Falling for Finch

Dinner

Brian's POV ---

Here's the thing, guys get nervous when they meet anyone important from a girl's life, but I was about to mean the man my dad hired to hunt me down AND he just so happened to be a part of my girlfriend's life. I was freaking out so, even though I knew Sammi wouldn't like it, I slipped myself an extra NZT pill before leaving the office and headed out.

I made us all a nice dinner and when 6 o'clock rolled around I heard her keys in the door. I had given Sammi a pair for tonight, but I was hoping she would just want to keep them and maybe, eventually move in. No pressure, but that all depended on how dinner would go. The key turned in the knob unlocking the door and slowly it swung open to reveal Sammi standing beside an older man with scruffy hair and cold eyes.

"So this is where Brian lives," Sammi said as she led her Uncle into the house and began to introduce us. "And here's the man of the hour! Uncle Nate, this is my boyfriend Brian Finch. Brian, this is my Uncle Nate."

I immediately read the look on his face and was surprised by his lack of tells because I was sure he would freak out when he realized who I was.

"Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you," I said as I stuck out my hand. We shook hands and then I said "dinner should be done in a second if you guys wanna sit down."

Sammi led her Uncle to the table and he opened his mouth for the first time saying "so, Brian, where do you work?"

He was fishing for information to help his case...Either that or he wanted to know if I was a liar. I kept my cool and began to talk thanks to the NZT.

Sammi's POV---

Brian seemed fairly calm as he replied from the stove, "oh, actually it's a bit complicated, but I work with the CJC downtown. I just started there a while ago and before that I was playing music which is why I think it's so cool that that's what Sammi does."

As he continued to talk I began to realize what he was doing and how he was doing it. I smiled as I stood up from the table and headed to get myself a drink. Once I was near Brian I checked his eyes to confirm my suspicion, he was on NZT. He turned his head and smiled at me, but I was beyond angry. Of all the things he could have done, taking NZT while trying to convince my Uncle Nate that he wasn't involved in anything was probably the dumbest choice.

"Hey, Brian," I said. "I forgot, I needed your help with something on my guitar. Do you think you could look at it real quick?"

"Right now?" Brian asked, "shouldn't we have dinner first, I just finished it."

Despite my seething anger I didn't want my Uncle Nate to get a hint of what was going on so I smiled and said "yeah, of course! We can do it after my Uncle Nate heads out."

From there the three of us sat down and finished our meal with some uninteresting conversation in between bites. I almost wished that this could be how it was, but I knew there were secrets and problems and I had a hunch it would get much more complicated, I just had no idea it would be so soon.

Nate's POV---

Brian Finch. My fucking niece always had a way of getting into trouble and she never had good taste in men either. I remember one time she tried dating some punk kid and what a mess that had been, but this topped the fucking cake. It was obvious that she knew he was on something and it felt like he knew I was suspicious so, I took the risk.

"So, Brian" I began after I finished my meal. "Where do you hide your drugs?"

"Uncle Nate!" Sammi yelled as expected. 

"Are you gonna sit here and tell me that you don't know he's on something" I asked. "You're gonna look me in the eyes and really tell me that you have no idea that the guy you're seeing is on some elite drug?"

We were both standing now as Brian sat astounded in his chair watching us unravel before him.

"How could you just blurt that out like that" Sammi yelled. "We were having a nice time and I thought-"

"You thought what," I retorted. "You thought we could all sit there and pretend like you didn't know about my case or your boyfriend's problem and I could pretend he's not the guy I'm looking for and he can pretend like he doesn't have a problem!"

"That's not-"

I wouldn't let her get a word in.

"That's not the point? Yes it fucking is! Or were you gonna try to tell me that's not true when you know damn well it is. I'm not doing this Sammi, I'm not. I'm doing my case and I don't care if you're fucking him or not, I'm doing my job. Look at him, he's on it right now, isn't he? I'm taking all of his shit and I'm getting him fired from the fucking CIA and then I'm taking you away and you're never gonna see him again because you have terrible fucking taste in men and this is just another example of some asshole who's gonna ruin your life too!"

Brian's POV---

I sat there dumbfounded for the longest time, but when he started talking about taking her away I couldn't take it anymore.

"Look at him," he yelled pointing at me in the chair. "Open your fucking eyes, do you really think this scumbag is gonna take care of you? Do you really think he loves-"

Finally, I stood up and slammed my hand down on the table grabbing their attention.

"That's enough!" I yelled. "Look, I don't know what kind of fucked up job you have and I don't care what my dad paid you. You can take the NZT and get me fired, I don't give a fuck, but I will not let you tell me that I don't love your niece because she's the best thing that's ever happened to me. She's the only person that's ever made me feel validated even when I'm not on NZT and yeah, maybe I'm a loser or whatever, but you're not taking her away because god dammit I do love her and I've been taking better care of her than you have lately."

For a moment we all just stood there in silence and then he opened his mouth slowly.

"Give me the drugs right now."

Sammi looked like she was going to say something, but I quickly complied and went over to my albums taking my spare NZT out and placing it in his hand.

"For the record, without those I'm going to die," I said as I gave them away. "I took one not knowing what would happen and, once you take one, you're body needs it or you die. There's no supplement yet, that's why I work at the CJC. They supply me NZT in exchange for my work until they figure out the supplement."

He closed his fist around the pills and walked out the door in silence.