not explaining it well. Living under that sort of tension must have taken a toll." He reaches to push my hair back over my shoulder and then rubs his thumb under my eye and over my forehead, as if he's checking the cuts and bruises have really gone.

When his thumb rubs my lower lip, I follow it's path with my tongue. His eyes drop to my mouth. "You're beautiful. Living here suits you." He says softly. He raises his eyes from my mouth to meet mine and we look at each other for a long moment. I blink and in that split second, his eyes seem to change colour. As well as those violet flecks, I notice the ring around his iris is dark navy rather than black.  I swallow and flick my tongue over my lip again.

Finn takes a deep breath and almost deliberately drops his hands, taking a step back. "Come on. Let me put your stuff in your room and you can get unpacked."

He turns on his heel to walk into the hallway and I stare into space for a minute, still following the path of his thumb with my tongue, before turning to Will. I'm not sure how the hands off until you're ready deal, is going to work.

Will has found the ark and is carefully arranging the animals in a little line. I go and sit with him and tell him what the animals are. He's very taken with the hippopotamus, two actually so hippopotamusses? Hippopotami? There's not a chance he'll say that but we have success with bears, lions and 'raffes.